Sudden Second Chance (11 page)

Dorothy returned with a glass of water. “I’ll look later and give you a call if I have anything useful.”

Beth took a few sips of water. “Do you know of any cabins around here that have red doors?”

“Not now, not anymore.”

Beth’s hand froze, the glass halfway to her lips. “Not anymore? There was one before?”

“There were several. It was a trend.”

“How long ago was this, Dorothy?” Beth wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Maybe thirty, thirty-five years ago. Designs follow trends, don’t they? Remember the hideous avocado-green appliances? Now everything has to be stainless steel.”

“How many cabins had these red doors?”

“Ten or fifteen?” She peered at Beth. “Why? Is this some new evidence, too?”

“I can’t say right now. Were these cabins in the same area or scattered around?”

“I can’t remember, Beth. They were here and there. Who knew at the time that any of this stuff would be important?”

“Are there any left? Any cabins with red doors?”

“There might be a few. You’d probably want to talk to a Realtor—not that lush Bill Raney, but you could try Rebecca Geist. She’s a sharp gal. Just sold Cass Teagan’s place.”

“Maybe I will. I’ve seen a few of her open houses around.”

“When are you going to make a decision about the story and the footage?”

“I’ll submit everything to my producer and he’ll make the decision. Then the rest of my crew will come out and we’ll put a story together.”

“You won’t solve it and neither will that handsome young FBI agent who’s out here now.” Dorothy put her finger to her lips and said in a hushed voice, “I’m beginning to believe it really was that Quileute basket lady who steals children away and eats them.”

* * *

B
ETH
COLLAPSED
IN
her car, a range of emotions assaulting her brain. Whose strawberry blond hair was in her locket? Her own? If so, who was the strawberry blonde Scarlett had seen in the vision? Maybe Scarlett had seen her as an adult.

Her mind shifted, another scattered piece of information in her brain taking shape, like a figure in a kaleidoscope.

Was there a way to find all those cabins that had red doors? If she tracked down each one, would she discover the cabin from her trance?

She threw her car into Reverse and backed out of Dorothy’s driveway. She needed to touch base with Scarlett again. Had the shaman remembered more from her dream state?

She drove across town and hit the main highway. She took the turnoff, watching for the colorful mailbox that marked Scarlett’s private access road.

Duke hadn’t wanted her to come out here by herself, but he’d been busy all day and this couldn’t wait. She pulled up when she saw the mailbox and tapped Duke’s number on her cell phone.

“Where are you? I’ve been texting you for the past thirty minutes.” His voice was gruff.

“I didn’t get your texts. I’m on my way to see Scarlett.”

“Damn it, Beth. You couldn’t wait for me?”

“It’s broad daylight.”

“It was broad daylight last time. Stay put. I’m on my way.”

“I’m at Scarlett’s mailbox at the beginning of the access road. I’ll just drive up to her place and wait for you. I don’t even know if she’s home.”

“Stay in your car.”

“Duke, I think you’re overreacting.”

“Let me overreact if it keeps you safe.”

She ended the call and swung onto the access road leading to Scarlett’s cabin. The rough road bounced and jostled her car, and she drove it as far as the road allowed.

She grabbed the handle, cracked the door open and stopped. She’d promised Duke she’d wait in the car until he got there—a ridiculous precaution, but one she’d honor.

Tipping her head back against the headrest, Beth drummed out a rhythm against the steering wheel and then checked the time on her cell phone. Scarlett must not be home if she hadn’t heard Beth’s car drive up the road.

She swung the car door open the rest of the way and dragged in a deep lungful of the pine-scented air. The mist caressing the copse of trees ringing Scarlett’s cabin gave the area a mythical, mystical quality that suited its inhabitant.

A loud wail shattered the peace, sending a river of chills down her spine. She jumped out of the car and hung on the car door. “Hello? Scarlett?”

An animalistic shriek pierced the air and Beth bolted from the car and ran down the small path that wound its way through the trees to Scarlett’s cabin. The front porch came into view and Beth charged ahead.

A vise grabbed her ankle with a snap and Beth tumbled forward onto her hands and knees as a sharp pain knifed up her leg. She hit the ground with a cry and rolled to her back to take pressure off her ankle.

Her eyes watering, she glanced at her injured leg and choked. A trap had her in its steely grip.

Chapter Twelve

Duke cursed when he saw Beth’s car and the open door. Why didn’t it surprise him that she hadn’t stayed put like he’d asked? When had Beth St. Regis ever played it safe?

He slammed his car door and stalked to her rental. The open door gave him pause. He poked his head inside the car and swallowed. Why’d she leave her keys in the ignition and phone in the cup holder?

A low moan floated through the trees and he jerked his head up, the blood pounding in his ears. “Beth?”

“Duke? Duke, I’m here. Help me.”

He crashed through the trees, and when he saw Beth on the ground, crumpled in pain, he rushed to her side. He dropped next to her, reaching for the cruel trap that had her boot in its teeth.

“Oh, my God. Did the spikes reach your flesh?”

Her chin wobbled. “I can’t tell. It’s almost numb with pain. I’m afraid to move or I would’ve crawled to my car to get my phone.”

“Where’s Scarlett?” He twisted his head over his shoulder.

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen anyone since I arrived.” She ended with a hiss.

“Stretch out your leg. I’m gonna get this thing off of you.”

Slowly she extended her leg, the trap clamped onto her ankle.

Duke placed both hands on either side of the trap’s jaws and pulled them apart. The spring jumped and the trap snapped open.

The teeth of the trap had mangled Scarlett’s boot, but he didn’t see any blood. “I don’t see any blood, but I’m going to leave it to the medical professionals to remove your boot.”

“Thank God I was wearing them. My foot and ankle hurt like hell, but it’s just a mass of pain. I can’t tell what’s injured.”

“Let’s get you to the hospital.” He scooped her up and tromped back the way he’d come, keeping his eyes on the ground for any more surprises.

“Somebody placed that trap there on purpose, Duke, and lured me out of my car.”

“How?” His arms tightened around her and he could feel the erratic fluttering of her heart against his chest.

“I heard wailing and a scream. It sounded like a wounded animal, but it could’ve been human.” She tugged on his jacket. “We need to warn Scarlett. There may be more traps set around her cabin.”

“I’m calling the sheriff’s department.” He settled her into the passenger seat and placed a kiss on top of her head, where his lips met beads of dew clinging to the strands of her hair.

“And Scarlett. That trap could’ve just as well been meant for her.”

“Or you.” When he got behind the wheel, he pulled his phone from his pocket. At Beth’s urging, his first call went to Scarlett.

“Hello?”

“Scarlett, it’s Duke Harper. I’m just leaving your place with Beth, who stepped into a trap outside your cabin.”

Scarlett sucked in a sharp breath. “What kind of trap?”

“I’m not sure, but it could be a bear trap.”

“A trap? You mean a real animal trap?”

“That’s what it looks like to me.”

“Is she okay?”

“I’m taking her to the hospital emergency room, but be careful. There might be more traps around your cabin.”

“The police?”

“I’m calling the sheriff next. Where are you?”

“I’m at my granny’s place on the reservation. How the hell did a bear trap get on my property?”

“I was hoping you could tell us.”

“Duke, it could’ve been meant for me. It might not have anything to do with Beth.”

“Yeah, except she’s the one who was trapped.”

He ended the call with Scarlett and tapped his phone for the sheriff’s department. He told them about the wounded animal sound Beth had heard and gave them the location of the trap he’d removed from her ankle.

Tossing the phone onto the console, he said, “Scarlett thinks the trap could’ve been meant for her.”

“It could’ve been meant for either one of us.” Beth winced and rubbed her thigh.

“You doing okay? Hang in there.” He sped back toward town, taking the bypass road to the new hospital near Evergreen Software.

He pulled up to the emergency room entrance and carried Beth inside. “She needs a wheelchair. She stepped onto a trap and injured her foot or ankle.”

An orderly burst through the swinging doors, pushing a wheelchair.

Duke put her into the chair and followed the orderly back to the examination rooms.

The orderly lifted Beth onto an exam table and said, “A nurse will be right with you.”

The paper on the exam table crinkled as Beth hoisted herself up onto her elbows. “Who would do that? You know that trap was deliberately set.”

“Of course it was, but who was the prey? You or Scarlett?”

She crossed her arms over her chest like a shield. “It’s Scarlett’s place. No one could know for sure if I’d be back there, but Scarlett would be there, guaranteed.”

“Just seems odd that both of these attacks at Scarlett’s cabin happened when you were there. Is Scarlett even in an active battle with the hunters right now? I got the impression she hadn’t been around much lately.”

“Maybe—” Beth peered over his shoulder at the door “—maybe Scarlett was the target, but not for her antihunting stance.”

“Then what? Her really creepy artwork?”

“The dream state ceremony last night.”

Duke’s pulse jumped. That would put Beth right back in the crosshairs since she’d participated, too. He rubbed his knuckles across his jaw. “Whoever placed that trap wants both you and Scarlett to stop looking into the Timberline Trio case. Maybe they didn’t care who they snared.”

“What I don’t understand is why me? Why is this person just warning me and not you? The FBI is investigating the Timberline Trio case, too.”

“Because targeting the FBI is a bigger deal than scaring off some reporter and an artist playing at being a shaman.”

She smacked his arm. “Scarlett’s not playing at being a shaman—she is one.”

“For all the good it did.”

“It did help. You know I spoke to Dorothy Unger today.”

“I got your text. Did she take you by the shoulders and proclaim that you looked just like Heather Brice?”

“Shh.” Beth glanced at the open exam room door again. “She didn’t, but she did tell me that quite a number of cabins in Timberline used to have red doors—seems it was a trend a while back.”

“Those doors may no longer be red.”

“I figured that, but she also gave me the name of a Realtor who might be able to help me figure out which cabins had the red doors. If I had that information, I could track down each one.”

“Provided they’re still standing. Not even the Brices’ old home is still in existence.”

“I know.” She fell back against the table.

He hated to keep dashing her hopes, but she needed to get out of this town. The threats against her seemed to be getting more violent.

He smoothed a hand down her leg. Maybe he’d have some news for her shortly that would turn her away from this story and end this quest that seemed to be hazardous to her health.

The nurse bustled into the room. Touching the toe of Beth’s mangled boot, she said, “Ruined a nice pair of boots, too. Let’s get this off.”

The nurse took a scalpel and sliced through the leather of the boot on Beth’s calf. She peeled it off and clicked her tongue. “Your ankle is swollen for sure, but I don’t see any blood. It doesn’t look like the teeth of the trap made it to your flesh.”

“I can’t even imagine what that would’ve felt like.” Beth shivered.

The nurse peeled off Beth’s heavy sock and Beth grunted. “That looks bad.”

“Swollen and the start of some massive bruising.”

Duke leaned over and inspected Beth’s injured ankle. “Is it broken?”

“The doctor will probably order some X-rays.” The nurse ran some antiseptic towelettes over Beth’s ankle and foot. “How’s the pain on a scale from one to ten, ten being childbirth?”

A red tide crested in Beth’s cheeks. “I’ve never experienced childbirth, but I’d put this pain at a six now—definitely a nine when it first happened.”

The nurse held out a small cup with two green gel caps in it. “I’m going to give you a few ibuprofens for the pain and the swelling. The doctor may prescribe some stronger painkillers for you.”

A doctor poked her head into the room. “I’m Dr. Thallman. There’s a sheriff’s deputy here to see you, but we’re going to take you over to get some X-rays right now.”

“I’ll talk to the deputy.” Duke leaned over and cupped Beth’s face with one hand. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He watched as they wheeled Beth away and then went to the waiting room, where Deputy Stevens was talking to the woman at the front desk.

“Stevens, Beth’s getting some X-rays.” He shook the deputy’s hand.

“We have a couple of officers scanning the area in front of Scarlett Easton’s place. They already found another trap, closer to the cabin.”

Duke pinched the bridge of his nose. “What a sick joke. Any way to trace those traps?”

“Probably not.” He swept his hat from his head. “But if we find out who’s playing games like this, not only will he never get a hunting license in the state of Washington again, but we’ll send him to jail.”

“Do you think it’s related to Scarlett’s war with the hunters?” Duke’s jaw hardened. If only he could believe that himself.

“Maybe, but we’re not going to rule out Beth’s mission here in Timberline. There still are a lot of folks here who are uneasy about the Timberline Trio case getting rehashed again—and let’s just say Bill Raney is a hunter.”

“I thought you cleared him of the other...pranks.”

“We’re going to start looking at everyone more closely.”

Scarlett Easton burst through the emergency room doors. “Where’s Beth? Is she okay?”

“Getting X-rays.” Duke pointed at Stevens. “Did you hear they found another trap on your property?”

“I did. Maybe one for me and one for her.”

Stevens asked, “You don’t have anything to do with Beth’s Timberline investigation, do you?”

“Me?” Scarlett drove a finger into her chest. “Not a chance.”

A nurse poked her head out of the swinging doors leading to the exam rooms. “Beth’s doing fine. Dr. Thallman is looking at her X-rays if you want to come back now, Deputy Stevens.”

Duke brought up the rear behind Stevens and Scarlett as the nurse led them to the examination room.

Beth looked up from examining the pink wrap on her foot and ankle. “Pretty, isn’t it?”

Scarlett tripped into the room and put an arm around Beth. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Scarlett.”

“My cabin seems to be bad luck for you.”

“It could’ve just as easily been you caught in that trap.”

Stevens cleared his throat. “One of those traps—we found another one.”

Beth’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, my God. If that one hadn’t gotten me, the other one could’ve done the job.”

“And the other one was bigger, could’ve caused more damage.”

“It’s a good thing I bought those heavy boots for this trip.”

Dr. Thallman squeezed into the crowded room. “It is a good thing. Those boots probably saved you from breaking any bones.”

“My foot’s not broken?”

“Badly bruised and the bone is bruised as well. Keep it wrapped, keep it elevated and I’m prescribing some painkillers if you need them.” The doctor scribbled on a prescription pad and ripped it off.

“Is she okay to leave?” Duke took the prescription from the doctor.

“She is.”

Stevens dragged a chair next to the examination table. “Before you leave, I’d like to ask you a few questions, Beth.”

“We’ll let you talk.” Duke took Scarlett’s arm. “I’ll be in the waiting room, Beth.”

When they reached the waiting room, Scarlett slouched on a vinyl chair. “I’m not staying in my cabin tonight. I’d been planning on leaving for Seattle tomorrow and then taking a flight to San Francisco for a friend’s show. I can’t help Beth anymore.”

“You’ve done plenty.”

She glanced at him sharply. “I just need to go back to the cabin to pack, and then I’ll spend the night with my granny on the rez. Jason’s driving me to Seattle.”

“If something comes up, we can reach you on the cell phone number you gave Beth?”

“Yeah. Let me know when it’s safe to return to my cabin.”

Deputy Stevens caught the tail end of their conversation as he walked into the waiting room. “We have a couple of deputies canvassing your place, Scarlett. If we find anything else, we’ll let you know.”

“And if I remember anything else, I’ll let you know, Quentin.”

An orderly pushed Beth into the waiting room in a wheelchair.

Duke crouched beside her. “Can you walk on that ankle?”

She tipped her head at the orderly, holding a pair of crutches. “I’ll have some crutches to get around at first, but once the swelling subsides a little more I should be fine.”

The orderly handed the crutches to Duke and disappeared behind the swinging doors.

“We’ll let you know if we discover anything else, too, Beth.” Stevens clapped his hat onto his head. “Good night, all.”

“Stevens? Scarlett’s going back to her place to pack. Maybe it’s a good idea if the deputies stay there until she leaves.”

“I’ll tell them.”

When he left, Scarlett turned to Beth. “What did you want to see me about, anyway?”

“Oh, my God, I almost forgot.” Beth pressed three fingers against her forehead. “The woman you saw with the strawberry blond hair in the vision—could she have been me as an adult, as I am now?”

“I don’t know. Like Duke said, I’m not great at interpretation. I didn’t get the impression that she was you. Why do you ask?”

“I spoke with someone who knew the Brices, and Patty Brice never had strawberry blond hair.”

“I never said the woman was Patty Brice. I just don’t know. I’m sorry, Beth. I can’t help you anymore.” Scarlett caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “What I haven’t said yet to you or to Quentin Stevens is that the trap could’ve been a warning from my own people.”

“The Quileute? Why?” Beth’s eyes widened.

“They wouldn’t want me talking about Dask’iya or the Timberline Trio case. I told you that before. The tribe doesn’t discuss it.”

“Would they really go that far to warn you?” Duke asked.

“It’s a possibility. I just know I need to get away.” She grabbed Beth’s hand. “And you should, too.”