Her Cowboy Avenger (21 page)

“Disappeared?” she echoed faintly.

Still smiling, his eyes stroked over her, trailing down her body with a thoroughness and such open interest she went cold from head to toe. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

Oh, God. “Waiting for what?” she said warily, fearing she already knew.

“You’re a beautiful woman, Elena. Grew up real nice. Your mother was beautiful, too. You look a lot like her.”

It didn’t occur to her to question why he was bringing up her mother. She automatically knew. He was talking about making her disappear. Her mother had disappeared, no one questioning that she’d run away. And Elena knew, the realization hitting her like a blow straight to the gut.

“My mother didn’t run away. You killed her.” And not just her, Elena knew, her horror growing. The other women who’d gone missing, possibly victims of a serial killer.

Big Jim’s women. His souvenirs. Buried out in the back of the spread.

So that was it. What Walt had been worried Bobby would dig up. The reason he’d had to die.

His smile deepened, the sight piercing her numbness and filling her with sudden rage. “She was so beautiful,” he said wistfully, his gaze growing dreamy and distant. “Normally we wouldn’t have taken someone so close to home, someone we knew, someone we knew had people who would miss her. But she was just so beautiful. Jim wanted her bad. So did I. Finally, we just had to have her.”

He lapsed into silence, not elaborating on what had happened then. He didn’t have to, as Elena saw his smile, the gleam in his eye, the sheer grotesque happiness he displayed as he remembered. Elena felt bile rise in her throat and nearly gagged, from horror, from revulsion, at the idea of what must have been done to her mother at those men’s hands.

For just a moment, guilt surged from the pit of her stomach, washing over her, nearly overwhelming her. She’d spent practically her whole life hating her mother, believing she’d left them, left
her.
And she’d been dead the whole time, taken away by this monster.

This monster who now wanted her.

The reminder brought her crashing back to reality. She was the one now facing those same dire straits her mother once had. She had no trouble believing Walt was capable of making it look like she’d run away. He’d done it before.

But not before he did God only knew to her.

The hell he will.

Everything within her rejected the idea, a fierce determination gripping her. Teresa Reyes couldn’t have known what would happen to her beforehand. Most of the other women probably didn’t, either. But Elena did, and she damn well wasn’t going down without a fight.

If there was any outward change in her demeanor, Walt didn’t react to it. His gaze remained far away, that despicable smile on his face. Elena wondered if it would be possible to make a move while his attention was elsewhere, distracted by his own disgusting thoughts. Maybe she could go for the gun—

Whether she tensed or he simply realized he’d let his mind wander too long, Walt suddenly sharpened his focus, his eyes narrowing on her face, the gun centering on her chest.

“And now it’s time for you to go,” he said.

“Do you really expect me to just go with you willingly, knowing what you intend to do to me?”

“I think you will. Because if you don’t cooperate, I’ll kill your boyfriend.”

Matt.
Fresh shock rolled through her. It seemed impossible, but somehow, in the midst of processing the truth about Walt, about her mother, she’d forgotten about him.

“Where’s Matt?”

Walt waved with his free hand. “Right over there.”

Elena whipped her head in the direction he indicated.

It took her a moment to spot him in the dark. Once she finally saw him, she nearly shuddered with relief. He was lying on his side, facing her, his arms bound behind his back. She tried to see if he was injured, still breathing—

His eyelids suddenly popped open, his gaze meeting hers.

His eyes weren’t easily visible in the dark, but she could make them out, his stare direct and purposeful. He glanced toward Walt, then back at her. She quickly interpreted the silent message he was sending her.

Keep him talking.

Of course. He was trying to come up with a plan. Maybe he could manage to sneak up on him as long as Walt didn’t know he was still awake, or provide some kind of distraction allowing her to act.

She quickly turned back to Walt. “Is that supposed to be an incentive? Obviously you’re planning on killing him anyway.”

“Yes, but you want me to delay as long as possible, don’t you? The longer I put it off, there’s still a chance he can escape, make some big move and save you both, isn’t there?” His tone was plainly mocking, making it clear how likely he thought that would be. “That’s what he’s doing over there, isn’t he? Trying to come up with a plan?” He turned slightly as though to include Matt in the conversation. “I know you’re conscious, Alvarez. Good. Let’s get this over with.”

“What over with?” Elena asked.

“We’re getting out of here.”

“And going where?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” His voice hardened. “Alvarez, I said get up.”

After a moment, Matt slowly rose to his feet, no easy task with the use of his arms restricted. He still managed it, keeping his head high and proud, staring down Walt the entire way.

If Walt was at all intimidated, he didn’t show it. But then, he was the one with the gun. He jerked his head toward the side. “Come on, the both of you. I had to park far enough away from the house that no one would hear me approach, and I have no intention of carrying you both. Walk.”

“And if we refuse?” Matt asked.

“If one of you refuses I’ll shoot the other. Nowhere that’ll prevent you from walking, but enough that it’ll hurt like hell. Shoulder wounds aren’t much fun. If you both refuse, you both get shot. Easy as that.”

“You won’t get away with this,” Matt pressed. “I have a contact with the FBI I’ve been in touch with throughout this. She knows Elena is innocent and she’ll know we haven’t run. If anything happens to us, she’ll be down here in no time, investigating our disappearances.”

His eyes narrowed with suspicion, Walt surveyed Matt carefully. “Even if I believe you really do know someone with the FBI, it won’t make any difference. Let her look all she wants. She won’t find a trace of you. This isn’t my first time. I know how to set up a disappearance and get rid of a body so it won’t be found. The FBI’s come looking around before and they didn’t find a thing. She won’t, either.”

“Technology’s a lot more advanced than it was twenty-five years ago,” Elena pointed out. “They have new ways of finding people, bodies. You don’t think there’s a chance they won’t poke around the ranch, maybe find those bodies Big Jim has buried out there?”

“They’re not going to dig up the whole ranch on some damn scavenger hunt. I’ll take my chances.”

“Then what?” she asked. “With Bobby dead and nobody left to carry out his irrigation plan, are you just going to leave those bodies out there?”

“I’ll move the bodies soon enough. Should have done it years ago. As soon as enough time has passed and nobody’s poking around, I’ll take care of it. After you’re gone, it’ll take some time before the ranch’s ownership is settled. It should be vacant for a while. I’ll be able to take care of what’s out there without anyone noticing.”

“Even if you can make it look like we ran, my friend at the FBI isn’t going to believe we shot a deputy before running,” Matt said.

“Really? Even when Travis was clearly out of control and threatening Elena here? It seems pretty obvious things just got out of hand. Enough people knew what Travis was doing. Now here he is, dressed all in black, the remains of a homemade Molotov cocktail with his fingerprints on it nearby. Anyone can see what he came here to do. You stopped him, there was a struggle, and he got shot. Killing a sheriff’s deputy in Texas? That’s not something anybody’s going to take lightly, no matter the reason. You had to know you were looking at a heap of trouble, and Elena already had enough of her own. It only makes sense you’d run.”

The scary thing was, it did make sense hearing him explain it, as he was no doubt prepared to do after they “disappeared” and he had to present this version of events as fact.

“I don’t understand,” Elena said. “Why did you kill Travis?”

“He was always going to have to die. He was too hell-bent on seeing you pay. Once you disappeared, he would never have stopped trying to track you down, and when the trail got too cold, he might just realize how suspicious that was, might start asking questions. No, he served his purpose, setting up the events that everybody would believe made you run. There wasn’t much further damage he could do, not after this. It was time to end this.”

She wasn’t surprised that he could be so cold-blooded about everything, not with all she now knew him capable of, but it still came as an unpleasant shock to hear anyone discuss killing another person with such an utter lack of feeling. The man truly was insane.

“Now,” he said. “Enough talk. Let’s go. I haven’t got all night.”

She and Matt exchanged a glance, clearly having reached the same conclusion. They’d exhausted all their arguments for the time being, and Walt had swatted them away one by one as though they were nothing. There didn’t seem to be anything they could do at the moment but comply.

Walt had them walk straight out behind the house and into the pasture beyond. They moved in silence.

Elena spotted the truck long before they arrived at it, the vehicle slowly growing larger as they approached. Her dread grew with every step, her desperation for a plan—any plan—that could get them out of this rising with each second. What would happen when they got there? Would he no longer need Matt to be alive and capable of walking?

No, she realized. She shouldn’t have underestimated Walt’s laziness. If he killed Matt here, he still would have to get him back out of the truck and carry him to wherever he intended to dispose of his body. His plan required Matt to disappear, seemingly with her. No trace of his body could be found. They had some time.

Just not very much.

They finally made it to the truck. Matt and Elena stopped behind the vehicle and glanced back at him.

Walt was frowning. He eyed the truckbed, then the two of them. She could see his mind working, watched him try to figure out what to do. Elena considered their own options, her thoughts likely leading her to the same place his were. He couldn’t have a very steady grip on his weapon while he was driving. If one of them was in the front with him, they could try to make a move, go for the gun or the wheel. If it was her, he’d be more hesitant to shoot, not wanting to kill her, not before he could do what he wanted with her. If it was Matt, he would be even stronger, have more of a chance to fight back. And if one of them was in the back, they could try to jump out and make a run for it. Or better yet, they could hop out the side and try to get into the driver’s side to him and the gun.

They were all good possibilities—for them, offering at least a chance. So she wasn’t surprised when he didn’t go with any of them.

Walt reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out his keys. He tossed them at Elena’s feet. “You’re driving. Alvarez, you’re in the middle, and I’m riding shotgun.” His lips curled back, revealing a lot of teeth. “Literally. I’m going to have my gun in your side the whole time. Elena, you try anything funny behind the wheel, and I pull the trigger. Alvarez, you try making a move, same result. Got it?”

Elena swallowed hard, her heart plummeting. Walt might be lazy and deranged, but he wasn’t completely stupid. It was the best scenario—for him at least, keeping them both firmly under control.

Walt was still waiting for an answer. There was just one problem with his plan. She raised her bound wrists. “How am I supposed to drive with these on?”

He eyed her for a long moment, as though wondering if she was trying to pull something. Or maybe he just wasn’t happy about having a big flaw in his plan pointed out.

In one swift motion he reached down to his belt, unhooked one key from a loop and tossed it onto the ground in front of her with the keys to the truck. “There,” he said. “Unlock the cuffs, but don’t even think of trying anything.”

Elena made herself nod, unable to squelch a tiny sense of triumph. It would be much more possible to do something with her hands free. What that would be, she didn’t know. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s get going.”

He motioned to the keys, and Elena slowly bent to retrieve them. When she had the handcuffs off, she tossed them back to him on the ground in front of him, then reached for the keys to the truck. Once she had them in hand, Walt gestured for her to go to the driver’s side, Matt to head to the passenger’s. Once they’d done as ordered, Walt fell into step behind Matt, keeping his gun aimed at his back.

With numb fingers Elena opened the door. She was about to climb inside when the passenger door opened, Matt standing on the other side. Their eyes met across the length of the cab. He gave a barely perceptible nod, his gaze narrowed and hard, his expression resolute. It was a signal to her, an indication he had a plan and everything was going to be all right.

And she knew, her heart stopping dead in her chest. He was going to try something. He was going to make a move or go for the gun or...something. Something reckless and stupid that would put him in danger, all with the intention of trying to save her.

Staring at him in shock, she almost shook her head. She didn’t want him risking his life for her, damn well didn’t want him
sacrificing
it.

Even if she’d been foolish enough to try to communicate a message to him, she didn’t get a chance. He ducked his head and climbed into the cab, sliding across the seat to the middle. Walt followed quickly behind.

Elena had no choice but to get in, too. She landed right beside Matt, their thighs and arms squeezed tightly together. The feel of him there offered no comfort, only reminding her of how much danger he was in.