Deadly Sanctuary (31 page)

Following a stunned silence, Doug smiled broadly and congratulated me while Ginger’s eyes filled with tears.

I tried to comfort her by convincing her I’d only be a short distance away, but she said it wouldn’t be the same.

And it wouldn’t. I knew it and she knew it.

I set out a tray of appetizers and turned on the television for Nona and Doug. Ginger followed me outside and stood in unusual silence while I fiddled with the gas grill. Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance and a sudden rush of moist air, laden with the heavy scent of creosote and manzanita bushes, snuffed out the flame.

“Damn,” I muttered, striking another match.

“Looks like we might be in for a gullywasher,” Ginger commented, squinting up at the fast moving clouds.

“That’s what I’m hoping for.”

“Y’all fixin’ to leave so sudden like wouldn’t have nothing to do with Tally being up yonder with Lucy, now would it?”

I avoided eye contact. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, darlin’, unless I’m dumber than owl shit, I’d say you’re hightailing it out of town ’cause your little ol’ heart’s broke.”

I squared my shoulders. The vision of Tally making love to Lucinda brought bitter bile to my throat. “I’m going because this offers me career opportunities I’ll never have here. And besides that, Eric made me an offer too.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “What kind of offer?”

I hesitated. Did I want this to get around town? Then I almost laughed. What difference did it make now? I forked the steaks onto the grill and said casually, “To move in with him.”

Her mouth gaped. “Y’all ought to at least give Tally a chance to explain.”

I threw her an irritated glance. “You’re the one who was pushing the romance with Eric in the first place, and now you’re heading up the Bradley Talverson Fan Club? I don’t get it.”

She looked a bit sheepish. “Seems like, I might’ve been just a little off kilter. When you first came here, it seemed like you were more suited to Eric. But, things are different now. And what’s more, a girl couldn’t do much better than a fine and honorable man like Tally…”

“A fine and honorable man?” I interrupted. “This is a person who swore he and Lucinda were just friends, and the next thing I know he’s slithered off with her to Colorado. I just can’t reconcile that.”

“I know it looks bad, but remember Lucy’s got a bunch of money sunk into that mare of hers. Maybe it’s just a business trip and nothing more?”

“Nice try, Ginger, but it won’t wash.”

“All the same, I wouldn’t be a fixin’ to rush into anything with Eric and…”

“I know you don’t want me to go,” I said gently.

“Relax, will you? I’m taking the job but I’m not ready to move in with him. I’m not ready to move in with anybody.”

She looked relieved. “Well now, that’s more like it.” The roar of a car engine stopped my next words. We both stared in surprise as a jeep, blaring music and overflowing with teenagers, sped past us heading toward the base of Castle Rock.

“This is an odd time for a picnic,” I murmured.

“They ain’t picnicking. Those kids are headed out for one of them boondockers.”

I flipped the steaks over. “What’s that?”

“They’ll build a fire someplace an’ drink beer till they puke.”

“That sounds like a load of fun.”

The approaching storm lowered the temperature abruptly, and before sitting down to eat, I shut off the cooler and opened the windows. I didn’t want to miss one minute of the dramatic spectacle.

Nona entertained us with stories of her theater days and Doug kept us in stitches with one corny joke after another. I noticed the look of adoration in Ginger’s eyes and the thought of them being together made me feel warm with happiness.

A blinding bolt of lightning flashed nearby followed by an earsplitting crack of thunder. As if on cue, we heard the splatter of raindrops. We all jumped up and Doug pushed Nona to the screen door.

“It’s raining,” I shouted, running outside. Laughing with joy, I held my arms out and whirled around and around until I was breathless.

As fast as it began, the rain stopped and sunlight slanted through the clouds. Within minutes, all evidence of the storm had vanished. “What happened?” I cried in disappointment. “That wasn’t enough rain to do anything.”

“It’s kinda like someone grabbing your ice cream cone away after two bites,” Nona lamented with a shake of her head.

“Just so you know, that was a typical Arizona rainstorm,” Doug commented with a grin. “I’d say it rained about two inches.”

I stared at him in surprise. “Two inches?”

“Yeah. The drops were at least two inches apart.” We all laughed, but stopped suddenly as the sharp crack of rifle reports split the air.

“What was that popping sound?” Nona exclaimed, looking puzzled.

“It sounded like gunshots,” said Doug. We all stood silently waiting for more, but none came.

“It seems like an odd time to be target shooting,” I said, peering into the distance.

“It’s probably them dumb kids,” Ginger announced.

“Or somebody out hunting for rabbits,” Doug suggested.

“Let’s finish dinner and get to the cards,” Nona stated impatiently from the doorway.

It didn’t stay cool long. With the clouds blown away to the south, the temperature climbed and it was muggier than before. Reluctantly, I closed the windows and turned on the cooler.

Darkness had fallen and Nona was in the process of dealing the second hand in poker when the incessant blare of a car horn broke into our conversation. We all looked up in surprise as headlights filled the front window. Everyone tensed with fright when the car didn’t stop in the driveway.

“Jesus! They’re coming right through the glass!” Doug yelled, jumping up.

We all watched spellbound as the vehicle careened wildly and came to a complete stop after ramming the stone fountain. Doug, Ginger and I were all out the door in a matter of seconds. The engine of the jeep was still roaring and Doug shouted for the driver to turn the ignition off.

“What’s going on?” I demanded striding toward the jeep filled with teenagers. “Are you guys so totally blitzed, you can’t see the road, or this fountain?”

The driver, a tall, skinny boy clad in oversize shorts and a T-shirt, slipped from the jeep and fell to his knees.

“Are you hurt, sugar pie?” Ginger asked, kneeling down beside him. He tried to speak but nothing came out of his mouth. I turned my attention to the passengers and felt a stab of alarm at the expressions of fear on their faces.

The boy on the ground looked up at me and stammered, “Call the sh-heriff. There’s a girl out there, and she’s d-dead! I’ve never seen anybody dead before!” He bowed his head and vomited on the ground.

We all stood by helplessly as another teen, this one a girl, leaned out of the jeep and followed suit. A second girl began sobbing, so I approached one of the other boys.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“We weren’t doing anything wrong. Just having a few beers and kicking back, y’know?”

“Go on.”

“Jay and Lindsay went off to be alone for a while and all of a sudden we hear Lindsay screaming her head off. We all ran out, and there’s…there’s this girl laying there. She’s all shot up, there’s all this blood and…” His voice trailed off.

Doug turned to me. “I’ve had some medical training, and I’ve got a flashlight and a first aid kit in my car. I think I’d better check this out right away. What’s your name?” he said addressing the boy in the jeep.

“Lester Bosworth.”

“Well, Lester, how about you come along and show me where the body…er…this girl is. Kendall, you and Ginger can stay here with the rest of these kids, and you better call the sheriff right away.”

“Not on your life,” I said firmly. “And miss a scoop like this?” I looked at Ginger and she nodded.

“I’ll take charge here.” She raised her voice. “Y’all get your butts in the house and wait there till we get hold’ve your folks. Go on now!”

“Bless you,” I whispered in her ear as I ran to get my camera and notepad. I dug my flashlight from the kitchen drawer and on my way out, paused beside Ginger. “I need about ten minutes to look things over before you call Roy, okay?”

“Gotcha,” she answered, giving me a thumbs up. I raced outside and jumped into Doug’s car. We sprayed gravel as he gunned it down the dark road. We’d traveled less than a mile when Lester yelled, “Turn! Turn here.”

Doug veered the car off to the left and bumped along a cattle track. As we drove through a section of broken barbed wire fence, I wondered fleetingly if we were on Tally’s land, and then my thoughts stopped cold. Tally’s land! Another teenage girl found dead on Talverson property.

“Stop here,” Lester shouted, pointing. Doug brought the car to a halt. Illuminated by the bright beams of the headlights, and backdropped by the pitch black sky, the desert foliage ahead looked rather surrealistic.

“She’s back under that bunch of trees,” he said, pointing to a cluster of palo verdes. “I don’t want to see her again,” he choked.

“Fine,” I said. “You wait here.” Armed with my camera, I trudged beside Doug. We passed a poorly extinguished camp fire and picked our way through beer cans and food wrappers. At the edge of the clearing, we snapped on our flashlights. Then, both of us froze at what sounded like someone or something rustling through nearby bushes.

Doug and I exchanged a startled glance. “Who’s there?” His voice quavered just a bit as he shined the light back and forth.

We waited, but heard nothing but the usual mixture of night noises.

“You think that was some kind of animal?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

He cleared his throat nervously. “Jesus, maybe we’d better wait by the car until the sheriff gets here.”

“We can’t wait,” I urged. “What if the girl isn’t dead? These kids aren’t doctors. She may need our help.” Silently I added, If there is something here, I’m going to see it before Roy has a chance to screw it up.

We walked cautiously, alert for any strange sounds. A few more steps took us to the grove of trees. The earth and bushes all smelled rain freshened. I swung the flashlight from side to side and then we both halted.

Directly ahead, next to a jagged rock outcropping, lay a still figure. We moved closer. Clad in jeans and a pink shirt, she lay on her side, knees drawn up, her head turned away from us. The fingers of her left hand were buried in the sand. A cold sweat enveloped me. I wondered if Doug could hear the frantic hammering of my heart. Trying to swallow was impossible. I couldn’t muster a drop of saliva.

“Holy Mother of God,” Doug whispered.

There was a considerable amount of blood on her shirt and clotted in her long hair. It was pretty obvious that she’d been shot not only in the back, but also in the back of the head. My skin prickled. This didn’t look like the work of a careless hunter.

“I don’t think your first aid kit will be of any use,” I said quietly.

Obviously distraught, Doug ran a hand through his hair and then knelt to feel for a pulse in her neck. “Her skin is cool. There’s no sign of respiration.”

I felt sick. “What time did we hear those rifle shots?”

“I don’t know. Seven? Seven-thirty?”

“So she’s probably been dead about two hours.”

“I guess.” He stood, absently wiping his hand on his trousers. “I wonder who she is?”

Silently, I shook my head, feeling certain that this third victim was somehow tied into the deaths of the other two teens. It was going to be pretty hard for Roy to pawn this one off as an accident. I snapped the lens cap off my camera and stepped closer. As soon as Roy and Duane arrived, the area would be sealed off, the body quickly covered, and I’d have to rely on them for details.

“We shouldn’t touch anything,” Doug cautioned me. “Yes, I know.” Doug was a sensitive, law-abiding young man and I had a feeling he would strongly disapprove of my plan to hunt for clues before Roy arrived.

We both jumped at the blast of the car horn. “Why do you suppose he’s doing that?” he mused anxiously.

“Doug, why don’t you go back to the car and check on Lester. I’ll be along in a second.”

“You sure? What about the noises we heard earlier? What if it wasn’t an animal?”

“If it was the killer, he’d be long gone by now. And anyway, you’ll only be a few hundred feet away, and Roy will be here any minute. Go on now. I’ll be fine.”

He didn’t need any more urging. When I heard his steps fade away, I turned back to the body. Steeling myself, I knelt down and shined my flashlight directly on her face. Blank eyes, wide and green, stared back at me. Blonde hair, matted with blood, surrounded her oval face. My heart contracted with pity. Who would do such a cowardly thing?

I played the light around the immediate area and saw a series of footprints in the sand. They could, of course, belong to the kids who’d found her.

Returning the light to the girl, I noted the make of tennis shoes she wore, the exact color of her shirt and the type of jeans. Now that was curious. One pant leg was torn and there was blood on her sock.

The faint wail of a siren in the distance made me stiffen. Gripped by a sense of urgency, I quickly snapped several close-ups of her, knowing full well Tugg would never print them.

The girl’s earrings, caught in the flash from the camera, winked back at me. I bent down and looked closer. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight dangling earrings. I sat back on my heels. That struck a familiar chord. Careful scrutiny of the girl’s face brought a sense of dawning horror. Could I be mistaken, or was this the hitchhiker I’d picked up my first day in Arizona?

Roy looked more agitated to see me than distressed at the sight of the dead girl.

“You’d best get yourself away from there, Ms. O’Dell,” he said tersely, aiming the powerful beam of his flashlight in my direction. “This area’s off limits as of right now.”