Whisper In The Dark (The McKinnon Legends-- The American Men Book One) (24 page)

Tony could feel the muscles working in his jaw threatening to give him a migraine. This was not working out the way he wanted. He was operating on a deadline, and this new development put a serious kink in the plan. If he did not get the gold, there was not going to be a rock big enough for him to crawl under to hide from Big Johnny. The debt he owed would never be forgiven and taking off was not an option either. The world had just gotten too small in the last ten years for him to take up residence in some armpit, third-world country.

“Find where the love birds are hiding out. Then figure out where the woman he was with in Mexico can be reached.”

What he needed was for Robert to be distracted, and the tasty blonde dish he saw Robert with on the television was the very thing to provide that distraction. If he could manage to get them back together, then Robert would have his hands full. A wife and a beautiful girlfriend in the same vicinity was always a formula for catastrophe. He would be the one to benefit from that disaster.

Tony was finished with his meal, his appetite totally gone with his plan failing yet again. With this development he had one more issue to overcome, and he did not need Razor stating the obvious to him.

“If she is now a McKinnon, Tony, not only is she unobtainable legally, but now we have the whole damn McKinnon clan to deal with as well.”

Razor did not like the thought of what that might actually mean. Not an appetizing thought to say the least. One McKinnon was bad enough, but the whole family was a formidable obstacle, and he doubted they were equipped with enough resources to overcome the whole McKinnon lot.

“I should have seen this coming,” Tony thought out loud.

Robert was too soft for his own good. Brice was an idiot. Those two facts were a certainty in his mind. When Brice came to him with his plan to marry Katherine, he thought it was sound enough. Having secured enough information from Kyle he knew about the cache box which had contained the red book, and even if he did not have the red book he did have the container. He had given Brice an order to rebury it, certain Robert and Kate would find it if they went looking, and he was certain they would go looking. Robert would have to accept it as the buried treasure, and then Kate would have the land back.

Brice had agreed to split the findings of the true treasure 75/25 as long as he got Kate. Tony felt it was a fair trade off, especially since he had plans on killing Brice anyway. Then he was going to use George as leverage against Katherine to get his hands on more than just the other twenty-five percent.

Now, Tony had to get Robert and Brice out of the way.

He fully expected the next big headline to read: "Dallas Langston’s Progeny Found Dead, Blood Left on Robert McKinnon's Hands."

Robert watched as Kate attempted to tie off her kayak. His offer of help had already earned him one mild tongue-lashing and holes drilled through him from her scathing glare. He just let it all roll off his back.

“If you do not want my help, I’m going back to the cabin,” he threatened, but made no effort to move.

His standing there with his hands in his pants pockets looking amused set her teeth on edge.

“Fine. Go,” she said fighting with the knot. “I can tie a damn knot, Robert. It might not be as pretty as yours and you may have to cut it off, but I will get it tied one way or the other.”

The last was spoken under her breath and accompanied by a few choice words best not spoken in polite company.

They had spent the last few days relaxing and basically doing nothing. Kayaking seemed to be an activity they both enjoyed, and it helped work off some of the energy he was building that was not being released by other more enjoyable means. She had not let him close to her since that first night. They had a great time together as long as he kept his distance from anything physical which might lead to intimacy. After he quit pushing, she relaxed and he found her to be great company.

He had taught her to fly fish, and she had taught him patience. Once she got the hang of it, she was actually pretty good, bringing in the largest haul. Supper the night before had been very good, consisting of a fresh catch grilled to perfection.

He showed her how to play golf. She showed him she had a mean swing, and he should have never put that driver into her hands if he truely wanted to win the round. She was a natural, and he had thoroughly enjoyed watching her swing. Her sense of competition was deep, but sportsmanlike.

He had tutored her in the art of cooking, agreeing with her admission that she had no talent in the kitchen. He had extended the lack of talent to also tying knots.

“Come back through the eye, Kate. You are trying to do it backwards. It’s going to release if you tie it off like that. Here, let me help.”

He came back down the pier.

He reached around her and taking her hands in his he guided the rope to the starting position.

“Let the rope rest in your hand with a small bend, then make a small eye several inches above the end.” He waited for her to perform the task as he guided her hands. “That’s right. Now, slip the end though the eye. Now, bring it up and around. Now, go back down through.”

She looked back at him standing over her shoulder. He took the rope out of her hand and turned her around. Kate knew what was coming next. He was going to kiss her and that could not happen because the last few days were wearing down her resolve. She wanted that kiss and it spooked her.

“Robert, don’t.” Kate shook her head, stepping away.

“Watch your step!” he shouted too late.

He tried to grab her, but she went backwards, over the side of the pier, and straight into the frigid water.

“Oh, this water is cold! Get me out of here!” She was tangling up in the mooring lines and was going under fast. Panic raced through his blood as he watched her go under again. Her down jacket quickly became waterlogged. It was like a weight pulling her under. Her jeans and fur lined boots were forcing her to fight to keep her head above the waterline.

“Robert, help me! Help me, I cannot swim!” She went under again. She had come back up twice already spitting water.

“Here, grab my hand. Don’t panic, Kate. I’ve got you.” He was laying flat on the pier. The last thing he needed was for her to pull him in as well.

Gaining a firm hold on her wrist he pulled her up and over the side of the pier, none too ceremoniously, leaving her in a cold and wilted heap of down and faux fur. She was freezing and shaking so badly that he needed to remove all her sopping clothing to save her from going into hypothermia. Wrapping his jacket around her, he scooped her up and ran up the pier to the cabin.

The water was a bone-chilling thirty-eight degrees, and it had taken him several minutes to get her untangled from the mooring lines. She was close to hypothermia and had taken in some lake water. Carrying her straight into the shower, he turned on the warm water and placed her under the spray where she shivered in spite of the warmth. Discarding his own clothes down to his briefs, he crawled in with her rubbing her frozen limbs. It did not take long for the color to begin to return to her lips which had turned an unflattering shade of lavender.

“You scared the life out of me,” he said pulling her close as much for comfort as warmth.

“Mmmmeee, tooooo,” she shivered with teeth chattering. “Nooot exacttllly the waaaay IIII waaanted toooo learn toooo swwwim.”

They stayed there until the hot water began to run cold. Dressing her in one of his warmest flannel shirts layered over her own shirts, he tucked her securely into bed.

“I’m going down to the corner store for some cold medicine. It’s best to have it handy in case you become symptomatic. Can I bring you anything special?”

She shook her head. “No, thank you. Just hurry back.”

“You can count on it,” he said kissing her softly on the top of her head. “Stay under the covers. I won’t be long.”

Stopping by the gas station just a few miles up the road from the cabin, Robert stopped dead in his tracks as the AM radio station broadcasted the news at the top of the hour. News of the murder of the county clerk and her preacher husband less than two hours earlier was the breaking story. They had been tortured and then shot. Neighbors had heard the gunshots and called authorities who arrived at the gruesome scene. There was no apparent motive for the murders.

Robert knew. They were killed for the information of Kate's whereabouts.

“Oh, God!” He dropped the items where he stood and dashed back to the truck. There was precious little time, and she was at the cabin by herself.

He jumped in the truck, stomped the gas, and peeled out of the store parking lot leaving a startled cashier in his wake.

Skidding to a stop less than a yard from the cabin door, he left the SUV running and the passenger side door open for a quick load of his precious cargo.

“Kate, we have to go, now! You have one minute!” he said bursting into the house.

Grabbing the suitcase out of the closet, he unceremoniously tossed it onto the bed ordering her to pack only those things she could not absolutely live without. Other than a few mementos of the days they had spent together that were already packed in one place for safekeeping, she was good to go. Everything else was replaceable.

In less than a minute, he was helping her into the SUV shielding her body with his and turning onto the highway.

“Here,” he handed her the phone opting to have his full and undivided attention on the road. “Hit this button the second you get a signal.”

Several miles passed before she saw the signal bars appear on the LED readout screen on his phone.

“It’s ringing,” she said handing him the phone back.

The call was to Chase. He left nothing out briefing him on the latest developments, asking him to call and ready the plane for their return home, and to double the security waiting for them upon their arrival back at his ranch.

“Kate, did you redo your will?” he asked after getting off the phone.

She thought it was a strange question, but answered anyway. She was quickly discovering there was usually a good reason why Robert asked the questions he did.

“Yes, and I signed it in Carson City along with the prenuptial agreement.”

“Who is beneficiary?” Robert asked looking back through the review mirror. She had noticed he was hyper vigilant.

“You get everything, and if you are not able to inherit, it goes to the McKinnon Trust. I did that on the advice of Mr. Lyles.”

“I knew I liked that man,” he mumbled under his breath. He too had changed his will. Katherine would benefit from his death with all his worldly possessions passing directly to her.

About that time they passed three motorcycles, their riders all dressed in black with full-faced helmets. Nothing unusual about that, but he wanted to be safe.

“Kate, get in the back seat and down onto the floorboard. Stay there no matter what,” he ordered seeing the three bikes make a sudden U-turn.

“Robert what is going on?” she asked while crawling over the front seat.

“Some very serious shit. Hang on. This could get rough.”

Forcing her head down, there was very little chance of outrunning them as the first bullet ripped through the back windshield. Glass sprayed the interior in a shower of deadly shards.

“Are they trying to kill us?” she asked now understanding what was happening.

“No, they’re trying to kill me. They need you.” There would be no advantage to killing them both. The McKinnon Trust would be the legal beneficiary of the land.

“Then damn it, tell me what to do!” She shouted feeling helpless and angry. Robert was not going to die because of her if she could help.

“Kate, when I say ‘now’ open the right side door and hang on tight. Can you do that without getting close to the door itself?”

“Yes!” she shouted grabbing the extra ore from the kayak.

“Ok. Ready. Hold it. Now!” he shouted slamming on the breaks and veering very close to the drop off as one of the bikes came around to block them off.

Kate saw the rider hit the door she had pushed open with the now shattered oar. She watched in morbid fascination as he went flying off the edge of the drop with the SUV’s door following close behind as it skidded over the gravel edge. The other bike on the left passed them unable to stop. Making a U-turn, he headed back at them head on as the third bike continued to gain ground as well.

“Big mistake!” Robert shouted as he slammed on the brakes for a second time turning the SUV sideways in the narrow two-lane road. The bike hit the front left quarter panel sending the rider who was coming up from behind flying over the hood. Kate raised her head just enough to see the bike and rider skid along the asphalt both tumbling like rag dolls down the sharp grade of the road.

Jamming the SUV in reverse, he had to get the front end facing downhill before the third bike gained any more ground. The only way to do that was to back over the first bike as it lay sideways on the roadway. He could not afford to get the motorcycle hung under the chassis of the truck, so he knew he was going to have to stand his ground.

“Hold your ears!” he shouted as he fired his firearm through the passenger side window at the oncoming assailant. Kate squeezed her eyes shut and slammed her palms over her ears the second she saw what he was doing. Glass shattered in all directions as the bullet pierced the window.

The report was deafening, but the plan worked. He saw the rider fly off backwards from the impact of the bullet and roll to a stop some twenty feet from the SUV. His motorcycle kept coming even without its rider and careened into the back right quarter panel of the SUV, throwing Kate into the left back passenger door.

Robert was not hanging around to see if any of them were still alive, and other than a quick cursory check, he really did not have time to determine the damage to his wife or the vehicle.

“You hit?” he asked getting the SUV turned down the hill.

“No.”

“Stay down until we get to safety. They may have friends lying in wait.”

She felt him punch the gas and flee the scene. It had been over and done in seconds.
Going south in the blink of an eye
, just as he had said.