Beneath the Tombstone (The Tombstone Series) (23 page)

“Yes,
I’ve always known,” Susan replied defensively. “I just thought that he would
come around and see that I was his one and only.” She fought with a bitterness
in her tone as she added, “But I was never his one… and I was never his only.”
She clenched her fist and cried, “He made me want to hate my own sister!” She
shook her head. “The hardest thing I’ve ever done, I do every morning when I
get up and look at myself in the mirror and tell myself that God loves Denton,
so I should too. Honestly, most days I’m doing good if I can just keep from
hating him.”

Now
that she explained it, Jason finally understood why she’d married Denton. Hope.
In spite of all of their arguments and fights, he and Misty loved one another.
He couldn’t imagine being married to someone who didn’t return the love shown.
Her words explained a lot, but just one question remained – why was she brining
this up now?

With
as much kindness as he could muster, considering what had just been revealed,
Jason asked, “Is there any particular reason you’re telling me this now?”

Susan
looked at him like he had just uttered some cruel joke. “Do I
gotta
spell it out for you?” she asked when she realized he
was serious. “Denton has a thing for… yeah,” she cut off the end of her
sentence, unable to say it again. “Misty is gone. The kidnapper has ordered you
to do something that will likely get you killed… if you do it. If you don’t,
you will look like a coward. I know Misty better, but his messed up head just might
think that if you failed her or got killed, she would turn to another for
comfort. If he managed to keep his identity as one of the kidnappers hidden,
his plan would be to,” she paused and sighed. “His plan would be to be there
for her.”

Jason
stood stunned for a moment as the total impact of her words hit him with full
force. When they did, he slammed his palm into one of the bars. That made too
much sense. If he ever got his hands… oh, how he would love to have Denton in
the cell with him at this very moment!

He
looked Susan directly in the eye. “Did you promise him ‘until by death do we
part?” he demanded. Susan, wide eyed, nodded. He gave the bars a shake as he
pushed away from them. “Whenever I see him again, I will relieve you of that
vow!” he yelled.

“Who’s
yelling?” Big Jack rolled over and bellowed from his bed.

“I
am!” Jason turned to him and yelled. “See!” He then let out a yell that
would’ve likely sent any Indian Brave on the warpath diving for cover. “I will
yell whenever and wherever I want to!” Jason yelled. “Now shut up!”

Big
Jack just lay there with a dumb-founded look on his face. Goodness, give a guy
a mattress and blanket, let him sleep in your cell and what does he do? – Wakes
you up yelling and looking for a fight. Big Jack just sighed and said, “Well,
when you get finished, try to quiet down. I want to sleep some more.”

Jason
expected the big guy to roll over and go back to sleep but, instead, he just
lay there on his side, watching.

“What
are you staring at?” Jason challenged.

“If you’re
gonna
yell, I
ain’t
gonna
be able to sleep, so I figured I might as well watch
until it’s over,” Big Jack said then added with a sigh, “
Kind’a
entertaining.”

Several
awkwardly silent seconds passed by before Jason quietly said, “I’m done.” Big
Jack didn’t say a word. He just rolled back over and returned to slumber.

“Killing
Denton has tempted me before,” Susan admitted, unfazed by Jason’s blow up. “But
it’s not what God would want.”

“Forget
God!” Jason said angrily as he turned back to her. “What about what I want?”

“Many
times, what we want is not what we need,” Susan said. She had returned to her
normal, Christian, calm and collected self. “God listens to our prayers and
request but only gives us what we need.”

“I
need
out’a
here,” Jason angrily mocked her words. “Think
you can set that up with God? Surly he can see my
need!
”

Susan
gave him a kind and understanding smile. “Most times God answers prayers and
gives us what we need by the actions of other people.”

“Then
help me get out of here,” Jason said as he rubbed his hands up and down on the
bars. “I’ve got to get out… or at least get word to Tyler that I’m locked up.”

“Did
you say he’s your climbing trainer?” Susan asked.

“Yes,”
Jason answered, relieved that she’d at least heard a part of his instructions
earlier.

“How
do I get to his place?” she asked.

Jason
gave her directions to the ranch then said, “Tell him what happened. I got
thrown in jail by the stupid sheriff. I didn’t qui...” Jason froze. “
Shhh
!” he ordered Susan as he reached through the bars as
if to put his hand over her mouth. She jumped back with an astonished look on
her face.

“Jason,
what?” she exclaimed. “I wasn’t even talking!”

“
Shhh
!” Jason ordered again, more harshly than the first
time.

Did
he just hear…
Naw
, couldn’t be. Why would he drive
all the way from…

“I’m
here looking for a fella named Jason.” It was. He did! Tyler! He had driven all
the way from the ranch and was looking for Jason! “Don’t know his last name,”
Tyler continued explaining to whoever he was talking to, “but his wife was
kidnapped a week or two ago. Know who I’m talking about?”

“Um,
yes,” Sheriff Victor’s voice answered. “Hathaway. I believe his last name is
Hathaway.”

“Yep,
I think that’s him,” Jason heard Tyler go on. “He’s been helping me out at the
ranch…
livin
’ there, you know. Said he’s coming back
here yesterday.
Somethin
’ about some
kind’a
personal business.” Tyler heaved a sigh. “Was
supposed to come back to the ranch last night. Never did. You
seen
‘
em
?”

“Um,
nope, nope sure haven’t,” the sheriff replied quickly. “We’ll keep an eye out
for him though. Let you know if he turns up.”

“Alright
then,” the tall cowboy responded in a frustrated sigh. “Thanks anyways.” With
that, the clink of spurs on retreating boots could be heard as he began to
leave.

Jason
turned to Susan. “Don’t let that man get away. The one with the spurs. Bring
him here!”

“Who,
who is he?” she asked in bewilderment.

“Just
go get him, and I’ll explain later,” Jason all but shouted.

Susan
turned and the sound of her fast, shorter-striding footsteps chased after the
more distance consuming steps of Tyler. “Sir, sir,” Jason heard her call.

Tyler’s
spurs clanked as he came to halt and turned. “Yes ma’am,” Tyler responded
politely.

“A
friend of mine says he needs to talk to you.” Jason could easily detect the
uneasiness in his sister-in-law’s voice.

“Well,”
Tyler spoke slowly, “it would be my pleasure to help.” Wow. He sounded very
willing.

“I’m
sorry, but you’ll both have to leave,” the sheriff’s steely voice entered into
the conversation. “Visiting hours are over.”

“But
I saw a sigh that said…” Susan tried to argue.

“Visiting
hours are over!” the sheriff snapped.

“Hey,”
Tyler spoke in a voice that commanded respect, “careful how you talk to the
lady.” There was a short silence then he said to Susan. “Sorry ma’am, but I
guess we’ll have to come back some other time to talk to your friend.”

“Do
you live close by?” Susan asked, always concerned about others.

“Close
enough,” Tyler responded. Close enough? It was a lot further than “close
enough” in Jason’s mind.

“Oh,
but I didn’t tell Jason I was leaving,” Susan spoke sadly.

“Jason
who?” the big cowboy questioned as his spurs clanked to a halt.

“If
y’all
don’t clear
out’a
here, I’m
going to arrest both of you!” Jason heard Sheriff Victor threaten.

“We
better go,” Susan said in a voice filled with concern.

The
sound of retreating footsteps and the clink of leaving spurs filled the
hall.  Jason hated to disturb Big Jack again but… “Hey Tyler,” he yelled
loudly.

The
footsteps and clinking sound stopped. “What was that?” Tyler asked.

“Just
a prisoner,” Victor replied. Judging by his tone, he didn’t want any argument.
“Hey! Quiet down in there!” the sheriff yelled angrily in Jason’s direction.

“He
called me by name,” Tyler said confidently.

About
that time, Jason got momentarily distracted as Big Jack stirred, rolled over
and sighed, “I thought you were done yelling.”

“Almost,”
Jason replied. Big Jack rolled back over towards the wall before gripping his
pillow and hugging it over his head.

Jason
closed his eyes as he turned back to the window, took a deep breath and yelled,
“Tyler!” again but this time at the top of his lungs. He opened his eyes as he
finished. He heard spurs rattle a split second before he saw a very startled
Tyler sprang back in surprise from the window. With wide eyes, he looked at
Jason for what seemed like forever. He appeared to be trying to figure out what
his star pupil was doing behind bars.

Finally,
it all seemed to fall into place in Tyler’s mind. As it did, his eyes turned
snake cold. Find a rope and a tree – We fixing to have ourselves another
hanging.

“Care
to explain?” the big cowboy asked bluntly, directing his attention to someone
still out of Jason’s sight.

“Explain
what?” the sheriff asked calmly as he walked up to the cell and looked in at
Jason. “There’s nothing I need to explain to you… except for the fact that you
and the lady there have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and
will be…” His speech was cut off short.

“Explain
that!” Tyler bellowed, pointing at the cell that held Jason as he took a
threating step towards the sheriff. If mankind could breathe fire the big,
angry cowboy would have incinerated the place by now. “And I disagree! I say
you got a lot of explaining to do to me!”

You
could see it go all over Sheriff Victor – The fact that his bluff and plan was
failing and falling apart. Trying to sound like a confident professional, the
sheriff looked up at the tall cowboy and explained, “We have reason to believe
that Jason Hathaway is somehow linked to his wife’s disappearance.”

The
look on Tyler’s face was one of bewildered rage. His loud voice trembled with
anger as he said, “Well, reasons and beliefs are all fine and dandy, and I know
I’m not the greatest lawman this side of Main Street, so I hate to question
your expertise, but unless I’m mistaken, it takes a little thing they call
evidence, or at least probable cause, to lock someone up!” By the time he
finished the statement, his face was shining red.

Judging
by the look on Sheriff Victor’s face, Jason wouldn’t have been surprised if the
law man had started crying. But Tyler wasn’t finished. He leaned forward and
bent down, bringing his nose within inches of the sheriff’s. From there, he
called his bluff. “You either charge him and us with something or let us all
go.”

Victor
turned and glared at Jason… apparently for a moment too long. “Hey,” Tyler said
as he slapped the sheriff on the shoulder, “You
gonna
let him out or gaze longingly into his eyes?”

An
embarrassed, angry, and just downright flustered sheriff yelled down the hall,
“Andrews! Bring the keys.”

“Now
who’s yelling,” Big Jack asked in almost a whine. He sat up and looked out of
the cell window, spotting Tyler… who was as big as ever and still glowing red.
Big Jack let out a huff as he turned back towards the wall and placed the
pillow over his head once more.

“Hey
man,” Jason spoke to Andrews as he opened the cell door. “You got a marker or
something?”

“Um,
yes,” the deputy replied. “I actually do.”

“Can
I borrow it?” Jason asked.

“Sure,”
the bewildered young man replied as he handed over the marker.

With
a sly look on his face, Jason walked over to the wall by the cell door, snapped
the cap off and turned, giving the sheriff a smile. Victor glared at him,
knowing what was coming. Jason left a big mark down the side of the wall then,
without a word, he snapped the cap back on, handed the marker over to a now
comprehending and ashamed Deputy Andrews, and walked past
the sheriff without
looking at him, on over to a bewildered Tyler and Susan.

“What
was that about?” Tyler asked, confused.

“Just
leaving my mark,” Jason replied with a grin.

Tyler
looked at the mark on the wall. “Wasn’t very creative,” he commented. Jason
just smiled in response as they walked away.

“Hey
Jason,” a voice called from behind. Jason turned around. “Good luck man,” Big
Jack said from the cell window where he stood. “And don’t forget about me.”
Jason saw a look of desperation in the big man’s eyes. He wanted freedom.