Lone Star Justice (13 page)

He would kill her, eventually. But someone else was also trying to scare her, and he had to find out who. Although he had a pretty good idea. And that person was on his list, too. In fact, he'd make the perfect patsy. Wouldn't be hard at all to pin Maddie's murder on him. He needed to pay for what he had done, too.

When this was all over, maybe he'd take Brandy and move far, far away.

***

Maddie slipped into Brandy's room and closed the door. She was pretty sure her daughter wasn't asleep. Her breathing was a little too fast. She moved to the side of the bed and sat on the edge. Brandy stirred and Maddie put a finger across her lips. "Shh. Someone's in the kitchen."

Brandy sat up, rubbing her eyes. Domino yawned and snuggled back into the covers. "What are we going to do?"

"It's okay. Rand will be here soon." Maddie hoped she sounded confident instead of scared out of her wits. She really wanted to go out and confront whoever was doing this to them, but she couldn't risk her daughter's life on a fool's errand.

Flashing lights sent wild arcs around the room and Maddie breathed a sigh of relief.  Then she winced when she heard the front door being kicked in. The landlord would kill her even if the stalker didn't.

A few minutes later the door opened and the light came on. She blinked at the change from darkness to light as she put herself between Brandy and the looming figure at the door. Rand.

"You guys okay?"

"Yes. Did you catch him? I didn't hear anything…"

He shook his head. "There's no one here. I looked everywhere."

"Are you sure? I wasn't imagining things." Someone had been there just moments earlier. She wasn't crazy.

"Maybe you just had a bad dream…"

"No! I know what I heard. Someone was here. They were in the kitchen. I heard them even after I was wide awake, just a few minutes ago."

Rand sighed and pushed his hat back on his head. "Okay, I'll look again. You two stay here."

Maddie pushed herself off the bed. "I'm coming with you. Brandy, stay here."

"No way. If you're going, I'm going too. I don't want to stay in here by myself." She tossed the covers back and forced herself between Maddie and Rand.

Rand blew out a frustrated breath. "Fine. But both of you stay behind me. I have a deputy combing the yard for footprints or any sign of an intruder. We'll take the house room by room."

As soon as they stepped through the door, Maddie heard the sounds again. Something bumped against a chair leg. "Did you hear it?"

Rand didn't answer, but he pulled his gun from the holster and motioned for Maddie and Brandy to stay put.

He crept down the hall, gun at his side. Maddie and Brandy were right behind him. Maddie wasn't about to be left behind with no weapon to defend them.

***

Rand eased around the corner of the dining room and turned on the kitchen light. Nothing. No one moved in the small room, but he couldn't see behind the bar. He'd checked the room earlier by flashlight and hadn't seen anyone lurking there.

The rustle of a grocery sack drew his attention and he dropped to a crouch. His first thought was that it was a possum or skunk, checking out the trash. Using the barrel of his gun, he lifted the top edge of the bag. His heart lunged into his throat and he fired twice.

Maddie cried out. "Rand? What happened?"

He double checked to be sure the shots had hit home, then dropped flat on his backside on the floor.

The deputy rushed into the house, gun drawn, carefully making his way to the kitchen. When he swung through the door, Rand shouted, "It's me, damn it. Don't shoot!"

"Geez, Rand. You about gave me a heart attack."

Maddie and Brandy crowded into the doorway. "What's going on? Where is he?"

Rand pointed to the sack. "In there."

The deputy looked in the bag. "Damn. That's a mean looking snake."

Maddie's knees went weak. "A snake? How did a snake get in the house?"

Rand pushed himself to his feet. "It's not all that unusual for a snake to get inside in the summertime, but it's a bit early to find them right now. I'd say someone probably put it inside and it went looking for a place to hide."

There was no way she was looking in that sack to see what kind it was. "Is it poisonous?"

"Oh yeah," Rand said. "Copperhead. Plenty of them around here if you know where to look, but most every hospital and fire department in the area keeps antivenin, so they're rarely deadly. Just extremely painful when they bite."

"I don't understand. Why is he doing this? It's almost like he's trying to scare me rather than kill me."

Rand looked at Maddie. "You know what?  I don't think whoever is behind this is the one who's after you. It's someone who doesn't want you here. And I have a good idea who that might be."

"Then maybe it would be best if we went back to Oklahoma. I don't want to risk Brandy's life because someone doesn't want us here."

Rand shook his head. "No. There's still whoever killed Anne and left you that warning. I don't think these are connected."

That shook Maddie to the core. "Are there really that many people who hate me?"

"I don't know, Maddie. Maybe you need to tell me exactly what you did when you left Greendale. Where you went, why you left, and who you pissed off in the process. Besides me, that is."

Maddie nodded. "Yeah, I owe you an explanation. Tomorrow morning, I promise. I told Brandy I'd take her to the ranch. We can talk there."

***

They arrived at the ranch just as dawn broke over the horizon. Rand led the way in his squad car, with Maddie following close behind. Not that she needed him to lead the way. She could have driven the route with her eyes closed. She tensed for the bump as they drove over the cattle guard, maneuvered around the small potholes left by the spring rains, and prepared herself for the first view of the ranch house.

The two story home stood on a small hill overlooking a hundred acres of hay meadow ringed with tall oaks, cottonwood, and crabapple trees. A creek cut across the pasture to the north and several stock ponds dotted the landscape. The house had upper and lower porches that went around three sides. Red azaleas in pots on either side of the front door provided a splash of color against the grey siding. The white trim looked freshly painted, and the old porch swing still hung at one end of the porch.

Maddie took a deep breath at the sight of the swing. It, too, looked like it had been recently painted. Red pillows matching the flowers lined the back of the swing. God, how many hours had she spent there with Rand, bare feet dangling over one end, her head in Rand's lap at the other?

It felt too eerily familiar. Maddie could almost see Rand's mother stepping out onto the front porch to see who had come to visit, then shaking her head when she saw Maddie's car and going back into the house, shutting the door behind her. Even now, Maddie felt like she wasn't good enough, though Rand's parents were long dead.

Not much had changed with time.

Brandy fidgeted in her seat, her gaze sweeping from the land to the house and back again, trying to take it all in at once. She laughed at the Blue Heeler who raced along beside them, barking--whether in greeting or warning, Maddie wasn't sure.

"So, what do you think?" Maddie asked as they pulled in front of the house.

"Geez, mom. Why didn't you tell me my dad was rich?"

Without waiting for an answer, Brandy yanked open the door and jumped out of the car. She stopped to pet the dog before bounding up the front steps to where Rand stood waiting.  They both turned to look at Maddie, probably wondering why she didn't get out of the vehicle. But she felt frozen in place, old haunting memories paralyzing every muscle.

She could not, would not, step foot inside that house again.

Rand waved at her. "Come on, Maddie. Daylight's awastin'."

She shook her head. Rand shrugged his shoulders and opened the front door, ushering Brandy inside.

Once they were out of sight, Maddie drew in a shuddering breath and looked away from the house, across the expanse of pasture. She could see Rand had made some improvements, with a new barn and round pens, what looked like a dog kennel, and a new fence around the back of the house. Otherwise, the place looked almost the same. Intimidating to a kid from the wrong side of the tracks way back then, and even more so to the adult she had become because of the memories of what had transpired here.

She leaned her head against the seat, lost in thought. She'd fallen in love with Rand when they were both freshmen in high school. He'd been the big man on campus, son of the mayor and owner of the only pharmacy in town, acclaimed athlete, voted best looking in every yearbook from ninth to twelfth grade.

She'd been…Maddie Cooper. Poor kid who wore Goodwill cast offs and missionary barrel rejects. The girl who sometimes sported a bruise on her cheek because she wasn't always fast enough to dodge her father's quick temper. The girl with a chip on her shoulder and big dreams.

Rand had become her hero when he stepped between her and some girls making fun of her in the hallway before lunch the second day of freshman year. He sent them scurrying down the hall with nothing more than a look and a warning for them to back off. Then he put an arm around her shoulder and walked her to the cafeteria, where he bought her lunch after seeing the mayonnaise and mustard sandwich her mom had fixed for her.

From that day on, they'd been a couple. No one had bothered her after that. They didn't want to make an enemy of the most popular boy in school.

He'd even taken her for her first real haircut and manicure, paying for everything. Then he took her to the Merle Norman shop, where she learned to put on makeup to cover the bruises, and he bought her a wide selection of cosmetics. It didn't occur to her then to wonder why he didn't get them at the pharmacy.

When it came time for the homecoming dance, he bought her a dress and shoes to wear, and the most beautiful homecoming mum she'd ever seen. She was the happiest she'd ever been in her life back then.

The front door slammed, shaking her out of the memories. Brandy ran over to the car.

"Come on, mom. We're going out to see the horses."

Maddie got out of the car and reluctantly followed them to the barn. The waves of nostalgia were almost painful. She'd lost her virginity in the hayloft of the old barn, but nothing of it remained. Had it bothered Rand to see it every day, until he'd finally torn it down and built a new one, without memories, in its place?

She stepped into the dimly lit building, noting that it sat on a concrete foundation instead of the brick floor of the old one. Stalls lined both sides, with a dozen horses watching their every move. Saddles rested on stands outside each stall, and a large gun cabinet stood near the far door.

"Wow, you sure have a lot of horses," Brandy said. "Why so many? You can't ride all these."

Rand leaned against one stall, reaching a hand over to rub the horses nose, then encouraging Brandy to do the same. Damn, Maddie couldn't stop staring at his backside, covered in jeans that fit him like they were custom made. Which they probably were. The muscles in his arms bunched and relaxed as he stroked the horse's forehead.

"I have a dozen ready to saddle and mount up at any given time," he told Brandy. "You never know when we'll have to head out on horseback into rough terrain where cars can't go. There are another dozen or so out in the pasture. I switch them out regularly so the ones in here don't get bored being cooped up and the ones out there don't forget what they're supposed to do."

"Cool, " Brandy said. "Can I pet her?"

"Sure, but this is Rocky. Don't let him hear you calling him a girl or I'll have to bring out the horse psychologist."

Brandy laughed and climbed up on the lowest rail so she could reach him. "He's beautiful."

Rand rolled his eyes, making Brandy giggle. "Well, he is."

They moved from stall to stall as Rand introduced Brandy to each of the horses. Maddie hung back, content to watch. At one point Rand slung an arm around Brandy's shoulder and pain shot through Maddie's chest.

What had she done, keeping her daughter a secret?

What had seemed so right at the time now felt like the biggest mistake of her life.

***

Rand stepped into one of the stalls and pulled a bridle off a nail on the wall. The horse stamped one hoof and he soothed him with a quiet voice and gentle touch, slipping the bit into its mouth with ease. Brandy watched, fascinated. "Are we going to ride him?"

Rand grinned up at her as he hefted the heavy saddle from its stand. "Yep. Have you ever ridden before?"

She nodded, pony tail bouncing. "Mom and I used to ride a lot, before she got so busy."

She looked so much like Maddie, it made his heart ache. The first time he'd brought Maddie out here, she'd been terrified of the horses. He'd talked her into riding double with him, an excruciating outing for a fifteen year old. He hadn't thought about how her ass was going to fit right up against his crotch until the horse had taken its first steps and he had an instant hard on that had embarrassed him, and Maddie, too.