Chase 'n' Ana (18 page)

Clay answered, out of breath. “Circle R. Clay Russell speaking.”

“Is Mama C there?” Chase asked.

“No, she’s at your place with Ana.”

“No, she’s not.”

“Well, call again. Maybe they’re tied up with the yoga stuff Ana’s going to teach

her.”

“I’m at home, Clay.”

“Oh, well, then I don’t know. She’s not here.”

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“Something’s wrong.” Chase’s rising anxiety had him snapping at his brother. “Her

car isn’t here and neither is she nor Ana. And Cody’s got a burr up his butt about

something.”

“Hold on,” Clay said and yelled for his brother. “Cole! Dial up Mama C’s cell!” He

came back to Chase. “Cole’s calling now. Hold on.”

The wait couldn’t have been more than a minute but to Chase it seemed to take

forever until his brother came back on the line, and then it was not with what he

wanted to hear. “No answer on her cell.”

“Ride out here. Make sure she didn’t break down along the way. Send Cole to

town, and have Caleb ride over to Smiley’s and see if maybe she stopped in to visit his

wife.”

“What about Dad?” Clay asked.

“What about him?”

“Do I say anything to him?”

“Not yet. Just make sure you all have your cells and keep me updated.”

“You could be overreacting,” Clay pointed out.

“Maybe, but my gut says otherwise.”

“Then I better get moving. Talk to you soon.”

Chase hung up the phone and leaned back against the counter to close his eyes. For

the first time in his life he’d felt content. The last month with Ana had been like a wish

come true.

He’d taken to rising with her before dawn to go outside and greet the day,

watching Fergi circle and swoop, dancing on the air, and Ana circle and whirl, dancing

in the dirt with Cody racing around both of them doing his own brand of dancing.

She worked alongside him, never complaining about the backbreaking work, the

heat, the long hours, or having to fix dinner and clean up at the end of the day. And

when the night came she loved him with passion he never thought possible.

If there was a heaven on earth, this was it and it was all because of Ana. She’d

found the key to unlocking his heart, and even though he felt a little silly even thinking

it, she brought magic to his life. Literally and sometimes quite exotically.

A yip from Cody had him opening his eyes. The dog barked once, sharply, and then

walked to the kitchen door, stopped and looked back at Chase. Suddenly something

Ana once said came to mind. That night in the pasture, the first time he saw Ana with

Fergi and doubted that the hawk talked to her. She’d laughed and told him that of

course Fergi talked to her, just like Cody talked to him.

Chase remembered his reply. “He barks, but I’m positive he’s never spoken a word

to me.”

Just as he remembered the knowing smile Ana gave him along with her response.

“Well, sure he has, Chase. He’s told you lots of things. Like how he really hates that

food with the liver flavor, and how he’d rather not go to Charlie’s, because they don’t

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let him come in the house, and how much he likes Clara because when she comes over

she always brings him treats.”

Chase walked over to Cody. “You know where Ana and Mama C are, boy?”

Cody barked and nudged the door with his nose. “Okay, then show me,” Chase

said and pushed the door open.

Cody shot out into the yard, barking wildly and looking at the sky. Chase looked

up, not knowing what he was supposed to see. His eyes widened when a speck in the

distance grew steadily larger. It was Fergi.

The hawk swooped down to hand on the porch rail. She chattered and twirped, all

the while looking at Cody. When she finished, Cody barked twice and looked at Chase.

“Okay, someone want to let me in on the secret?” he asked.

Cody barked again, at the same time the hawk let out a cry. Chase took off his hat

and ran his hand up over his forehead then back across his head. He had to be loco. He

could have been out looking for Ana and Clara, but instead, here he was, trying to make

sense of the goings-on of a wolf-sired dog and a hawk. If Ana were there she’d laugh.

Chase prayed to all the spirits that she would be there again soon. Because now that

he’d found her, he couldn’t imagine life without her.

* * * * *

Ana turned off the road onto the trailhead. She wished she’d been making the drive

under less stressful conditions. Aravaipa Canyon was breathtaking with its majestic

cliffs and rugged terrain.

Chase had told her something about Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness. Over nineteen

thousand acres of unspoiled land in Pinal and Graham Counties, the wilderness housed

the eleven-mile-long Aravaipa Canyon along with the surrounding tablelands and nine

side canyons. There were supposed to be over two hundred species of birds that lived

in the shady cottonwood trees, bighorn sheep and a variety of desert fish in the streams.

You had to have a permit to enter Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness and even at that,

only fifty people per day were allowed on the land. Ana could see how advantageous

that would be for assuring a visitor’s solitude and minimizing the impact to the

environment, but at the moment, she would have welcomed driving into a crowd.

Chase’s family land bordered the Wilderness, and was home to the ghost town,

Aravaipa, which was once a mining and ranching settlement. Chase’s own land

bordered the ghost town, making Aravaipa the barrier that separated his property from

the Circle R. According to Chase the town once had a post office, a pool hall, a store and

even a school. Initially it was known as Dunlap, after a local rancher, but when it was

discovered that there was already a post office with that name, the town was renamed

after the Aravaipa Indians.

All that was left now were a few buildings. Ana looked around as Giovanni

directed her to pull the car behind one of the decaying structures.

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“Okay, now what?” Ana asked as Giovanni climbed out of the back and jerked her

door open.

“Now we go inside,” he said as he snatched the keys from her.

“Giovanni, please, just let Clara go home.” Ana didn’t budge. “She has no part in

this.”

“Not so,” he said with a wicked smile. “See, I figure the old bat’s worth something

to the Russells. And if rumors hold, you’re worth something to the half-breed.”

“No one is going to pay you anything,” Ana argued.

“You better hope you’re wrong.” Giovanni took a step closer to her, running the

barrel of the gun from her chin to her breastbone.

Ana wanted to argue, to fight, to do something, but the glint in Giovanni’s eyes

convinced her otherwise. She had never seen him like this and it did scare her. There

was a bloodlust raging inside him. Had it been from mere anger at her, perhaps he

could have been reasoned with, but what she saw went way beyond anger. Giovanni

had tasted blood, so to speak, and he liked it. Which made him the most dangerous of

all predators.

“Come on, Clara.” Ana held out her hand to the older woman. Together they

entered the building.

Light shafted through rents in the roof, their feet kicking up dust that hung in the

still air, clouding the light with floating particles. Ana said a quick spell charm to ensure

that they weren’t bitten or stung by poisonous insects or snakes.

She saw coils of rope lying against the far wall and turned to face Giovanni as he

entered. He sneered at her and motioned her over to the ropes with his handgun. “Tie

up the old woman.”

Ana thought about arguing but decided against it. Their best bet was to go along

with him and wait for Fergi and Cody to figure out a way to lead Chase to them. She

had no doubt that Chase would come.

As she bound Clara’s hands and feet, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had

brought this situation down on them with her own deceit. She and Clara had been

planning on coming up with something to get Charlie Russell and Chase together.

They’d discussed faking falls or illnesses and even kidnapping, and had planned to act

out a deceit this very day.

Had the energy of her thoughts acted against her to put her and Clara in real peril?

She hoped not. And as Giovanni started to tie her up, tightening the ropes around her

wrists so they cut into the skin, she hoped Chase would come soon.

* * * * *

Chase parked behind the main house at the Circle R and entered through the

kitchen. It was a somber group that met his sight. His three brothers, his father, the

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ranch foreman Ned, Smiley and his wife, and Jason were all sitting at the table. Along

with Giovanni Sardo.

“Get the fuck out of this house!” Chase barked at Giovanni.

Giovanni looked from Chase to the people at the table then back at Chase. “Excuse

me?”

“You heard me. Get the fuck out of this house and off this land. In fact, get the fuck

out of Arizona.”

“Now, Chase,” Jason said in a placating tone as he started to stand.

“Shut up,” Chase snapped at Jason. “And you.” He pointed his finger at Giovanni.

“You better be getting out of that chair or I’m going to pick your scrawny ass up and

throw you out.”

“I fail to see what you have against me,” Giovanni said calmly. “In fact, it should be

me who is angry. After all, you are fucking my wife.”

“You sorry—” Chase launched himself at Giovanni, only to be stopped by all three

of his brothers who grabbed hold of him while Charlie got to his feet.

“Time for you to calm down,” Charlie boomed at Chase. “I mean it, Chase. Either

sit your ass down, or get out.”

Chase looked from his father to Giovanni, who wore a satisfied sneer on his face.

He’d charmed them. That explained it. Ana said he was a witch. “He’s responsible

for Clara and Ana being missing and you’re sitting here having fucking coffee with

him?” Chase exclaimed.

“He’s not responsible for anything,” Charlie said in a lower tone. “Chase, listen to

me. Sardo came here to present his wife with divorce papers, not try to get her back.”

“That’s a lie.” Chase was not having any part of the story.

“Show him.” Charlie tossed the words over his shoulder at Giovanni, who pulled a

fat envelope from his shirt pocket and slid it across the table.

Charlie took the document from the envelope and held it up in front of Chase’s

face. “You see?”

Chase could see what it was, but he still wasn’t buying it. Ana had told him that

Giovanni was not to be trusted and he believed her.

“What I see is a scumbag who’s pulled a fast one on you, Charlie.”

“No one pulls anything on me, boy.” Charlie got his hackles up immediately and

took a step toward Chase. “And you best simmer down.”

Chase saw the satisfied gleam in Giovanni Sardo’s eyes and knew that at the

moment he was outgunned. The only thing he could do was change tactics. “Let go of

me.” He shook his arms against the hold Clay and Cole had on him. “Now.”

“Let him go,” Charlie said when the twins looked at him.

They released him and Chase walked over to pour himself a cup of coffee. “Any

news?” he asked Jason when he turned back around.

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“Nothing,” Jason answered. “I’ve put out an APB on the car, but so far no one’s

spotted it. None of Clara’s friends have a clue where she could be, and there’s been no

sign of Ana anywhere in the county. And before you ask, we’ve questioned Sardo, here.

He returned with the parts and the man at the shop in Tucson remembered him being

there, so there’s no way he could have been involved. It’s like Charlie said. He’s just

here to get those divorce papers signed. And personally, buddy, I’d think that would be

just fine with you because as soon as Ana signs, she’s a free woman.”

Chase grunted, took a sip of coffee then set the cup on the table. “I’m going back

out.”

“Give it a rest,” Clay suggested. “Jason said he’ll call in the state boys if they don’t

turn up by morning, and in the meantime every officer in three counties is out looking

for them. They’ll turn up.”

“You willing to bet their lives on that?” he asked and looked around the room.

What he saw was that there would be no support for him there. Whatever Sardo had

done, his family now was useless to him. “Well?” He directed the last question toward

his father. “Is that all Clara means to you?”

For the first time in Chase’s life, his father looked away. “Fine,” Chase said and

turned for the door. “I’ll do it alone.”

He stomped out of the house and to his truck. Almost his entire life, he’d tried to

distance himself from his family, from his father. But always he’d known that he had

the strength of the family behind him if push came to shove. For the first time, he was

completely alone and that cut him deeper than he’d ever imagined it could.

But family or no, he wasn’t going to stop looking until he found Ana and Clara.

And god help the man if harm had been done to them, because there was no way Chase

would let him live.

* * * * *

“I can’t get them to loosen,” Clara complained, still struggling against the ropes that