Missing in the Desert Page 3

  In the waiting room he found his cousin Beckett and brother Austin.

  Beckett stood and clapped Levi on the back. “Glad you’re okay. And Mara, too.”

  Austin, all six foot six muscled bulk of him, was not as restrained. He grabbed Levi up in a bone-crushing hug that reminded him of their teen wrestling matches. He knew it cost Austin some pain, since he’d wrecked his shoulder in a climbing accident. “Aww, man. I can’t believe it,” he said. “Who would shoot at Seth?”

  “Mara got a look at the guy.” He repeated her description. “Sound like anybody we know in town?”

  Austin huffed. “Describes just about everyone involved in the reenactment stuff.”

  Levi sighed. His brother was right. Dozens of people were arriving in Furnace Falls and nearby Beatty to participate in the historical reenactment of the 20 Mule Teams that had transported Borax from the valley floor to higher elevations. They were all going for that so-called old-sourdough look.

  Beckett rubbed a hand over his clean-shaven chin. “Can you tell us anything else?”

  They discussed all the details Levi could remember, but none added any clarity to the situation.

  Jude emerged from Mara’s room, frowning.

  “Learn something helpful?” Levi asked.

  “The meeting she was supposed to have tonight was at J and K Excavators here in town.”

  Levi quirked an eyebrow. “Excavators? What for?”

  “I think you should have her tell you about that in person. I am going to speak with them tomorrow. Her parents didn’t know anything about it. Did Seth happen to mention it?”

  “No, we were focused on the horses. We talked about having some land cleared for a new corral, but we didn’t get into specifics.”

  “Maybe Mara was going to do the legwork to surprise you and Seth?” Jude suggested.

  He sighed. “No. Mara and her parents didn’t want Seth investing in the ranch in the first place.”

  Jude’s eyebrow shot up. “Ah. Awkward.” He detached his keys from his belt. “The excavating business is probably unrelated to what happened. Worth a check, though.” He left Levi to his tumultuous thoughts.

  The late afternoon passed slowly. A blur of doctors and nurses paraded in and out of Mara’s room. Levi insisted Beckett return home. Beckett’s relief at the idea was clear. He loathed to be away from Laney even for a short while. After what had almost happened to her the month before, he didn’t blame his cousin. The whole debacle had been horrendous, but it had left Beckett with an awareness of how utterly precious and perilous life could be.

  Austin stayed, and their sister Willow arrived, comforting as best she could with rapid-fire conversation and dozens of tearful hugs until she had to leave to escort a photography tour into the park.

  He was able to check on Mara a few times but found her dozing. His questions about her business appointment would have to wait. The hours crawled by. He paced the hallways trying and failing to make some sense of what had happened. Austin fielded the calls from various friends who had heard of the accident. Levi was grateful not to have to talk to anyone.

  Fred and Diane Castillo arrived in the early evening. Levi offered Fred a handshake and accepted a tearful hug from his wife before they hurried into Mara’s room. Levi continued his pacing, trying to keep his mind off the anguish that was no doubt being shared by the family.

  The Castillos split their time between Mara’s hospital room and Seth’s. When they had news, they shared it with Levi, though it was meager. Seth remained comatose, which was not unexpected. It could take days or weeks before the swelling abated and they could ascertain the extent of the damage.

  “We’re going to get a hotel room here in town for as long as we need to,” Fred said.

  “Yes, sir. Mara, too?”

  Fred shot him a look that was somewhere between pain and chagrin. “She’s got other plans. I’ll let her tell you about them.”

  Other plans? He couldn’t imagine her leaving town with Seth in such a condition.

  He led his wife toward the exit, though she resisted at first. “We need a couple of hours of sleep, honey. The doctor will call us if there’s a development,” he pressed.

  “If there’s anything I can do, please let me know,” Levi said.

  Fred turned back before he followed her. “As a matter of fact, there is. Seth invested everything he had into your ranch against my advice. Ever since you two were high schoolers, he would have done anything for you, including joining the military which we were against as well. Your saddlery failed, right? Seth told me you lost everything in that bankruptcy. Do what you can to make sure he didn’t throw everything away by trusting you with this ranch scheme.”

  Levi was left staring, mouth open as they departed.

  Austin blew out a breath. “That was harsh, but he’s in a bad way right now. Don’t take it to heart. You didn’t coerce Seth.”

  Levi shook his head. “He’s right, though. I gotta get the Rocking Horse into the black. It’s all I can do for Seth right now.” He eyed his brother. “Can you tend to the horses tonight? I’ll drive back as soon as I can.” Austin ran a carpentry shop in town when he wasn’t adventuring around the globe in his small plane, but they’d both grown up with horses. He was as comfortable with tending them as Levi was. Levi would not insult him by asking if it would be too much strain on his shoulder. His brother’s pride had already taken a beating when his fiancée left him at the altar.

  Austin nodded. “No sweat. On my way.”

  “Oh, and there’s a dog. I call him Banjo. He crawled under my truck a couple of weeks ago. He takes his guard duties seriously, and he’s iffy about men, so let him check you out before you charge in, okay?”

  “I’ll give him a treat,” he said. “Buy him off with bacon or something.”

  “Careful. Too many treats and he upchucks. Give him some kibble from the cupboard.”

  Austin shook his head. “Are you running a ranch or a homeless animal rescue?”

  “Sometimes I can’t decide.”

  After a thumbs-up, Austin left.

  He stared at the closed door of Mara’s hospital room. If Mara didn’t intend to stay in Las Vegas with her parents, what could she have decided?

  He felt an overwhelming urge to return to the Rocking Horse, to press forward with their plans to showcase the ranch in the Camp Town Days. If he couldn’t...the place really would go bust, and he’d have let the Castillo family down in a big way.

  Guilt flickered in his gut.

  If he hadn’t sought Seth out to invest...

  If he hadn’t invited him to come meet the mare...

  He sucked in a breath. God didn’t want him to paralyze himself with guilt. Action was what was needed. He would do everything in his power to keep the ranch alive and pray with all his might that Seth would awaken.

  * * *

  Mara tried to block out the pain the next morning. Every muscle screamed its displeasure. She’d parried her parents’ apprehension with a calm she did not entirely feel.

  “It’s the best thing. The Rocking Horse Ranch needs to succeed,” she’d said firmly. And it was the only thing she could do for her brother. She’d already bummed a pencil from a nurse and been scribbling down a list of ranch-related questions.

  A knuckle rap on the door announced Levi’s arrival. His chin was dark with a five-o’clock shadow, and he still wore the same jeans and T-shirt. Clearly he’d stayed all night. Her cheeks went hot, remembering how he’d knelt and prayed at her bedside. So he had a sweet side... It definitely did not excuse him from roping her poor brother into a business disaster. Seth was an easy touch, and Levi knew it.

  “Morning,” he said. “I heard you were being discharged.”

  “I thought you were leaving, since my parents showed up.”

  He hoisted a shoulder. “Your
dad said you had a plan. Figured maybe I could help.”

  She nodded and took a breath. Might as well get it out quickly. “There’s a cabin on the Rocking Horse in addition to the main house, right? Where Seth was going to stay?”

  He nodded. “More of a shack, really. Seth moved some of his stuff in already.”

  “I want to stay there.”

  His brows shot nearly to his hairline. “What?”

  “I’m going to split my time between the hospital and the ranch. I’m helping you through Camp Town Days.”

  His jaw dropped. “That’s...surprising.”

  She held up her chin, expecting him to try and talk her out of it. “It’s for the best.”

  He was quiet for a moment longer. “What about your business in town?”

  She froze. The change of subject surprised her. “It’s no big deal.”

  “Why were you going to visit J and K Excavation? Jude told me.”

  She wanted to be angry, to tell him off with a it’s none of your business. Instead she chewed her lower lip and gave him the truth. “It’s nothing. Probably just a waste of time anyway. Something to do with my sister.”

  “Corinne? But I thought she was...”

  “Presumed dead almost five years ago when she was sixteen. Yes, that’s the general consensus. The police investigated and figured she was despondent about a boy and ran off into Death Valley Park and either got lost or fell and never made her way out. A ranger found her shoe on a steep trail.”

  “I remember Seth telling me he got leave from the army to return home for the funeral. He never really wanted to talk about it with me.”

  She nodded. “I believe that’s what happened, always have. It’s just that I got a strange text a week ago. One word, Marbles, with a capital M.”

  Now a furrow formed between his brows. “Your nickname?”

  “I called the number where the text originated, and it belonged to the excavation company here in Furnace Falls. It’s the owner’s cell phone number, a man named Jerry, and he had no idea how that text was sent to me.”

  Levi seemed deep in thought as she continued.

  “Anyway, Jerry was kind. He told me what job sites he’d been at where someone might have used his phone, because he leaves it in his truck sometimes, but he’s lost the phone. He said I was welcome to come talk to him.” She plucked at the blanket. “It seemed like the time to do it, since I was coming to check out the ranch, anyway. I didn’t tell Seth. I didn’t want to upset him or have him think I was imagining things because of guilt.”

  “Why would you feel guilty about what Corinne did?”

  No way did she want to unpack that mess at the moment, especially not with Levi. She looked away. “Not important.”

  “Receive any more messages from that number?”

  “No.” She heard the hesitation in her own voice. Time to come clean. “About four months ago, I got this postcard mailed to our home. The address was written in crayon. There was no message, but it was postmarked in Death Valley. Weird, huh? I figured it was a mistake, meant for someone else, but it was strange.”

  “Very.”

  None of this matters, anyway, now that Seth’s been hurt. I need to make him my focus.”

  Something sharpened in Levi’s gaze. He frowned.

  “What is it?”

  He was silent for a full minute. She was just about to ask him again, when he started speaking. “Last summer when Seth visited me, he drove your car, remember? Because he wanted me to check the engine, but I got into a wreck...”

  She nodded to keep him talking. “How could I forget? My car was totaled.”

  He paused. “The driver in front of me slammed on their brakes, and I went into a culvert. It was written up as a hit-and-run. I was real foggy, but I had the vaguest sense someone climbed down and looked inside the wreck. All this time I figured it was my brain playing tricks on me.”

  She stared, muscles tightening in her stomach. “Levi, what are you getting at?”

  “The shooter yesterday hit Seth, but he could just as easily have been aiming for you.”

  Now she could only stare at him as his meaning slowly dawned.

  “Think about it, Mara. I was driving your car last summer, and someone caused a wreck. Fast-forward to you and Seth, both in the front seat of his SUV, sitting inches apart. What if he wasn’t the target?”

  Levi’s wreck and the one that almost killed Seth were related? Both were attempts to kill...neither Levi nor her brother? Her throat felt sand-dry. “I don’t have any enemies.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t mean to scare you, but you can’t know that for sure. The two incidents mean something, Mara. And now, there’s another problem,” he said slowly. “You got a look at the shooter. You can identify him.”

  “I didn’t see him... Well, only a glance, and I didn’t recognize him.”

  “He doesn’t know that.”

  Her mouth went dry.

  “We’d better talk to Jude right away.”

  She could only shake her head. Levi must be wrong, connecting dots that weren’t there. But if he was right...then, someone wanted her dead.

  Someone with a wispy beard and a brown felt hat.

  “I’ll call him,” he said. “My phone is dead so I’ll grab my charger from the truck and come right back. Okay?”

  She nodded. Her head was throbbing, and her stomach churned. Murder. Who would want to murder her? She managed a furniture store, lived a quiet life. Levi must be imagining things. But she couldn’t conceive of anyone targeting Seth, either.

  Tanya. Had Seth taken out a life-insurance policy and named his soon-to-be-wife a beneficiary? Could Levi’s whole theory about her being the target be wrong? Her eyes burned and she closed them, trying to push away the chaos in her mind.

  Rest, that’s what she needed. A nap.

  Closing her eyes, she sank gratefully toward sleep. A shadow flickered against her eyelids. A dream, it must be. She could not summon up the energy even to open her eyes.

  A whisper of movement fanned the hairs along her arms.

  As the edge of unconsciousness finally crept across her senses, she forced herself to respond. Her eyes flew open.

  A man stood at her bedside, a ski mask over his face, the mouth hole not quite concealing the whiskers curling out from underneath. Her scream was cut off as he shoved a gloved hand over her lips.

  He knelt close, so close his breath smelled sour, felt hot on her cheek.

  “Why aren’t you dead?” he whispered.

  Fear clawed at her stomach as she tried to pry away his fingers. They were like iron bands, pressing into her cheeks. Fumbling next to her, she sought something, anything with which to fend him off.

  Her frantic grasp found nothing except a pencil.

  Snatching it up, she stabbed as hard as she could.

  FOUR

  Levi was at the end of the corridor when Mara’s door opened. A man in a ski mask ran out on the heels of her scream.

  “Stop!” he thundered, but the guy was already slamming through the exit door at the end of the hall. An orderly pushing a cart of folded linens shot a startled look at the intruder. “Call security to stop that man!” Levi plowed into Mara’s room. Terror licked at every nerve. Was he too late?

  She was kneeling on the bed, hands clutched around the sheets.

  He ran to her. “Did he hurt you?”

  She was breathing too hard to answer at first. He gripped her forearm and waited. After a moment she answered. “He was the one who got hurt. I stabbed him with a pencil, and he let go long enough for me to scream. He ran out with my pencil still stuck in his bicep.”

  Levi could not hide his smile of admiration. “Well done.”

  Slowly those marvelous dark-chocolate eyes swiveled to his. “Even though he wore a ski
mask, I could tell it was the same person who shot at us. Same build, and I could see bits of his wispy beard poking through the mouth hole. He asked me why I wasn’t dead.” She gulped, and he captured her quaking hands in his. “He...he tried to kill me. Again.” Her voice cracked.

  Never in his life had Levi wished so hard that he was wrong. “I shouldn’t have left you. I thought you were safe in the hospital. Dumb on my part.”

  Two nurses hurried in along with a security guard.

  The guard said “Police are on their way. Lobby security didn’t catch him. He made it out of the building.”

  Levi heard Mara’s groan of defeat. “We’ve got some help this time,” he said. “There are cameras in the halls and stairwells. They captured him, I’m sure.”

  The guard nodded. “Yep. His face was covered, but we got him on film.”

  When the local police arrived, Mara explained in detail what had happened. They arranged for hospital security to post a guard at her door, which eased Levi’s mind.

  When the police left, Jude called and Levi put the phone on speaker. “I got the rundown. How are you, Mara?”

  “Okay. Please don’t mention this to my parents,” she pleaded. “I told the local police the same. They have enough on their hands with Seth.”

  “I understand,” Jude said. “The doctors say you’ll be released tomorrow. With hospital staff alerted, I’d say you’ll be safe as a bug in a rug until they let you loose.”

  “About that,” Levi said, straightening his shoulders for courage. “You should go home. Back to Henderson.”

  Mara lifted her chin, and a glint in her eyes shone indicating she was ready for battle. “Not until Seth is well enough to be transferred and my parents have left.”

  Levi appealed to Jude. “I’m right, aren’t I, Jude? Some guy has tried to kill her twice since she hit town. Furnace Falls isn’t a safe place for her.”

  There was a moment’s hesitation. “I’ve already spoken to her about that, and I don’t believe I changed her mind on the point. Another option would be for her to stay in a hotel in Las Vegas, but if this guy is bent on killing her, it wouldn’t take him long to track her down. Not hard to get into a hotel room. Easier than a hospital, in fact.”