Quinn (35 page)

“But why target Micah?” Quinn asked.

“In case you haven’t noticed, he’s as close to Cheyenne as her father and brother were. After eliminating them, I realized he had to go, too.”

Quinn went very still as the words sank in. This went so much deeper than he’d first thought.

He fought to keep his tone even. “Eliminated? Are you saying that Cheyenne’s father and brother didn’t die in accidents?”

The smile was back, and Quinn realized that Abbott was enjoying himself. This madman relished the opportunity to brag about the unspeakable things he’d done.

“Buddy was so easy. He was like a big, dumb puppy. I knew exactly how to play him. I hadn’t planned on taking him out like that, but it had to be done quickly after he ran into Deke Vance at the bar and the two of them went off to a booth in the corner to talk. I knew, by the look on Buddy’s face, that Deke had managed to persuade him that he hadn’t stolen that money.”

“You set Deke up?”

At Cheyenne’s gasp his evil smile grew. “That part was easy. All I had to do was accuse that poor dumb fool of stealing, then to prove it, I stuck the two hundred-dollar bills I’d stolen from the drawer into his parka pocket, carried it in from the utility room, and poof.” He clapped his hands together. “Deke became a thief, convicted in the eyes of the whole family. Once I had all of you believing that, the rest all fell into place. Until that night at the bar.
Then I knew that Buddy had to go, because he no longer believed me.”

“You said my brother was drunk.” Cheyenne’s voice was little more than a whisper as she tried to take in all that he was saying. It was simply too much to absorb.

“Buddy never drank more than a beer. But I made sure that everybody in the place saw me buy him three more. The waitress delivered them to his booth. He probably left them there, or maybe Deke drank them. When we left, Buddy said he wanted to talk, and I put him off, saying we’d talk at home. I stayed close behind him in my truck and waited until we reached a stretch of deserted road. Knowing Buddy, and that strict code of honor, I figured he was distracted and probably beating himself up over the fact that he’d misjudged his best friend, and that had him driving faster than he usually did. It was so easy to pull alongside and slam him as hard as I could. His truck went out of control and spun around before hitting that tree and exploding.” He shook his head before adding, “Now there was a ball of fire. A really great blaze. I made sure the flames did the trick before calling for help.”

Cheyenne couldn’t bear the pain. With her hands still tied behind her back she lowered her head to the table, hoping to blot out his words.

Quinn’s voice was a low growl of fury. “Untie her hands.”

Abbott whirled on him. “Did you just try to give me an order? What did I tell you?” He lifted the rifle and took aim at Quinn’s head. “I’m in charge here.”

Quinn didn’t flinch. “Shoot me if you want. But untie her hands. She’s just learned that you killed her brother. Or aren’t you man enough to let her mourn in peace?”

“I’m more man than you’ll ever hope to be. Man enough to kill anyone in my way.” Instead of pulling the trigger, Abbott used his knife to cut through the cords on her wrists.

Cheyenne buried her face in her hands and slumped forward at the table, unable to absorb all that she’d heard. It was simply too much for her mind to accept.

“What about Cheyenne’s father?” Quinn kept his tone level, to hide the fury that was raging through him. Now that he’d managed to persuade Abbott to free Cheyenne’s hands, he needed to find a way to get her out of harm’s way.

Abbott snagged a chair, turned it around, and leaned his arms on the back of it. The knife rested in his lap.

“Her father’s death took a little more finesse.” Abbott had the satisfaction of seeing Cheyenne’s head come up sharply, her eyes wide with stunned surprise.

A big smile split his lips. “You heard right. After Buddy was gone, I persuaded your dad to keep me on at the ranch and consider me part of the family. I started calling him Dad, because I could see that he liked it. While we were in the hills with the herd I asked him for your hand in marriage. And he said I was putting the cart before the horse. He actually laughed at his little joke.” Abbott shook his head, as though still unable to believe what her father had told him. “He said he knew his daughter as well as he knew himself and he’d never seen any sign that you thought of me as anything except a friend. He expected that someday he would recognize that you were wildly in love with some cowboy and only then would he give his blessing.” His smile was wiped instantly from his lips. “I knew what I had to do. That night I told
him about some of the herd splitting off from the rest and getting trapped in a box canyon. I suggested that he take an all-terrain vehicle up there to drive the herd back down. It was an easy matter to follow him up into the hills on horseback, so he wouldn’t hear me above the sound of his engine. I watched when his vehicle flipped, after hitting a rope.”

Cheyenne looked startled. “A rope?”

“Yeah. A rope I’d strung earlier along the path, knowing it would be invisible in the dusk. Then I stuck around to make sure he was trapped under his vehicle and wasn’t going to make it out of there before I pocketed the rope and headed back to the ranch, so I’d be there when his body was found.”

“You left my father all alone in the hills to freeze to death?” The pain in her heart was so deep, so all-consuming, she could hardly speak. “Why? We took you in and treated you like family. Why would you kill the people who had opened their hearts and their home to you?”

“Why?” His voice took on a whine, like a petulant child. “I’ll tell you why. Now that I was free of that hateful mental prison, I vowed to live the life I wanted. And what I wanted was to be like Buddy. Part of a real family. When he invited me to his ranch, I met you, and realized that you were the key to everything I’d ever wanted. You and I would marry, and I’d be part of a real family and living the dream.”

“But you never… We never…” Cheyenne paused, struggling to find the words. “My father spoke the truth. I didn’t feel that way about you.”

“You would have. Once you were alone, I figured
you’d have nobody else to turn to and you’d lean on me. The night of that first fire, when Micah arrived up in the hills and said you were alone, I figured I’d ride back and turn on the charm. Instead”—his voice turned to ice—“I found you alone with a stranger.”

“And you set fire to my home?”

“He was reverting to type,” Quinn said quietly. “It’s how Abbott has always eliminated anybody who crossed him.”

Abbott actually smiled at Cheyenne. “I toyed with the idea of letting Quinn die and saving you. But at the time, I was so furious, I wanted you both dead. But when you survived, I decided that I’d take you back.”

“Take me…?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“What about the fire at my ranch?” Quinn asked.

“I saw the way Deke reacted when he ran into you in town. Hell, half the town saw it. Nobody would question whether or not he was guilty of setting that fire. I figured it was a good way to get back at Deke and at you, for taking Cheyenne away from me.”

“How could I take away someone who was never yours? She’s already said she didn’t want to be with you.”

Abbott turned a blinding smile on Cheyenne. “Oh, I knew you’d come around. I just needed time alone with you to persuade you.”

Watching him, hearing the wild sort of joy in his voice as he boasted of his prowess, left Cheyenne no doubt that he was utterly, completely mad. She wondered why she had missed the signs of it all this time. How could she have been so blind?

“You’re crazy.” She shook her head in disbelief.

“Don’t call me that.” His attitude went from wildly happy to unbridled fury in the blink of an eye.

With the knife raised threateningly, he started across the room.

Quinn’s mind raced, determined to keep him distracted. “What will you do now that the police are on to you?”

Abbott stopped dead in his tracks. “Yeah. Now that’s a problem. But I’ve always been good at solving problems. In case you haven’t noticed”—he tossed his head in a gesture of supreme pride—“I’m a genius. The shrinks said I tested off the charts. So, for now, I may have to abandon my plan of creating a family here, but there are plenty of other places where I can start over. In the meantime, you have to die.”

“Another fire?” Quinn taunted.

“Why not? We’re far enough from civilization that nobody will notice the smoke until this cabin is nothing but a pile of ashes. And the two of you with it.” He pointed to the pile of papers spilling out of his backpack and removed a container of gasoline. “There won’t be enough left of either of you to identify for months.”

“I don’t understand why you didn’t use a fire to eliminate Cheyenne’s father.”

Abbott’s eyes flashed. “Don’t think I didn’t want to. There’s something so satisfying about a really hot blaze. But I had to act quickly, before he told Cheyenne what we’d talked about. So I improvised.”

When he heard the drone of a plane, his head came up sharply.

“Did I forget to tell you?” It was Quinn’s turn to smile. “I contacted the state police and my family on the way here. Sounds like they’ve finally made it.”

As the sound drew nearer, Abbott raced to the window to watch as a low-flying plane appeared to be pointed directly at the cabin.

At the last moment the nose of the plane lifted and it passed directly overhead, then turned and made another low pass.

Directly behind them a helicopter, clearly marked with the state police logo, came into view over the hills.

Abbott turned from the window and saw that Quinn had used that moment of distraction to race across the room and snatch the rifle from the bed.

Before Quinn could take aim, Abbott dragged Cheyenne from the chair and held his knife to her throat.

“Okay, hero. Let’s just see what kind of gambler you are.” With a high-pitched laugh he pressed the blade to her throat, drawing a thin line of blood that trickled down the front of her shirt.

At her cry of pain his smile grew. “Now you have a choice. You can drop the weapon, knowing you’ll have to die, or watch your woman die right this minute.”

Quinn tossed the rifle aside. “Let her go, Abbott.”

“Now why would I do a stupid thing like that?” He withdrew a lighter from his pocket and dropped it onto the papers in his backpack, watching with satisfaction as the flame caught.

They could see the flames grow, the line of fire moving slowly toward the container of gas.

Abbott’s voice was jubilant. “Once it hits, there’ll be this exquisite explosion, and this entire log cabin will burn like tinder.”

He dragged Cheyenne across the room toward the door. “Sorry we have to leave your lover behind. With
the law this close, I’ll need to use you as my ticket out of here. Even the law’s best marksmen won’t risk the life of an innocent woman.”

When he realized the door was locked, he lowered the knife and gave her a shove. “Unlock the door and be quick about it.”

Quinn knew that this was his last chance. Calculating the distance, he leaped at Abbott and managed to take him down.

“Run, Cheyenne. Get out. And don’t look back.”

The two men rolled across the floor, grunting, exchanging blows, breathing hard each time a fist made contact with flesh. Each man fought like a demon, neither willing to give an inch.

Even while he was pummeling his weakened opponent, Abbott struggled to free the gun from his waist. As he slid it loose, Quinn’s fist connected with his nose, sending up a fountain of blood.

With a scream of pain Abbott pressed the pistol against Quinn’s chest. “Now you’re going to—”

Quinn brought his head up under Abbott’s chin with such force, he could hear bone scrape against bone at the same instant that the sound of the gunshot reverberated through the room. With a cry of pain at his broken jaw Abbott dropped the pistol. But the bullet had already shot into Quinn’s body with enough force to send him slamming against the wall before slumping to the floor.

Clutching his broken jaw, Abbott began frantically searching for his fallen weapon. Just as his fingers closed around the cold steel, he felt a boot clamp down hard, crushing his hand. He looked up to see Cheyenne standing over him.

“Don’t try it,” he hissed.

“Try to stop me.” In one quick motion she bent and snatched up the handgun before straightening and taking aim.

Abbott rolled aside and knelt over Quinn’s motionless body, the knife in his hands pointed directly at Quinn’s chest.

“Well now. It’s your turn to gamble.” His smile was back and, with it, his too-cheerful confidence. “I’m betting that before you have time to pull that trigger, I can plunge this knife so far into his heart, he won’t have a prayer of a chance of surviving.”

Cheyenne hesitated.

That was all Abbott needed. He gave a high-pitched laugh. “Just as I thought. Coward. You’re all a bunch of—”

A single shot rang out and Abbott went rigid, staring at Cheyenne with a look of shock mingled with pure hatred as she prepared to fire again.

“You… can’t…” The knife slid from his nerveless fingers. His mouth worked, trying to speak, but no words came out.