'Til Death (A Rebel Ridge Novel) (7 page)

“Warden Bristol. This is Sheriff Mel Marlow. I’m out of Boone’s
Gap, just north of Mount Sterling. I’m calling to inquire about the status of a
prisoner incarcerated in your facility. His name is Bobby Ray Lewis. He’s a
lifer....Yes, thanks. I’ll hold.”

He glanced up at Meg. “He’s checking.”

The warden came back on the line. Meg watched Marlow’s face,
and when his eyebrows rose suddenly, she unconsciously clenched her hands into
fists.

“One more question,” Marlow said, still talking to the warden.
“Has he had any visitors in the past few months?” A few more seconds passed, and
then his eyes narrowed sharply. “I see. Yes, thank you for your help,” he said,
and disconnected.

“What?” Meg asked.

“Bobby Lewis is dying of lung cancer. When they notified the
family a couple of months ago, one of his brothers, Claude, went to visit, and
then a few days afterward Lewis had another visitor. Prince White.”

Meg was shocked. “Why on earth would Bobby want to talk to
Prince? And after all these years?”

“I don’t know,” Marlow said. “Maybe Bobby wants forgiveness for
his sins. He’s dying, and people have done stranger things for less reason. I’ll
check with Claude and see if Bobby told him anything that would help us figure
this out.”

Meg was struggling to take everything in. “I don’t understand
how you knew it was Prince. We had next to no clues...just that little car charm
off a key ring, a vague physical description and a description of his coat. How
did you figure it out?”

Marlow hesitated. Fox had asked him not to advertise his
presence, but he didn’t have to tell her the name.

“We had a witness come forward. I don’t know if you’re aware of
it or not, but someone has moved into the old Fox place.”

Meg frowned. “How do we know he wasn’t the stalker?”

“He only just arrived the night your mom and Jake went home.
And he’s too damn big to be your man. Remember when you said the stalker fired
his pistol, then your security alarm went off when you opened the door and you
two exchanged gunfire? Well, your neighbor heard all that, and a short time
later he saw a man running across his place in the dark. And then he heard a
dirt bike start up and leave. So when I went up to investigate after leaving
your place, I saw the gate was down at the road and went in to check it out. I
found him setting up camp in a travel trailer. I knew the minute I saw him he
wasn’t your stalker, because like I said, he’s a big man. When I questioned him,
he told me what he’d seen, and I explained about your break-in. So the deal is,
last night, he heard that bike coming back and went out and confronted the
man.”

Meg hadn’t known anyone was living there and was impressed that
a total stranger had acted on her behalf.

“What happened then?” she asked.

“He actually recognized the man as Prince White, then scared
him off. As soon as the guy accused Prince of harassing you, Prince freaked out,
went running back to his bike and rode away. After that the guy called me. Roger
and I went up to White’s place this morning, talked to his brother Fagan. Prince
is gone. Fagan swears he doesn’t know where he is, but I warned him that if he
concealed his whereabouts, I’d include him in the arrest warrant, too.”

Meg shook her head. “All that was happening, and here I was
sleeping peacefully without a clue.”

“I’d say it’s about time you got some peace back in your life,”
Marlow said, then frowned at Roger, who had just taken the last cookie off the
plate.

Roger caught the look and grinned. He considered it his due for
having been sent in to search for Prince in that pigsty of a house.

“About the man who bought the Fox property, is he planning to
live there?” Meg asked.

“I believe he is,” Marlow said, and then stood up before she
could ask him anything more. “We need to get back. Thank you for the coffee and
cookies. You take care, and I’ll give you a call when we run White down.”

Meg walked them to the door. “Thank you, Sheriff, and you, too,
Roger. You don’t know what a relief it is to at least know my enemy’s face.”

Marlow grinned, pleased to have given her some good news.

As soon as they were gone she ran to change into some warmer
clothes. She was horrified by all she’d learned and anxious to talk to her
mother, but not on the phone. And, if the weather was going to change, she
needed to get over there before she got snowed in.

She called Honey inside. If it was going to get that cold, she
didn’t want the dog stranded outside until she got back. She put out food and
water for her in the kitchen and gave her a quick scratch behind her ears.

“You take care of the place while I’m gone, okay?”

Honey licked Meg’s fingers, then flopped down close to the
heating stove and closed her eyes.

Meg was still smiling as she got in her TrailBlazer and drove
away. When she passed the road that led up to the Fox land, she thought of her
new neighbor and all of a sudden remembered Marlow saying the man had recognized
Prince White. That meant he wasn’t a stranger to the mountain. But who was he?
She wished she’d thought to ask.

* * *

Dolly was thrilled by Meg’s unexpected arrival and
ushered her into the kitchen, where she was making pies for supper. Her two
stepsons, Cyrus and Avery, had been unloading firewood in the backyard when Meg
arrived, and they came in to greet her. They were big men, like their father.
Both were redheaded like Jake had been, although his hair had long since turned
white.

Cyrus gave Meg a quick hug. “Good to see you,” he said.

Avery followed suit with a wink and a grin. “I see your feet
healed up okay.”

“Yes, thank goodness. Where’s Jake?” Meg asked.

“I’m right here,” Jake said as he walked up behind her. “It’s
good to see you back on your feet, girl.”

“I have news,” she said.

Dolly slid the last pie in the oven to bake, then wiped her
hands and moved toward the kitchen table, where Meg had taken a seat.

“What happened?” Dolly asked.

“Sheriff Marlow identified my stalker. It’s Prince White.”

Dolly gasped. “No!”

Jake realized Dolly’s reaction was more than just surprise.
“What am I missing?” he asked.

“You may not remember, but Meg’s ex went to prison for killing
Prince and Fagan White’s oldest brother, Wendell,” Dolly said.

Everyone began talking at once.

“Wait,” Meg said. “There’s more. Sheriff Marlow called the
prison. Bobby is dying of cancer. When the prison notified the family, his
brother went to visit him, and then just a few days afterward, Prince showed up,
too. I don’t know what all that has to do with me, but Prince isn’t around to
ask. Sheriff Marlow went up to interrogate him and he’d skipped out.”

Dolly groaned. “I don’t understand. How on earth did Mel figure
all this out?”

Meg related what Marlow had told her about the man who’d taken
up residence on the Fox place.

Jake frowned. “You say the man recognized Prince?”

Meg nodded. “That’s what the sheriff said.”

“Then whoever bought the Fox place isn’t a stranger, or he
wouldn’t have known Prince White.”

“I thought of that, too,” Meg said. “But not before Marlow was
gone, so I didn’t get a chance to ask his name.”

“No matter,” Cyrus said. “You’ll find out soon enough. For now,
it’s good to know that sorry-ass White is on the run.”

“I’d rather he was behind bars, but you’re right,” Meg
said.

Dolly gave Meg’s hand a quick squeeze as she stood. “This is
good news, and I’m going to take it.”

Meg smiled. “I knew this would make your day.”

“It’s call for a celebration, for sure,” Dolly said. “I’ve got
a chicken stewing. I’m making dumplings for supper. If I get it all ready a
little early, will you stay and eat with us?”

“Absolutely. I’ve been missing your cooking and can’t think of
anything better.”

Jake left the women to visit, saying he needed to take care of
some things before the snow hit. He penned up his tracking dogs and put fresh
straw in their houses while his sons continued to haul up more wood. By the time
they were finished, the food was done. They sat down to an early supper,
laughing and talking about family and making plans for Thanksgiving, which was
only a few weeks away.

Dolly was cutting one of the pies for dessert when Avery
glanced out the window.

“Hey, look! It’s snowing!”

Meg frowned. She’d planned to get home before the storm
arrived. She looked out at the small flakes swirling in the wind gusts. It was
nearly dark, which meant it would have taken at least an hour to drive home
anyway, but the snow would add time to the trip. She tried not to let her
anxiety show, but Dolly read it in her face.

“Honey, I don’t like the idea of you driving down in the dark
in this weather. Why don’t you just stay the night? There’s plenty of room, and
you can borrow a nightgown from me.”

“I’ll be fine,” Meg said. “It’s barely snowing and it may not
get any worse than this. Anyway, I left Honey in the house alone. I need to tend
to her, and I can’t be snowed in up here with my chickens to feed and the cow to
milk, although Daisy is showing signs of drying up and I’m tempted to let her.
Milking all winter does not appeal to me.”

Dolly was still worried. “We’d get you home in plenty of time
tomorrow. Jake could—”

“No. Thank you, but I can take care of myself, and I’ll be home
long before the roads have time to get bad. And by the way, I’m not going
anywhere until I get my pie.”

Cyrus laughed. “I’d be happy to eat it for you.”

“Not a chance,” Meg said.

She ate with an eye to the weather and, just as soon as it was
polite, excused herself from the table.

“I’m going to leave now, Mom. I’ll let Cyrus and Avery take my
place helping clean up the kitchen.”

Avery snorted. “Oh, thanks a lot.”

Meg grinned as she began gathering up her things, but Dolly was
uneasy.

“As soon as you get home, promise me that you’ll call to let us
know. I won’t rest easy until I hear from you.”

“I will, Mom, I promise,” Meg said.

After another five minutes of hugs and goodbyes she was in the
car and heading back down the mountain. Her windshield wipers were working
overtime as the headlights sliced through a frantic swirl of falling sleet and
snow.

It was close to ten miles from their house to hers, and
mountain roads were narrow and winding, which made travel even more treacherous
in the dark. Night came early in winter, and the snow was heavier than she’d
realized.

About four miles down she ran into trouble. The roads were now
snow packed and treacherous. The frantically swiping windshield wipers were
unable to keep up with the blizzard, leaving her with nothing but a blurry view
of the road. Her fingers were numb from holding so tightly to the steering
wheel, and if it hadn’t been for the dark border of trees on either side of the
road, she would have been unable to tell where to drive.

All of a sudden her car fishtailed and started sliding
sideways. She had a moment of panic before she steered into the slide and then
slowly eased the car back into the middle of the road. As she did, she caught a
glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror and saw the fear on her face. She knew
if she had it to do over again, she would never have left.

A quick glance at the clock on the dashboard shocked her. She’d
been on the road almost two hours. With no visible landmarks to judge the
distance, she had no idea how far she’d come. All she could see was the
continuing swirl of flakes illuminated by the beams from her headlights. She
could have already driven past her turnoff.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew a blinding swirl of snow straight
into the windshield. When it cleared she had a momentary glimpse of a big buck
standing in the middle of the road and only moments to react to keep from
hitting him.

She yanked the wheel hard to the left.

The deer leaped one way as her car went airborne the other way,
sailing over the ditch and into the trees.

Meg screamed and then...

Impact.

There was a sound of crunching metal, a spew of steam from
under the hood, the continuous honking of the horn, and a blinding pain over her
right eye. The windshield wipers were still going, and she could smell smoke and
the scent of burning rubber. She thought the car was on fire.

Dazed and in a panic, she began fumbling for the door latch,
trying to get out, but her seat belt was still fastened. Then she realized the
car was in gear and the wheels were spinning in place. She managed to shift into
Neutral and was trying to turn off the engine when something crashed on top of
the car.

After that, everything went black.

Six

L
inc had just washed up his supper dishes,
and was thinking about taking a shower and getting into bed early. He’d spent
the afternoon cutting wood, and had hauled two full loads to Aunt Tildy’s house
before going back to haul the rest up to his place. He was bone tired, but it
was a satisfied kind of tired. Having his aunt accept him back into her life
without question had been an unexpected joy. They were the last two surviving
members of the Fox family, and now that he’d come home, he’d been faced with her
advancing age and how close he’d come to losing that connection.

It began to snow as he was loading up the last of the wood. By
the time he got home, it was coming down thick and fast. The cold was numbing,
but the silent swirl of falling snow left him with an odd feeling of peace. The
quiet was so profound that even the sound of his breath seemed out of place.

He was heading for the trailer when he heard the loud sound of
crunching metal, followed by the sudden continuous honking of a car horn and the
sharp crack of a falling tree. Someone had just had a wreck! He wasn’t ready to
get mixed up in other people’s business, but they could be hurt, and that was
something he couldn’t ignore.

He was already wearing his heavy fur-lined parka and gloves,
but he ran to the trailer to get his cell phone and a flashlight, then jumped in
his truck and took off. His pickup had four-wheel drive and a well-stocked
toolbox, and there was a log chain in the truck bed. He was hoping he wouldn’t
need anything more.

By the time he got to the main road he had to reorient himself.
Had the wreck happened above or below him? There were no visible tracks in the
snow, and it seemed that the sound was coming from up the mountain, so he turned
to the right and headed up, although it was nearly impossible to see anything
beyond the snow swirling in his headlights. Finally he thought to roll down the
window to listen for the horn. As he drove, the sound was getting louder.

He saw headlights as he rounded a bend, and as he drew closer,
he could see that a red SUV had crashed into a stand of trees. A very large limb
had fallen on top of the car, blocking the doors and most of the windows. He
pulled as close to the wreck as he dared, and left the lights on and the engine
running as he got out. The bitter cold was a slap in the face, and he quickly
pulled the fur-lined hood up over his head, grabbed his flashlight and a
crowbar, then jumped the ditch and ran.

The entire front end of the car was crushed and wedged tightly
into the trees. The hood had popped up during the crash, and then
something—presumably the branch that had fallen afterward—had knocked it
sideways, giving him easy access so he could disable the horn.

The sudden silence made the rapid thump of his heartbeat seem
even louder as he circled to the driver’s side. He shoved aside the smaller
limbs to try to get to the door, only to find it wouldn’t open. Even though the
windshield wipers were still on, ice was beginning to form on the glass, making
it difficult to tell how many people were inside, and the large limb on top of
the car was impeding rescue. He pulled at the limb from both sides of the car,
but he couldn’t get it to budge. Finally he climbed up on top of the car and
shoved the branch off. By the time he got back to the driver’s side, snow had
completely blanketed the window. He swiped it away and aimed the flashlight
inside.

* * *

It was the sudden silence after the horn stopped honking
that brought Meg back to a semiconscious state. She felt groggy, as if she’d had
too much to drink, and couldn’t figure out where she was. Her head was hurting,
and when she felt her forehead, her fingers came away covered in blood. She
tried to focus on the headlights, but her vision was severely hampered by the
growing curtain of ice on the windshield. All she knew was that she’d driven off
the road and into the trees.

“Get help...gotta get help,” she mumbled, and was looking for
her cell phone when she caught a glimpse of something huge and furry walking
between the trees and the headlights. She blinked, trying to clear her vision,
and thought she saw a large furry head on an equally massive chest and
shoulders.

What the hell did I just see? Was that
Bigfoot?

In something of a panic, she froze, not wanting to call
attention to herself as the creature began moving around outside the car. Then
all of a sudden she heard something jump on top of her car. When the roof popped
from the added weight, her last thought as she passed out was that Bigfoot was
real.

* * *

Linc quickly deduced the only person in the car was the
driver—a woman with long dark hair. What he could see of her face was covered in
blood, which amped his anxiety. He tried again to open the door, only to see
that it was locked, on top of being crumpled by the crash. He began banging on
the glass and shouting.

“Hello! Hello! Lady, can you hear me? Wake up! You need to
unlock the door!”

When she didn’t respond, his heart sank.
Please, God, don’t let her be dead.

Then all of a sudden her head dropped forward, her chin
bouncing against her chest. The motion seemed to wake her up. He watched as she
pushed the hair away from her eyes and got his first clear view of her face.

Shock swept through him, leaving him momentarily speechless. He
hadn’t seen her in eighteen years, but there was still enough left of the girl
he’d known to recognize that it was Meg. He doubled up his fist and began
pounding on the window.

“Meg! Meg! Unlock the door!”

He saw her eyelids flutter, but when her head slid sideways
toward her shoulder, he knew she’d passed out again.

Without hesitation he swung the crowbar at the window,
shattering the glass, then jammed his arm through the opening and unlocked the
door. He grabbed the door handle, took a tight grip and yanked. When the door
succumbed to his greater strength, he quickly leaned inside, feeling her neck
for a pulse.

“Meg! Meg Lewis! Can you hear me?”

She moaned but didn’t respond further.

Her pulse was rapid, and it was obvious a gash on her head was
the source of all the blood. Although she was still wearing a seat belt, it
didn’t mean she didn’t have internal injuries.

He grabbed his cell phone to call the sheriff’s office. It rang
twice, and then he lost the signal. Although he tried several more times, he
quickly realized it was hopeless trying to get through in this storm. He hated
to move her, but leaving her here was even more dangerous. He saw a folded
blanket and a flashlight in the backseat of her car. He grabbed the blanket,
shook out the broken glass and wrapped it around her as carefully as he could
before lifting her out and carrying her to his truck.

She moaned again as he crossed the ditch, and she began trying
to push the blanket off her face. When he got to the truck he slid her onto the
seat, reclined it as far back as it would go and buckled her in.

His hands were shaking from the rush of adrenaline as he got
behind the wheel. He wasted no time turning the truck around and heading down
the mountain. His mind was racing through possible scenarios as to what his best
move would be. He could take her to the sheriff’s office in Boone’s Gap, which
wasn’t that much farther from the wreck, but they would have to call an
ambulance from Mount Sterling, which would only waste time. So he kept on
driving, deciding to head for Mount Sterling himself, checking on her every few
minutes to make sure she was still breathing and praying to God that she would
come to.

Not knowing where she was hurt made everything worse. If she
had broken ribs, moving her could have punctured a lung. If she had a spinal
injury, he could be the reason she never walked again. If her concussion was
serious, she could have a brain bleed and die before they ever reached a
hospital. By the time he reached the highway—which was wider and provided some
relief—and headed toward Mount Sterling, he was sick to his stomach.

Once she sighed and then moaned, but it was the only sound she
made.

Being this close to her again brought back memories of every
moment they’d shared, from their first kiss under the bleachers at a high school
football game to the first time they made love. Remembering the look on her face
when they’d taken him to jail had been his undoing. It was part of why he hadn’t
come back once his jail term was over. Without her, he no longer had a reason to
come home. He didn’t know how this was going to play out, but finding her had
definitely marked the end of his exile. Once this got out, everyone would know
he was back.

He glanced at the clock. Nearly forty-five minutes since he’d
pulled her out of the wreck. He had to be close. Traffic had kept the snow from
piling up on the highway, and travel was no longer an issue.

And just like that, his headlights caught on a sign by the
road.

Mount Sterling. One mile.

He breathed a quiet sigh of relief and drove her straight to
the hospital, following the signs all the way to the E.R.

* * *

Linc hadn’t moved ten feet from Meg’s side since they
wheeled her into an examination bay. His brief explanation about finding her in
the wreck up on Rebel Ridge and then being unable to get a phone signal had been
accepted without question. When they asked for personal information, he knew her
name and very little else, until a nurse thought she recognized Meg’s name from
a prior visit. A quick check of their records and then a look at the bottoms of
her feet to see the newly healing scars verified her identity. After that they
had all the medical history they needed to proceed.

Linc was shocked by the healing cuts on her feet. They were
visible proof of what she’d already gone through on Prince White’s account. He
sat with a lump in his throat as she was x-rayed from head to toe, and watched
mutely as they cleaned and stitched the wound in her scalp to stop the
bleeding.

They left her in the examining room with him on one side of her
bed and a nurse on the other, continuing to monitor her vitals.

“Has anyone notified her family?” Linc asked.

“I believe the contact information she gave on her earlier
visit was for a brother. He has been notified.”

He didn’t want to be here when Meg woke up. He didn’t think he
could bear to see the shock and disgust on her face when she recognized him, but
he couldn’t bring himself to leave. She’d gone through too much crap alone
already, and so he sat, waiting for the next shoe to fall.

* * *

When two and a half hours passed and Meg still hadn’t
called or answered her phone, Dolly was convinced she was stranded in a ditch on
the side of the road. Within minutes she had Jake and the boys up and they were
all on the way down the mountain to rescue her. It had stopped snowing, but the
roads were a mess. The old four-wheel-drive Suburban was plenty big enough to
hold them all, plus rope and chain to pull her out of the ditch.

Given the conditions, they made good time, but the farther they
drove without finding a sign of Meg, the more frantic Dolly became.

Then they came upon the wreck and Dolly panicked.

“Oh no, oh, Meg... Stop the car, Jake! Stop the car!”

Jake braked as they quickly took in the sight. The front of
Meg’s car was smashed into a stand of trees with the lights still on and the
driver-side door wide-open. But Meg was nowhere in sight.

“I don’t see her!” Dolly said, and fumbled for the door
latch.

Jake and his sons were out of the car and running, all of them
afraid she’d gotten out of the wreck on her own and stumbled off into the woods,
only to pass out somewhere in the snow.

Dolly was so scared that when she stepped out, her legs
wouldn’t hold her and she fell to her knees. She was shaking so hard she could
barely breathe as she dragged herself up and quickly followed.

“Is she there? Can you see her?” she cried.

“No, no, she’s not here. She’s not here,” Jake said.

“Maybe she wandered off into the woods,” Cyrus said.

“I don’t see tracks. There should be tracks,” Dolly cried,
running from one side of the car to the other, but the snow was pristine. If
there
had
been tracks, they were covered with snow
now.

Avery was the one who voiced what no one wanted to say. “What
if it was Prince White? What if he ran her off the road and took her?”

Before they could pursue that theory, they heard a Johnny Cash
song coming from their car.

“Dolly, that’s your phone,” Jake said.

“Oh, my God, it is!” she said, and started running.

She was gasping as she answered. “Hello? Meggie, is that you,
baby?”

It was Ryal.

“Mama, it’s me. I just got a phone call from the hospital in
Mount Sterling. Meg is in the E.R. She had a wreck. Someone found her and
brought her in.”

“Oh, Jesus...oh, sweet Lord,” Dolly said, and then sat down on
the running board and started to cry.

Jake took the phone out of her hands. “Hello? Who’s this?”

“Hey, Jake, it’s me, Ryal. Is Mama okay?”

“She’s crying. What did you tell her?”

“Meg had a wreck. Someone found her and took her to the E.R. in
Mount Sterling. I don’t know how bad she’s hurt or anything other than that
she’s there. I’m getting dressed and heading there myself. I called your house,
but when you didn’t answer, I tried Mom’s cell. Julie is sick with the flu, and
James can’t leave her alone with the kids. Quinn and Mariah are even farther up
the mountain than the rest of you, which means their roads will be worse. I say
there’s no need calling anyone else until we know what to tell them.”

“Agreed,” Jake said. “We were already out looking for her. We
just found her car, but no Meg. We were afraid she was somewhere in the woods
buried under all this snow. That’s why your mama is crying. It’s relief.”