“Oh, Dad, I’m so scared.” She breathed the words, too frightened to whisper lest someone hear. “Where are you? Why haven’t you found me?”
Jennie stared at the stars that hung in the inky black sky outside the now dark cabin. She must have dreamed up a hundred escape plans and discarded every one of them. Rich stayed in the downstairs bedroom beneath the loft, his rifle always within reach. Jesse guarded the front of the house—Billy the back. Though Jennie hadn’t responded to Rich’s ultimatum at the dinner table, he must have known what she was thinking because he had added a third guard, Texas, to stand watch out by the vehicles and patrol the periphery. The other men were in the bunkhouse.
Jennie had hoped that her compliance would make the men more lax. It hadn’t. She couldn’t make a move outside of the house without being watched. Still, Jennie refused to give up. Nighttime offered the best chance of escape. In fact, she’d worn her shirt and jeans to bed every night, in the off chance an opportunity should arise. There had been none.
The other thing she’d hoped to do was to find out if Rich and his men had burned down Trinity. She’d brought up the subject half a dozen times, and all the response she’d gotten was that they thought Reverend Cole’s arrest was hilarious. “Serves her right,” Rich had said. The fact that they hadn’t bragged about their conquest made Jennie seriously doubt their involvement. On the other hand, they hadn’t denied it either.
As she closed her eyes, another plan began to unfold. Tomorrow night she’d stay awake. Then pretending she couldn’t sleep, she’d bring a plate of brownies and milk to the night guards. On her way from one to another, she’d slip away. She’d made friends with several of the horses the last two days. They were pastured behind the barn. She’d lure one of them, probably Missy, a beautiful Arabian mare, to the far end of the field. Then would come the tricky part of getting the horse to jump the fence. She imagined herself mounting Missy. She’d grab hold of the mane, lean forward, get her going at a full run, then sail over the barbed-wire fence to freedom.
With that thought, Jennie fell asleep.
Sometime later, Jennie awoke with a start. It was still dark, but something was definitely wrong. She’d heard something. There it was again, a faint creaking sound. The kind the stairs made when she climbed them. A dark figure approached her bed. She started to scream. His hand shot out and covered her mouth.
“Don’t make a sound,” he hissed, then leaned closer. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Jennie squinted, trying to make out his features. Moonlight glinted off his shaved blond head. Rich? No, Jared.
He drew back his hand and Jennie scooted up in bed. “What are you doing here?”
“Get dressed,” he whispered, “we’re getting—”
The living room lights came on. “Get your hands up.” Rich cocked the rifle and trained it on Jared. “Turn around so I can see you.”
Jared slowly raised his hands and turned to face his brother. “Hey, bro—what kind of greeting is that?”
“Jared?” Rich lowered his gun. “What are you doing up there?”
“Me? What’s she doing up here? This is my bedroom, remember?” Jared glanced back at Jennie, then down at Rich. “The cops finally decided to let me go. I would have been here sooner but it took me a while to lose them.”
“You sure you lost ’em?”
“I’m sure. Pretty stupid, if you ask me.” Jared started for the stairs. Jennie shrank back into the bed. She felt certain Jared had come to get her. Was he lying about losing the police? Was Dad here somewhere? Her hopes soared.
The front door opened and Jesse came in. “Everything okay in here?”
“Yeah,” Rich said. “No thanks to you. Why weren’t you at your post?”
“Something spooked the horses. Went out with Texas to check. Didn’t see nothin’. Came back and saw the lights was on.” His gaze drifted to Jared. “How’d you get in here?”
Jared shrugged and descended the stairs. “Just walked in. Must have been me that set the horses off. I came in on the south road. Sorry about that. Guess I should have let you all know I was back. Didn’t want to wake anyone. Figured I’d just hit the sack and talk to you in the morning.”
“Good to see you, kid.” Rich slung an arm around Jared’s neck. “You guys better get back out there. Knowing cops, they may have had more than one tail.” He released Jared and walked Jesse to the door. “Get the others up. I want the grounds searched. Use the dogs.”
“I told you I lost them,” Jared said. “Don’t you believe me?”
Rich lifted the curtain and peered outside. “Yeah, I believe you, I just don’t trust McGrady. He’s going to want his daughter back.”
Jared whistled, his gaze moving to the loft. “That’s Jennie?”
“Who’d you think it was?”
Jared shrugged. “A new recruit—I don’t know. Why is she here?”
“Told McGrady we’d make an exchange. Jennie for you. Didn’t the cops tell you?”
“Are you kidding? They just handed me my stuff and told me to get out.” Jared rubbed a hand across his newly shaved hair. “I was really careful, Rich. Took the old road and cut off into the woods for a couple miles.”
Jennie’s heart constricted. What was going on? Had Jared really come to get her out? Or had he just come back? What kind of game was Jared playing? And where was Dad?
“Don’t worry about it,” Rich said. “If anybody followed you in here, they won’t live to see the sunrise.”
Jared nodded and looked up into the loft, sending her a warning to play along. Or was it just a look of contempt? Jennie couldn’t be sure.
“You want your bed back?” Rich offered. “We can kick Jennie out and give her the sofa.”
Jared shook his head. “Naw, leave her there for tonight. Sofa’s too close to the door. And to tell you the truth, after tonight I don’t much trust the guys to make sure she doesn’t get loose.”
“You’re right about that. I need to get a few more men up here.”
“Ah … Rich,” Jared said as he dropped onto the couch, “now that I’m back, what are you planning to do with Jennie?”
Rich explained the options. “Kill her or take her along to Idaho.”
“I vote for killing her.” Jared scowled as he glanced up at the loft.
The words ripped into Jennie’s heart like a hunting knife. What was he doing?
Rich came back and stood over his brother, arms folded. “Do I detect a little resentment here?”
“It’s Jennie’s fault I landed in jail. She turned me in for setting that fire.”
Another lie. She’d only reported him being on the scene after the fire.
“So you did set it. I wondered.” Rich seemed pleased. Jennie felt sick.
“Yeah, I set it. And I planted evidence so that black pastor would take the fall. Went back the next day to finish it up and Jennie saw me. I want her to die, Rich, and I want to be the one to do it.”
“Hoowie! You are growing up, boy. I was beginning to think you didn’t have it in you.” Rich punched his brother in the shoulder. “Okay, I’ll miss her cooking, but you’re right. She’s trouble. Best to get her out of the way.”
“Good. I’ll take her out in the morning. Maybe one of the guys can ride along to help me dig the grave.”
Rich laughed, sending cold chills up Jennie’s spine. “You hear that, Jennie girl? Better say your prayers. Looks like tonight was your last supper.”
Long after the lights were out, Jennie lay staring into the night sky, trying to make sense of what she’d heard. Was Jared really going to kill her? She shuddered again at their cold, calculating discussion, as if killing her were no more a moral issue than hunting down and killing a deer. She desperately wanted to believe that Jared had come to sneak her out of the compound. Now she was thoroughly confused. If he meant to help her, why had he suggested to Rich that she be killed and why had he wanted one of the other men to come along—unless he really did want someone to help dig her grave?
The sun rose despite Jennie’s prayers that it wouldn’t. Jared had come in around two in the morning. Jennie slept in snatches after that, awakening again and again to dogs barking in the distance. And once, the sound of gunfire. She practically flew out of bed. Who had they killed? Though the thought it might be Dad waited on the periphery of her consciousness, she refused to entertain it.
She wavered between being terrified and being angry. By morning she felt numb. All through breakfast, Jennie listened and watched and hoped and prayed for the cavalry to ride in and take the camp by storm. Every law-enforcement agency in the state had to know she was in danger. So why didn’t they come?
She peered out the window again. Texas and Bones were standing by the victim of the gunshot she’d heard early that morning. Though the sight of the deer hanging in the yard, gutted and cooling, made her want to puke, she was thankful it wasn’t a human. Jennie piled the last of the pancakes onto a platter in the oven. She marveled at her acting abilities as she went out to the porch and rang the bell. One by one the guys straggled in. Jennie set platters of pancakes, eggs, and ham on the table, then sat down next to Jared, who’d squeezed in an extra chair.
They all bowed their heads while Rich said grace. Jennie’s anger came back full force. “You hypocrites,” she said aloud. She hadn’t meant to, but now it was too late. She pushed herself away from the table.
“Did you say something?” Rich fixed his icy glare on her, daring her to continue.
Jennie looked around at the men. Texas shot her a warning glance. She’d be nailing holes in her coffin, but what did it matter? One way or another she was going to die. She might as well have her say. “How can you call yourselves Christians? You’re nothing but cold-blooded killers. You think God would condone what you’re doing? You’re crazy.” Jennie stepped back. She could almost feel the heat of Rich’s fury as he watched her. He said nothing as she continued.
“The Gospel teaches that we are to love one another. You people don’t know what love is. And I don’t want to spend another second looking at you.” Jennie took another step back, then straightened and turned, marched through the living room, and ascended the stairs.
The silence stretched on until Jennie thought she’d explode. Would Rich come after her and beat her senseless? She dropped onto the unmade bed.
“You gonna let her get away with that?” Jesse asked.
Rich laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Jared and I are taking her out and burying her this morning.”
Less than an hour later, Jennie stood next to the Arabian with Jared on one side, Rich on the other. They mounted their horses and grabbed for Jennie’s reins at the same time.
“Great minds …” Jared flashed his brother a grin.
Rich chuckled and withdrew his hand. “You two go ahead. I’ll bring up the rear.”
Jared moved his gelding out, pulling Missy alongside. Rich didn’t trust him, Jennie could tell. That should have made her feel better, but it didn’t. She didn’t trust Jared either.
All during the hour-long ride, Jennie imagined herself taking back the reins and spurring Missy on, dodging trees, outrunning her captors. She visualized Jared getting the drop on Rich and giving her a chance to run. She even imagined herself using karate to punch and kick her abductors like she’d seen Gram do once. Only problem was, Jennie didn’t know karate.
“Stop here.” Rich pulled up his horse.
“You sure this is far enough from the house?” Jared turned his and Jennie’s horses around.
“Don’t matter. We’ll be gone by morning.” Rich drew his rifle out of his saddle holster, then unhooked two shovels from his pack. “We’ll bury her here.”
“Whatever.” Jared dismounted and came around to help Jennie down. She was on the ground when he whispered in her ear, “I’m sorry. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
Jennie turned around, looking into his sad blue eyes. He had come back to rescue her. Now they were both trapped.
“Start digging, kids.” Rich cocked the rifle. “Only, make the hole big enough for two.”