Holdin' On for a Hero (31 page)

“Whose?”

John shrugged. “Never seen it before.”

Chance frowned. She hoped nothing was wrong but since she had no idea where Wyatt was she didn’t see what else she could do but wait for him to return. Except send someone who can find him! she thought.

She walked outside and called Wa’ya. He trotted up from the woods and wagged his tail. “Would you please see if you can find Wyatt? I’m worried. If you find him bring him back here, okay?”

Wa’ya barked once then ran across the yard and disappeared into the trees. Chance walked back inside. While she waited for Wyatt to return there were some things on her mind, and John was probably the best person to talk to about it.

He was sitting at the table when she entered the house. “John, can we talk?”

“Sure, what’s on your mind?”

“Well, it’s…I’m not sure I have the right to ask you this, but I’d like to talk to you about Sarah.”

“Sarah?” He looked up at her in surprise. “What about her?”

“Well,” she said and took a seat across from him. “I’ve been thinking. Tsa’li told me that I had to discover the starting point and I think it was when Sarah was killed. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Did Sarah know Winston Holling?”

“As a matter of fact she did. She even dated him for a while.”

“Really?” Chance was surprised but also curious. If Sarah and Winston had dated it was possible that she had told him about the crystal. “What happened?”

“I don’t really know. I know that Winston was in love with Sarah and begged her to marry him, but she said no. She told me that Winston could never be the kind of man she could love. You see, above everything, Sarah valued honesty. She was one of those people who believed in telling the truth, even if it hurt. When she broke off with Winston she said that she didn’t want to have anything else to do with him ever.”

“And that’s when you started seeing her?”

“Well, yes and no. See, I was in love with Sarah most all of my life. I guess the first time I saw her I knew she was the one for me. She was about five and I was eleven. I never cared about any other girl. But I always thought that I didn’t stand a chance with her. She was beautiful and smart and I always thought she saw me as kind of a big brother—you know, someone you can talk to, but not someone you fall in love with.”

“Then how did you two end up falling in love?”

John smiled and leaned back in his chair. “Sarah had been away at school. I think she was still seeing Winston. Anyway she came home for the summer before her last year at school and I was helping Tsa’li make some repairs on his house. We got to talking one day and before we knew it we’d spent the entire afternoon just sitting there. Things were different after that. About a week later she came to my house and told me that she was finished with Winston and that she loved me. We got married the day after she graduated from college.”

Chance thought about what he had said, imagining him and Sarah as they had been back then, young and in love, looking forward to sharing a life, having a family and growing old together. Neither of them had ever imagined that her life would be cut short.

“I know this is painful for you to talk about, but the day Sarah died—I think that Winston Holling was one of the men who survived. But there was a second man. Do you have any idea who it might be?”

John looked away, as if not wanting to meet her eyes. “John, please,” she pleaded softly. “I need to know.”

“Chance, I…” his voice trailed off. “That time’s so hard to think about. And I wasn’t there, so I can’t be a hundred percent sure and…”

“Then just tell me who you suspect. Please, John, we have to figure this out.”

“Well, if it was Winston then there’s a good chance the second man could have been your father.”

“My father?”

“Yes,” John sighed. “You see, Maurice used to date one of Sarah’s best friends, Doris Stillwater. Matter of fact, most everyone, including Doris, thought that Maurice would marry her. It was a surprise when he married your mother.”

“How so?”

“Well, he was still seeing Doris and suddenly one day he was married and no one knew anything about your mother. Doris told Sarah after she and Maurice had a big fight about it, that the only reason he married her was because she was wealthy.”

Chance looked down at the table. She had never known her mother,who had died during her birth,  but she did know her father and she wouldn’t doubt that he had married only for money.

“What happened to Doris?”

“Well, she and her daughter stayed around for a while. But it was pretty hard for a single woman at that time with a child. Marisa, her daughter, was kind of a shy, gangly girl that didn’t make friends too easy. They eventually moved away and no one’s heard from them for years.”

“A daughter? You mean—”

Before she could finish the question the sound of gunfire made them both jump. John ran to the front room and looked out the window then raced back to Chance. “We gotta get out of here!”

Just as they ran for the back door they heard a man’s voice call out from the front, telling them to come out and they wouldn’t be hurt. John shouted that he was coming out then pushed Chance out the back door. They raced across the backyard and made it to the cover of the trees. Working their way around they could see about a dozen men in front of the house. All except three were armed. Two of the unarmed men were pulling big containers of gasoline from the back of a pickup and another was lighting a homemade torch.

Wasting no more time, John and Chance headed for Tsa’li’s house. Chance was worried about John. He hadn’t recovered from the beating he’d received and having to run through the woods was taking a toll on him. After a few minutes she stopped. “Let’s take a break,” she suggested, seeing that his face was pale and covered in sweat.

John nodded, and leaned against a tree, trying to catch his breath. Aside from the sounds of his breathing, everything was still. When a sudden noise came from behind them they both jumped. Wa’ya bounded over to Chance and took her sleeve in his mouth, tugging at her.

“What’s he want?” John asked, pointing to the wolf.

“I asked him to find Wyatt. Come on, let’s get you to Tsa’li’s then I’m going after Wyatt.”

John nodded and allowed her to drape his arm over her shoulders. Walking slowly to accommodate John, Chance felt panic mounting. Suddenly she was sure something was terribly wrong. She had to get to Wyatt.

* * * * *

Wyatt’s pace was swift as he made his way through the forest. He did not look back to see what Iris’ condition was. He was doing as she had asked and showing her the route he had taken that night. He heard her scream behind him and stopped to look back.

She was about twenty feet behind him, holding on to a stout pine and holding one foot off the ground with a grimace of pain on her face. “I turned my ankle,” she moaned. “I don’t think I can walk. It feels like it’s broken.”

Irritation rose immediately. He did not want to be with her in the first place, much less have to baby her all the way back to his father’s house. He wished now he had just refused to come out here. He should have had better sense. He turned around and backtracked to her, knelt down and pulled off her boot. Iris transferred her hands from the trunk of the tree to his shoulders as he examined her ankle. “I don’t see anything wrong.” He released her foot. “There isn’t any bruising or swelling. It should be fine. Put on your shoe and we’ll rest a few minutes then head back.”

“I don’t think I can,” she complained, keeping hold of his shoulders as he stood. He made a move to step back from her but she held on, still standing on one foot so that his movement made her lean forward against him.

Wyatt could feel her warm breasts pressed against him and tried to ignore it. Iris looked up at him pleadingly. “I can’t walk. It hurts.”

With a grimace he put his arm underneath hers and wrapped it around her then helped her over to a fallen tree so that she could sit.

“Thank you,” she sighed as he settled her on the log. She raised her ankle up and propped it on her other knee. The movement caused her short shirt to rise even higher on her spread legs. Wyatt averted his eyes from the sight she offered and moved to one side.

“It should be okay in a few minutes,” he said as he took a seat on the ground.

“Why do you dislike me?” she asked as she rubbed her ankle.

“I don’t know you well enough to like or dislike you.”

“I’d like the chance to get to know you better,” she said, letting her foot move back to the ground but keeping her legs apart.

“I’m already involved.” He would not look in her direction. He did not want to see what she was displaying. One glance had told him that beneath the skirt she was naked.

“Oh yes, I forgot—Miss Porter.”

“Yes.”

“But she’s not worthy of a man like you.” Iris came off the log and knelt down in front of him. “You need someone strong and passionate and as bold as yourself.”

“What makes you think she isn’t all those things?” He tried not to look at the sight of her breasts beneath the sheer material as she shrugged her jacket aside.

“I’m a woman, I know these things.”

“Well, maybe your feminine intuition isn’t working properly,” he said as he glanced at her briefly.

She laughed and reached out to run her hand through his hair. “Oh, I think it’s working just fine. Let’s be honest with each other. You may not like me, but you do want me. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Maybe you’re just seeing what you want to see.” He denied it, even though he admitted to himself that she was tempting.

“Or maybe what I see is the strong side of you that isn’t afraid to want me,” she said in a taunting voice. “The part that isn’t afraid of what Miss Porter will think. Maybe it’s the other you that I see.”

Wyatt did not want to discuss that with her. Even the mention of the other made his heart race anxiously. “Maybe you’re dreaming.” He pushed her away and stood.

“Or maybe you’re lying.” She grabbed the leg of his jeans and pulled herself up, making sure that as she slid up his body his leg remained between hers.

Wyatt felt the now familiar warning signs of Walker trying to exert control and pushed her again. This time, however, she hung on to him. “It’s true,” she whispered huskily. “Part of you wants me, so much it’s eating you up inside. Let that part out, Wyatt. Give in to yourself. I can do things for you she could never do.”

Wyatt was struggling to push Walker back. He could barely focus on her words. “No!” He grabbed her by the arms and pushed her back, gripping her arms tightly so that she could not move against him.

“I can tell you how to win,” she whispered. “I know the secret.”

Wyatt felt Walker surge forward and himself slipping into darkness at her words. He released her and backed away, breathing hard and trying to concentrate on keeping the darkness at bay. But Iris did not let up.

“I know what you want,” she breathed as she advanced on him. “And I know how to make sure you get it. If you were mine, I would show you the way to make sure that you get what you want.”

Wyatt felt himself sliding further into the darkness as Walker clawed his way to the foreground. Desperately, Wyatt tried to hang on to control. But Iris’ words were like fuel to a fire, giving Walker the strength he needed to break free. For a moment that seemed an eternity, the two battled for control.

“I can give you what you want,” Iris continued to encourage Walker. “I can show you how.”

What felt like a spiraling vortex of darkness clutched at Wyatt, dragging him steadily deeper into blackness. For the first time he experienced true terror. This darkness was not like before. It was like falling into nothingness. If he did not escape he would be lost. He felt Walker’s spirit beside him, ascending even as he descended, and tried to take hold of him. But Walker just laughed and pushed him away. With a feeling of defeat, Wyatt felt reality slip away.

Iris watched as Wyatt changed. It was not as if he physically transformed into something else. His size and shape remained the same. But his expressions, the look in his eyes, the way he stood—everything was different. The man who emerged looked confident, arrogant, angry and indestructible.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“I am the Warrior,” he barked, watching as she unbuttoned his shirt and ran her hands inside it.

“Hmmm, Warrior,” she purred. “A bit arrogant, but I like that. So, Warrior, tell me about yourself.”

“You said you would help me.” He grabbed her hands in his, making her gasp in pain.

“And I will! But you’re going to have to ease up, lover. You be good to me and I’ll be good to you. Get it? One hand washes the other.”

“What do you want?” he asked suspiciously.

“Why the same thing you do.” She pulled her hands free and returned them to his chest. “Power, control, freedom, and…” she looked up at him, “most of all, revenge.”

Walker smiled and reached out to cup her breasts in his hands, the sheer material providing little barrier.. “And you know how to ensure we achieve these things?” he asked as he rolled her hard nipples roughly between his fingers, .