36

As Kira drove up to the Westerfield house, the guards who had been at the gate were gone. The bar was down.

“What happened to the guards?” Leigh asked.

“I don’t know. Could Max have dismissed them since the press have apparently given up for the moment?”

“Max? No. Not on your life. He wouldn’t do that while your attacker is still loose. Especially without telling us. Maybe they went inside for some reason. Maybe coffee.”

Kira had a bad feeling. “I’m calling Chris.”

She’d turned off her cell phone, aware that Chris would not approve of what she was doing. Now she wondered whether that was a mistake. She turned on the cell and punched in a number.

“Chris’s line is busy,” she told Leigh. She looked around. “Where’s the guards’ car?”

“They always park in back,” Leigh said as Kira punched in the numbers at the gate.

“Maybe I should drive in back and see if the car is there,” Kira suggested.

“You can do that. I have to see about the horse. The vet’s truck isn’t here, and colic can kill a horse quickly … I should have been here.” Leigh opened the car door and hopped out before Kira could stop her.

Kira parked and started to follow her inside. Then she remembered the pepper spray in her purse. She retreated to the front seat and rummaged in the purse until she found the small canister and tucked it in her pocket.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong. Leigh was right. Max wouldn’t have called off the guards, no matter how he felt. She’d learned one thing about Max. Despite his outward cool, he cared very deeply about Leigh. That had been so evident yesterday.

Her cell phone rang. She looked at the identification. Chris. She answered.

“Where in the hell are you?” Chris demanded.

“Leigh and I are at the Westerfield house. Her groom called and said her horse was down. But the guards aren’t at the gate.”

“Is Leigh with you now?”

“No, she went into the barn.”

She heard him curse under his breath, then he said, “Get the hell out of there.”

“I have to get Leigh.”

“No. Go. Now. I’m on the way and I’m calling the Fayette police.”

Fear welled up in her. His urgency, the sound of real worry in his usually calm voice, frightened her. She stared at the barn. The door was still open, but from her angle she couldn’t see anything.

Then Chris came back on the phone. “I told them a citizen was in danger. They’re on the way.”

“Why …?”

“I talked to Payton not long ago. There seems to be more to Rick Salter than anyone thought.”

“Oh God.”

“Get out of there,” he said again.

“You think he’s the person …?”

“I don’t know. Could be.”

“He wouldn’t try anything here. Everyone would know …”

“Dammit, don’t argue with me. Do as I say.”

She turned off the phone. She couldn’t leave now. Maybe he was wrong. But if he wasn’t, Leigh was in terrible danger.

She didn’t want to be a stupid heroine but neither could she drive off and leave Leigh alone. She just couldn’t. And the police were on their way. And Chris.

She backed up and turned the car so that the driver’s side faced the barn. She rolled down the window and called, “Leigh.”

Nothing.

Fear grew in her. Her breath seemed to solidify in her throat, and her heart beat wildly. Something was very, very wrong.

She looked to the pasture. Maude stood silently. Alert, as if she sensed something wrong. There was a stillness as she waited. A stillness as if the world had stopped.

What was happening to Leigh? What should she do? What if she was being harmed now? In just a few hours Leigh had become very important to her, and not just because of her mother. There had been something touching about her honesty.

She heard a scream come from inside the barn.

Then she saw the groom at the door, his arm around Leigh’s throat. A gun was at her throat, and blood was running down the side of her neck.

“Join us,” the man said. “Unless you want me to kill her. Now.” The edge of the gun played along Leigh’s neck. “Get out and come over here.”

“No!” Leigh cried out. “Go! Get out of here.”

“I’ll kill her,” the groom said. “Right here and now. Just think … if you come in, you might save her life. And your mother’s.”

“Why?” Kira asked, playing for time.

Another scream was torn from Leigh as he jabbed the barrel of the gun into her neck, breaking her skin again. “I swear I’ll shoot,” the groom said. Terror was written all over Leigh’s face.

“Okay,” Kira said. “Okay, I’m coming. Just … be careful with the gun.”

Stupid words. But she had no choice. She didn’t doubt for a moment that he would do exactly what he said he would. There was a tinge of madness in his voice. Leigh would die, along with any chance her mother had. She had to play along now. He couldn’t know she had called Chris and that he and the police were on the way. She felt for the pepper spray in her pocket and was only mildly comforted by the feel of it. He had a gun.

But if she could get him to talk …

She held out her hands in front of her as she moved toward him.

As she neared the door, he stepped back, still holding Leigh.

Where were the sirens? Or had it been only a few seconds? It felt like hours.

He moved behind the door as she walked in, her hands still up. Then the door banged shut behind her. Leigh was pushed to the floor, and he turned the gun on Kira.

“Why?” Kira said as she looked around the barn. She wanted to leave as much distance between Leigh and herself as possible.

“Not another step, or you both die right now.”

“You were the shooter at city hall?”

“How astute of you.”

“And you pushed me?”

“No, I would have succeeded. An acquaintance of mine earned a few dollars doing that.”

“And your aunt? Does she know …”

“My mother, you mean?”

A small noise came from Leigh, who sat where she’d been pushed down against the wall.

“Yeah, my mother. And old Westerfield was my father. Not that either claimed me.” There was a vicious hatred in his voice. “This should have been mine. It will be mine.”

“You can’t get away with it …”

“You don’t think so? Who’s going to stop me? You were visiting with the princess here when you both were attacked by Mr. Payton. He tried to start a fire to hide the crime but was caught in the flames.”

“No one will believe you.”

“They will when they find certain evidence left by Mr. Payton, along with his body. After all, he’s the only one who had access to the gun closet, to the rifle that killed that woman at city hall, to this gun. His fingerprints will be on both. Not mine. Not only that, I have an alibi. I was with my dear mother. Helping with the shopping. We came home to find a killer burning the barn down.”

Keep him talking. “No one will believe Max turned into a crazed killer,” she said, risking his wrath.

“Of course they will. He’s killed before.” He smiled suddenly. “You didn’t know that. Well, I did. I made it my business to know everything about this family.”

Max? Killed before? “I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t care what you believe. Needless to say the police do.” His eyes narrowed. “Move closer to the princess.”

She took one step closer. “What happened to the guards?”

“They were fired a few hours ago. The call was made from Payton’s home. When I finish with you, I’ll call him. A small problem with my mother.”

Talking. Keep him talking. “No one will believe he’s that stupid.”

“Oh, I think they will. He got away with murder before. When you showed up, he saw his gravy train derailing.”

Kira’s heart dropped. She didn’t believe it. She couldn’t. But he obviously did. She exchanged glances with Leigh. She had to keep him talking. “You said Mr. Westerfield was your father? That can’t be.”

“You don’t think so?” he said with a mirthless grin. “Well, meet your newest relative. Too bad we won’t have a chance to get to know each other better.”