Tiger cate, p.27
Tiger Cate, page 27
Cate climbed out of the RV, but then leaned back in. “Tell Miguel they may be headed up to the cabin.”
Feeling energized, Cate sprinted to her truck. Why hadn’t she taken that red file box with her when she came back down? She mentally went over the contents that were left in it — a couple of folders and a small key.
“Please turn over, Max. Please, please, please!”
The truck responded by quickly roaring to life. There were five miles of rutty dirt road before she picked up the state route.
She thought about D.J.’s comment at the horse pen: That little girl saw something she shouldn’t have. Best you watch over her, too.
The trip home was a nerve-shattering process of watching for patrol cars in her rearview mirror and weaving the truck around slow - driving retirees on the highway that looped around Copperton.
Desi had said the riders were headed for Cabeza Rock National Monument. The sensible choice was to drive straight to the Monument parking area and wait for the deputies. But Cate was pretty sure the three would be turning up toward the cabin and the tiger was telling her not to bother waiting for the cops. Everything she needed was at Bronnie’s.
She was warming up Bronnie’s quad when a text hit her phone. It was Levi.
Headed back to AZ. Anything been happening?
Cate put her face in her hands and began to laugh. Her hands felt wet and she realized she was weeping instead. So much is happening, Levi. So much.
She put the quad in gear and stepped on the gas, then immediately screeched to a halt and went back inside to get the Walther. Checking that the magazine was fully loaded and that the safety was on, she placed it in the side compartment of the quad.
A voice — definitely not the tiger’s — whispered in her ear that it was one thing to protect yourself from a home invasion and quite another to go gunning for someone, but she brushed it away. She needed to get Rae to safety. Hopefully Leelee and Cochise, too. But Rae was her priority.
Cate spotted fresh hoof prints on the muddy trail. They headed toward Cabeza Rock, then made a sharp right at the trailhead that led to the cabin. She sent a quick text to Bronnie.
They r def headed to the cabin.
Just below the crest of the trail, the ancient quad sputtered and drew its last breath. She hadn’t checked the gas gauge before leaving. Rolling it off to one side of the trail, she shoved the gun in the back of her jeans waistband and continued on foot.
Another forty feet and the trail would level off. Cate would be able to see anywhere in the high valley pasture from that vantage point. The challenge was not to let them see her first.
Chapter 59
Finley Cabin
Rae
Estelle rode first up the steep mountain trail, riding the white gelding named Pete. Then it was Rae on Cochise, followed by Leelee on the blue-eyed mustang named Destino. He was called a cream - mellow and Pete was called a gray. But they both just looked white to Rae.
They climbed way up the mountain, above the valley. Rae was trying not to hang onto the horn so much, but it made her a little dizzy to look down on all of it — the flat green meadows they’d left behind and the tree-lined creek that cut through fields like a shiny snake before crossing the cottonwood lane. Then she saw a spot of pink — the two - story house where Desi was probably getting dinner ready.
A twinge of guilt stabbed her. “Always tell Desi where you are,” Cate had told her. But there had been no time between Estelle bringing out the beautiful saddle for her to ride in and the three of them taking off on the horses. A “trail ride” was what they’d called it. More like a dream ride, she thought. It was everything she had wanted a horseback ride to be.
They’d been climbing forever when, finally, Estelle and Pete climbed over a rock pile and disappeared. When she and Cochise got to that spot, Rae saw it leveled onto a flat field.
Estelle urged her horse to go faster, stabbing him with the spurs on her boot heels. Pete trotted forward and then began to lope. Definitely a cow pony lope. Cochise did the same, and it felt easy to stay on, now that she had the saddle. Behind her, she heard Leelee fighting to hold back Destino, who wanted to be in front, she guessed.
They came up to a little house that reminded Rae of the ones in old western movies — all wood with no paint anywhere. A front porch with a string hammock on one end and a water pump with a trough in the front yard. Estelle slowly dragged her leg over her horse’s back and stepped onto the ground like her back was hurting.
“You stay with the horses,” she told Leelee, tossing her reins behind her. Leelee jumped off fast to grab them and then gave Estelle a dirty look as the woman went inside the cabin and slammed the door.
No one had said whether to stay on or get off, so Rae slowly slid down Cochise’s side as he began to munch on grass. Through the window, she saw Estelle throw things out of a wood bin, then pick up a red box and turn it upside down so the insides, mostly papers, fluttered out.
“It never occurred to me she would put this where the little bitch could find it,” the woman was shouting. “Damn you to hell, Mags!” Rae hadn’t seen anyone get this mad and it made her feel scared.
Then came noises of heavy things being moved. Estelle was red - faced and had cursed a lot by the time she opened the door again.
“Rae, sweetie, come in here. I need your young eyes.”
There didn’t seem to be a way to refuse, so Rae gave her reins to Leelee, who still looked angry, and slowly climbed the stairs.
The inside of the cabin was a wreck — a table and chairs and a small bed were on their sides and pushed against the walls. A chest that looked like a bench had been pushed over, and its insides were scattered across the floor.
Estelle’s voice was sharp, but she spoke slowly, her eyes pinned to the floor. “I. Am. Looking. For. A. Tiny. Silver. Key.” She held up her thumb and index finger to show how tiny. “It used to live in this lovely red box in lovely Margaret’s bedroom. Very important key, Rae. Ve - ry … ”
Rae scanned the floor looking for a small piece of silver metal. Her eyes weren’t all that great — Desi had been talking about taking her for an eye test — but she thought this probably wasn’t the time to say that.
She did a circle of the room, looking hard at the floorboards. Then she looked in the empty bench chest by the window. The sun had sunk behind the mountain and the light in the cabin wasn’t good. She was hungry and getting nervous about being up in the mountains past dark.
Please help me find this key, Lord Jesus, she prayed. Just then, her toe hit something sticking up from the floorboards. As she tapped it, it went further between the boards. She leaned down to feel for it, but it was wedged in tight. Estelle saw what she was doing and aimed her phone light on that patch of floor.
“Ha! I think that’s it, my girl. Let me see if I can dig it out with my knife.”
She pulled a large folding blade from her jeans pocket, flipped it open, and began digging between the boards. A silver tip emerged, and she tweezed it out with her fingernails. She held it up to the light triumphantly.
“The magic key!”
It looked like a regular door key, except three sizes smaller. Estelle carefully tucked it into her front jeans pocket and stood up.
There were voices outside the cabin and Rae stood to see Cate holding Cochise’s reins and having some hushed words with Leelee. Rae’s stomach lurched, not so much in hunger this time, but because she’d screwed up. She’d ridden someone else’s horse without even asking permission.
“Raelene,” she heard Cate calling. “Rae, come out here, please.”
Rae headed to the door, preparing to tell Cate she was sorry, but she felt Estelle grab her wrist. She looked up and the woman was grinning and looking at Cate out the window.
“She’s a little busy,” Estelle called out the door. “How about you come in here instead, Caitlyn?”
Chapter 60
Cate
Cate climbed the cabin steps and nudged the door open. There was Rae, unharmed but looking terrified in the grip of the angry Amazon. The cabin had been thoroughly tossed — a tangle of papers, file folders, and furniture.
“Well, hello, Caitlyn - with - a - c - and - a - y.” Indicating Cate’s hair, she said, “Hey, nice ‘do.’ You almost look like a grown-up. Come on in.” Estelle grabbed a chair and set it upright without letting go of Rae’s wrist. “I have a proposal I’d, uh, like you to consider.”
Cate was mesmerized by the woman’s manic attitude — like she’d had ten shots of espresso. She sensed heightened danger, too, and tried to squelch the prickling on her skin. Showing fear would only make the woman bolder.
“Another PowerPoint presentation, Estelle?”
“Nope, just little ol’ me talking to little ol’ you. Excuse me a moment, though.” She reached into the black leather saddlebag she’d brought inside and pulled out some handcuffs and her Glock.
Salty sweat was making Cate’s new tattoo itch uncomfortably under the waistband where the Walther hid. She discreetly reached behind to adjust the weapon, but Estelle seemed to guess what was hiding there. She aimed her weapon straight at Cate.
“How ‘bout you slowly take out whatever you’ve got back there and lay it on the floor for me?”
So, here it was — the stupid thing Levi had been so worried about. What had she been thinking, taking along a weapon? She was an artist, not a freaking FBI agent.
She pulled the weapon out and laid it down. Estelle kicked it out of reach without even looking down. Then she turned to Rae and held out the handcuffs.
“Put this one on your wrist, would you, darling girl?” she said to Rae, her voice needle - sharp with controlled rage.
“You know, Estelle, the cops are on their way with an arrest warrant. Your best hope right now would be a speedy getaway.”
“Yes, you’re right. But judging by the speed at which the cops around here do anything, I think we can wrap up some unfinished business.”
Estelle grabbed the cuffs away from Rae, deftly snapping one end on the girl’s wrist and dragging her to the woodstove where she closed the other end around one of its legs, all the while holding the Glock on Cate. Rae slumped on the floor next to the stove like a tethered dog.
“Truly sorry about all the subterfuge, but I needed to get you away from your impressive support system, Caitlyn.” She stared at Cate for a long minute. “You’re not the pushover I thought you were, are you? Not nearly as manageable as Margaret was, poor dear.”
Cate tried to summon her inner hostage negotiator.
“Estelle, isn’t this just between you and me? Why don’t you let the girl go?”
The woman chuckled as if Cate had told her a joke. Then she pulled out her phone and glanced at it. “Ah, we do have cell service here. Sit, please.”
Cate perched on the edge of the chair. On the run up the mountain, she had come to terms with her priorities. Last time she was faced with a hard choice, she’d walked away from a child that was rightfully hers, leaving him with dangerous people. Not this time. Whatever it took to get Rae free, she would do it.
Estelle turned on her thousand-watt smile and laid the Glock on the table in front of her.
She delicately picked through her saddlebag. Out came a file folder from which she selected a multi-page document.
“Since your midget lawyer seems determined to claim your Finley Ranch birthright in court, here’s my offer.” She held up a silver key. “This is for a safe deposit box that belonged to your, um, fake Finley parents.” She leaned toward Cate conspiratorially. “I say it that way because, if you’ve been spending time with Bronnie, you probably know the real story of your birth, heh-heh. By the way, welcome to the family.”
“Estelle, just get on with your little presentation before it’s so dark I can’t read those papers.”
“Ah, good point. To speed things along, I’ll tell you what it says, shall I? It’s a legal bill of sale listing your interest in the ranch in exchange for, well, what’s behind door number one. Ta-da! Here’s what might be in that deposit box. Long ago, when your sister-mom and I were chummier — before she started getting paranoid and trying to hide shit from me — she showed me the contents: cash, US savings bonds, and even a coin collection — all of it valued at over a million. It may be worth a couple million by now, who knows?”
Cate felt a wave of déjà vu. Once again, someone was trying to steal something that was hers to begin with. This was a deal worthy of the Mexican cartel. In essence, I’m forcing you to give me something of yours and, in exchange, I’ll give you something that already belongs to you.
Now she wished she had come in the door with her Walther blazing. Next best option was to draw out the conversation until help arrived.
“Come on, Estelle, I have no idea whether there’s even anything in that safety deposit box. I mean, forget the fact that you’re trying to bargain with what doesn’t belong to you in the first place.”
The woman made a chagrined face, nodded, and set down the key.
“Again, I’ve overestimated your gullibility. Bad on me. Time to ramp up the stakes.”
She stood up wearily and ambled over to where Rae sat and rested the muzzle of her weapon on the top of Rae’s head. Rae moaned while Cate racked her mind for a new angle.
“Really, Estelle? You’d do that with two other witnesses present?”
“You’re right. Luckily, I have a full magazine.” An impish grin came over her face. “But do you really want her to witness your demise first? That’s just cruel.”
Through the doorway, Cate caught sight of Leelee Ruiz seated on a horse and watching the door. It had been a mistake to tell her to wait for Rae to come out. She should have told Leelee to ride like hell away and call the state troopers or the FBI. Instead, she’d expected a safe and simple outcome to a hellish reality.
Because the only way this paperwork would hold up in court was if Cate wasn’t alive to oppose it. The plan would be to kill her and the girl, and either frame Leelee or maybe just kill her, too.
As this chilling realization settled in, Cate threw out some bait.
“Wow, Estelle. So way back when we first met, all that texting you did on your phone was, what, to a dead woman? Award - winning performance.”
Estelle grinned at her, shrugging her shoulders and tilting her head whimsically. Then, still holding the Glock on Rae, she shook loose some papers from her saddlebag and slapped them down on the table.
“I think it would be better for everyone’s health if we stuck to the business at hand.”
In the corner, Rae had begun to whimper like a puppy.
“Okay, I’ll sign. Got a pen?”
Estelle tossed her one and Cate hovered over the document, showing she was poised to sign.
“Wait, this transfers the property to a Cabeza Rock Estates LLC?”
“I’m a partner. We’re just cutting out an unnecessary step.”
“So, you and the realtor twins … ”
Cate felt her pulse racing again and shot a glance out the window. Where was the sheriff? It had been over two hours since Desi’s phone call.
“Won’t someone need to, um, notarize my signature?”
Estelle chuckled.
“Ah, Catie … Becoming a notary public is practically standard in real estate these days. Just put your John Hancock on that piece of paper and I’ll do all the rest.”
Cate stared at her until the woman aimed her Glock at Rae again. Cate scribbled her name on the paper. Estelle nodded and grabbed the document away from her to check her signature.
“Don’t you … need my ID to notarize something?” Her new Arizona driver’s license she’d been so proud of just days ago. “I left it in my truck.”
“Oops on you! No worries. I made a copy of your old license when you left your backpack at the house.” She pulled it out of the document envelope and held it up. “Did some artwork of my own to update it — are you impressed?”
Cate watched as the woman signed and stamped the papers neatly and tucked them into her saddlebag.
“Well, I need to take off now. Places to go and people to see.” She stepped into Cate with a sudden menace. “Where’s your phone?”
Cate stared her down and then finally pulled out the burner phone she used as a camera. Estelle grabbed it, dropped it on the floor, and stomped on it with her boot heel. Then, with a flourish, she set the safety deposit key on the table. “With my compliments.”
Suddenly, a hard look came over Estelle’s face. “What’s that you say? ‘Oh, Auntie Stella, I’m not really interested in the contents of the deposit box’?”
Estelle scooped up the key and jammed it in her jeans pocket.
“You’re probably right about it being empty. After all, Margaret was clueless at business. Well, off I go. Hope to never see you again.” She stopped at the door and then slowly turned back. Her gaze went from where Rae crouched to the table where Cate sat.
“You know, you have been far too compliant, Caitlyn. Something’s … just not right here. I’m wondering what’s up your dainty little sleeve.”
She sighed as she pulled her weapon from its holster. “So, maybe this is for the best after all. A little extra insurance in case you feel like talking to the cops.”
She walked over to the girl, leaned down to unlock her cuff, and then used it to drag her along toward the door.
A wave of anxiety strummed Cate’s ribcage as she racked her brain for words that might distract Estelle.
“So, you killed your own sister to get your hands on this property? Pretty cold-blooded, Estelle.” It sounded lame to Cate’s own ears but did the trick of getting the Amazon’s attention. Estelle turned and looked straight at her, her eyes suddenly gleaming with moisture.
