In the Paths of Righteousness (Psalm 23 Mysteries) Page 11

  She had actually never been so intimidated by him before. She’d heard rumors of what had happened during the whole Green Pastures debacle. She’d heard he had tortured a man. Watching him now she could believe it.

  The way he kept glancing at Traci made it clear that he was anxious for her safety. With Mark standing watch over them Cindy found herself feeling much more anxious about Jeremiah’s well-being than her own.

  While she sat and waited she tried to run down everything she knew about those present. She hoped it was Roddy. That would make life simple. By his prolonged absence he certainly looked guilty. She wasn’t sure, though. There was something nagging at the back of her mind, some detail she felt like she was not giving the weight it deserved.

  There weren’t that many suspects, that many people that could have done it. She wasn’t sure if that made things better or worse. The truth was whoever had killed Brent had been sleeping within a few feet of her the last couple of nights and that gave her chills. She couldn’t go through another night with a killer in their midst.

  She looked over at Kyle. He was sitting by himself, whether by his choice or by everyone else wanting to steer clear of him she didn’t know. He looked dazed and even a bit scared. She realized that her brother, the crazy adventurer, was at last completely outside of his comfort zone.

  And instead of it making her happy, it made her really sad. She had always hated the way he took unnecessary risks and had always wished he would have a healthier respect for danger and learn to steer clear of it. She’d never wanted him to be afraid like she was, though. Nobody should have to live with the kind of fears she’d been carrying around since they were kids.

  Her heart went out to him. She touched Traci’s arm. “I’m going to go talk to Kyle,” she said softly.

  “No hitting this time,” Traci said, forcing a smile.

  “No hitting,” Cindy agreed.

  She got up slowly. Mark’s head swiveled toward her and she fought the sudden urge to put her hands in the air. Instead she turned and walked slowly over to Kyle. As she did she felt like everyone’s eyes were on her, not just Mark’s. It made her feel like she had a giant target painted on her back and she didn’t like that.

  Finally she sat down on the ground next to Kyle.

  “How are you doing?” she asked.

  “How do you think?”

  “I can only base that on how I felt the first time I knew somebody was trying to kill me,” she said. “It was terrible. On a very deep level, though, it just reinforced my views about how dangerous the world is. For you, I can’t imagine.”

  “I feel so out of control and I don’t know how to handle it.”

  “You’re out of control all the time with your job, the stunts you do, the risks you take, all of it.”

  He shook his head. “It’s different. All of those things are very carefully planned, safety checked and double checked. Then, what risk there is in the end, is mine. I take it. I choose it. This...this I didn’t choose.”

  Her brother was a control freak. It surprised her, although watching how he had tried to coordinate everything that had been happening the last couple of days she realized it shouldn’t have. He didn’t have a director because he had to be the one controlling every detail of what happened.

  She squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry this is happening to you.”

  “I can’t believe you’ve lived through this. More than once. How do you do it?” he asked.

  “I have good friends who help me through, and I rely on God a lot, and the rest of the time I just freak out until it’s over.”

  She said the last hoping to get him to smile. It didn’t work. Instead he looked at her. “It’s more than that. You take charge. You solve the crime. You bring the killer to justice.”

  “I survive.”

  “No, you thrive,” he said.

  She blinked, startled at the thought.

  “I’ve been watching you. You’re a different person than the last time I saw you. At first I thought it had something to do with Jeremiah, but I’m starting to realize it’s more than that. It’s you. You’ve changed, grown. You take control of situations instead of letting them control you.”

  “I don’t think I’ve grown that much yet,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

  “You don’t think so because the change is too gradual for you to really see. Trust me, though, it’s almost like you’re a completely different person. The old Cindy would never have hit me.”

  “That was the PTSD,” she hastened to say.

  “No, that was you. That was you being bold and taking action. Maybe it wasn’t the right choice, at least, that’s how my eye feels, but it was a choice. It was something the old you would never have done.”

  “Still, I’m sorry I hit you,” she said.

  “No, you’re not. Neither am I. I like this Cindy, I feel like I can talk to you.”

  “You can talk to me,” Cindy said. “I’m here to help. And don’t worry, we will catch this killer.”

  Kyle shuddered. “I just can’t believe someone would want to hurt me. I mean, other than you.”

  She bit her lip to keep from laughing at that.

  Wrong. Inappropriate. Don’t laugh.

  But she wanted to so badly.

  “Look on the bright side. At least it happened on this trip while I’m here to help you out.”

  “And I was just thinking ‘Why this trip?’ I wish it was a different one. I just wanted you guys to have some fun.”

  Why this trip?

  The question rattled around in her mind. It was an excellent question. Honestly, of all the shows Kyle did this particular episode of this particular show had to be the most safe thing he’d done in years, at least on the surface of it. It was safe enough he’d felt like he could bring along his danger-adverse sister. On this trip it would be so much harder to make things look like an accident.

  That hadn’t stopped someone from trying, though. The frayed saddle strap could have easily passed as an accident. It was odd, though, because while the odds of him falling off his horse because of it were incredibly high it didn’t follow that the fall would kill him. Death by food poisoning would seem like an accident, but given how fast it had killed Brent, it would have still been very suspicious and an autopsy would have revealed the true cause of death. A fall while ziplining or smashing his head against a rock while doing intense white water rafting would be much more likely to fly under the radar of suspicion.

  So, why hadn’t the killer tried before? What had changed? And why couldn’t they wait until they filmed one of the next couple of episodes where things could very well be more dangerous to make their move?

  Her mind returned to the three cowboys. They were the only ones who wouldn’t have any other real opportunity to take down Kyle. What grudge could one of them be holding, though? Kyle didn’t even know any of them.

  Or maybe the real reason was that someone hadn’t thought this through as well as they should have. Maybe they just snapped. The missing Roddy could easily fit that bill. But why not quit instead of commit murder?

  She shook her head. The poison. That was something that couldn’t have been done spur of the moment. Someone had to plan ahead for that. It had to be someone in the group, too, since the truffle salt had to have been poisoned after the first night’s dinner.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Kyle said, breaking the silence.

  She turned to him and smiled. “Just trying to figure it all out.”

  “Maybe I can help.”

  “That would be good. You can certainly help me fill in some of the gaps, maybe help me figure out a motive.”

  “Beyond the whole someone clearly hates me thing?”

  She was about to explain to him what she’d been thinking about in regards to the timing when a shout brought her up short.

  She turned and saw two horses riding toward them at breakneck speed.

  11

  Mark tensed as Jeremiah and Zack reign
ed up in front of them. Jeremiah slid off his horse, without any sign of difficulty. He had been riding bareback.

  “What is it?” Mark asked.

  Jeremiah tossed him a torn beige jacket that had blood on it. Mark wrinkled his nose as he held the thing.

  “That’s Roddy’s jacket,” Kyle said, starting up from his seat on the ground.

  “That’s all we found of him,” Jeremiah said grimly.

  “You think he was murdered?” Mark asked. If that was true it had to have been one of the cowboys. They were the only ones not with the rest of the group when Roddy was sent to find Zack.

  “Or, he wants us to think so,” Jeremiah said.

  “Well, which is it?” Mark asked impatiently.

  “There’s no way to tell,” Zack said as he, too, slid off his horse. “We found it caught on some brambles. There’s enough blood to be clear that’s what it is, but not enough to signify that he had a mortal wound of some sort.”

  “What killer would hide the body and leave the jacket behind?” Cindy asked.

  “Where could Roddy have hidden himself?” Traci chimed in.

  “None of the horses are missing so he either found someplace he could hole up and not be found or he had a horse waiting for him. If this is him trying to throw us off his scent, that is,” Jeremiah said.

  “A horse waiting for him? That would indicate an outside accomplice,” Mark said. “How would they know where we were going to camp for the night?”

  “This is where we always camp on the second night of this particular cattle drive,” Zack said.

  Mark didn’t like it. This whole situation was spinning farther and farther out of control. He forced himself to take a deep breath. “Am I right that the closest town to us at this point is Righteousness?” he asked.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Tex spoke up.

  “Okay. We need to send for the Sheriff or whoever is in charge in Righteousness to come out here,” Mark said. “This is a crime scene and we need to stay put until they can sort everything out.”

  He turned and scanned the cowboys. “I think we need to keep the doctor here, just in case.”

  Tex stepped forward. “I know the way well enough to keep going in the dark with the moon as full as it’s going to be tonight. Plus, my horse is faster than Curly’s. I can get there by noon tomorrow. I can have the sheriff back here the day after.”

  Mark pursed his lips. They had to figure forty-eight hours until help arrived. A lot could happen in that amount of time. Still, if that was the best they could do...

  “Okay, head out. Leave everything you absolutely don’t have to have.”

  “I’m ready to go now,” Tex said.

  “Then go.”

  Tex turned and made his way to grab his gear for his horse.

  Jeremiah walked over. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to let him go?” he asked.

  “I don’t see as we have much of a choice,” Mark said with a sigh. “We’re just going to have to hope for the best.”

  “And prepare for the worst,” the rabbi muttered.

  “So what else is new?”

  “We should set up watches.”

  “And just who, besides the four of us, are we going to trust for that?”

  “Kyle. He’s the intended victim. He can take a turn watching,” Jeremiah said.

  “Won’t hear any argument from me on that one. We shouldn’t let him do it alone, though. That will just make him a tempting target.”

  “Agreed.”

  “I call not sitting watch with Kyle,” Mark said swiftly. It was juvenile, but there was no way he wanted to spend three hours alone with that guy. He just irritated him too much. Looking at Jeremiah’s face he wasn’t sure, though, that he wanted the other man sitting up with him either.

  “Let’s get Traci to do it.”

  Mark rolled his eyes. “She’ll love that.” Still, it was a much better plan and he couldn’t argue with it.

  A minute later Tex rode up on his horse. He nodded to Mark and then touched his heels to his horse’s flanks and galloped off.

  “I hope he gets back with help soon,” Mark muttered.

  Jeremiah hoped they could identify the killer before local law enforcement showed up. He didn’t need any more police asking questions, some of which he was bound to not be able to answer. Having Mark involved in his life was bad enough, but at least they seemed to have a sort of uneasy truce. Mark would ask a question, Jeremiah would refuse to answer, Mark wouldn’t push. It had been working for them.

  “Cattle are restless,” Zack said suddenly.

  Mark became aware that there was a lot of noise coming from the direction of the herd. It hadn’t been that noisy the night before.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Zack shook his head. “I don’t know, but Curly and I should go see if we can settle them down.”

  Mark nodded. “Okay.”

  He had no idea how much of what he’d seen in old westerns about cattle stampedes was true, but he knew he didn’t want to find out firsthand. The two cowboys headed for the horses and he turned back to Jeremiah.

  “We’ve got to see if we can find that truffle salt, or anything else incriminating, before it’s too late.”

  “I have a feeling it already is,” Jeremiah said.

  “You think Roddy took it with him?”

  “I don’t know, but there’s been plenty of time for someone to do something with it.”

  “All the more reason to finish what we started.”

  Cindy was on edge. Roddy was missing and now Tex was heading to town. At least, she hoped that’s where he was going. It was possible that he was the killer and Mark had just set him free to sneak back in the middle of the night and finish what he’d started. The thought gave her chills.

  With Zack and Curly checking on the herd they were that much more fragmented. That made four people that she couldn’t keep in sight and that made her more nervous than she cared to admit.

  It wasn’t enough just to keep an eye on Kyle either. By her count the killer had already tried to get him three times and each time missed and gotten someone different. Two were dead, Martin and Brent. She had been lucky to survive her encounter with just a sprained ankle. The killer was so lousy at getting their target that all of them were in danger.

  The fact that there had been three attempts on Kyle’s life and three misses had led her to stop and ponder whether he really was the target or whether this was about the production itself. Her gut told her, though, that it was about Kyle. The killer couldn’t have known that the truffle salt would have been consumed by anyone else or that Kyle would switch horses with her at the last second. Only Martin’s death was even possibly unconnected to Kyle in her mind, but even that she doubted.

  “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” Mark said, addressing the group. “Cindy and Traci are going to search everyone’s gear as planned just in case someone managed to hide that truffle salt.”

  “Why them?” Norman asked, looking nervous.

  “Because they’re the only two here I trust,” Mark said. “As far as I’m concerned anyone else could be behind this.”

  Cindy glanced quickly at Jeremiah, hoping he wasn’t thinking Mark actually suspected him. His face was calm, though, betraying very little emotion at all. Next she glanced at her brother who looked a little irritated.

  “Well, I think it’s safe to say I’m not behind this,” Kyle said.

  Mark shrugged. “For all I know you are. You could be trying to make it look like someone is after you.”

  “Why on earth would I do that?” Kyle asked, eyes widening.

  “Half a dozen reasons that I alone can think of,” Mark said. “I’m sure there are more.”

  Cindy sympathized. Back when they had first met she had been on the other side of Mark’s suspicions and it wasn’t a pleasant place to be.

  “Okay, after they finish going through everything, we’re all going to try and just relax,” Mar
k said.

  Cindy fought the urge to roll her eyes. That would be a lot easier said than done.

  “Then we’re going to get some rest. We’re going to have guards posted to make sure nothing happens while the rest of us are asleep. Traci and Kyle will take the first watch. Jeremiah and Cindy will take the second. I’ll take the third. Any questions?”

  Cindy glanced around and noticed that everyone was studiously looking at the ground. If there were any objections, they weren’t forthcoming. Of everyone, only Traci looked pleased. Cindy felt herself smiling. Even despite everything it was nice to know that Traci could enjoy the time spent with one of her favorite celebrities. Cindy didn’t understand it, but she was happy that Traci was making the most of a bad situation.

  “Okay, Traci, you and Cindy get started going through people’s gear. And don’t be shy about it.”

  Cindy blushed, not relishing the thought of pawing through people’s private things, but she knew there was no other choice.

  “We’ll start with the stuff that’s still close to the wagon. It would have been easy for someone to stash something there,” Traci said.

  Cindy nodded. The logic was sound and the two of them moved that direction.

  “I want to go back out and check again for Roddy,” she heard Jeremiah say.

  “I’ll go with him,” Hank volunteered.

  “Okay,” Mark said after a moment’s hesitation.

  Cindy didn’t like it. That was more people that she couldn’t keep tabs on. She also didn’t like Jeremiah being alone with Hank. She said a silent prayer for his safety even as she knelt down on the ground next to what she thought was Tex’s bag.

  “Ready?” Traci asked her as she picked up another bag.

  “No.”

  “Me either. Just keep telling yourself that cops have to rummage through people’s things all the time.”

  That thought might make this all easier on Traci but it didn’t make Cindy feel any better. If anything it reinforced her desire to not be a cop. Grimacing, she unzipped the bag and looked inside.

  Jeremiah hoped that neither Cindy nor Traci would find the survival knife he had wrapped in a T-shirt and buried in the bottom of his bag. If they did, it could be explained, he just hoped he didn’t have to.