Chance Reddick Box Set 1

by David Archer

  Still smiling, Chance nodded. “That sounds like a plan,” he said. “Good night, Ms. Gabriella.”

  She shot him a smile of her own as she walked away. Chance closed the door behind her, took one look at the bed and began to strip. Placing the two pistols he carried under his pillow, he hid the holsters underneath his berth. He took a shower, then crawled under the covers, closed his eyes and was fast asleep within only a couple of minutes.

  The sun was just above the horizon by the time he awoke. He opened his eyes and just lay there, his mind slowly recalling the events of the past few days. Stepping out of bed, he walked to the window and looked around, trying to decide if all this was a dream or if it really was happening.

  His room definitely wasn’t filled with luxury, but it did contain all the necessary items to make him comfortable. The big bed was firm and extremely restful. He turned on the TV on top of the dresser for a moment, but there was only a local news program that didn’t seem very interesting. On the table stood a table lamp and nothing else. The floor was nothing but bare planks, except for a couple of old throw rugs that were scattered about.

  He searched around for his bag and found it inside the closet. Pulling the bag out, he threw it on the bed and opened it. He sorted out his clothes and put them away in the dresser, then he put the rest of his things, including the Maxim from under the pillow and its holster from under the bed, into the nylon bag, zipped it shut and returned it to the closet. The little Ruger went back onto his ankle, hidden under the flared end of his jeans.

  Chance picked up his dirty clothes from the night before, threw them into a corner of the closet and got dressed. After making the bed, he stepped from his room onto the back porch and made his way toward the kitchen.

  It was fairly dark on the porch. It was enclosed, and the only source of light to illuminate it came from the three small windows that were standing open.

  He stepped into the kitchen, and suddenly noticed the beautiful hardwood floors that he had missed the night before. The walls were paneled in maple and the ceiling had been painted a satin white. All of the woodwork was obviously fairly old, but it was quite well done and in good condition. Chance couldn’t guess how old the house was, but somebody had definitely spent a pretty penny on it when it was built. He couldn’t help wondering how much Benito Morales had paid for the place when he bought it.

  There was no sign of Gabriella just yet, but Chance spotted the coffee maker and noticed that there was still at least a good cup full inside. He snagged a coffee cup out of the sink, rinsed it quickly and poured in the coffee, then stuck it into the microwave oven for a minute and a half. When the timer went off, he added sugar and stirred it up there, then stood at the sink while he drank it.

  When he finished, he put his empty cup into the sink and thought for a moment about what to do. He knew where the horses were, and if there was one thing he knew how to handle, it was horses. He decided to go out to the barn and do some work to solidify his presence. Finding out where Gabriella might have three million dollars hidden wasn’t going to be easy, but the further he could ingratiate himself to her and worm his way into her trust, the more likely he was to be successful.

  EIGHTEEN

  He reached for the doorknob, but it suddenly yanked out of his hand as the door opened. Startled, he fell backward and landed smack on his butt, which caused the person blocking the doorway to burst out laughing.

  There, framed in the doorway, was a very beautiful woman with a very surprised look on her face. Between the surprise and the embarrassment, it took a second before he finally recognized Gabriella.

  “Excuse me,” he apologized as he climbed back on his feet. “You startled me, and as I stepped backwards I tripped.”

  She nodded, busily trying to get her snickering under control. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think that you’d be up yet. Did you sleep well?”

  “I slept like a log, thanks, but why didn’t you wake me sooner? I hate to be late for the first day of a new job.”

  “Well, I wasn’t only thinking of you, I was also thinking of me. I figured we’d both be better off if you were fully rested.” She smiled as she talked, sending a flow of warmth in to the room. “And by the way, I’m really sorry about laughing like that. I think the whole thing just caught me completely off guard, and all I could think of to do was laugh.”

  He could do nothing else but smile back as he said, “No problem. Believe me, I understand.”

  “You must be hungry. I just came in to make breakfast. Would you like some bacon and eggs, or would you prefer something else?”

  Chance smiled again. “Bacon and eggs will be fine,” he said. “In fact, that sounds great.”

  “Okay, after we eat I’ll go and straighten up your room, and then I’ll show you around the place.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I made the bed when I got up and I tidied up a little before I came in here.”

  She looked at him, her eyes slightly wider than before. “Well, that really is quite a change. All the hired hands we’ve had working here always left their rooms in a big mess.” She turned and started preparing the meal while he sat and watched her as she worked. She made a fresh pot of coffee first, and it wasn’t long before Chance was having his second cup.

  The boys came in a few minutes later. In short order, they were all sitting at the table, enjoying scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits. Pushing their plates out of the way when the food was dispensed with, Gabriella refilled their coffee cups.

  The front door opened suddenly, and Chance turned to see Carmelita entering. There was another older Hispanic lady with her, and Gabriella introduced him to Carmelita’s sister, Juanita. The two of them were widows who had no other family in the area, so Gabriella paid them to take care of the boys while she worked around the ranch. They took care of a lot of the smaller chores in the house, such as housekeeping and some of the cooking. Since Gabriella had already made breakfast, the two older ladies gathered the boys and took them into the living room, leaving Chance and Gabriella to enjoy their coffee.

  Suddenly, while sipping the steaming brew, an idea jumped into Chance’s head. If the brainstorm panned out, and if the kind of luck he was having the day before was still on his side, then maybe there was a chance that he could pull off this job fairly quickly, and put it behind him.

  The only problem was when he thought about how this had to end. While he could justify Gabriella’s impending death by saying she brought it on herself, he still dreaded the moment when he would have to actually pull the trigger and end her life. Despite what she may have done, she genuinely seemed like a very nice person.

  “How long were you married?” he asked casually.

  “Ten years. It was—well, this may seem strange to you, but it was a sort of arranged marriage,” she said. “My family is originally from Guatemala, and that sort of thing happens in our culture, sometimes. My father was in debt to Benny, and that debt was settled when my father agreed to let me marry him.”

  “Ten years?” Chance asked. “I mean, I realize that Tommy is nine years old, but to be honest, you just don’t look old enough to have been married that long.”

  She turned slightly pink. “Yes, well,” she said, “that’s because I got married when I was only thirteen. Again, where my family came from, that wasn’t uncommon.”

  “Thirteen? So you’re, what, about twenty-three, now?”

  “Okay, I wasn’t quite thirteen when we got married. I’ll be twenty-three in about four weeks.”

  “Well, I’ve got to say you’ve done an awful lot for somebody so young. If I were basing it on maturity alone, I’d figure you for close to thirty, but your looks are more like a high school student.”

  She blushed again. “Well, thank you, I think,” she said. “It hasn’t been easy, I can tell you that. Benny was the old-fashioned sort, who believed that his wife was just another possession. Anytime I didn’t please him perfectly, he made sure to let me know about it.”
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br />   Chance shook his head. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “On the other hand, that explains why you said his passing was better, in some ways.” He took a sip of his coffee. “What made him decide to buy this place?”

  “Well, it’s like I told you, Benny wanted this for his retirement. He said we could make the ranch pay for itself, and have something that the boys and I could inherit when he got old and passed away. Of course, none of us realized that was going to happen a lot sooner than expected.”

  “A real, true-blue American pioneer.”

  “Yeah, but not necessarily by choice,” she said. “And you? Where are you from? You never did tell me.”

  “Well, I grew up in Kentucky. My parents died when I was young, and I told you about growing up on my grandparents’ farm. To make a long story short, ever since I finished high school, I was eighteen then, I’ve been drifting from place to place. When I get tired of one place I just move on to another. I guess maybe I’m just looking for something that I’ve never found.”

  Gabriella smiled at him. “I hope someday you find what you’re looking for,” she replied with total sincerity.

  “Thanks,” he said after swallowing the last of his coffee. “Now, you were going to show me around your place.”

  Chance stood up and gathered up the dishes. Placing them in the sink, he turned around and watched Gabriella walking toward him, and once again it dawned on him that she was absolutely beautiful. His doubts about being able to complete his assignment surfaced again, and he turned away quickly before she could see the turmoil of emotions across his face.

  “I’ll just wash the dishes before we go,” she said.

  “Fine,” he remarked as he walked away from the lady, again struggling to keep his face from showing any of the emotions raging within him.

  Standing on the far side of the kitchen, Chance’s eyes were riveted on the vision of beauty across the room. He pulled them away, forcing them to look elsewhere, but they seemed to have a mind of their own, for they kept returning their gaze to the woman who was now busy working at the sink. He shook his head, forced himself to stop thinking about the assignment and what might be coming, then walked over and picked up a dish towel to start drying the dishes.

  “Well,” she said as the last of the cups and plates were put away in the cupboard, “shall we go outside now?”

  Gabriella stood facing him only inches away. He tore his eyes away from her face, then nodded. “Sure,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  She looked at him strangely for just a moment, then turned and walked toward the back door. Chance hurried to follow, hoping that the cool, fresh air of the high desert morning would help to clear his mind. The last thing in the world he needed to do was develop any kind of feelings or attraction for this woman, because the way things stood at the moment, he was still planning to kill her.

  Suddenly, he noticed Gabriella looking at him over her shoulder, and the expression on her face was almost suspicious. He couldn’t think of anything he might have done to give away his real reason for being there, but he was fairly sure he saw a hint of doubt in her eyes. He shot her a smile and raised his eyebrows into a question.

  “Something wrong?” he asked.

  “I just noticed you’re wearing sneakers,” she replied. “I’m afraid they won’t last very long around here. It seems to me that anyone who grew up on a farm would have a pair of boots around somewhere. Don’t you have any?”

  “I did,” he lied confidently, “but one of the rides I caught a few days ago drove off with one of my bags. My boots and my regular work jeans and such were in that one.”

  Her eyes went wide and her mouth flew open. “Oh, that’s terrible. Why would somebody do something like that?” she asked, truly interested, her doubt already beginning to fade.

  “I don’t really know,” Chance said. “We had stopped in a rest area and I carried one of my bags into the restroom so I could clean up. When I came out, my ride was gone, along with my other bag.” He grinned. “Luckily, everything of real value was in the bag I kept with me.”

  “Who in God’s name would do a thing like that?” asked Gabriella, fully caught up in the story that Chance was making up as he went along.

  He smiled at her. “I’m afraid not everybody is as nice a person as you are,” he said. “It could be just that they got tired of my company, might not have even realized that I didn’t have all my things with me. I try not to think the worst of people, no matter what.”

  “Well, it’s still terrible. I could drive you back into Clarksville, Harold’s sells boots and jeans and such.”

  NINETEEN

  Suddenly she stopped, and looked him up and down. “You know what? I might have a better idea than that. You’re just about the same size as Benny, so I bet his clothes would fit you. I’m not sure about his boots, but there’s probably a few pairs left behind by various hired men. Come on, let’s go check.” She turned and started back toward the house, and Chance felt a pang of guilt at her kindness.

  He turned around and followed her. “I appreciate it,” he said, “but would you really want somebody else wearing your husband’s things? I mean, it isn’t really necessary.”

  “Don’t be silly,” she replied, totally convinced now that her previous suspicions had been unfounded. “I packed all that stuff away a long time ago, and I keep meaning to take it to the Salvation Army or something, but that would mean a drive all the way to Vegas. I’ve just never gotten around to it, so we might as well see what’s there that you can use.”

  “Okay,” he said as they reentered the house. “Like I said, I appreciate it.”

  “Here,” she said, as she led him to the house and up the stairs. “I boxed everything up, but it’s just been sitting in my bedroom ever since then.” She led him down the hallway on the second floor, and turned into the last room on the left.

  The first thing Chance noticed was the big bed. It was an old style fourposter, and probably at least a queen-size. He grinned as he noticed an interesting contrast; the furniture was big and rustic, almost as if it had been handmade right there at the ranch, but the blankets, pillows, curtains and other décor of the room was decidedly feminine.

  Gabriella pointed to a pile of boxes sitting in the far corner. “This was all Benny’s stuff,” she said. She picked up a pair of scissors off her dresser and sliced through the tape that was holding the top box closed, then opened it up. She lifted out a pair of blue jeans and turned to hold them out to Chance. “The bathroom is right around the corner,” she said. “Go try these on, I think they’ll fit you.”

  Chance accepted the gift and turned out into the hallway. He found the bathroom and stepped inside, latching the door behind himself. He didn’t want to take a chance that it might pop open, letting Gabriella see the small pistol strapped down by his ankle.

  The blue jeans fit surprisingly well, and had just enough flair at the end of the leg to hide the Ruger. He rolled up the khakis he had been wearing and tucked them under his arm, then returned to her bedroom.

  Gabriella looked him over appraisingly. “I was right, they fit you well,” she said. “And look at this.” She held out a pair of Western-style boots. “Just from eyeballing your feet, I think these might work. It’s okay, you can sit down on the bed to try them on.”

  Chance sat down on the bed, trying to keep his back to her as much as he could. The boots were in good condition, and he kicked off his left shoe—the Ruger was strapped to his right ankle—and pushed his foot down into the left boot. It slid right in, and he stood up to test the fit.

  “Almost feels like it was made for me,” he said.

  “That’s great,” Gabriella said with a smile. She turned back toward the boxes and Chance quickly kicked off the right shoe and pulled on the other boot, struggling just a bit to make sure the Ruger fit inside it. When he was done, he stood up and walked across the floor toward where she was still digging in the boxes.

  “There’s a lot of clothe
s in here,” she said. “Everything from jeans and T-shirts to business suits. We can carry them all down to your room, and you can go through them later and see what you want. Keep whatever suits you, and just leave the rest in the boxes for me to get rid of someday.”

  “This is very nice of you,” Chance said. He laid his own pants and shoes on top of one of the boxes, then picked up two of them and started out of the bedroom. Gabriella picked up another box and followed him down the stairs and out to his room. The boys and the two older ladies glanced at them as they passed through the living room, but the boys were engrossed in a cartoon.

  Chance noticed the scowl on Carmelita’s face, though. The old woman didn’t seem very fond of him, and Chance got the creepy feeling that she might have some suspicions about why he was really there.

  They got the boxes in his room and went back toward the barn. Gabriella resumed her tour and Chance did his best to make the appropriate responses.

  “The hay chute is behind the barn, and I keep all the tools in that little room under the stairs. Now, back here,” she said as she led the way to the back of the barn, “is the tack room. Benny had laid in a good supply of saddles and tack, because they sell pretty well. In the corner is the chicken coop, and the goats have this big back room on the other side.”

  “And in the other corner is your workshop?” Chance asked.

  “Right,” Gabriella said. “I can do basic mechanical repairs, like for the tractor and such. I won’t say it’s fun, but it’s what I get for growing up with six brothers who were all into cars and trucks.”

  Chance grinned. “I can see that. Listen, I’m curious, why the aluminum paneling on the walls, floor, and ceiling of the tack room?”

  Gabriella glanced up at the metal sheeting. “Benny figured that was the best way to keep rodents out of it and the grain storage room. Ever since he put up the metal sheets, we haven’t had one mouse in either room.”

  Chance pursed his lips and nodded, indicating that it made sense. “Okay, where to now, ma’am?”