The Archer [Book 13 of the Hawkman Series] (23 page)

Hawkman proceeded in pursuit. He anticipated Laura knew he had things under control, so she'd feel comfortable going on to school. The speeding vehicle finally slowed and came to a stop on the side of the shoulder. One of the Wallace brothers jumped out of the driver's side and stomped toward Hawkman as he stepped out of the Ford. They met halfway.

"Why the hell are you following me and honking your damn horn?"

Hawkman looked him in the eye. “Because you almost hit a car head-on when you crossed the middle line. You were driving like a drunk man."

"I didn't see any car."

"That's because the person saw you swerve into the wrong lane and pulled off the road. Tell me Greg Wallace, what are you doing out in this neck of the woods so early in the morning?"

The young man scowled. “How'd you know my name?"

"I'm Tom Casey, private investigator. I know a lot about you and your brother, Steve."

"I recognize you now,” Greg said, narrowing his eyes.

"So answer my question."

"If you must know, I've got a girl in the cab, and it's a little hard to concentrate on driving when she had her hands all over me.” He shrugged. “I planned to get a little nookie before she had to go to class."

"It would have been a lot closer if you'd just taken her to your house."

"Are you kidding. If my Dad caught me, I'd be dead meat."

"So when did you start worrying about what your dad thinks?"

"Man, he's laid the law down, and if Steve and I don't toe the line, we'll get thrown out of the house without a dime."

Out of the corner of his eye, Hawkman caught a movement from the truck cab and turned his gaze toward the opened door. He spotted a woman with long blond hair quickly duck back inside. “Doesn't look like you're owning up to the bargain."

"Well, it's none of your business, but I'm enrolled to start the next session at college."

"I'd advise you to get that gal to school, so she can get to class, or she might just blow the whistle on you. While you're at it, have her sit against the right hand door. You obviously can't multitask."

Greg swaggered back to the truck with a smirk on his lips. “Thanks for taking up so much of my time,” he shouted over his shoulder, as he climbed into the pickup and slammed the door.

Hawkman watched the truck pull onto the road and leave rubber as it barreled down the pavement. From the looks of the long blond hair, Hawkman would lay odds, Cindy Brown was the girl. Why would she be with Greg Wallace, when she'd told him she wouldn't ever go out with one of the Wallace brothers? Also, the truck's muddied tags fit the description of the vehicle that tried to boot Laura in the rear as she drove home from school a week ago. What type of game was this young woman playing? Whatever it was, it would come back around and bite her good.

Climbing back into the Ford, Hawkman turned around and headed back toward the college. He drove into the parking lot and searched for Laura's car. When he found it, he breathed a sigh of relief to know she'd made it to school safely. He turned the corner out of the lot, just as Greg entered in the black pickup. The couple appeared preoccupied and didn't look Hawkman's way, but he got a good look at Cindy Brown sitting next to the young Wallace brother. Something made Hawkman do a quick turn into a parking space across the street. He kept an eye on the school lot exit, and to his surprise, Cindy's red convertible shot out with Greg Wallace driving.

Hawkman took off and followed him to his home, where he parked the Corvette in his driveway and disappeared into the house. Not sure what was going on, Hawkman raced back to the college, and discovered the black pickup at the far end of the parking lot. No students were in sight, so Hawkman jumped out of the Ford, hurried to the driver's side window of the truck and peered inside. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, but couldn't see behind the seat.

He didn't know Cindy's schedule, but thought she had an archery class on Monday, and it would probably be the last period of the day. Hawkman decided to take up surveillance across the street where he'd parked earlier. He waited close to an hour before he spotted the black pickup, driven by Cindy, edge slowly into the traffic. She headed toward the road to the ranch. Hawkman tailed her from a distance, but kept the truck in view. He sensed her driving the pickup showed she was up to no good, as black trucks were a dime a dozen in the country, but her red convertible could be spotted a mile away. Laura might wonder where her bodyguard had gone, but if he knew Cindy's whereabouts, she'd be safe.

Up ahead, Hawkman noticed Cindy had pulled off the road; he touched the brakes and stopped on the shoulder. Taking his binoculars out of the glove compartment, he put them to his face and focused on the pickup. It appeared she was backing up and maneuvering into a thick grove of trees. Eventually, she had the vehicle completely out of sight.

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Hawkman pulled onto the pavement, passed the area where she'd gone, and hoped to get a glimpse of the black pickup, but didn't see a thing. “She's one slick and cunning woman,” he mumbled.

Once he navigated around the curve in the road, he glanced into the rearview mirrors, and couldn't see the grove of trees. “Perfect,” he said aloud, as he swerved to the side and parked.

He adjusted the shoulder holster, and flipped up the flap holding the gun. “I sure don't want to get impaled with an arrow, so I can't elude the thought I might have to use this,” he said, under his breath.

Climbing out of the Ford, he scaled the small knoll and crouched at the top. He could see the rear of the truck sticking out the back of the thicket, but Cindy was nowhere in sight. He ran down the small hill, but didn't like the idea of being in plain view since there were no trees or bushes between him and the grove to hide behind. When he reached the outskirts of the wooded area, he quietly moved forward and listened intently as he made his way deeper into the foliage. He heard what sounded like someone walking on dead leaves, so he stepped behind a large oak. Taking a risk, he peeked through the fork of some branches, and spotted Cindy, with her back toward him, opening the passenger side door of the pickup. He watched as she lifted out a compound bow from behind the seat. She worked on the cables and pulleys, then took the stance of a bowman.

Hawkman observed how she rotated in different directions while aiming the arrow. When she turned toward him, he ducked, then jumped when he heard the loud thud of the point plunging into the tree trunk. He stood perfectly still and held his breath as he heard her footsteps approach and then the splintering sound of wood as she pulled the arrow from its target. When he heard her move away, he let out his breath, relieved at this moment, that she was a sharp shooter.

He raised his head and again peered through the limbs. She'd rested the bow against the side of the truck, removed a large beach towel from the cab, and meticulously draped it over the hood. Placing the bow on the cloth, Cindy checked her watch, then reached inside the pickup again, brought out a pair of binoculars, and dropped the strap over her head, letting the glasses bounce onto her breast. She walked toward the open area in front of the trees out of Hawkman's view. He quickly maneuvered in the same direction, but stayed out of her sight. Watching from his hiding place, he saw Cindy put the glasses to her eyes and noted how she studied the road coming from the college.

He immediately knew what she had in mind. Laura would be approaching this area within twenty or thirty minutes. Hawkman yanked his cell phone from the pouch, and punched in Laura's number. Hoping the breeze would blow the sound away from Cindy, he still spoke in a low voice when Laura answered.

"Laura, where are you right now?"

He felt a wave of relief surge through him, when she told him she hadn't left the school parking lot, as she'd been delayed in her last class.

"Stay there, don't leave until you hear from me."

He hung up, then made his way back to the black pickup, where he removed the quiver of arrows next to the bow, and hid it behind a tree. Leaning against the rear fender, he waited for Cindy.

Several minutes passed before Hawkman heard her picking her way through the undergrowth. With her gaze fixed to the ground, she didn't see Hawkman until she got to the front of the truck and glanced up. Her eyes immediately narrowed to slivers and her mouth twisted into a scowl.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing.” Hawkman said. “If you really want to know, I'm keeping an eye on you."

"Who hired you to follow me?"

"No one has paid me a dime."

She put a hand on her hip. “Then I can sue you for harassment."

"Go right ahead."

"You're awfully cocky."

Hawkman shrugged and stood away from the truck. “I answered your question, now you answer mine. Why are you out here hiding in a grove of trees?"

She cocked her head. “I wanted to see what it would be like to shoot a critter with my bow."

"When you backed this pickup in here, you probably chased anything away, or did you expect an animal to come down the road?"

She shot a look at him. “What do you mean?"

He pointed toward the pavement. “You were looking through your binoculars out there, and you sure weren't looking for a four-legged beast, more like something with four wheels."

"How dare you insinuate such a thing. I'd never shoot at a car. That would be dangerous, and could cause someone to have a wreck."

"Yep. Sure could."

Cindy reached over and picked up the bow from the hood of the truck, then realized her quiver was nowhere in sight.

"Little hard to operate without ammunition,” Hawkman said.

"What'd you do with my arrows?"

He patted his chest. “I didn't want to have to shoot you with my .45, so I put them out of reach."

She raised the bow above her head in a threatening motion.

"You sure you want to ruin your compound bow? I could break it into a hundred pieces in a matter of seconds."

Furiously, she opened the pickup door and put it inside the cab, then grabbed the towel off the hood and threw it inside. “I'm leaving."

"I'd advise you to go straight home and stay there."

She glared daggers at him. “You can't tell me what to do."

"I'm not, just advising you,” he said, stepping out of her way as she stomped around the truck to get into the driver's side.

Hawkman grabbed her quiver from behind the tree, tossed them into the bed, then jumped out of the way as she hit the accelerator hard, throwing dirt, grass and rocks from the back wheels. He turned and sprinted over the dirt hill to the Ford, jumped in, turned onto the road and raced to catch up with Cindy. He quickly punched Laura's cell number on the hands-free phone. “Get out of the parking lot now, and head straight home. If you see me on the road, keep going. I'll see you at your house in less than an hour."

Seeing Cindy up ahead, he slowed to the speed limit and followed her to the Wallaces'. She parked next to her red convertible, removed the compound bow from the truck cab, yanked the quiver from the bed, then placed them both in the convertible trunk. Jumping into her car, she put up the top and left without ever notifying the owner she'd returned the vehicle. Hawkman thought this unusual behavior, unless they had some sort of agreement. At least he'd fouled her wicked plan of shooting at Laura.

He wondered if she just wanted to scare her, or actually planned on killing her.

Hawkman followed Cindy home, where she drove her car into the garage and closed the door. He then continued to the Kings’ ranch and parked at the rear of the house. Laura ran out the back door to greet him.

"What in the heck happened?"

He told her about Cindy and Greg that morning trying to cause her to go off the road, and then about the incident in the grove of trees. Laura listened in horror.

Doubling her hands into fists at her side, she closed her eyes. “I knew something like this would happen after Saturday night."

"Why do you say that?” Hawkman asked.

She shook her head. “Brett and I entered this restaurant where he had reservations and there sat Cindy's parents. They both looked up and saw us. I told Brett we couldn't eat here. He saw them, too, and agreed, but by then it was too late. I'm sure they could hardly wait to tell Cindy."

"Laura, we're dealing with a very sick girl. She's quite unsettled and so jealous it warps her thinking. I'm not sure what she'll try next, but I want you to keep your distance from her. Tomorrow, I'll come here to the ranch to follow you in my own vehicle, and will park beside your car in the parking lot. I don't want you to accept any food or drink from Cindy."

Laura looked at him with fear in her eyes. “Do you really think she wants to kill me?"

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Laura grabbed Hawkman's arm and shook it. “Can't you arrest her?"

"We don't have one iota of evidence that would warrant an arrest."

"What about this morning, when she and Greg tried to run me off the road? All those horrible phone calls she made with the voice changer? Also, what about the arrows shot at your office building?"

"For one, how could we prove they deliberately tried to cause an accident? Or who made those harassing calls? The lab could only pull partial prints off the shafts, even though they felt they had female qualities. In a court of law, we have no proof Cindy was behind any of it, and a judge would throw the case out. Remember, her parents have a lot of money and there's no way they'll let their precious daughter's name be run through the mud. They'd hire the best lawyers around to defend her. We need concrete proof to put her behind bars. Remember, Cindy knows this. She can take us right to the wire."

Laura looked at him, pleading. “What do we need to do to determine her guilt?"

"Catch her in the act."

She stepped back and put her hands to her throat. “You mean trying to kill me?"

Hawkman took her by the shoulders. “Don't worry, I'm not going to use you as bait. I'll think of a plan to draw her out. Tell me, how did Cindy treat you today?"