The Green-Eyed Doll (38 page)

How far had she travelled? In which direction? Mosquitoes and flies flocked to her drying blood, sweat, and the smell of fear. Still, she moved forward. Or did she? In this darkness, for all she knew, she’d been stumbling around in circles for hours.

The dry, barren trees looked like arms reaching out to grab her. None large enough to offer protection, they were mere outlines. She stopped and listened. The sounds surrounded her, seemingly from every direction. Unwilling to take chances, she kept moving until she stumbled onto what appeared to be a clearing. Catherine knelt down at the base of a tree and listened. She listened for the dull roar of car and truck engines. If a highway was close...nothing but the background music of crickets and the constant buzzing of bugs broke the silence. She remained in her position for what seemed like hours, jumping at each rustle of the leaves and readying herself for a fight. Pain in her knees forced her to rise occasionally, but here was where she would take a stand.

****

Friday, September 8th, 11:00 p.m.

“Jesus Christ. How could we
not
have known about Danny’s mother?” Matt tightened his grip on the steering wheel and pressed his foot on the gas pedal, praying this lead would pan out.

“Just be glad Sue finally remembered.” Ash slammed his seat buckle home. “Sounded like Danny and his mama had been estranged for years.”

“If Catherine is…” Matt couldn’t force himself to say the word, “it will be my fault.” The words had burned their way from inside his soul. A miserable failure, he couldn’t protect, much less find, the woman he loved. The woman who’d be safe if he hadn’t been such an ass.

“Don’t start. Just concentrate on keeping this white tornado you’re driving on the road,” Ash grumbled.

They followed Jake and Rey because nobody knew the back roads better than those two. Jake turned off the main highway and headed out the farm-to-market. Matt radioed them to kill the lights and run silent.

His heart jack-hammered against his ribcage, reminding him that without Catherine, it had no reason to keep beating. The lead car slowed and a minute later, turned down a dirt driveway.

The trailer came into view. The night was pitch black except for the light shining through the open front door. Bile that had settled in the back of Matt’s throat rose higher. He swiped his hand across beads of sweat on his chin. His muscles tightened, ready to fight as he brought the cruiser to a stop.

“Let’s go.” He jumped out, Ash at his heels. Matt held up a finger to silence his deputies.

Glock in hand, he quietly stepped through the doorway. His heart landed at his feet at the sight of blood smeared across the linoleum floor. A string of drops ended at the tip of his boot. Matt opened his mouth, but no words would come. Whose blood was he looking at? Please, God. Not Catherine’s. Careful where he put his feet, he moved through the house. Smells of urine, stale beer, and death assaulted his senses.

“You don’t know it’s Catherine’s.” Ash stood close, his tone a futile attempt to comfort.

“But it could be.” Matt’s throat closed, making it difficult to speak. Ash squeezed Matt’s shoulder. He pulled away. The last thing he needed was sympathy.

“The place is empty.” Matt called out to his deputies when he and Ash finished their search.

“We found a blood trail.”

Matt hurried to where Jake pointed his flashlight in the driveway. The hard dirt provided the perfect path to follow for a few feet. Frustration exploded in Matt’s head, he jerked his hat off, and swiped at the sweat on his forehead with his arm. He reached deep inside, clinging to the belief that she was alive. Maybe she was in pain, somewhere needing attention, needing him.

A search of the immediate area left Matt more baffled and frustrated than before. He had to assume Danny and Catherine had left in a vehicle. But which direction. Where to?

“We’ll split up. Jake, you and Rey head North. Ash and I’ll go South.”

Matt gave instructions, and Ash started the cruiser, waiting. Less than half a mile up the road, they spotted a pickup parked on the shoulder. Waves of dread spread through Matt’s system.

“If that bastard has hurt Catherine, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”

“Beating him to death is an option.” Ash shined his light over the dried weeds.

Matt pointed his flashlight at the ground, working in tandem with Ash. A blood trail led straight into the roughest, darkest part of the thicket.

“Call Jake. I want a search party in these woods,” Matt said. Battling back the fear and panic trying to claw its way to the surface, he pushed forward, ignoring the vines and thorns grabbing at his limbs. About a hundred feet in, Danny Mason lay sprawled in the weeds. A hole in his chest, his lifeless eyes staring into the dark.

“Catherine,” Matt called out. Louder and louder each time. She had to be alive, maybe wounded, needing him to find her. Where was she? He couldn’t lose her.

****

Saturday, September 9th, 7:00 a.m.

A sob rose up from Catherine’s chest when the sky turned a golden hue. Slowly, minute by minute, the darkness receded as shards of orange and pink accompanied the rising of the sun and the no-where-but-Texas blue sky. Tears flowed unchecked at the sheer beauty of the birth of a new dawn and perhaps a chance to live. More than anything, she wanted the opportunity to make things right with Matt. No more running. For a life with him, she’d stay and fight.

She jumped to her feet at the sound of a bell in the distance. Fear moved her behind the skinny tree and away from the clearing. The clanging came closer and closer. A Holstein cow followed by two that looked identical walked right in front of her, completely oblivious to her plight. An old-fashioned cowbell hanging from a collar around the lead cow’s neck rang a steady rhythm. Their udders were full and hung inches from the ground. Didn’t matter if they were milked by hand or machine, human beings would be waiting for this small herd.

Catherine’s hand flew to her mouth, and her lips trembled under her fingers. She was at the edge of somebody’s pasture. But whose? Should she follow the small herd? Fear and hope warred in her heart. Should she walk into the open? Danny could be anywhere. Waiting. Watching.

Her mind and body rejected the thought of stepping out of her protected area where no trees or bushes provided a place to hide. Her insides rolled. If he was hiding in the shadows, she’d be an easy target. Would she feel the bullet? She had no doubt if Danny got the chance, he’d kill her. She’d be stripped bare without the thicket to hide her.

She had to make a decision, because the cows weren’t waiting for her. Their mission was to go home. She couldn’t let them get out of sight. Catherine gathered her courage and ran into the meadow. No sound followed. No gunfire. Only the bell, getting further away. She cried and laughed, ignoring the pain in her feet. She rushed to catch up. She had the same goal in mind as the little Holstein herd.

She gasped out a sob of relief when a white farmhouse loomed in the distance. This wasn’t Danny’s trailer. Adrenaline pumped renewed energy into her veins, and with a final burst of energy, she ran toward the white haired woman who’d walked outside to the gate where the cows gathered.

“Pat,” the woman screamed at the top of her lungs when Catherine came staggering toward her.

“Help me,” Catherine shouted, waving her arms in the air to show she was unarmed and harmless. A man ran from a small barn with a rifle pointed right at her belly.

“Stop right there,” he commanded.

“Please.” Catherine tried to speak, but thirst scratched at the back of her throat, and her voice came out a whisper. She extended her arms, begging.

“I’ll shoot you graveyard dead if you take another step,” he yelled.

He studied Catherine from a distance while the sky darkened and dark clouds gathered overhead. The wind stirred, blowing a hot breeze across her face. Catherine looked down at herself. Half-naked, filthy, bloody arms, legs, and feet and no doubt wild, tangled hair, she had to look like a mad woman.

“Get in the house and call the sheriff,” he shouted to the woman. “You.” He braced the rifle against his shoulder. “You stay right where you are.”

Catherine crumpled to the ground and curled into a ball, suddenly aware of how near naked she was. The tears she’d fought since Danny forced her into his pickup flowed freely. The silence she’d held herself to was broken by the sound of relieved sobs.

The farmer had uttered the one word she needed to hear. “Sheriff.” He might not forgive her, but Matt would save her, because that’s what he did. It’s who he was. John Wayne would come.

****

Saturday, September 9th, 8:30 a.m.

Matt rushed past the old man and his wife straight to the body on the other side of the fence.
Please, God. Let it be her.
Before he cleared the gate, the red hair spread across the dry grass pulled a cry from him.

“Catherine!” he yelled, running while his heart shredded to slivers with each step.
Please God. Let her be alive.
He threw his hat on the ground, fell to his knees, and pressed his face down next to hers.

“Catherine,” he whispered, swallowing back the tears begging to escape. He laid his hand on her back. “You’re safe.”

She jerked away, slapping and kicking at his hands. Wild green eyes filled with unknown horrors searched his face. Her lips quivered as recognition skittered across her face. With the cry of a wounded animal, she scrambled toward him, her hands clawing him to her.

He pulled her onto his lap, shielded her with his arms, and rocked her as if she were a child. “Thank God, you’re alive.”

Matt’s heart ached while her body trembled and shuddered. Pressing kisses across her forehead, he winced at the cuts, scratches, and bruises on her arms and legs. Her feet were torn and raw. “You’re safe now. It’s all over.”

She sat up, eyes wide, and scanned the horizon, pointing her finger in the direction of the thicket. “No. He’s out there. Danny. It was Danny, and he’s behind me.”

“No, he’s not.”

“You don’t know,” she protested. “You don’t understand.”

“Listen to me, Cat. We identified Danny as the killer last night.”

She hiccupped a breath and studied Matt’s face. Had his nickname for her registered? Eased her fears?

“You’ve been searching for me?”

“Lots of folks hunted all night. Sue remembered Danny’s mother dying and her mobile home out in the woods.” Catherine shuddered in his arms, her body shaking violently at the mention of the trailer. “We found his pickup on the side of the road and followed a trail of blood into the thicket. Did you shoot him?”

“Yes.” She frowned.

“I’m proud of you.” Matt hugged her tighter. What she’d endured, he didn’t know. But he’d spend the rest of his life making sure this brave woman never suffered again. If she’d let him.

A drop of rain fell and then another. Within a blink of an eye, the sky opened up and poured. As predicted, the drought had come to an end. He and Catherine looked to the sky at the one small thunderhead. She closed her beautiful green eyes, leaned her head back, and let the rain wash over her face.

Ash squatted beside them in the downpour as if this were any ordinary day. He smiled and pulled a patch of grass from Catherine’s wet hair. “How would you like to ride to town in an ambulance?”

“I wouldn’t. I’m fine now.” She opened her eyes and studied Matt’s face. “I knew you’d save me.”

“No, honey. Danny’s dead. You saved yourself.” He removed his rain-soaked shirt and laid it over her chest when she tried to cover her bra with her shredded blouse. Pulling her closer, he let her rest until the EMTs made their way out to them.

“I’ve killed two men,” she said on a sob. Her head buried against his shoulder.

“Both justifiable.” He tipped her chin up, bracketed her face with his hands, and then kissed her. “Remember when I told you I loved you? I meant it. And if you’ll forgive me, I’ll prove it.”

“I love you, too.”

She tried to stand, but her legs wobbled like a newborn foal. When she reached out to him for support, the fear he’d been holding back broke to the surface. Matt waved off the EMTs and scooped her into his arms. She pressed her face into his neck, placed her hand over his heart, and rubbed in a small circle. He thanked the torrential downpour for hiding the tears he couldn’t manage to hold back.

“You walked this far...I’ll carry you the rest of the way.”

Chapter Thirty

Saturday, September 23rd, 11:00 a.m.

“I might as well have gone to the hospital,” Catherine complained when Matt arrived to relieve Emma.

“Thanks for babysitting. I’ll take over from here.”

Emma leaned over and kissed Catherine on the cheek. “She’s all yours, Matt. And she’s not a good patient.”

Catherine eavesdropped while Matt walked Emma to the door and discussed the healing of her feet like they were about to launch a space shuttle. Two weeks had passed, and Catherine was ready to get on with life. If she had to repeat her ordeal one more time, she’d scream. The nightmares would never go away if she didn’t put the episode behind her.

The truth about her life was out for the free world to form their personal judgments. That Matt read the documents in her secret box hadn’t troubled her, but he’d been beating himself up long enough for the judicial system’s failure to protect her.

She’d had two brushes with death and came out a winner both times. Life couldn’t deal her any blows she couldn’t overcome, not as long as Matt loved her. And he’d spent the past two weeks telling her just how much.

“Shame on you for picking on such a sweet old woman.”

Catherine’s breath caught at the sight of him standing in the doorway. His lean, muscular body looked as if an artist sculpted it from granite, and luckily the same guy had carved his face. His broad shoulders, which she was convinced could carry any load, and lopsided grin which melted her with a glance, jetted her hormones south at record speeds.