She released the breath she’d been holding when he pulled out a white handkerchief and dabbed at his forehead and upper lip.
“Too bad,” he said. “Now I’m going to have to alter my plans. But don’t worry, it shouldn’t prove too difficult. An accidental death should do it.”
He walked toward her, stopping at a large oak cabinet near his desk. Jennie backed up and hit the wall. The window was open. Jennie thought about jumping through it.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He withdrew an automatic rifle from the cabinet and snapped in a cartridge.
Jennie sucked in a shallow breath and stared at the collection of at least a dozen weapons in his private arsenal—shotguns, pistols, even a crossbow. This guy is supposed to be funding Jeff White Cloud’s political campaign against the militia? That’d be like terrorists lobbying for gun control.
Training the gun on her, he pawed through the papers on his desk and retrieved Eric’s check. He waved the gun toward the door. “Let’s go.”
Jennie’s hope moved up several notches. He couldn’t possibly get her out of the building without being seen. She’d scream for help and dive behind a desk or something. Good plan. Bad timing. The bank was empty. So that’s what he’d meant by locking up. “Where is everyone?”
“I gave them the rest of the day off with pay. We don’t take tragedies lightly in this town. And a siege at Dancing Waters qualifies, don’t you think? After all, several of my employees have family working out there.”
Dayton ushered Jennie out the back door and shoved her into a waiting van—black with gold trim. She’d seen it out at Dancing Waters before and as soon as she stepped inside, realized who it belonged to.
Chad Elliot’s lawyer, Greg Bennett, sat behind the wheel. “Hurry up.”
Dayton jumped in, closed the sliding door, then grabbed a rope from under the passenger seat. He yanked Jennie’s arms behind her.
“Ow. Take it easy.” Jennie imagined herself yanking her arm out of his grasp and slamming the cast into his smug face.
“What are you doing?” The highly recommended lawyer started the van.
“Tying her up. What else am I going to do with a rope, hang her?”
“Forget that. If the authorities find rope marks on her wrist they’ll get suspicious. You’ll just have to strap her in and keep an eye on her.” He glanced at his watch. “Where is Summers? I thought you told him to meet us as soon as he got out.”
“Don’t worry. He’ll be here. White Cloud posted bail nearly an hour ago. I’ve got his money. Which he won’t get until he does this one last job for us.”
Bennett laughed. “Don’t you mean for White Cloud?”
“Of course. Everything leads back to White Cloud.” Dayton handed the gun to his partner and climbed into the front seat. He swiveled around, took the gun back, and trained it on Jennie.
“Here he comes.” Bennett lowered the power window a couple of inches. “It’s about time. Get in the back and keep an eye on our guest.”
Bennett had the van rolling before Eric could sit down. He swung around and dropped into the seat beside her.
Surprise registered on his face, then anger. “What’s she doing here? You hire her too?”
Jennie glared at him. “Not everyone has a price.”
Eric caught her gaze, had the decency to look guilty, then glanced back at the two businessmen.
“Our snoopy young investigator here is about to be the victim of a few stray bullets,” Bennett sneered. “Gunned down by one of the dozens of deputies combing the grounds.”
“You’re going to kill her?”
“No, you are.”
“Why?”
“She knows too much.” Dayton frowned. “When we get out to the ranch I’m going to turn you loose with this.” He held up the weapon. “Pump about half a dozen bullets into her, then we’re out of here. We’ll take you up to the airport in Missoula.”
Fear raced through her like a raging fire. There has to be a way out, McGrady, she told herself. You’ve gotten out of tight spots before. Right, but he’s got an automatic rifle and he’s driving straight into a war zone. Jennie could see the headlines now: “Teenager Accidentally Killed in Indian Massacre at Dancing Waters.”
When she’d been trapped in the mine she’d experienced a strange and welcome peace. And earlier when she’d been lost in the woods, Joseph had reminded her to be still. God had been faithful to bring her this far. With the faith of her grandmother and Joseph, Jennie took a deep breath and swallowed back the rising terror. She leaned back against the seat. Somehow she’d find a way out of this.
“You got my money?” Eric asked.
Dayton patted his breast pocket. “And the deed to your new condominium in Fort Lauderdale. All courtesy of Jeff White Cloud.”
Eric nodded and stared straight ahead, his mouth set in a hard line. He’d cleaned up before getting out of jail and looked like Heather’s handsome young photographer friend again.
How ironic, Jennie thought. On the outside, they look like the professionals they claim to be. Success oozed out of every thread in their expensive clothes. But inside they were nothing but slime.
“Everyone has a dark side,” Gram had told her. “We are all capable of good and evil. The weakest of us are those who allow the evil to control them.”
The men’s voices broke in on her thoughts.
“Did you ever find the map?” Bennett asked.
Dayton shook his head. “I was sure it would be in the old man’s house. Even looked in his and Jeff’s safety deposit boxes at the bank—nothing.”
The mine. Jennie had an idea. It would mean revealing Joseph’s secret and disclosing its whereabouts. She hesitated a moment. Should she? What would Joseph say? Since it seemed her only chance for escape, Jennie felt certain Joseph and Uncle Jeff would approve. “There is no map.”
Bennett peered at her through the rearview mirror. “And just how would you know that?”
“Joseph told me.”
“You’re lying!” Eric snapped. “Back at the jail—”
“I mentioned the map because I wanted more information from you. I had a hunch that’s what you were looking for because of the missing pages in Nadi’s diary. I also knew you were lying when you said Heather told you about the mine. She didn’t know about it.”
Jennie turned her attention back to the two men in the front seat. “But then that’s why you kidnapped her, isn’t it? Were you going to have her lead you to the mine? Did you offer to pay her off too? And when she refused you—”
Dayton silenced Jennie with a steel gray stare. “You ask too many questions.”
“I know—it’s a habit.” Jennie struggled to maintain a sense of calm. She had to make them think she was tough. “Look, you’re going to kill me anyway, so why not satisfy my curiosity. Where’s Heather? Eric already told me she’d changed her mind about going with him.”
When no one answered, Jennie leveled an accusing gaze on Eric. “Is that when you decided to kidnap her? Or had that been part of the plan? What I don’t understand, Eric, is how you could still cover for these guys. I mean, they shot you and abducted Heather.”
“I’ll heal. They promised they wouldn’t hurt her.” Eric closed his eyes. “Besides, she doesn’t know anything. Eventually she’ll get my letter and find out that her dad hired me and that the kidnapping thing was all a ruse to discredit Elliot.”
“What about Maggie? If something happens to Jeff, the ranch will go to her and the kids.”
“Normally yes, but not in this case. The loans are due and payable at the time of White Cloud’s death.” He grinned. “People really should read the fine print in their contracts.”
Jennie shook her head. “This is the craziest scheme I’ve ever heard. You can’t possibly get away with it.”
“I’m afraid we can,” Dayton said. “You see, Jennie, we’re the only ones above suspicion in this deal. Eric’s letter to Heather and the fact that White Cloud paid his bail was all the proof Sheriff Mason needed. In the end, Danielson, White Cloud, and Elliot will all be dead. Dancing Waters will revert back to the bank, go up for auction, and be sold to the highest bidders. Which, of course, will be myself and Greg. We’ll be buying it out of a deep sense of loss for our dearly departed friends.”
Eric stiffened beside her. His eyes widened and his Adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed. He had to know they wouldn’t let him leave. He knew even more than she did about their plans.
Bennett made a right onto a gravel road. It was one that she’d taken that morning with Joseph. It ran between the Danielsons’ ranch and Dancing Waters. Jennie decided it was time to put her plan into action. “Maybe I was wrong about not having a price,” Jennie said. “I know where the mine is. Maybe we can make a deal.”
Bennett braked. The van spun out on the loose gravel and the lawyer almost lost control. He managed to right the vehicle, stopped it, and whipped around in his seat.
“What kind of deal?” both men asked at once.
“Well, I might be persuaded to take you there for, say, half a million dollars. I might even be persuaded to go home with a case of amnesia for say—another half mil.”
Bennett and Dayton looked at each other. “We might be willing to work something out,” Bennett said, “but only if the mine’s as rich as my grandfather said it was.”
“Oh, it’s rich all right. There’s a foot-wide vein of pure gold not more than fifteen feet from the entrance.” Jennie dug into her pocket and handed the nugget to Dayton. “I picked this up off the mine floor. I was going to have it assayed, but Joseph assured me it was the real thing.”
Dayton fingered the gold, weighed it in the palm of his hand, and bit into it. “She’s right.”
Jennie shuddered at the look in his eyes. Greed. She’d seen it before and knew it had the power to turn people into savages.
“Where is it?” Bennett asked.
“Just keep driving,” Jennie said. “I’ll tell you where to stop. We’ll have to hike into the woods a ways.”
“What do you think, Alex?” Bennett started the van and pulled back onto the road. “She being straight with us?”
“We’ll know soon enough. It’ll put us a little behind schedule, but that shouldn’t matter now.”
They drove on in silence. Dayton still faced toward the back, with his gun at the ready. Eric kept looking at her, his eyes sending repentant messages to let her know he wanted out.
It was a little late for that, but Eric would be a valuable witness against Dayton and Bennett. Maybe she should bring him with her when she made her escape. Maybe not. Eric may have been scared straight, but Jennie just plain didn’t trust him.
“Pull off on the other side of the bridge,” Jennie said.
“Are you sure?” Bennett asked, braking and coming to a stop at a wide spot in the road where the bridge ended.
“Yes. I haven’t come in this way, but we’ll follow the creek up. You’ll need a flashlight for when we go into the mine.”
She led the three men along the creek bank. The water had receded, leaving mud and debris in its path. “Those aren’t the best shoes for hiking.” Jennie suppressed a snicker as Dayton slipped down the bank into the creek. By the time they reached the meadow below the mine, both men looked like they’d been mud wrestling. She and Eric didn’t look much better, but that didn’t matter. Soon she’d be free.
On the hike in, Jennie replayed her escape scene over and over in her head—had it planned out to the second. She just hoped the men wouldn’t kill her before she got them into the mine.