Whispers of the Heart (26 page)

It was noon, and Dalian felt a sense of gratitude sweep across his mind – for the progress made on the barn, for the breeze that kept the late April air fresh and cool, and for the hard work of neighbor and guest. Many of his guests had never wielded a hammer or saw, but that didn’t stop them seeking assistance and applying direction with fervency. One guest even commented in passing that he felt like a bona fide member of Dalian’s ranch.

With so much assistance, the barn’s frame had been erected and the roof was well underway by the time that Mrs. Guthrie announced lunchtime via the bell hanging on the porch. Dalian grinned as each person immediately dropped his tools and made a mad dash over to where two lengthy tables had been set up, each laden with mounds of food, dessert, and freshly brewed iced tea. He glanced at the faces of each, as he settled with a plate at the head of the table. Enthusiasm shone in their gazes and zeal in their mannerisms, but he knew full well that, come nightfall, each would collapse into bed with exhaustion his only companion.

He pulled his cell from his pocket, only just realizing that he’d not heard from the sheriff, and realized that he’d forgotten to turn the ringer up on the phone. The sheriff had called an hour earlier. Dalian dialed his voice mail and listened to the message. He spied Kat exiting the back door, with a tray full of ham steak, and smiled at her disheveled appearance. Tendrils of hair had fallen free from the loosely piled mass atop her head; moreover, flour coated the front of her apron and a streak smeared her forehead. She looked adorable. She placed the tray on the remaining empty spot on the table and then made her way over to where Dalian sat.

“Would you like a piece of ham steak, before it’s all gone?” She asked, and then realized he had the phone to his ear. “Oh, sorry,” she whispered, and then settled on the bench next to him. After a moment, he lowered the phone, and leaned over and planted a kiss on her lips.

“Everything okay?” She asked immediately.

“That was a message from the sheriff. He didn’t say much. Only that he was finalizing the last of the reports and would be driving out here . . . well, he should be here shortly.”

“I hope he has some good news to impart.”

“You and me both, sweetheart. Now, what was it you asked before you sat down?”

“Oh, um, I just wanted to know if you’re set for food, or if you wanted a slice of the ham steak I just brought out?”

“Nah, this vulture descended on the beef steak first thing, so I’m set. Um, sweetheart, I don’t want you to take offense if my attention is less on you and more on my stomach right now. I’m famished.”

Kat grinned, “No offense taken. I’m rather hungry myself.” With a grin of appreciation, Dalian stabbed at his mashed potatoes and gravy and gave a long drawn out moan of satisfaction as he savored that first bite. Kat laughed, “I’d better go retrieve a plate. You’re moans are making
me
famished.”

She stood and grabbed a plate of food and then settled back down next to Dalian. With deliberate drama, she took a bite of her baked chicken breast and mimicked Dalian’s satiated reaction. He laughed at her dramatic delivery, and nearly choked on his second bit of mashed
potatoes.

“Sorry, baby, I didn’t mean to make you choke. Are you okay?”

“Wrong pipe,” Dalian wheezed and after several effective coughs, dislodged the food from his windpipe.

“You alright down there?” Harvey called from the other end of the table.

Dalian nodded, lifted his cup in a salute, and then downed half the glass.

When Kat was satisfied that Dalian wouldn’t choke to death, she returned to her meal, and deftly consumed every bite. She wiped the crumbs of the biscuit off her fingers and took a sip of her tea before turning to converse with Dalian again, “I never realized that cooking for so many was such a chore. I know it isn’t as difficult as raising a barn, but it certainly ranks a close second in exhaustive undertakings.”

“I don’t doubt it, and you ladies outdid yourselves, for certain. The food is delicious.”

“Thank you kindly.”

“You’re mighty welcome.”

“So how much longer do you think it will take to finish the barn?”

Dalian swallowed his food and downed a gulp of tea before responding, “With the way everyone is moving, we should be done before dinner.” Dalian saw the look of relief pass over her features and laughed, “Worried you’ll have to make another substantial meal so soon?”

Kat grinned sheepishly, “A little, but if it’ll help in not having to, I’ll gladly pick up a
hammer and start helping.”

“Don’t worry sweetheart. We’ll have it completed early enough, and if anyone is hungry afterward, there is bound to be a few leftovers to eat.”

Kat looked at the dwindling supply of food dubiously. “I don’t know about that. Everyone seems mighty hungry.”

“No worries. Harvey will prevent going back for seconds...”

“Folks!” Harvey called, standing to address the group and Dalian quirked a “told you so” look at Kat. “I hope everyone got enough to fill their bellies. I know that you probably could eat until you drop, but if you did that, you wouldn’t be fit for finishing up the barn today. Rest assured that the food isn’t going anywhere, so as soon as we put the last plank in place, we can all return to the table and eat our fill. However, right now, we all need to finish up what’s on our plates and head back on over to the barn to continue working. Take your time though. We want you to finish up the food in front of you, and I know that not everyone has a vacuum for a mouth like me.”

“Amen to that!” Dalian shouted, and everyone laughed.

“
You
do,” Harvey rejoined, “so you hardly have room to mock.”

“Touché, my friend.” Dalian lifted his glass of tea in a salute, and then stood. “In fact, I’m probably as ready as you are to head back to work.”

Harvey picked up his plate so everyone could see how clean it was, and grinned, color seeping into his cheeks from the laughs, “Hardly anyone can out eat me, or eat as fast – except maybe you.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Dalian agreed, lifting his own clean plate to the amusement of everyone seated, “but as Harvey said, take your time. Just make your way over as you finish. There are trash bins set out near the side of the house that you can deposit your
plates into, so please take advantage of them.”

Everyone returned to their meals and Dalian returned his attention to Kat, “I’m going to get back to it, okay?”

“Anything I can do to speed things along?”

“You ladies have done your part, so you relax and let us finish the barn. I don’t want to alarm you, but you’ll have plenty to keep yourselves preoccupied with when we finish.”

Kat’s gaze widened, “You may not have meant to alarm me, but when you start a sentence like that...”

Dalian laughed, “It’s just that...well, now that the cooking is done, you ladies get to tackle the clean up.”

“Eww, yuck.” Kat looked at all of the dishes lining the table, some still half full of food, and winced. It should have registered when they were cooking and baking that there would be a ton of dishes to wash, but it hadn’t; however, now it did, and she wasn’t looking forward to it.

Dalian laughed again, this time at the mortified expression on Kat’s face, “Oh my! I can’t do it!”

“Do what?”

“Tease you about this. It just so happens that I bought Mrs. Guthrie a brand new 2057 Hobart CZ970 industrial-size dishwashing unit a few years back to prevent her having to wash so many dishes during times like this, when the ranch is swarming with people. Clean up will take you ladies less than half hour, tops.”

“Oh, that was a cold-hearted thing to do, Dalian Rivers,” Kat growled in mock displeasure. “Just for that, I may decide to withhold that slice of cherry pie you’ve been eyeballing since you sat down at the table – and don’t try to deny it! It wasn’t your steak that was distracting you from me, it was dessert.”

Dalian swept Kat into his embrace and gave her a thorough kiss, and then whispered sincerely, “There isn’t a dessert on this planet that is as sweet as you, or one I would rather eat.”

Kat was about to respond, when she suddenly stiffened and cried out in pain. Everyone, but the embracing couple, reacted swiftly to the discharge of gunfire. It wasn’t until Kat swayed into Dalian, her gaze wide-eyed and filled with disbelief, than the two lovers realized what had happened. Harvey shouted for someone to find a police officer and to call the paramedics, but to Kat and Dalian, his pleas sounded far away and muffled. Kat slowly drifted to the ground, a stunned and disbelieving Dalian clasping her tightly in his embrace.

We’re done!

That one short phrase, uttered with such urgency, and dripping with revulsion, should have spurred Cal into motion, but it didn’t. Instead, he sat stunned that he’d not only failed
again,
but that he’d again injured the wrong person. “To my credit,” he muttered dejectedly, “I did try to tell you that it was simply too far a shot for this caliber weapon.”

Get up, you imbecile! It won’t take them long to determine the trajectory of the bullet and to descend on our location.

“You sound scared,” Cal taunted. “Why would you be scared? You always have a plan, don’t you?”

A plan that you continually mess up, and that you’re about to botch again. Now get up. We have to get to the house.

Cal laughed, “You’re mad. That’s like stepping into a viper’s nest.”

We need to plant this gun in Chloe’s room. She’s been after Dalian, so the assault on Kat will give the sheriff the motive, and we’ll provide the means. Once we’ve slipped the gun in among her possessions, we’ll dash out the front door, as if we heard the shots fired and are coming to check. If anyone asks about why you’re back, the police officer at the front gate will substantiate your statement about forgetting some things. Since suspicion will be deflected away from you
again
, we’ll ride out the investigation and leave with the rest of the group; however, my plan will fail and you’ll be caught if you don’t get up and move
now
.

“First I want to know what you meant when you said ‘we’re done’. Did you mean that we‘d leave and forget all about this woman? Find someone else to target?”

Sure. That’s precisely what ‘we’re done’ meant, and yes, I mean it. There were too many errors this time around. You’re slipping up too often.

“I told you that I’m getting too old,” Cal muttered. He slid the gun into his trouser pocket, shifted to hands and knees, and instinctively began crawling down the path to the car. He muttered curses beneath his breath as twigs stabbed at his hands and branches tore at his clothing.

Stop whining like a banshee,
his brain snapped, in response to the tacit complaints
. If you stand up, the people scurrying about in the yard below will see you. We’ve got to get out of their line of sight fast. Once you get to the car, floor it. This path is bound to lead back to the house. As soon as you get there, make a mad dash into the back door and up to Chloe’s room then back downstairs equally fast – and you’d better not tell me you’re too old to run.

“Don’t worry. I can run.”

I’ve done nothing but worry ever since we got here. Now, though, we have the chance to get out of here without a shred of suspicion tainting our life.

Cal jumped behind the wheel of his car and sped along the path, ignoring the damage the potholes were causing to its struts and shock absorbers. He stopped short of the tree line and peered out of the dirt-caked windshield, trying to catch sight of anyone running around near the back door of the house. There was no one. Everyone was near the barn or searching the area he’d only moments before vacated. He accelerated cautiously and eased from the trees,
and then parked along the back of the house, next to the other work vehicles and ATVs. He slipped from the car and immediately ducked, peering over the hood of the car to see if he was still in the clear.

Looks like we’re going to make it. Get inside so that we can get our alibi sewed up tighter than a lady’s corset.

“Dalian,” Harvey said gently, kneeling next to his distraught friend, “she’s just fainted from shock. The paramedics are on route, and the deputies stationed here are out scouring the grounds for the shooter, along with everyone else. The sheriff arrived and already called in backup. There are so many people searching that there is no way in hell this person will escape the dragnet this time. We’ll catch ‘em.”

Dalian didn’t respond. He just sat with Kat’s head on his lap, the flurry of activity around him disregarded. The shooter hadn’t severely injured Kat, for which he was grateful; in fact, the bullet had penetrated the fleshy part of her upper arm and exited out the rear. His apathy stemmed not from fear over her well-being rather at the knowledge that he truly could not protect her, as he promised her he’d do. They had been in a yard full of people, but that hadn’t prevented the shooter making another attempt on their lives. It meant that the killer was far bolder than he’d first imagined, which meant they were in greater danger than he’d surmised.

“Dalian?”