In the Paths of Righteousness (Psalm 23 Mysteries) (20 page)

He very slowly, very deliberately lifted his right foot and then stepped down and then moved his right arm pushing the elbow behind him. Liz probably just thought he was fidgeting.

Cindy, though, understood.

She stomped down on Liz’s foot and drove her elbow into the other woman’s stomach. Then she grabbed the arm with the knife in both hands. She dropped to a crouch, arched her back, and flipped Liz over her shoulder.

Jeremiah rushed forward and snatched the knife up, marveling at what Cindy had just accomplished.

Liz fell apart, sobbing and wailing.

“It’s over,” Jeremiah told her.

“Nothing is ever over!” she screamed before throwing herself face forward into the dirt.

“Nice swing,” Zack said to Cindy a minute later after he had retrieved some rope from his horse. He tied Liz’s hands behind her in swift fashion.

“I’m sorry,” Cindy said.

“No, you were right to hit first and ask questions later. I’m just glad my shoulder took most of it.”

“You’re considerably taller than who I was expecting to come through the door,” she noted with a faint smile.

Jeremiah felt himself relax slightly. If Cindy was smiling, everything was going to be okay.

Thanks to the flashlights that Zack had in his saddlebags they made it back through the cave. Zack led Liz’s horse on a lead rope and Cindy followed behind with Jeremiah bringing up the rear. Once on the other side they were able to ride slowly as the moon rose. Jeremiah told her about the stampede and she was relieved that everyone had made it through okay. She in turn told him the details of what had happened with Liz. It took what seemed like a lifetime but they finally saw the campfire.

Silver broke into a trot, clearly sensing that he was due for a rest when they got there and she let him have his way. Mark and the others hailed their return with relief. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for Norman, though, who was in intense distress over what Liz had done for him. It was going to take him a long time to come to terms with it and she resolved to add him to her prayer list. No one deserved to live through the hell he was clearly putting himself through.

He went to bed early. The rest of them sat around the fire, not talking much. After an hour Mark suggested they should get some sleep. Hank agreed. No one moved for another hour after that. Finally one by one everyone headed off to their sleeping bags until only she and Jeremiah were left.

“Thanks for coming after me...again,” she said.

“That was clever of you to lead her away from the rest of us.”

“It was the only thing I could think to do. She was armed. I wasn’t. I had no idea how long the drugs would last but she said hours.”

“It probably would have been hours if it hadn’t been for the stampede.”

“We should go on a real vacation one of these days. One where there’s no killers, no bodies, just us.”

He chuckled. “Given our luck we’d have to vacation on a private island somewhere.”

“That sounds good. Think you could arrange it?” she asked with a smile.

“Probably,” he said, giving her an odd look that she couldn’t interpret. She decided not to worry about it. Right
now they were both alive and well. That was all that really mattered.

Righteousness. They had arrived at last. Cindy practically fell off her horse when they pulled up in front of the small hotel. The town was like something between a ghost town and a shrine to the old west as it had been. There were cars, but none of them were allowed on the main street.

They had stopped at a ranch just five miles outside of town where they had met the owner of the cattle drive excursion company and handed the cattle over to him and the sheriff whom they had handed Liz over to. Representatives from the television station were also there to take charge of the equipment.

Originally they were supposed to have spent the night in the bunkhouse at the ranch, ending the trip just as it had started. It had been unanimously decided, though, that the survivors would instead spend the night in the hotel in town which would provide for greater comfort and not conjure up bad memories of that first night.

The tiny hotel had ten rooms and they took all ten of them with only Traci and Mark sharing a room. The rooms were up a creaky flight of stairs that felt like they were original to the building. Cindy just hoped the rooms had been updated to include modern plumbing. She needed a shower badly.

She was in room number seven and when she opened the door she breathed a sigh of relief. The interior of the room retained a certain old fashioned charm but had modern conveniences.

She shut the door, dropped her backpack on the floor, and made a beeline for the shower.

She had to wash her hair three times before it felt truly clean. When she finally exited the shower she dressed in her only pair of clean clothes and headed downstairs.

Jeremiah and Hank were sitting in front of the fireplace in the living room. Jeremiah glanced up at her with a smile and she wondered how he could possibly look as refreshed as he did. The shower had done wonders for her, but she was still sure she had to look beyond exhausted.

“We gave them a bit of a surprise. Dinner won’t be ready for another half hour yet.”

She nodded even as her stomach began to
growl.

“Come sit with us,” Hank said, gesturing to an empty chair between them.

She sank gratefully into the cushy plushness of the chair and was embarrassed when a groan of relief escaped her.

“It sure beats a saddle or the ground,” Hank said with a rare smile.

“It certainly does.”

The others began to wander in slowly. Mark and Traci both looked sore but much more at peace. Zack looked completely different in khakis and a polo shirt. Curly was wearing a Lone Ranger T-shirt with a clean pair of jeans. Wayne and Junior both looked pale and were moving stiffly. Finally Kyle showed up looking more rested than he had any right to.

“Norman’s not going to be joining us for dinner,” he announced. “Poor guy feels like he’s responsible for his girlfriend going all crazy. I tried to tell him it wasn’t his fault, but I couldn’t get through.”

“Dude’s going to need some major therapy,” Junior said.

“Lot of guilt to carry around that he doesn’t need to,” Zack noted.

“When it’s your significant other you share everything with them, the good and the bad. Of course he’s going to feel terrible for a while,” Traci said quietly.

Cindy saw Traci squeeze Mark’s hand. She, of all people, would certainly be in a position to understand that.

Jeremiah glanced at his watch. “Still another ten minutes until dinner,” he said.

Traci’s face lit up. “Perfect! I saw that there was a gift shop in the back. That’s just enough time for Cindy and I to go shopping.”

Cindy wasn’t sure how she’d gotten roped into that, especially when her sore legs would have preferred to stay right where they were. Traci looked so happy, though, that she hauled herself out of the chair and plastered on a smile.

“And I thought we were going to escape this trip without shopping,” Mark said with an exaggerated sigh. Cindy could tell, though, that he was pleased that his wife had found something to be excited about so soon after the horror they had lived through.

A minute later Cindy and Traci were inside the hotel’s tiny gift shop which was crammed with all kinds of western themed
tchotchkes. The first thing Traci grabbed were a dozen postcards showing the surrounding landscapes.

“I didn’t get to take any pictures,” she explained. “Plus, I want to send a postcard to my sister. We always do that when we travel and she has sent me a lot more than I’ve gotten to send her.”

Cindy nodded even as her eyes were drawn to a little miniature white horse figurine that reminded her of Silver. She picked it up. She really should get a souvenir of this trip, awful as it had been. She took it to the register where she spied a pack of playing cards that she could add to her tiny collection. Pleased, she bought both items and then watched as Traci wandered around the store for another five minutes admiring various things until she, too, was finished shopping. Aside from the postcards she also got a horse figurine, a pen, and a horse suncatcher.

“We should hang out more often,” Traci said as they exited the shop.

“I would like that,” Cindy said.

“And I promise we don’t have to talk about you-know-who if you don’t want to.”

“It’s a deal.”

They returned just as the group was being ushered into the dining room. Cindy had to admit it was a relief to sit down on another real chair and she was looking forward to good, hot food that she didn’t have to worry might be poisoned.

Apparently she wasn’t the only one. When the platters of food came out and were set on the table family style everyone descended on the fried chicken and barbeque ribs as if they were starving.

The whole meal passed largely in silence as the group of tired people expended all their available energy on stuffing themselves. When at last it was over Cindy was sure she wasn’t the only one feeling drowsy and content.

One by one the others excused themselves and headed upstairs until only she, Mark, Traci, and Jeremiah remained. The four of them just stared at each other for a moment in silence.

Finally Mark raised his glass of soda. Cindy had noticed that none of them had had water for dinner opting instead for the soda.

“To us. We made it through another one,” he said by way of a toast.

“And nobody killed my brother, including me,” Cindy said with a wry grin.

They all clinked glasses and drank.

“Apparently they’re sending a car for us tomorrow late afternoon that will get us to the airport,” Jeremiah said when they had all set their glasses back down. “We’ll have several hours to explore the town if we want.”

“No offense, but I really just want to get out of here and back home,” Mark said.

“I think it will be fun,” Traci said with a grin. “The adventure continues, but without any more dead bodies.”

“I’m all for that,” Cindy said.

The four of them sat and chatted for almost another hour, just decompressing. It felt good, but Cindy was getting really tired and she finally decided it was time to head upstairs.

“I’ll head up, too,” Traci said.

“I’ll be up in a while,” Mark told his wife.

The two women headed for the stairs. In the hallway Cindy hesitated. “I think I’m going to check on my brother,” she told Traci.

“Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Cindy knocked on her brother’s door and he answered wearing sweats and the same old, overly small Star Wars T-shirt he had been wearing that first night. He ushered her inside and closed the door.

“I haven’t had a chance to say thank you for saving my life,” he said without preamble.

“What are sisters for?” she asked.

“Seriously, what you did, what you do? Solving crimes? It’s amazing. I think you’re my hero.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. He seemed sincere. “Thanks,” she finally said.

He nodded.

She cleared her throat, feeling uncomfortable with not knowing how to respond to that. She stared again at the shirt.

“I keep thinking that T-shirt is familiar,” Cindy said.

Kyle looked at her strangely. “It should be.”

“Why?”

“It was Lisa’s. She was wearing it the morning before she died.”

Cindy’s heart felt like it was being squeezed to death. “What?” she asked.

He nodded. “I always wear it at the start of every adventure to honor her spirit and at the end of every adventure to remind me to be always be thankful to be alive.”

She felt her knees give away and she fell onto a chair. She buried her face in her hands and felt something inside her break loose. She didn’t know how long she cried, but when she finally looked up she could tell that Kyle had been too.

“Well, that was...something,” she said as she wiped the tears off her cheeks.

“Yeah. Guess we both needed it after everything that’s happened the last few days,” he said.

Try the last several years
, she thought.

She stood slowly. She was beyond tired and the best thing for both of them right now would be to get some rest.

She gave Kyle a hug which he returned. Finally she broke away.

“Now, I want you to look out for yourself. You shouldn’t take so many risks, you know. I want to see you again in one piece.”

“I’ll be careful,” he said with a smirk.

She sighed. Some things would never change. Maybe that was for the best.

She turned and headed for the door.

“Oh, and
Cind?”

“Yes?” she asked, turning back.

“I really would stay away from Jeremiah. I know that what he and Mark were doing was all a ruse to draw out the real killer, but trust me, there’s something not right about him.”

“I’ll take it under advisement,” she said, rolling her eyes.

He crossed the room and grabbed her hand. He looked into her eyes. “I’m being serious. There’s something dangerous about him. Trust me, I’ve played at dangerous things and met some really intense people before and I know what I’m talking about. Whatever it is you don’t know about him, I’m pretty sure it’s bad. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

She was touched by his sincere concern and slightly chilled by his words. “I’ll be careful,” she said, hoping it would be enough to reassure him.

He shook his head. “Where you’re headed, there is no careful.”

Before she could ask what he meant the phone rang. He stood for a moment and then with a sigh walked over and answered it. She waved before slipping out of the room and heading for her own.

Jeremiah and Mark had moved back into the living room and settled themselves into chairs in front of the fire after Cindy and Traci went upstairs. He could tell there was something on the detective’s mind and he was just waiting for him to say whatever it was.

Mark finally cleared his throat. “Look, a lot of what I said the other day, it was true. I know there’s stuff you’ve done, that you’re not all that you appear to be.”

“Why are you bringing this up?” Jeremiah asked.

“Because I’m not stupid. Skills like those you possess don’t come out of nowhere. There’s only a few possible explanations, almost all of them less than savory. The point is, I don’t care who you used to be. All I care about is who you are now,” Mark said.

The detective stared into the fire for a minute. Jeremiah didn’t say anything.

“So, are we good?” Mark finally asked.

“We’re good,” Jeremiah said.

Mark nodded and stood up. “I’m off to bed.”

“Goodnight.”

Jeremiah remained by the fire, staring into it and thinking. Mark and he had an uneasy alliance. He just hoped nothing ever happened to disturb it. It was just one more reason, though, why he should go.

He heard the stairs creak and a moment later he could hear someone enter the room. Cindy sat down quietly in the chair that Mark had vacated. She looked like she’d been crying.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “Just working through some old issues, you know?”

More than he could ever tell her. Yet another reason to go.

“Anything I can do?”

She smiled. “You already help more than you could know.”

A reason to stay,
an inner voice whispered. He knew he shouldn’t listen to it as much as he wanted to.

“Just, don’t ever die, promise?” she asked.

It was an impossible promise to keep, they both knew that. Still, he nodded. “I promise.”

“Good. Now, about those ghost stories we were supposed to be able to tell around the fire.”

He groaned.

As it turned out the town of Righteousness was incredibly small, on the cusp of becoming a ghost town. Mark took it all in as he walked down the street. Traci and Cindy were out exploring. Traci had given him the postcard for her sister with strict instructions to mail it. The front desk of the tiny hotel had no stamps but they’d been happy to direct him down the street to the post office. He arrived and went inside.