Dead Set Read online

  “Unless they weren’t able to.”

  “Right.” Tony’s mount shifted underneath him. He reached forward, patted the gelding’s neck. “There are only two possibilities. One is that it is the girls, who have been captured and are turning on the phone when they’re alone. That would mean their captors let them keep the phone.”

  “Which seems unlikely.”

  “Indeed.”

  “It could mean they’re conserving battery.”

  “That made sense to me the first time you suggested it, but how much more battery does it take to send a text rather than turn your phone on and off?” Tony squinted at the phone’s screen, wishing that the understood the device in his hand a little better. “The second possibility is that someone lured Agatha and Gina away, left them somewhere, but took their phone. Then, knowing that we’d set up the Find My Phone app—”

  “Most people do.”

  “Right. So they could be trying to draw us off course, away from whatever is about to happen.”

  Tony stared again at the phone screen. “This was the last location. I want you to go there, look for any structure that the girls could have been stashed in—an old barn or house or...” He didn’t want to say well. Or cave. Or any place dark and frightening. “I’m going back to YO’s private road, see if I can pick up where I was before. See if there are any clues as to where the person I was following might have gone.”

  “You chased the kid to there?”

  “Farther, but when I realized I’d lost him, I back-tracked. He left the Jeep here, and there were four-wheeler tracks going this way.” He traced a path from the point where he’d seen the tracks to a small structure. Then he pinched and swiped and enlarged the screen. There was a small square, definitely a structure of some sort, though there was no name assigned to it. “I couldn’t have made it in my truck, but this time I’ll be on horseback. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Do not engage.”

  “Reconnaissance only,” Tony agreed. They exchanged phone numbers and took off in opposite directions.

  Tony felt like he was going toward Agatha and Gina. He’d been distracted by the beacon of Gina’s phone, the hope that the girls were sending him a message. It was more likely that Tamara had them at her hideout. The woman had something planned, though he couldn’t imagine what. That she was still looking for something wasn’t even a question.

  As he rode across the dark landscape, he was absolutely certain that the woman was intent on finding more treasure, and that anyone who tried to stop her would be met with her full fury.

  But was she willing to kill?

  If Kolbe Burke were any indication, the answer to that was yes.

  Or they could be dealing with two different perps.

  He tightened his grip on the reins, leaned forward, and urged the horse to go faster.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Agatha and Gina stood outside the silo. They weren’t entirely sure which way to go.

  “I thought you would know the stars,” Gina said.

  Agatha was tying the bandanna back around Gina’s head, carefully covering the wound. “Know the stars? Nein. I was usually too busy with raising kinner and house chores to look up at the stars.”

  That would change. If she made it out of this situation—and she had every reason to believe she would—she planned to pause and look up at the stars every night. To thank Gotte for another day. To appreciate her freedom and safety. “I think I see a glow that way.”

  “Which way?”

  Agatha took Gina’s hand, raised it, and pointed it toward what she thought was the main YO ranch.

  “Huh. Your vision might be better than mine. I only see more darkness.”

  “At least we’re out of that silo.” Agatha suppressed a shudder.

  “True, but if we start walking in the wrong direction, we won’t be doing ourselves any favors.”

  Perhaps Agatha simply wanted it very badly, but the glow seemed more certain to her now. And standing here—surrounded by scrub brush, coyotes, and snakes in the middle of the night—seemed foolish. “Let’s go. The moon is on our left, so that should mean we’re going south.”

  “Why did they take us north?”

  “Other than knowing that there was an old silo out here? I have no idea.”

  Silence enveloped them as they made their way toward the faint glow. They walked for thirty minutes, rested, then resumed in the same direction. The moon was higher now, but Agatha was pretty sure that they were continuing in a straight light. She’d read once that right-handed people tended to angle right, which caused them to actually walk in a circle when lost. Left-handed people drifted toward the left. Since she was right-handed, occasionally she made a small adjustment left, hoping to offset her body’s natural tendencies. The last thing they needed to do was end up back at the silo.

  Suddenly the quietness of the night was broken by the sound of a horse galloping.

  Both Agatha and Gina started hollering and waving their hands, as if the rider could see them in the darkness. The person who was riding turned a flashlight on them, effectively blinding them. Agatha’s heart felt as if it had literally stopped. What if the rider was one of Tamara’s goons? What if they’d just given away the fact that they’d escaped?

  But she didn’t think Gina could walk much longer. She’d already stumbled twice, and when Agatha had checked the bandanna, it felt wetter than before. The wound was bleeding again.

  No, she’d take her chances with whoever was on horseback.

  “Good guy or bad guy?” Gina asked, mirroring her thoughts.

  “Sixty-six percent chance he or she will help us.”

  “How did you reach that conclusion?”

  “Only three options—bad guys, good guys, or neutral. We have a two out of three chance here.”

  “Which means there’s a one out of three chance he’s on the wrong side of this. We need a weapon.” Gina bent down, swept her hand over the ground, and stood up clutching three rocks.

  They’d stopped walking. The person on the horse—the man on the horse as they could now see—quickly covered the distance between them. He lowered himself to the ground, pointing the flashlight down, and that was when she saw who it was.

  Jackson. Garrett Jackson. The man who had worked on her outdoor lighting. The man they’d taken a picture of and shown to Tony.

  But was he a friend or foe?

  When she’d seen him earlier that day, she’d assumed he was here because he was looking for the treasure. And if that was the case, then he could be working with Tamara. A tremor passed through her body, and her stomach clenched as if bracing for attack.

  “Agatha, Gina...we’ve been looking all over.”

  “We?” Gina’s voice was stiff. She shifted one of the rocks to her right hand, her throwing hand. Agatha thought of David and Goliath and David’s five smooth stones. The Lord had provided a miracle then, and he could provide one now as well.

  “Tony. Detective Tony Vargas.” Jackson stopped six feet from them, finally aware that they weren’t convinced which side he was on. “We didn’t know where you were. Someone has been turning your phone on and off, leading us on a wild goose chase.”

  “Why would you be helping Tony?” Gina didn’t sound convinced.

  Agatha didn’t feel convinced.

  Jackson reached for something in his pocket and Gina raised her hand, still clutching the rock.

  “Wait,” Agatha whispered.

  He pulled out his ID, then held it forward so that the badge flashed in the faint glow of the flashlight.

  “I’m a detective with the Huntsville Police Department. I was working a cold case, a murder at the state prison, when someone tipped me off about what was happening in Hunt.”

  “At my B&B?”

  “Yes, and I’m sorry about your friend.”

  “My friend?” Her heart rate accelerated and she felt dizzy. Had someone else been hurt?

  “Kolbe. Kolbe Burke.”


  “Oh, right. I barely knew him,” she admitted. “But he seemed like a fine young man. We don’t know what side of things he was on.”

  Jackson’s phone lit up and he pulled it out of his front pocket. “It’s Tony.”

  He thumbed in a quick response. “I sent him our location. We’re not really that far away. He’ll be here soon.” He went to his mount, opened a saddle bag, and pulled out two bottles of water.

  It was the sweetest water Agatha had ever tasted. She didn’t think water from the Promised Land could taste better. Jackson urged them to take it slow. Agatha walked over to his horse, put her hand on its neck, and breathed in the smell of the animal—so familiar and pleasant that she could believe everything would be all right.

  “It’s a miracle that I came across you two. If you hadn’t started hollering when you heard...” He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to.

  Agatha was suddenly aware of the sound of approaching hooves. Any remaining doubts about Jackson evaporated as he moved in front of both her and Gina. He once again turned on his flashlight and there was Tony riding out of the darkness.

  She pushed past Jackson and ran toward Tony, tears slipping down her face as he slowed the horse, hopped off, and pulled her into his arms. Her legs started trembling. Tony must have sensed it, because he wrapped his arms more tightly around her, assured her that it was fine now, that she was fine, and that he wouldn’t let her out of his sight again.

  Gina and Agatha started to explain what had happened, how they’d ended up in a silo, how they’d thought they might die there. Tony stopped them. “We need to get back to the ranch. Tell me about it there.”

  Five minutes later, Agatha was riding behind Tony and Gina was riding behind Jackson. They must have been walking in the right direction because Tony, riding in the lead, turned his mount that way. They didn’t talk, not then. She simply rested her head against his back, her arms around his middle, and nearly fell asleep in the saddle.

  She was surprised when the horse slowed and she forced her eyes open. The YO Ranch was laid out in front of her like a mirage in a desert—gurgling water from the swimming pool’s waterfall, tiny decorative lighting in the trees, tables and chairs in place for the upcoming wedding.

  They were back where they’d started.

  “Do you think it’s safe to be here?”

  “I do, and I’ll tell you why as soon as we get inside.”

  They walked the horses around the back side of their cabin. Jackson led the way, followed by Agatha and Gina, and then Tony. They crept up to the door. Jackson went inside first while Tony signaled for them to wait. Jackson stepped back out and gave them the clear sign.

  Gina went into the bathroom first. Agatha went next and cleaned up as best she could. She was surprised to see dirt was smeared across her face, her hair had fallen loose from its clip, and her Englisch clothes were rumpled and stained. She supposed being kidnapped and left to die in a silo could cause a person to look disheveled. Cleaning up as best she could, she walked back out into the main room to find Jackson caring for Gina’s head wound and Gina complaining.

  “Don’t even think about cutting my hair.”

  “They’re going to do it at the hospital anyway.”

  “Who said I was going to the hospital?”

  “It’s obvious you need stitches.”

  “Just wrap my head and let’s get on with this. I want to catch Tamara and her goons. We can talk medical care later.”

  Agatha shared the details of their abduction.

  Gina described how they’d broken free.

  Tony caught them up on his evening’s activities. “Mostly driving and walking in circles.” He shook his head in disgust, then reached for Agatha’s hand.

  “I’m glad you found us.”

  “Actually, Jackson did.”

  “Thank you, Jackson.”

  The man simply nodded, but in the cabin’s light she saw more of him than she’d seen at her B&B or while on the YO’s safari. She saw the seriousness with which he took his job. She saw that he cared about doing the right thing, catching the guilty persons, seeing that they faced justice for their deeds. She saw in him the same qualities that she so admired in Tony.

  “You said you received a tip.” Tony was staring out the window, out into the darkness. “That was why you were supposedly working at Agatha’s.”

  “Correct.”

  “No idea who it was from?”

  “Older voice. My guess is that it was someone in on the original robbery, still in the loop, but who had left the criminal life.”

  “How did you manage to get on the work crew at my place?”

  “It’s not unusual for us to have people in a community that will vouch for us so that we can maintain a low profile.”

  “And that was—”

  Jackson studied them a minute, deciding if they were trustworthy perhaps. But then he’d found them in the middle of a prairie after having escaped what might have been their death. Agatha supposed that inspired confidence that they could be trusted. Or maybe it was the blood on Gina’s head that convinced him.

  “The Dewalds are long-time family friends. When I told them I needed to be at your place, they added me to the work crew.”

  Agatha pulled in her bottom lip, then admitted, “We thought they might be in on the treasure hunt.”

  “Derrick and Debbie?” Jackson shook his head and laughed—the first laugh she’d ever heard from him. “Their company is like a gold mine. They don’t need buried treasure. Plus, they’re good people.”

  “But they acted so suspiciously.”

  “How so?” Jackson was smiling now, as if he was amused at the thought of Debbie and Derrick Dewald being suspects.

  “I don’t know.”

  “She nearly threw us out of the office,” Gina explained. “Seemed distracted and easily provoked.”

  “And then Derrick stopping the project. It just seemed a bit suspicious.”

  “I guess it’s no secret what they’re going through, but then neither do they talk about it openly.” He waited for them to respond.

  Finally, Agatha said, “We have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  He sighed and his expression grew more somber. “Both sets of parents have health issues—COPD, Alzheimer’s, even cancer. Debbie and Derrick are trying to keep them at home, trying to take care of them while running a business. They sold off a piece of property to purchase a handicapped van. What they need more than anything is some time off, but that isn’t likely to happen.”

  Tony had been silent throughout this exchange—watching, listening, thinking. Agatha knew that look. She knew that he was planning what they should do next.

  Squeezing his hand, she said, “Spill it.”

  “It?”

  “What you saw when you went the opposite direction from Jackson. And what you’ve decided we should do next.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Tony glanced at his watch. The time was a few minutes shy of two thirty in the morning. They needed a plan and some rest. One without the other wouldn’t do much good.

  “I found Tamara and her friends—their names are apparently Scooter and Cooter Lane.”

  “Scooter and Cooter?” Gina shook her head in disbelief. “We were bested by a couple of rednecks.”

  “Plus Tamara Bishop and Cooper Knox, though I’m beginning to think Cooper might be in over his head.” He thought back over everything he had heard. “Cooper argued with Tamara on nearly every point. The boy’s getting cold feet. He could have even been the person who called in the tip to the Hunt PD.”

  “How do you know all this?” Agatha asked. “Tell me you didn’t sneak inside their lair.”

  “Not quite. I hid beneath a window they’d left open. They’re staying in an old cabin the manager of the YO once used—no air conditioning, not much in the way of amenities at all.”

  “And they think more jewels are buried here at the ranch?” Jackson was sittin
g on the floor, his back against the cabin’s wall.

  Agatha seemed to be warming up to Garrett Jackson. She smiled his way. Soon she’d be offering him homemade cookies.

  Tony had known the man for less than twelve hours, but he was certain that Garrett was one of the good guys. Convincing Agatha of that would be fairly easy, though Gina was a different matter. Gina had a naturally skeptical nature, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. In Tony’s opinion, she balanced out Agatha’s propensity to give someone the benefit of the doubt.

  He rubbed the back of his neck and pushed on with his story. “Diamond necklace, gold spurs, and jewel-studded Stetson...they think they’re all here on the ranch.”

  “Back up.” Gina had her fingertips pressed against her forehead, probably trying to ease the pain from the concussion she insisted she did not have. She was sitting at the small table in the cabin’s only chair. “Why would all those things be here? And what does this have to do with the murder Jackson is investigating?”

  “Unclear.” Tony was sitting on Gina’s bed facing Agatha, who was sitting on her own bed with her back against the wall. He sent her a look that said everything he couldn’t say since they weren’t alone. Did she know how much he cared? Did she know that he would gladly trade his life for hers? He vowed to himself that when this was over, he’d tell her. He was knee deep in a mystery with Agatha Lapp. If it weren’t for the threat on their lives, he’d be enjoying himself.

  Tony cleared his throat and guzzled the rest of the bottle of water he was holding. “What is clear is that they plan to tear apart the main lodge room when everyone else is at the wedding.”

  “The wedding? The one that’s in...” Gina glanced at her watch, squinted, and gave up. “A few hours.”

  “Nuptials are schedule for 10:30, followed by brunch at 11:00. Tamara’s crew has a map, complete with an X that marks the spot. They’ve had the map for some time. The problem was that before tonight they didn’t know what house or building the map was referring to. That’s why they came back and ransacked yours, Agatha.”