Hard Rain (26 page)

“So he helped you,” Brody said.

She nodded. “He found a box. We went back out there with his pickup. He said he knew the perfect place to bury her.”

“On Hamilton Ranch so if she was ever found, it would look like my grandfather had killed her,” Harper said.

Karen didn’t seem to hear. She was lost in the past. “As Collin was starting to close the box, she grabbed my wrist. I screamed. I thought she was dead. We both did. I was trying to get free and screaming for Collin to help me. He grabbed the shovel...”

Brody closed his eyes. He’d heard the rumors that Maggie had been buried alive, but he’d thought that was all they were. Fury filled him, but when he opened his eyes and saw that Karen still had the gun to Harper’s head, it instantly cooled.

“What did you do with Maggie’s pickup?”

“Collin drove it into one of the reservoirs outside of town. I kept hoping it would be found and everyone would think she’d drowned,” Karen said. “But as luck would have it, the two of you stumbled across her grave.”

Maggie was dead. Karen and Collin had killed her. All Brody could think about was keeping Karen talking. He could see that she’d needed to tell someone in all these years. Tell her side of the story.

“Let me guess. Collin was going to tell me the truth,” he said, knowing that Maggie’s death wasn’t the only one Karen had been responsible for.

“He had wanted to the night I thought I’d killed her. I couldn’t. Collin was my friend, but once he realized that the truth was going to come out... I never thought it would come to this. The irony is that Kyle and I never had any children. I was infertile, but I couldn’t admit that because of my lie about the pregnancy before we got married. So my husband spent the past thirty-five years fantasizing that Maggie was alive somewhere raising his child.” Her laugh was bitter.

* * *

T
HE
SHERIFF
HAD
been on his way to the library to pick up Karen when he’d gotten the call from Brody McTavish.

“Karen Parker has Harper out where Maggie was buried,” he’d said, talking fast. Frank had heard the sound of a vehicle engine and the spray of gravel from the road. “I’m heading there now. I will leave my phone on. Hurry.”

He’d quickly called on the patrol SUV radio for backup. “No sirens. We’re going to have to take her on foot. I’m going to patch this call through so we can monitor what is happening as well as record it. I don’t want anyone else getting killed.”

Now as he and the others scrambled through the pines, the hilltop in sight, he prayed that Brody could keep Karen talking.

* * *

H
ARPER
HAD
BEEN
listening quietly as the story unfolded. With the gun pressed to her temple, she could feel Karen’s hand trembling. She met Brody’s gaze. They had to do something and soon. Karen wasn’t going to be able to hold it together much longer.

Looking down, Harper realized that she stood within inches of the hole where Maggie had been buried. One wrong step and she would fall into it.

“So what is your plan? Killing us to cover up another murder makes no sense.”

“I thought for sure I would hear from one of you after I heard about the body being found,” Karen said. “When there was no mention of the bracelet by the sheriff, I figured you would try to blackmail me. Then Harper here shows up at the library wanting photos from the yearbook. I thought you were taunting me.”

“So you called Collin. What was he supposed to do, scare her off?” Brody asked.

Harper edged a little closer to the hole. She knew this could be suicide, but if she threw herself into the empty grave and rolled, she could take the same path that the casket had down into the pines.

She doubted that Karen was much of a shot. Especially if taken by surprise. Brody was close enough that once Harper made her move he might be able to rush Karen. Harper met his gaze again and shifted her feet—a little closer to the hole, hoping he saw what she had planned.

“I told Collin to stay calm, but he got cold feet,” Karen was saying. “I decided to take care of things myself. I borrowed his precious car, thinking I could put an end to your girlfriend. She’s harder to get rid of than I thought. Then today she shows up here. Now you’re telling me that neither of you have my bracelet.”

“We don’t,” Brody said as he seemed to give Harper a slight nod. At least she hoped that was the case. “We had no idea you killed Maggie. I thought JD Hamilton had done it. That’s what everyone thought. But if you kill us, the sheriff won’t stop looking until he finds you. Killing the next president’s daughter? A major mistake.”

“Not if it looks like the two of you, star-crossed lovers, killed yourselves. Everyone knows how your families feel about each other. I heard that you’ve been kicked off your ranch,” Karen said. “It makes sense that you would come here to do the deed. I almost feel sorry for you.”

Harper knew she couldn’t wait any longer. She had to do something. She could almost feel Karen’s trigger finger itching to finish what she’d started thirty-five years ago.

She threw herself into the grave an instant before she heard the shot.

* * *

B
RODY
HAD
SEEN
what Harper planned to do. He knew it was risky, but he had no way of stopping her without giving her away. And he could tell that Karen wouldn’t be distracted much longer even though she’d needed to get some of this off her chest. But with a thunderstorm moving in from the Crazies, time had run out. His only hope was reaching Karen before she could get off a shot.

As Harper dived into the grave, he rushed Karen. Both actions had taken her by surprise. He was on her in a heartbeat, but she’d already pulled the trigger before he reached her. The shot echoed along the ridgeline. He crashed into Karen, taking her down as he struggled to get the gun out of her hand.

“Are you all right?” he called. “Harper?” He couldn’t see her and suddenly the hillside was alive with sheriff’s deputies. One of them quickly moved him aside so he could cuff Karen. The deputy began to read Karen her rights as Brody got to his feet and looked over the side of the hill.

Harper had thrown herself into the grave, then rolled down the slope into the pines. Now she lay there unmoving. He scrambled down the hill, terrified that Karen’s one shot had been fatal.

He reached her and rolled her over to find her eyes open. She was gasping for breath. “Are you hit?” he cried. “Harper, are you hit?” Behind him, the sheriff was asking the same question.

“No,” she said. “The fall...it knocked...the wind...out of...me.” He pulled her to him, holding her gently as she sucked in air. “Karen?”

“We have her,” the sheriff said. “We also have her confession. Nice work,” he said. “Now maybe the two of you can quit putting yourselves in danger. I’m going to need statements down at the office, if you’re up to it.”

Harper nodded as she caught her breath. “I just want this over with.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

JD
LEFT
THE
HOUSE
, driving too fast. He had to get to Maggie. He had to stop her. The sun had set, leaving the Crazies black against the growing twilight. Long, eerie dark shadows from the stark, bare branches of the cottonwoods snaked across the narrow road.

He knew going to the McTavish Ranch could get him shot, but he didn’t care. He had to see her. He had to stop her from marrying Bobby. He’d been a fool not to realize that too much water had crossed under the bridge for him to make a life now with Grace. He’d broken his promise to her. He would have to live with that. Nor did he give a damn about being president if it meant not being with Maggie.

Stopping in a cloud of dust in front of Flannigan McTavish’s house, he got out. “Maggie!” he called. “Maggie.” He was running toward the porch when Flannigan stepped out holding a shotgun.

“She’s not here.”

“Where is she?”

“Like I’m going to tell you? What the hell do you want anyway?”

“I want your daughter. I want to make an honest woman out of her.”

“It’s too late for that.”

“No,” JD said, refusing to believe that. “I know I’m the last person you want to see your daughter with, but I love her. She loves me and—”

“She’s just a child. She doesn’t know who she loves.”

“She’s eighteen, of legal age, and I can make her happy.”

Flannigan raised the shotgun, pointing the serious end of it in his direction. “Like I said, she’s gone. She’s run off.”

“Where?”

“If she wanted you to know she would have told you.”

“If you know—”

“I don’t.”

JD heard the pain in the man’s voice. “I’m so sorry.”

“Are you? You’re why she’s run off. Don’t you think I know what you did to her?”

“If you’re talking about the rape—”

The shotgun went off, kicking up dirt in front of him and pelting his jeans and boots with buckshot. “You ruined her. Now get off my property before I shoot you.”

JD left, but he didn’t go home. He knew he would have to eventually. He’d have to face Grace, face the end of his marriage, face the end of his dreams. He was forty-two and he felt as if his life was over.

He drove aimlessly for hours telling himself that if he couldn’t find Maggie, he had no reason to go on. Then he drove home to find the sheriff waiting for him.

* * *

T
HE
NEWS
THAT
Maggie’s killer had been caught moved through the county like a storm out of the Crazies. It blew into the Beartooth General Store and spread quickly through the valley. Nettie couldn’t believe it. She’d put her money on JD Hamilton. The phone at the store hadn’t quit ringing off the hook.

“I just heard Kyle Parker was seen leaving his house with suitcases,” one source told Nettie. “Packed up and moved out the moment he got the news. Apparently Karen is on her own now.”

“I wonder if her public defender will ask for a change of venue,” another woman said when she called the store to see what Nettie knew. “There is no way any juror in this county will want less than the death penalty for her. She was always so snooty at the library. She acted like we were going to steal the books. Once I had a late fee and you can’t believe how she treated me. You’d think I’d killed someone.”

Nettie tried to reach her husband to find out if it was true that he and several deputies had taken Karen into custody after she’d tried to kill Harper Hamilton and Brody McTavish. “Is it true Harper saved herself by diving into the grave?” she asked when Frank answered.

“Why don’t you ask your pendulum,” her husband said. “I’m kind of busy right now.”

“I told you you’d catch Maggie’s killer.” She hung up an instant before Mabel Murphy came rushing in.

“Have you heard the news?” Mabel cried. “It’s all over town!”

* * *

H
ARPER
HEARD
THE
fear in her father’s voice. “We’re so glad you’re all right,” he said when he reached her by phone later at the house. His flight had just been called in DC. “What were you thinking? Frank said you went down to the grave site alone. Why would you do that?”

“It just felt...unfinished,” she told him in her defense. “I’m not sure why I went there. I guess I had to see it again. I never expected to see Karen there.”

“You watch enough movies, you should know the killer always returns to the scene of the crime,” her father said.

“Well, it’s over now,” Harper said as she headed upstairs. All she wanted was a hot shower to get the dirt off of her. “Brody saved my life. If he hadn’t called the sheriff and then tackled Karen before she could get off another shot...”

“You and Brody...”

“We won’t be seeing each other again. Too much history that has nothing really to do with us.”

“I see. Well, I’m just relieved that you’re all right,” her father said. “Has your mother moved in yet?”

“No. I talked to her earlier. She said she had to do a few things before she packed up. You’re coming home later today?”

“I’m just about to get on my flight. The sheriff told me that Maggie was pregnant with Ty Jenkins’s baby, not sure who that is,” her father said.

Harper wasn’t surprised. She’d been pretty sure Ty was one of the rapists. “Just a boy she knew from school who got in with the wrong crowd.”

“The sheriff said he is going to try to press charges against Kyle Parker and Will Sanders for rape?”

“I’m not surprised,” she said as she reached her bedroom.

“I would think the statute of limitation had run out, but he must think he has a case.”

She thought of Karen. Her life had been destroyed by lies. First the lie about her pregnancy. Then encouraging Kyle not to come forward about his part in the rape—not to mention killing Maggie and dragging her best friend, Collin, into her lies and secrets.

“If Maggie hadn’t been murdered, do you think JD would have run away with her?” she asked as she heard her father’s flight loading.

“We’ll never know.”

“I guess not.” Harper said goodbye, disconnected and turned on the shower.

She hadn’t seen Brody except to thank him for saving her life before she’d been taken into the sheriff’s office to make her statement. When she’d finished, she’d been told that his father had picked him up. Maybe their family could heal now that Maggie’s killer was caught and the truth about her pregnancy was out.

Still, JD and Maggie had had a relationship. That would always be between the Hamiltons and the McTavishes. Flannigan would never forgive JD. And Harper would always just be a reminder.

Stripping off her soiled clothing, she stepped under the hot shower.

* * *

“W
HERE
’
S
H
ARPER
?” B
RODY
demanded as he burst through the door of the Hamilton Ranch’s main house.

“I’ve called security,” the maid said, phone in hand. “You need to leave right now.”

He looked toward the stairs.
“Harper?”
he called as he took the steps three at a time.
“Harper?”

On the second floor, he heard running water and ran in that direction. Throwing open a door, he burst into a bedroom. The bathroom door stood open. He could hear the sound of a shower running.

“Harper?”

“Brody?” she said in a surprised voice over the sound of the shower. “What are you doing here?”

The water was running behind a glass-block wall. He saw a prism of flesh colors and asked himself what the hell he
was
doing? Any minute the security guards would be coming up here armed. He’d be lucky if he didn’t get killed.

“You said I once advised you to go after what you wanted, come hell or high water,” he said as he stepped into the bathroom. “Well, I’m taking my own advice. I want you!” he yelled over the running water just as she shut it off.

“Your family will never—”

“They will have to live with it and so will yours, because I’m going to marry you.”

“Is that right?” she asked, peering around the glass-block wall between them.

He grabbed a big white fluffy towel from the rack and handed it to her. “Yeah, that’s right. Our families are wrong. We belong together.”

She stepped out, the towel wrapped around her. Her blond hair dripped in ringlets around her shoulders.

“Damn, you’re beautiful.”

Harper smiled and then two security guards burst into her bedroom. “It’s all right,” she told them before they could grab Brody.

“We have orders—”

“You have orders from me,” Harper snapped. “I said it was fine.”

“But your father—”

“Isn’t here. And neither will either of you be tomorrow unless you leave right now,” she said.

They both looked embarrassed as they holstered their weapons, apologized and ducked back toward the door.

“Please close the door on your way out,” Harper called. As they left, she turned to Brody. “Do I have to tell you all the reasons you and I can’t—”

“We can make whatever kind of life we want. My father picked me up at the sheriff’s department. I just sat down with him and my uncle at a lawyer’s office to sign papers. The ranch is mine. No one can take it away from me ever again. I also made it clear that I’m going to marry you.”

She sighed. “What if they never accept me?”

He shook his head. “Their loss. But I can tell you right now, they will fall in love with you, just as I have. Trust me. We now know that JD didn’t kill her. Nor was she carrying his baby. Maggie can rest in peace. The past is buried for good. As for the future...the maid or those guards are going to call the senator.”

Harper gave him that smile he’d fallen in love with so many years ago. “But it will be too late since he just got on a plane headed this way,” she said as she locked the door.

“I love you, Harper Hamilton,” Brody said, dropping to one knee. “Marry me.” He held out a small jewelry box. “It’s my mother’s ring.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “And I love you, Brody McTavish,” she said, and dropped the towel.

“Is that a yes?” he asked with a laugh before he swung her up into his arms.

* * *

“I
THOUGHT
YOU
were going to keep them apart?” Sarah said when Buck called to say he was at the main house with news about Brody and Harper.

He sighed. “Sarah, there is only so much I can do. Harper is a strong-willed woman. Hell, all our girls are.”

“And you have no idea where she gets it from.”

He chuckled at that. “She loves him and has for years. Anyway, would it be so terrible?”

“Brody’s family will never accept it. I ran into Flannigan in town recently. Apparently his ill will toward your father goes back years. JD purchased some land that he wanted, then this thing with Maggie...”

Buck sighed again. “Given time...”

“Is that what Jerrod tells you? That any of this isn’t going to hurt your campaign?”

“I’m more worried that my baby daughter is going to make a mistake she will regret the rest of her life.”

“By marrying Brody McTavish? Or not marrying him?”

“Like I said, I’ll talk to her, but from what I was told when I got the call from the house, it could be an uphill battle,” Buck said. “Brody managed to get through security to see her. He’s upstairs with her now.”

“Remember when we were in love like that?” Sarah asked.

“I still feel that way.” When she said nothing, he realized what she was waiting for. “You want me to do something daring and dangerous for you?”

“No, of course not.” But he thought he heard regret in her voice.

“I defied my mother for you,” he said. “That was pretty daring and dangerous.” Sometimes, like lately, he regretted it. “Sarah, get packed and I’ll come get you.”

“No, I’ll come over when I’m done.”

He heard something in her voice and feared she might change her mind. He wanted her with him. “Well, don’t take too long. There’s a big storm coming. I know how you hate thunderstorms.”

* * *

S
ARAH
HAD
HOPED
that she could get the last of her things packed up before the thunderstorm hit. But she could hear the wind, feel the cold already creeping in through the cracks around the door. She moved away from the window, realizing she didn’t have that much to pack.

She’d told Buck not to come over, that she’d be along when she was done packing. In truth, she’d wanted this time alone. She was finally going home. After all these years, she and Buck would be together in the house he’d built for them.

Even as she thought it, though, she knew it wouldn’t ever be the same. Her daughters were grown and distant. Buck would win the primaries and want her on the campaign trail with him. And if he won the election...
when
he won the election...

The storm rattled the old glass in the front window as she came out of the bedroom with her suitcase. The wind bent the thick cottonwood limbs to almost breaking and sent twigs and leaves whirling through the air ahead of the rain. Pine boughs groaned and a shutter began to bang against the house.

Sarah hugged herself, feeling the electricity in the air long before she saw lightning flickering in the distance. She hated storms. They prickled at her nerves and made her jumpy and anxious.

She started to change her mind and call Buck to come get her. But before she could reach the phone, the first raindrops hit the glass like thrown pebbles startling her. The sky darkened, stealing the daylight. The thunderstorm roared, rain slashing down, the wind howling at the eaves.

A window not quite latched suddenly blew open, making her jump. The curtains billowed as she rushed to it, the rain cold and wet against her skin as she hurried to wrestle the window closed again.