Текст книги "Heart of Texas"

Автор книги: Debie Macomber

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Текущая страница: 28 (всего у книги 32 страниц)

It wasn’t until they neared the corral that Grady noticed something was amiss. He saw Laredo, and the minute the other man caught sight of Grady and Caroline, he ran into the house, calling for Savannah. She rushed out onto the back porch.

His sister’s face was red, her eyes puffy as though she’d been weeping. That wasn’t like her.

“What is it?” he asked as he dismounted.

“Oh, Caroline, I’m so sorry.” Savannah’s voice trembled and she covered her mouth.

Confused, Caroline looked to Grady. “What’s wrong?”

Grady walked around his gelding and helped Caroline down from her horse. Her hands trembled as she held his arms.

“Where’s Maggie?” she asked, her voice oddly calm.

“That’s the problem,” Laredo said, moving to stand next to his wife. He slid his arm around Savannah’s shoulders.

“You don’t know where Maggie is?” Caroline asked, and again Grady heard that strange calm in her voice.

“I… She went outside, and the last time I checked she was sitting on the porch,” Savannah cried. “I’ve looked everywhere, called for her until my voice was hoarse. I don’t know where she could have gone.”

“Apparently she’d come out to look for me,” Laredo said.

“Did you see her?” Grady demanded.

“No.” Laredo shook his head.

“Oh, Caroline,” Savannah wept, “I’m so sorry! I should never have let her leave the house.”

Caroline’s fingers dug into Grady’s arm. Her eyes were wide and filled with terror when she looked at him, seeking reassurance.

Grady’s heart felt like a lead weight in his chest. “We’ll find her,” he promised.

7

THE CALLS LAWMEN DREADED MOST WERE domestic violence and missing children. Frank Hennessey was no exception. The report of a missing child made his blood run cold. He preferred dealing with a drunken belligerent husband any day of the week if it meant he didn’t have to see the face of a parent whose child couldn’t be found. Frank had never married, never had children, but he’d been a firsthand witness to the agony parents endure when their child disappears. All his years of law enforcement had convinced him there was no deeper pain than the loss of a child.

The call that Maggie Daniels had gone missing came minutes before Frank was due to go off duty. Grady Weston phoned it in. There’d only been one other time Frank had heard Grady sound the way he did this evening, and that was the day his parents had drowned in a flash flood.

“Are you sure she hasn’t fallen asleep somewhere in the house?” Frank felt obliged to ask.

“We’re sure, Frank.” Grady’s impatience crackled over the telephone line.

“Was she upset about anything?”

“No, she was excited about visiting the ranch,” Caroline answered, apparently from one of the extensions.

“Maggie didn’t run away, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Grady told him angrily.

In fact, Frank’s questions had been leading to that assumption. It was the most common scenario, even with kids this young. He sighed heavily. He hadn’t been around children much, but he’d taken a real liking to Caroline’s fatherless child. She was a sweetheart, and the thought of anything happening to her made his insides twist.

“Are you coming out to take a report or not?” Grady demanded.

“I’m on my way.” Frank replaced the receiver. Grady sounded as worried and frustrated as he would if he were the child’s father. In situations such as this the families were often impatient and angry, lashing out at authority because of their own helplessness. Frank had seen it before. Some of the cases he’d worked on came with happy endings. The lost child was found safe and promptly returned to the parents.

The other cases, two in his career, would forever haunt him. Missing. He’d come to think of it as the ugliest word in the English language. The first child had turned up dead; the second was never seen again.

Although the highway was deserted, Frank ran the lights on his patrol car as he sped toward the Yellow Rose Ranch. The entire forty minutes it took him to drive from town, he kept hoping against hope that by the time he arrived, Maggie would’ve been found. He wasn’t a superstitious man, nor did he believe in intuition, but his gut told him that wouldn’t be the case.

He was right.

No sooner had he pulled into the yard than the door opened and Grady hurried onto the porch. Caroline was with him, looking paler than he’d ever seen her. Grady’s eyes were dark with anxiety.

“Thank you for coming,” Caroline said, her voice determined. She was a strong woman and Frank deeply admired her grit.

Grady held the door open for him. “Savannah’s got coffee brewing,” he said, leading the way into the kitchen.

Frank looked around at the small group assembled there. Laredo had his arm around Savannah, who seemed on the verge of collapse. Her eyes were red and swollen, testifying to the tears she’d already shed.

“It’s my fault,” she said.

“No one’s laying blame,” Grady told her, his eyes softening. He brought the coffeepot over to the table where a number of mugs had been set, and he filled each one.

“But I was supposed to be watching her,” Savannah explained as Frank doctored his coffee with milk.

“It doesn’t matter who was watching her,” Caroline said, her voice shaking slightly. “What matters is that we don’t know where Maggie is now.”

“We’ll find her,” Wiley Rogers, the foreman, insisted. “Don’t you worry about that. Not a one of us will rest until Maggie’s found.”

Frank had heard words like that before, and he’d watched as families invested every penny of their life’s savings in the effort. He’d watched them invest the very heart and soul of their existence in tracing a missing child, sometimes to the point that the entire family was destroyed. He’d assumed when he moved to Promise fifteen years ago that he’d never have to deal with this sort of agony again, but he’d been wrong. It was staring him in the face this very minute.

“Savannah, since you were the last person to see Maggie, why don’t we start with you.” He withdrew a small notebook from his shirt pocket. “You were the last one to see her, right?”

Savannah nodded and Laredo moved closer to his wife’s side as if to protect her. Frank pitied her, understood the grief and guilt she must feel. He glanced away and surveyed everyone else in the room.

It was then that he noticed one family member was missing. “Where’s Richard?” he asked, interrupting Savannah.

“In town, I suspect,” Grady said.

“Driving what?”

“My pickup’s missing, so I guess he has that.”

Frank walked over to the telephone. “I want him here.”

“Of course,” Savannah said.

“You don’t think he’d take Maggie with him, do you?” Caroline asked, looking to Grady and Savannah for the answer. “I mean, we assumed he left earlier, before Maggie turned up missing, but…” She let the rest fade.

“It isn’t a good idea to assume anything.” Frank walked over to the wall phone and lifted the receiver. He barked out a few orders, then instructed his deputy to drive through town and find Richard Weston. If Richard wasn’t there, Al was to find out the last time anyone saw him and report back to Frank as soon as possible.

While he waited for Al to return the call, Frank finished the interview with Savannah and Laredo. An hour passed before the phone rang. Caroline leaped from her chair and her eyes grew wide and hopeful when Grady reached for the receiver. Without a word he handed the telephone to Frank.

Richard Weston was nowhere to be found. Neither was Grady’s truck. No one had seen him, not that day or the day before. Al reported that he wasn’t the only one looking for Richard, either, but Frank decided these people had enough trouble on their hands. He didn’t intend to add to it.

“You don’t honestly think Richard took the child, do you?” Savannah asked after he’d relayed the details of Al’s findings.

“At this point I won’t discount any coincidence. Maggie’s missing and so is Richard.”

“But I’m sure he left long before Maggie disappeared,” Savannah said.

“I’m not.” This came from Laredo. “I saw the truck. And I saw it while Maggie was in the house with you.”

* * *

UNABLE TO SLEEP, Caroline sat on the dark porch, her arms wrapped protectively around her middle. Frank had left several hours earlier. There was nothing more he could do; he’d already alerted law-enforcement officers across Texas and in the adjoining states to keep their eyes open for Maggie. Savannah had given the sheriff Maggie’s school photograph and he’d taken it into town with him. Soon Maggie’s likeness would be seen in every law office in the Southwest. The search was on for Richard, too, with an all-points bulletin issued for his arrest. Caroline knew that had something to do with information the sheriff had received, information about a crime Richard had committed back East. She didn’t know what it was, and right now she didn’t care. Finding Maggie was the only thing that mattered.

With nothing further to be done at the moment, everyone had turned in for the night. Frank had offered to follow her home, but Caroline refused to leave. If Maggie—she paused and rephrased the thought—when Maggie came back, Caroline wanted to be right here at the ranch waiting for her.

Although everyone had gone to bed, she knew no one would sleep well. She accepted one of Savannah’s nightgowns and made the pretense of going to bed, too, but the room felt suffocating. Within minutes she’d dressed again and made her way through the house and outside. She sat on the porch steps and stared into the bleak darkness.

It wasn’t long before Grady joined her. Wordlessly, with barely a sound, he sat down on the step next to her and clasped her hand. Her fingers tightened around his.

“I’m so afraid.” It was the first time she’d verbalized her fears.

“I am, too.”

She pressed her head against his shoulder and he placed his arm around her, drawing her close.

“Do you think she’s with Richard?” Caroline couldn’t shake the thought. They’d both disappeared around the same time, but that made no sense. Richard might be a lot of things, but a child-snatcher wasn’t one of them. Caroline could think of no plausible reason for him to take Maggie.

“I can’t imagine that even Richard would do anything like this,” Grady said, his voice little more than a whisper.

Caroline reminded herself that Frank believed there might be a connection between Maggie’s disappearance and Richard’s. She just couldn’t understand what it might be.

“You should try to sleep,” Grady urged.

“I can’t.” Every time she closed her eyes her imagination tormented her. She couldn’t bear the thought of her daughter hurt and crying out for her. But that was what filled her mind and heart and made sleep impossible.

“I can’t, either.”

“Oh, Grady,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Where can she be?”

He waited a moment before he answered, and she knew he was experiencing the same frustration she was. “I wish I knew.”

As the night wore on, it became more and more difficult for Caroline to hope. When she couldn’t stand the silence any longer, she buried her face in her hands and cried, “I want my daughter!”

She tried to be strong, but she didn’t think she could hold back the tears. Hysteria was edging in on her. She could feel it pushing her closer to the brink.

All at once she was completely wrapped in Grady’s arms. She clung to him, shaking almost uncontrollably as she muffled her sobs against his chest. His hold on her was firm, solid, and she needed him as she’d rarely needed anyone in her life. She wept until there were no tears left.

“This might be the worst possible time to tell you this,” Grady whispered, his mouth close to her ear. “I love you, Caroline.”

“Oh, Grady,” she sobbed.

“I know it’s new, and it might take some getting used to, but let my love be your strength for now. Lean on me if you can. Let me help you bear this. I’ll do everything in my power to get Maggie back.”

She was holding him, clutching his shoulders, like a lifeline. “I love you, too,” she whimpered, but didn’t know if he’d heard her.

“We’ll get through this,” he promised. “We’ll find Maggie.”

He sounded confident and sure, and she clung to the promise of his words.

“It’s going to be all right, understand?”

She nodded, desperately wanting to believe him.

Oh, God, she prayed, please bring my little girl home.

But God seemed far away just then.

* * *

MAGGIE’S EYES were sore from crying, but she didn’t want Richard to hear her because he’d already gotten mad and yelled at her. She huddled in the corner of the old stone building that used to be a store. It was getting dark, but there was still some light coming in through the open door. Richard had told her not to leave the room and then he’d disappeared. Maggie didn’t like Richard anymore, even if he could do magic tricks.

He was mean and he said bad words and he threw things, too. After he found her hiding in the back of Grady’s pickup, he started acting like Billy Parsons when he had a temper tantrum at his brother’s birthday party. The only thing Richard didn’t do was throw himself down on the ground and start kicking.

Her stomach growled, but Maggie had already looked around for something to eat and hadn’t found anything. She wished she’d gone horseback riding with her mommy and Grady. She was afraid of horses after last Sunday—but not nearly as afraid as she was now.

“Richard,” Maggie said, risking his wrath by walking out of the store. “I want to go home now, okay?”

“Yeah, well, you can’t have everything you want.” He was sitting outside and he had a big bottle in his hand. Every now and then, he’d take a drink. Her mother had told Maggie it wasn’t good manners to drink out of a bottle, but she didn’t tell Richard that because he’d only yell at her again.

“Can we go back to the ranch?” she asked.

“No.” He growled the word at her and laughed when she leaped back, frightened by the harsh sound of his voice. “I’ve got an idea,” he said, leaning toward her. “Why don’t you go fall in an empty well and save me a lot of trouble?”

Maggie hurried back into the old store and sat down on the lone chair. When it grew dark, she ventured over to the stable where he’d parked the truck. There was enough moonlight to find her way, but she walked very carefully, afraid of holes in the road and snakes…and Richard. Climbing into the bed of the pickup, she curled up with the sleeping bag she’d found earlier. She was cold and hungry and more afraid than she’d ever been in her whole life.

Every once in a while she could hear Richard singing. He played his guitar and sang, but his voice didn’t sound right. It was like he’d mashed all the words together. She used to think he had a good voice; she didn’t think so anymore.

Soon she fell asleep and didn’t awake until light peeked through a crack in the stable door. She was so hungry her stomach hurt.

She clambered out of the truck and walked back to the main street. The early morning was very still.

Richard was asleep in the rocker. His guitar lay on the wooden sidewalk, and he’d slouched down in the chair with his feet stretched out. His arms dangled over the edges of the rocker until his fingertips touched the ground close to the empty bottle. His head lolled to one side.

“Richard,” she whispered. “I’m hungry.”

He opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times.

“I’m hungry,” she repeated, louder this time.

“Get out of here, kid.”

“I want my mommy,” she said, and her lower lip wobbled. “I don’t like it here. I want to go home.”

Richard slowly sat up and rubbed his face. “Get lost, will ya?”

Maggie didn’t mean to, but she started to cry. She’d always thought Richard was her friend, and now she knew he wasn’t.

“Stop it!” he shouted and scowled at her.

Sobbing, Maggie ran away from him.

“Maggie,” he called after her, but she didn’t stop, running between two of the buildings.

“Damn it.”

Maggie pretended not to hear him and, thinking he might try to follow her, she crept down the side of a building, then slipped inside another store.

The town was old. Really, really old. Older than any place she’d ever been. It smelled old. None of the buildings had paint, either. It sure seemed like no one had lived here for a long time. Some of the places had stuff inside. The store had a table and chair and shelves. But there were only a few cans sitting around—they looked kind of strange, like they might burst. Plus a cash register. She’d tried to get it to work, but it wouldn’t open for her.

Maggie wasn’t sure what kind of shop this had been, but it had a big cupboard. Maybe she could hide from Richard there. She opened the door and saw that it had shelves. On one of the shelves was a doll. A really old one, with a cotton dress and apron and bonnet. The doll’s face had been stitched on. It wasn’t like any doll she’d ever seen. The only one she owned with cloth arms and legs was Raggedy Ann, but her clothes were bright and pretty. This doll’s clothes were all faded.

“Are you scared, too?” she asked the doll.

The stitched red mouth seemed to quaver a bit.

Suddenly she heard Richard’s footsteps outside.

“Maggie, damn it! You could get hurt racing around this old town.”

Maggie didn’t care what Richard said—she didn’t like him. She crouched down inside the cupboard and shut the door, leaving it open just a crack so she could see out.

“Are you hungry?” he called. She watched him stop in the doorway, staring into the building. Maggie’s heart pounded hard and she bit her lower lip, afraid he might see her.

“Come on, kid,” he growled.

Maggie clutched the old doll to her chest and closed her eyes. She wanted Richard to go away.

“I’m going to cook breakfast now,” he said, moving away. He continued down the sidewalk with heavy footsteps. “When you’re ready, you can come and eat, too.”

Maggie waited a long time and didn’t move until she smelled bacon frying. Her stomach growled again. It’d been hours and hours since she’d eaten.

Her grip on the doll loosened and she looked into its face again. It was a sad face, Maggie realized, as if the doll was about to cry. Maggie felt like crying, too. She missed her mommy.

Slipping her backpack off her shoulders, Maggie opened it and carefully tucked the sad doll inside.

“I cooked you some bacon and eggs,” Richard called.

This time Maggie couldn’t resist. She pushed open the cupboard door and slowly walked out of the old building.

“There you are,” Richard said, holding out a plate to her.

Maggie didn’t trust Richard anymore and moved cautiously toward him. If he said something mean, she was prepared to run.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Richard told her.

“What about the bad words?”

“I’m sorry about those, too.”

“Will you take me home now?” she asked, standing in the middle of the dirt street.

Richard stood by the post where people used to hitch their horses. He didn’t look like he was sorry, even if he said he was.

Maggie’s stomach was empty and making funny noises.

“You really want to go home now?” Richard asked. He sounded surprised that she’d want to leave. He made it seem like she was supposed to be having fun.

“I want to see my mommy.”

“Okay, okay, but we need to talk about it first.” He set the plate of food aside and sat down on the steps leading to the raised sidewalk.

“Why?”

He scratched his head. “Do you remember Grady getting mad at Savannah about coming to the ghost town?” he asked.

Maggie nodded. Grady had been real upset with Savannah when he found out she’d been to the town. Savannah had come to look for special roses, and Grady had stomped around the house for days. Even Laredo wasn’t happy when Savannah wanted to come back and look for more roses.

“Now, this is very important,” Richard said, his voice low and serious. “You mustn’t let anyone know where you’ve been, understand?”

Her chin came up a little. “Why not?”

“You love your mommy, don’t you?”

Maggie nodded.

“If anyone finds out you’ve been here…” He stopped and glanced in both directions as if he was afraid someone might be listening. “If anyone finds out, then something really bad will happen to your mother.”

Maggie’s eyes grew big.

“Do you know what ghosts are?” Richard asked.

“Melissa Washington dressed up in a sheet and said she was a ghost last Halloween,” Maggie told him.

“There are good ghosts and bad ghosts.”

“Which kind live here?” Maggie whispered.

“Bad ones,” he whispered back. His voice was spooky. She wondered if he was trying to scare her on purpose.

“Bad ones?” she repeated faintly.

“Very bad ones, and if you tell anyone, even your best friend, then the bad ghosts will find out and hurt your mother.”

“How…how will they hurt Mommy?”

“You don’t want to know, kid.” He squeezed his eyes shut and made an ugly face, as if just telling her about it would upset him.

Maggie blinked, not sure she should believe him.

“Remember when Wiley cut his hand and Savannah had to wrap it up for him?”

“Yes…”

“That’s what bad ghosts will do to your mommy, only it wouldn’t just be her hand.”

Maggie forgot all about the smell of bacon. Wiley’s hand had bled and bled. Blood had gotten everywhere, and she could remember being surprised that one hand had so much blood in it. Just looking at it had made her feel sick to her stomach.

“You wouldn’t want anything bad like that to happen to your mommy, would you?”

Maggie shook her head.

“I didn’t think so.”

“Can I go home now?”

He studied her for a long time. “You won’t tell anyone?”

“No.”

“Cross your heart?”

“Cross my heart.” She made a big X over her heart.

“I’d hate to see your mommy hurt, wouldn’t you?”

Maggie nodded.

“Then maybe it’d be all right if I took you home.”

Maggie sighed with relief. She was tired and hungry, and all she wanted was to see her mother again.

Richard helped her into the cab of Grady’s truck. He made her curl up on the seat and keep her head down so she couldn’t see as they drove away. Every time she closed her eyes she thought about a bad ghost and what might happen to her mother if she told anyone where she’d been. She still wasn’t sure if Richard was lying, but she couldn’t take any chances. She remembered how angry Grady had been with Savannah. When she asked her mother about it, Caroline had explained that Savannah had gone to a dangerous place. Now Maggie understood why Grady was so upset. That town was really creepy, and the more she thought about it, the more she believed there were bad things in those buildings.

The ride was bumpy and she was tossed about, but Richard wouldn’t let her sit up and look out the window until they were on the real road.

“Remember, kid, you never saw me. Got that?”

“I never saw you,” she repeated solemnly.

“Your mother’s life depends on you keeping your trap shut. You wouldn’t want your mother dead, would you?”

“No.”

“Good. Just remember that the first time you’re tempted to tell someone where you were.”

“I’ll remember. I won’t tell.” Maggie didn’t want her mommy to die. Not like her grandmother. Or Savannah’s parents. Or Emma Bishop’s daddy.

Richard didn’t drive her all the way back to the Yellow Rose. He stopped at the top of the driveway, leaned across her and opened the truck door.

“Remember what I said,” he told her again. His eyes were mean.

“I’ll remember,” she promised, and before he could change his mind, she climbed out of the truck. She stumbled as she jumped down and fell, scraping her elbows. She began to cry, hardly noticing that Richard had driven off, tires squealing.

With her backpack hitting her shoulder blades, Maggie raced toward the ranch house. The driveway was long and her legs felt like they were on fire before the house finally came into view.

Grady stood on the porch with a cup of coffee, but the moment he saw her, he gave a loud shout and flung the cup away. Then he leaped off the porch without using any of the steps and ran toward her.

Almost immediately afterward, her mother threw open the screen door and placed both hands over her mouth. Then she started running, too. Maggie had never been so happy to see her mother. She was even glad to see Grady. He waited for Caroline and let her go to Maggie first. Maggie liked that.

Her mother caught her in her arms and held her tight, then started to cry. She was worried about the bad ghosts, Maggie reasoned. She didn’t need to be afraid, because Maggie wouldn’t tell. Not anyone. Not ever.

Grady wrapped his arms around them both. He closed his eyes the way people did in church when they prayed. When he opened them again, he smiled at her. Maggie liked the way he smiled. It was a nice smile, not mean.

“Boy, we’re glad to see you,” he said.

* * *

SAVANNAH WIPED the tears from her face as she strolled along the pathway in her rose garden. But this morning she didn’t appreciate the beauty of the roses. Nor did she find the solace she normally did here. If she lived to be a hundred years old, she didn’t want to go through another day like the past one.

Although Caroline had repeatedly told her it wasn’t her fault that Maggie had turned up missing, Savannah blamed herself. She’d been preoccupied with baking bread, her head full of the romance developing between her brother and her best friend. What she should have been doing was keeping careful watch over her best friend’s child.

“I thought I’d find you here.” Laredo walked up from behind her.

She didn’t want him to know she’d been crying, but wasn’t sure she could hide it.

“Sweetheart, why are you still upset? Maggie’s home safe and sound.”

“I know.”

“Then what’s bothering you?”

Her chest tightened, and she waited until the ache eased before she answered. “My brother.”

Laredo clasped her shoulders. “Richard?”

She nodded. “He was involved in Maggie’s disappearance. I know it.”

“I have to admit it’s mighty suspicious.”

“Maggie won’t say a word. Everyone’s tried to get her to say where she was, but she refuses. Even Frank Hennessey can’t get her to budge.”

“It doesn’t matter. She’s home now.”

“But it does matter,” Savannah said passionately. “Laredo, tell me, where did Grady and I go wrong?”

“Sweetheart, your brother’s an adult who makes his own decisions. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re his sister, not his mother, and even if you were, I’d say the same thing. Richard is his own person, responsible for himself.”

“In my head I agree with everything you’re saying, but that doesn’t take away the pain.”

Laredo guided her to the patio set and made her sit down in one of the white wrought-iron chairs.

“I was the one who convinced Grady to let him stay.”

“Yes, but that’s because Richard’s your brother.”

“If I’d listened to Grady that first night, none of this would have happened.”

“Oh, my love, that’s the risk of having a gentle heart. Someone’s bound to take advantage of it. I’m sorry it had to be your own brother.”

“He’s hurt so many people.” That was what troubled Savannah most. It wasn’t just she and Grady who’d been hurt, but others. Who knew how many? Wherever he’d spent the past six years, she had no doubt he’d left victims behind. People like the shopkeepers in Promise. He’d defrauded them, humiliated them, and ultimately she was the one to blame. Savannah didn’t know if she could forgive herself. “I should’ve let Grady kick him out that first day,” she muttered fiercely.

“You don’t think he’s coming back?”

She shook her head. “All his things are gone.”

“Everything?”

She nodded and swallowed tightly. “Including Grady’s truck.”

Laredo swore under his breath. “Did Grady talk to Sheriff Hennessey?” he asked.

Savannah looked down at her clenched hands.“Yes,” she said, her voice small. “That was when he learned…”

“Learned what?”

She sighed. “There’s more, Laredo. Richard’s charged thousands of dollars’ worth of goods in Promise. He owes money to everyone in town. There was never any check. He didn’t intend to pay for any of the things he charged and now he’s gone.” She squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to keep the tears at bay. “You should have seen the look on Grady’s face when Frank told him. It was the same look he had six years ago—when he found out what Richard did then. After Mom and Dad died…”

Savannah hadn’t thought herself capable of such intense anger. She looked her husband in the eye and said, “I think I hate my own brother.”