Marco followed Puff to the cave. The dog barked and sniffed, then he kept running from the cave’s opening to Marco, over and over. They heard motors roaring up at the house.
“Cavalry has arrived,” Marco said. Puff barked in reply and went back to the cave entry.
“That makes sense,” Marco said, hoping he’d have backup soon. He’d texted Alan to send the authorities this way. “He’d take her through the cave to get her off Triple R land fast.”
Marco sure wasn’t going to wait around for their backup to find them. Texting Alan again to say he thought they’d taken the cave, but they needed to check the whole area around the cave and the river, he patted the anxious dog on the head. “Let’s go, Puff.”
They entered the narrow cave, the warm temperature falling ten degrees as a dank, musky smell assaulted Marco’s nostrils. The darkness took a minute to get used to, but Marco couldn’t wait for his eyes to adjust.
He held his high-powered flashlight up and then moved it down, seeing nothing. Puff sniffed here and there, but the dog kept going back to one spot. The same spot where he and Amelia had seen boot prints the other day.
Marco quickly flashed his light to where Puff had sniffed over and over. Definitely fresh footprints, but one indention stood out from the others. It looked like a rough arrow pointing to the Park Meadow side of the river.
Marco’s pulse rose as he bent down and held the light steady so he could be sure. Puff woofed and did circles. “Good boy,” Marco said. “I think Amelia left us a clue.”
He checked it again from every angle. The long straight muddy line with two tented marks indented on each side looked like an arrow pointing straight ahead. How she managed this, he’d never know. As long as she was alive, he didn’t care. He got that they’d gone this way.
“Let’s go, Puff,” he said. “But we have to be quiet now.”
He hadn’t thought about the dog barking an alert. But he couldn’t make Puff go home now. He didn’t have time to worry about that.
Marco and the dog made it through the cave and out the other side, where fresh footprints had indented the grass on a worn trail through the pasture and woodland.
Marco studied the footprints, one hard and with rigid impressions. The other indented with flower imprints. A woman’s boot tracks, no doubt. And Amelia’s old tan boots had flowers etched in the leather. Puff sniffed here and there but seemed determined to get to where Amelia might be.
Marco felt the same way. Why had he left her alone? He knew she was bold and impulsive, and yet, he’d walked out and left her, thinking to protect her, and thinking that by now she’d know to sit tight until they could meet back up. Had she picked a fight with him deliberately? She had received a phone call. Only one thing would have made her leave the house—if she thought she could talk to Daniel alone.
He promised himself when he found Diego, he’d punch him in the face first and ask questions later. Diego had obviously lured Amelia out of the house, and she’d somehow gotten past the guard Marco had watching her room.
None of that could be changed now. He kept hurrying through the path, finding broken branches here and there. When he reached the thicket surrounding the main house at Park Meadow, he held Puff and patted the dog’s head. “Hush up now. You can’t bark. Quiet.”
Puff whimpered and did a low growl. Maybe Ben Nesmith had trained the dog properly because Puff did understand commands.
“Good boy.”
Marco followed the edge of the woods past the herd of longhorns and the beautiful horses grazing in the corral. Someone had been taking care of things, but where was Kent Parker?
And where were Diego and Amelia?
Marco and Puff finally arrived at the edge of the big yard where the stables were located. No workers lived on this property, which meant they came and did their work and left as needed. So he couldn’t count on finding anyone this late in the day. Diego had probably planned it that way.
They rounded the corner of the barn where the loft was located. Puff barked, but Marco held him and quieted him. The dog sniffed and whined. Marco glanced around, the last of the sunset sharpening the angles in a golden light. He watched the door and the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of Amelia, but the blinds were shut tight, and the door the same. He checked the steps, thinking he could hide there.
Then his eye caught something glistening in the grassy weeds. “Shh,” he told Puff. The dog got quiet as they slipped from building to building until Marco was near the steps. He glanced down again, his heart flatlining before he regained his pulse.
Amelia’s bracelet. Either she’d lost it in a struggle, or she’d left it here on purpose. Because she rarely went anywhere without her bracelet. Marco picked it up, thinking of how she held to the charms when she was agitated, remembering how she always put it on her bedside table each night and put it back on each morning. He remembered cleaning this bracelet when she’d gotten hurt a few days ago.
Turning it over, he stared at the circular charm with the oak tree etched in it—the tree of life. Then he studied the engraved initials—DP and AG. It had a double side. When he flipped it over, he was surprised to see two Ds on each side with a bigger P in the middle. Daniel Parker? Or had someone put the truth right there on her bracelet. Daniel and Diego Parker.
He had to find her and tell her the truth. Not just the truth about Daniel and Diego and this whole mess, but the truth of him falling in love with her. He hadn’t been sure before, but now, no matter what was still between them, he wanted her to know how he felt. What if he never had an opportunity to tell her that?
He placed the bracelet in his jeans pocket and hurried up the steps, careful to stay quiet. Puff seemed to understand but the dog growled low, as if he smelled someone he didn’t like. Marco didn’t hesitate. He kicked the door in and rushed inside.
And saw the walls lined with photos of Amelia. Even photos from Caddo Lake. This man had been watching her long before Marco got there. Pushing that to the back of his brain, Marco searched the whole place. Nothing. No one.
He came back out to the landing, Puff at his heels. Where had they gone? Then he heard a gunshot. Coming from the main house.
Marco took off running, the dog behind him barking with each step. No time to do anything but get to Amelia. He didn’t want to think about what might be going on inside that house, but he knew he had to get there before it was too late.
Amelia kept her gun on Diego. She’d missed his heart, but his arm was bleeding. “I’ll have better aim next time,” she warned him. “I agreed to come here so we could talk in private, but I’m tired now, Diego. This isn’t working for me.”
Diego lifted his gun in what had become a showdown, ignoring the blood trickling down his left arm. “You shouldn’t have done that, Amelia. How can I trust you now?”
“I can’t trust you,” she shouted, her mind roiling with everything he’d confessed to her earlier. She’d pulled out her gun without thinking, ready to end this.
Kent was with Rhoda? She’d kept him busy, wooing him to fall in love with her again? The poor man had no idea what was going on at his ranch. He’d left the foreman in charge, but Diego was now calling the shots. So that could mean the foreman had been dismissed or, worse, was dead.
“Kent won’t come home for a while. He can’t until I’m ready to tell him the news,” Diego told her once they were inside the main house. “We’ll keep moving until you make your decision.”
She’d talked him down earlier, telling him she needed more time to adjust since he looked so much like Daniel. “I think I can do this, Diego. It’s the perfect plan. We can run the ranch together—you as the rightful heir and me, because I love the ranch and I think I can love you one day.”
“That would be the dream.” His calm tone belied the frantic nature of his movements. He was jittery and nervous, sweat pouring down his face, his shirt wet and sticking to his skin. It was hot and muggy in the house, but the air conditioner finally kicked on. She’d waited until he went to get some water and then she’d pulled her gun out and shot at him. She’d hit his left arm, but it could just be a graze.
Now, she wanted answers. He could shoot her if he wanted, but she’d shoot him back if she had no other choice.
“Did you kill him?” she asked.
Diego shook his head. “No, I don’t want to kill the man. Kent did raise Daniel after all. Now I can be his son. Leo is gone. It’s a no-brainer. All you’ll need to do is sign the Triple R over to me. Once we’re married, I’ll put your name back on the deed.” He moved closer. “Put the gun down, Amelia. We can talk this out. Don’t make me shoot you.”
“If you pull that trigger, I’ll do the same,” she said. “I mean it. My whole life has changed, and you owe me some answers.”
He nodded, his voice weak now. “I just want you and the ranch. You owe me that, don’t you think?”
She would never marry this man. He had to be demented to even think that after he’d harassed her and hurt others. Killed others. She owed him nothing. But his parents and Leo had done a number on him.
So she asked, “Did you kill Leo?”
Diego waved the gun so fast, she thought he’d shoot her. But he just held the weapon and inched closer. “What do you think?”
“He died suddenly and with no known illnesses, but the body wasn’t examined closely. Natural causes.”
“Then that’s your answer,” Diego said, moving backward to a window, his gun still trained on her. “I hear a dog barking. Let’s go.”
“No,” she said, moving toward him in a swift run.
He turned so quickly, she didn’t see him coming. With a burst of strength, he knocked the gun out of her hand, then grabbed her wrist, a flinch of pain on his face, his fingers burning against her skin.
“You don’t get to order me around, Amelia. Now I know you don’t really want us to be together. So you’ll write a note, leaving the ranch to me. Then I’ll kill you.”
“No one is going to let you have the ranch, Diego. Neither of these ranches. There’s too much evidence against you.”
“Then I’ll have to keep you alive, for collateral.”
She twisted around to get her gun from the floor, wanting so badly to pull the trigger. But he was too quick. He shot but hit a cabinet and cracked the door. “You’ll be next,” he said, grabbing her arm again.
She struggled against his bloody hand, but he managed to knock her gun away from her feet and send it flying across the room. Then he dragged her toward the back door and opened it, only to find Marco’s gun aimed at him.
“Let her go,” Marco said, his eyes storming with fire, his expression marked with rage.
Amelia shook her head, relief followed by apprehension. “Marco, he’ll kill you.”
Diego twisted her around and held her in front of him. “She’s right. I’d planned on killing you anyway. Might as well be now. You can watch me shoot her first.”
Marco didn’t bulge. “Let her go and you can take me.”
“Nope. Sorry, you’re not a part of this equation. You are a nuisance, however.” He moved closer, his gun in Amelia’s ribs.
“You won’t get far,” Marco said. “We’ve got this place surrounded.” Outside, Puff barked a sharp warning.
“All the more reason to take her with me,” Diego said. “Get out of my way or I’ll shoot her—I don’t want to kill her because we’re going to Santa Fe, and we’ll be married. That should tie things up nicely. My mamma and daddy might finally be proud of me. I’ll have a new bride and the Rio Rojo, too.”
“I can’t let you take her,” Marco said, realization cresting in his gaze. “Your plan won’t work. Your plan is falling apart, and you know it. I can see the desperation in your eyes.”
Amelia saw the fear in Marco’s eyes when he looked at her, but she also saw the love. He’d die for her. “Marco, let me go with him,” she whispered. “He needs me. He won’t kill me. I’ll sign over the ranch, Diego. Just let Marco go.”
That made Diego even madder. In one swift move, he shielded himself with her and shot at Marco. Marco shot back but over their heads. Then he fell down on the side porch near the kitchen, blood pouring a few inches from his heart.
“Marco,” Amelia screamed. “Marco.”
He didn’t move. Puff came up and sniffed at him, then whimpered. He came running, but Diego kicked at him and missed. Puff backed up but kept barking.
Sirens sounded in the background.
“I hope they find you,” she shouted at Diego. “You are an evil monster, and you’ll never own the Rio Rojo. They’ll have all the evidence to put you away forever.”
“Shut up. I’ve covered my tracks. I don’t exist, remember. Besides Kent and my mother, you’re the only one who even knows about me. I took care of your precious PI, and that useless Ben Nesmith, too. He turned into a coward. Didn’t want to murder a woman.”
Amelia held the scream that echoed inside her head. While he forced her toward a waiting truck behind the garage, she tried to leave prints on everything. She had no gun now, but she still had her phone hidden in her jeans. He was injured and that meant he could lose control of the wheel. If she could get the truck off the road, she’d run through the woods.
His next words gave her hope. “You’re driving,” he said. “I’m hurt and I can’t trust you. So you drive. I’ll keep my gun on you to make sure you do as I say.”
Right now, she had to calm down and get him calmed down, so she got in on the driver’s side. The sun would set soon, and it would be hard to get away. She glanced back to the porch.
And saw Marco lift his head.
He wasn’t dead.
Holding her breath, she glanced toward Diego. He’d been so focused on her, he hadn’t noticed.
She would have to see this through to the bitter end, but she wouldn’t give up on Marco.
Amelia began a silent prayer. Lord, give me strength, and please, help Marco. Don’t let him die. I need him. I need You.
She prayed as she cranked the motor, hoping someone would find her. And she prayed that if her time was up, she’d be able to accept that and somehow forgive this madman who’d taken her for all the wrong reasons.
“Where?” she asked, tears on her face, the image of Marco lying there burning through her soul.
Diego wiped his face, smearing blood across his jaw. “I told you, New Mexico. My mother wants to meet you.”
No way she’d let him take her over the state line and all the way to New Mexico to get married. Rhoda would certainly kill Amelia with her bare hands. And probably Diego, too. Amelia would find a way to stay in Texas, and to stay alive. She’d just have to keep him talking while she figured out a different route.
“How will we get there? People will be looking for me.”
The sun had disappeared as a dark cloud hovered overhead. She saw lightning brightening the sky inside the cloud. A storm was coming.
In the sky.
And in her heart.
Diego glared at her. “Will you stop asking questions?”
“But I need to know more, Diego. You look so much like Daniel, and you know so much about me. I want to learn more about you. Tell me about Rhoda.”
He laughed and waved the gun in a wild loop. “Rhoda won’t get any mother of the year awards, but she’ll do what I tell her, out of guilt, not love. She’s taking care of Kent while I get on with business. My mother doesn’t plan to miss out on my inheritance, you understand?”
“I do, I really do,” Amelia said, seeing the entire plan. “But I’m not sure about all of this. I need time, Diego. Time to get used to you.”
He took a deep breath. “You’ll have the rest of your life with me if you do as I say. I thought we’d agreed on that.”
He’d agreed. Not her, not in this lifetime.
She stalled him with her questions regarding how he’d managed to pull this off. Diego wasn’t dumb. He’d planned out every detail of his attacks and he was ready to brag to her. Amelia tried to remember everything, but if he got tired and decided to kill her, no one would ever know.
Kent Parker had no idea what was happening. She understood that now. Diego had made sure of that. He’d caused Daniel’s death, and he’d somehow caused Leo’s death, then he’d found out where she lived, and now he wanted to marry her just long enough to gain the inheritance and then get rid of her for good.
But Diego didn’t know her that well at all.
She’d survive this and see him dead or in prison.