If We Dare to Dream (40 page)

“My brother was the appeaser,” he continued. “My mother started telling him when my dad first took off that he was the man of the house, and Andrew took that seriously. He always took care of me, especially when my mother turned on me.”

Despite her frustration and irritation at being virtually dragged up the mountain for no reason, Jamie found herself tuning in to what Adam was saying. Andrew had only touched on his childhood with her, so this was new information and once again reminded her of what a survivor he had turned out to be.

“He defended me, Jamie. Always. Even if it meant he would get a beating he would step in and protect me. The last time was the night before his twelfth birthday. As he grew up he became more vocal, more protective, and more eager to save me from being the scapegoat punching bag. It earned him his fair share of fights, but he had grown into a strong kid and had shot up in height. That night our mother lost her temper and began pounding on me, and Andrew stepped in to pull her away. Of course the guy she was with jumped in and nearly beat him senseless. We both went back to our room to hide while our mother smoked her sadness away. The next thing we knew, an ambulance was pulling into the driveway and we were removed from the house.

“On his birthday, we stood in the driveway of Grandma’s house, and Andrew clung to me as hard as I clung to him. We didn’t know what to expect. He looked down at me and said, ‘don’t worry, Adam. I’ll always have your back’.”

“I’m not surprised,” she said, knowing Andrew well enough to understand he would do anything to help his brother. That was just the kind of man he was. A true hero, through and through.

“He still wants to do it. There’s nothing that my brother wouldn’t do for me. Even though he doesn’t think I know that, I do… I’ve just never thanked him.”

“Maybe you should.”

“That’s what I plan to do - as soon as he gets up here.”

Reaching into his pack, Adam withdrew a threatening looking knife and a block of cheese. Using the knife with deft fingers, he cut off a chunk and handed it to her. The growling of her stomach reminded her of how little they had eaten during the strenuous hike up, and she reluctantly took the offered piece.

“Which brings me to what exactly is going on here, Adam? Why am I up here if Andrew’s not?”

“I wanted to make sure he’d come before the storm. I didn’t think he’d make the hike unless I gave him a bit of motivation.” He indicated with his knife at her. “You’re all the motivation he needs.”

She snorted. “So you think that by worrying my family and friends you can entice Andrew to hike up here just before a storm hits? That seems a little melodramatic.”

He came to his feet and raised his face to the cloud covered sky. Jamie watched as a crooked smile broke on his face, and his eyes gleamed with barely contained excitement. This was the Adam that she had feared when she first met him, and she was beginning to fear him even more now. She recognized that she was a part of something that could only grow worse if they stayed, and she hoped she could talk some sense into him. “Drama is good. Drama is great. What better way to leave than with an adoring audience?” 

“This is crazy, Adam. I think we should head back down.”

“No,” he cried, lowering his gaze to her. “I’ve tried to talk to him, but we always end up arguing. I need you with me. We have to stick together.”

“I don’t like this. I’m a little concerned.”

“Concerned?” His voice was low. “This has nothing to do with you. I only need you here to get Andrew’s attention. This is between him and me.”

It was Jamie’s turn to regain her feet. Though they were sore from the punishing hike up the mountain, she closed the distance between them and placed her hand on his arm. She kept her voice low. “What’s between you and him? Hasn’t he been through enough already? Why are you scaring him unnecessarily?”

Adam stared down at her with curiously detached eyes. His lips twisted with undisguised disdain. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“Understand what?” Jamie cried. “Don’t you see that this is all crazy? It makes no sense.”

“It’ll make sense soon enough. I’ll explain everything once he gets up here.”

“I want to talk to him. Where’s your phone? Can you call him?”

Awareness suddenly dawned on his face, as though he had forgotten all about his vital piece of technology. He reached into one of the many side pockets of his backpack and pulled out the mobile phone, sliding the top and typing out a rapid message before walking back to the edge of the mountain and throwing the phone with all his might over the side.

“Wait! What are you doing?” Jamie cried, rushing to his side. She watched as the phone bounced on a rock a hundred feet down and landed in the thick desert brush below. Shivering slightly, she looked over at Adam again, her intent to remain calm and collected suddenly being overshadowed by the fear he was completely losing it.

He had been right. She did not understand.

“I won’t need it anymore,” he said in a deceptively calm voice.

They stood silently looking down at the where the phone had disappeared. Jamie’s disquiet grew. Feeling a trembling start in her legs, she began to piece together that there was a very real danger approaching, and somehow, some way, she would have to use her head to get herself out of it.

***

Andrew pulled his phone from his pocket and stared at the message displayed on the screen. “Meet us at the Flatiron,” was all it said.

Us. Though his instincts had told him that Jamie was with Adam, knowing he was right disappointed him more than he wanted to admit. He glanced up at the sky and frowned. The weather report had predicted a 30% chance of showers. In the desert, that meant chances were pretty good they would have rain.

“What?” Ford asked, glancing at him. He had just made the turn onto his grandmother’s dirt road, but Andrew felt a greater sense of urgency. Now they had to beat the rain.

“Do you know when the storm’s coming in?”

Ford shrugged. “No idea.”

“We have to hurry. They’re up the mountain.”

“How will you get down if it starts to rain?”

“Exactly… We have to hurry.” Andrew was out of Ford’s truck before it came to a complete stop and jogging inside. Before his startled grandmother could respond, Andrew rushed to his room and grabbed a pack, calling out to Linda as he passed her in the hall. “I need water. Can you pack it up?”

Linda had pressed up against the wall when Andrew rushed by but came to stand just outside his door. “What’s going on?”

“Adam and Jamie are up on the mountain. I have to get up there.”

“But it’s going to rain,” Linda said in dismay.

“Which is why I’m hurrying.”

“I’ll get you some,” she said. “Can’t you just call him?”

“I’ve tried. He must have left his phone behind.”

“But he packed up everything this morning. He said he had to leave to fix some things.”

Andrew felt a chill go down his back. Maybe he had actually called the detective himself. Suddenly his trip up the mountain with Jamie took on a more serious bent, that of a man who was desperate. Desperate men were dangerous men, and Andrew feared Adam’s state of mind already. Seeing the concern on Linda’s face, he patted her shoulder. “I’ll get them. We’ll be home before the rain.”

She smiled tremulously. “I’ll pack you some food, just in case.” She turned to leave but turned back. “Dress warm. The temperature’s dropping already.”

With record speed, Andrew managed to pack up warm clothes for Jamie in case she was not wearing the proper garb and a tarp and rain gear in case they were trapped above the Basin. Only one thought continued to run through his head. Get up there and stop whatever it was Adam was planning.

When he returned to the kitchen, Andrew scooped up the water and food that Linda had hurriedly packed for them. She helped him stuff everything in his overloaded pack before reaching for his arm and giving him a nervous squeeze.

“Linda, you’re amazing,” he said with a lopsided grin.

“Just make sure they’re okay,” Grandma said in a low voice.

He glanced over his shoulder and spotted her in her chair, gripping the hand wheels tightly. “I’ll get them down, Grandma. Don’t worry.”

“It’s not you I worry about.” Their eyes met and communicated what they both feared. It was the very thing he had been accused of when he was sent to prison. The stress becoming so overwhelming that the soldiers cracked. The sadness in Grandma’s eyes nearly broke his heart, but ever the pinnacle of strength she took a deep breath and smiled bravely. “I’ll be expecting you for dinner at six.”

Turning away from the tears of hopelessness she struggled to hold back, Andrew strode to the door. His own voice broke as he pulled the slider open. “I’ll bring him home, Grandma.”

What he did not say, and what both women noticed, was that he did not say how.

Ford had managed to collect Bruno and Tabasco and was in the process of tightening Bruno’s girth when Andrew entered the barn. Tabasco’s saddle was resting on the stall door, but Andrew ignored it. “I don’t need a saddle,” he said reaching for the lead.

Ford nodded and gave the cinch one last tug before gathering up Bruno’s lead and deftly tying it into a set of reins. After hiking his backpack high on his hips, Andrew did the same and then swung effortlessly onto Tabasco’s back. Ford watched with a grimace. “I hope you don’t expect me to be that svelte.”

Andrew glanced down at him. “I just expect you to keep your seat.”

Ford nodded. “I think I can do that.”

Though slower in mounting, Andrew noticed that Ford seemed to have a good seat. With a quick nod, he spun Tabasco around and sent him off toward the trail, keeping steady control as the horse skittered sideways and shook his head to express his displeasure at leaving the safety of his pen. Once he had full control of Tabasco, he sent a quick glance behind him. Ford was doing well on Bruno, despite their hurried pace. Feeling more secure in Ford’s skill, he took the opportunity to run his plan by him. He knew that Ford would balk at his suggestion, but he hoped Jamie’s brother would find it possible to trust him. No one knew Adam better than him, and no one cared more about Jamie’s safety. He hoped Ford could see that.

“We won’t be able to take the horses all the way up. It’s too dangerous and too vertical. I’m going to get us as far as we can, but then I’d like you to bring these two back for me. Would you do that?”

“Hell no.”

As he expected, Ford was adamant. He took a deep breath and pulled on his reserves of patience. “I can move a lot faster alone.”

“That’s my sister up there.”

“She’s with my brother.”

“Who you just told me may be having a breakdown.”

“He won’t hurt Jamie.”

Even as he spoke, Andrew felt doubts of his own. In truth, he really did not know what Adam was capable of doing or why he was even doing what he was. That was what he needed to do first. He needed to get inside Adam’s head. Unfortunately, what he saw scared him to death.

“You sure of that?” Ford asked. “Can you promise me that?”

Andrew faced front again as he considered how to best answer him. They were just beginning to enter the draw, Tabasco’s surefootedness finding his way through the rough trail with ease. Nevertheless, he drew him up to a brisk walk rather than the quick trot they had been pacing up until then.

“I can promise you that I’ll do everything I can to get them both down safely. But if we both go up there, I can’t guarantee anything. If you can trust me to take care of her, it would be best if you stayed down here. If we’re trapped up there for the night, you may need to call in the rescue to get us down. It floods during storms. We won’t be able to make the hike down without being swept away.”

One more look behind him showed him that he was finally reaching Ford. The other man nodded reluctantly. “Fine… Just promise me you’ll take care of Jamie.”

“You have my word.”

Going as far as they could, Andrew dismounted and stared up at the Flatiron above. He still had at least an hour of hiking to go, longer if the rain started. Glancing at the sky, he assumed he could make it. Off in the distance he spotted signs of virga, rain that evaporated before reaching the ground, but it was to the north by Fountain Hills. Further south, the desert would hold off on rain until the air was oversaturated.

He handed Tabasco’s reins to Ford and rubbed his horse’s neck. “Do you think you can handle them both for the ride back?”

“If I go slow enough.”

“Don’t let him pull on you. He has a habit of jerking his head to pull out of your hand.”

“Got it.”

Adjusting his pack, Andrew turned to go. He began heading off at a quick jog when Ford called out one last time. “Hey!”

Andrew turned back with one brow raised.

“Remember your training, Andrew.”

Nodding once, Andrew turned again and set off at a steady jog. He knew that Adam was watching him, could feel his gaze burning on the top of his head. Whatever it was that his brother had planned, he was playing right into his hands. Oh yes, he would remember his training, for better or for worse.

***