Tiger cate, p.28
Tiger Cate, page 28
“Imagine you are four years old and asleep. You are shaken awake and it’s your big sister Maggie, pulling you out of bed. She leads you down a dark hall to another room where the monster waits for you. He … uses you to … get off — so many ways to do that — while your sister stands by. When it’s over and the monster is asleep, she leads you back to your room and gives you candy.” Estelle leaned over to gently pet Rae’s hair, her face suddenly reddened. “I was only four and she fed me to him. She sacrificed me!” Then she threw Cate a mocking grin. “Just imagine how much fun it would have been for some man if Mag had decided to raise you herself.”
Cate flashed back to Margaret’s letter she’d found in the red box. I’m no good for anyone. She’d carried her guilt for decades and it had made her an easy target for Estelle.
“But wasn’t Margaret six or something? That’s pretty young to know what you’re doing — ”
“ — Shut up! You don’t know what you’re …v” Her eyes drifted past Cate and she noticed the Walther on the floor. As the woman’s attention shifted to picking up the gun, Cate grabbed her chance. She tumbled off the chair and rolled behind the stove. A loud bang assaulted her ears as a bullet ricocheted off the iron stove. A second shot rang out and Cate felt a sharp sting in her left bicep. She lay still, hoping Estelle wouldn’t check on her. Her ears were ringing loudly and in the background she could faintly hear Rae’s piercing screams.
Leelee yelled from outside amid sounds of the horses pawing and snorting.
“Estelle! You need to get out here! I hear engines coming this way — Estelle!”
“Okie dokie. Put the little girl back up on the Paint, please.” A scuffle of lighter footsteps at the door and the sound of Rae weeping.
Yes, get her on Cochise and do the plan. Go, go, go, Leelee!
The floorboards creaked and Cate heard the jingle of the woman’s spurs coming closer. She braced for another shot. Instead, Cate felt her good arm grabbed and something snapped around it. The handcuff now tethered her to the stove.
There was the unmistakable strike of a match before the jingling boots ambled toward the door. Cate opened her eyes and an old cardboard box of fire starters next to the wood pile was in flames. Smoke was already beginning to waft through the tiny shack.
Outside, she heard Estelle say, “Why’d you put her on your horse?”
“Um, just easier to manage that way,”Leelee answered meekly.
Cate lifted her head and glanced through the open door as saw Estelle hanging the strap of her bag over the saddle horn of the other horse. Next to her stood Cochise, head down and docilely cropping grass.
Gasping as smoke began to fill the room, Cate reached under the stove to remove the hatchet she’d remembered from her stay at the cabin. She hoped it would do the job. Cate positioned the cuff that was attached to the stove leg, then picked up the hatchet awkwardly with her injured arm. Breathing shallowly, Cate focused on the hinge of the cuff and broke it on the third blow. She scrambled to the door as her lungs sought air to breathe.
Outside, Estelle had dragged herself into the saddle while Leelee stood holding the horse’s bridle.
Time was running out to do something or Estelle would continue her mission to destroy the people and animals close to Cate.
Not this little girl, she thought. No one, ever again.
With the pain and numbness in her arm increasing, she dragged onto the porch railing and flung herself over the back of the spotted horse, grabbing the horn and hoping he wouldn’t buck or bolt in response. Miraculously, Cochise took one step forward and stopped, clearly experienced with jackpot ropers jumping on him from all different directions.
But the horse Leelee had given Estelle, the one the woman had mounted in a hurry, seemed to lack that same gentleness. The surprise of a body hurtling onto Cochise’s back caused Estelle’s horse to whirl and bolt toward home. Halfway across the field, he became airborne, pitching and bucking as his rider struggled to stay in the saddle.
Once again, her father’s sage advice came to Cate:
Always look a horse in the eye before throwing your leg over the saddle.
Had Estelle done that she might have noticed the white horse whose saddle she was climbing onto wasn’t Pete the ranch gelding but Destino — Leelee’s blue - eyed half - wild mustang. And Destino didn’t like spurs. Hadn’t Leelee said so a few weeks back at the round pen? As soon as he felt the sharp stab in his sides, the burly horse had dipped his head, hunched his shoulders, and executed a string of bucks worthy of a first - rate rodeo bronc. And, like so many bronc riders before her, Estelle did not stay on the full eight seconds.
Cate and Leelee stared at the motionless mound that was Estelle, looking for any sign of movement. Papers from the woman’s saddle bag were blowing in all directions, some even chasing the mustang, who had stopped to graze after getting rid of his irksome rider.
Cate slid off the horse and reached down to pick up the Walther from where Estelle had dropped it. Making sure the safety was on, she slipped the weapon back in her belt and headed across the field to the prone figure.
Estelle lay motionless on her back as Cate approached. She was breathing shallowly, a hoarse rasping sound coming from her throat. As she knelt down, the woman startled her by speaking in a halting whisper.
“She … wouldn’t … give … me … the … truck ... She … ran away … got … what … she … de - served.”
Had the woman just confessed to Margaret’s murder?
Cate felt her arm oozing blood. The wound beginning to scream at her, but there was one more thing she needed to do. She slipped her fingers into Estelle’s jeans pocket and retrieved the key to her parents’ safe deposit box. Then she walked back to where Leelee bent over Rae, who crouched on the ground hugging herself.
Trembling and breathless from sobbing — the girl was in full meltdown again. Cate knew she should stay for the police, but to hell with that. She had just enough strength to get Rae back to Desi’s, but not if she delayed.
As she reached out for Cochise’s reins, she struggled to catch her breath.
“I’m going to … take her back … down the hill on Cochise. Can you call 911? Have them send an EMS unit. Just tell them what it was … a riding accident. I don’t know … what’s happened to the sheriff.” She felt suddenly weak and was beginning to shiver. “I can’t wait for them up here.”
Leelee gave her a grim nod and Cate took hold of Rae’s arm and helped her off the ground, getting a bear hug in response.
“I have an idea,” Cate murmured into the girl’s hair. “How about we both ride this big old boy out of here? Leelee will help you get on first, then I’ll climb in the front. You just hold on to me like they do on the backs of motorcycles, okay?”
She felt the girl move her head up and down.
Minutes later, with Leelee staying behind to greet the EMS helicopter and the cabin fully engulfed in fire in the background, Cate started to ride across the darkened field toward the trailhead.
“Rae, I know it’s dark, but I wonder if you’d rest your forehead against my back and keep your eyes closed until we get to where the trail goes down.”
She felt Rae do so, and they silently rode past Estelle Parker’s prone body. No need to add that sight to the girl’s collection of nightmares. Once past, she focused her waning strength on getting the three of them safely down the mountain trail.
Chapter 61
August 21, Copperton Medical Center
Cate awakened groggy and with a sense of déjà vu. White on white hospital room, the same kind-eyed nurse with short gray curls bending over her arm, fiddling with something. Bronnie. Deputy Miguel Gomez stood just behind her.
“Time is it? How did I … ” The last thing she could remember was the view down a dimly lit mountain trail and Rae’s hands gripping her around the waist.
“It’s just past midnight,” Bronnie said with a check at her watch.
“Rae? The horse?”
“They’re fine. The horse is in the big cow pasture and Desi put Rae to bed with some medication. Jake was going to run you up to the hospital when this guy rolled in and took over.”
She stepped aside for Levi, looking worried and haggard, who moved in to lightly touch Cate’s face.
She smiled at him weakly. “Hi. I’ve been bad. When will I learn?”
He leaned forward to give her a light kiss on the lips, and she whispered, “You have the gun, right?” He nodded, scowling, and shot a quick glance at the deputy.
Bronnie was continuing with her explanation. “…Said you sort of slumped forward on the ride home, probably blood loss and delayed shock. She said she had to steer the horse and hold you in the saddle.” That little girl, Cate thought, feeling her eyes water. Just who is taking care of who around here?
Gomez turned to the other two, his hands in a herding gesture.
“I really need to do some, um, police business here. Do you mind waiting outside?”
They filed out and Gomez pulled up a chair, an odd mixture of embarrassment and irritation on his face.
“I’ll cut to the chase — we got her for your sister’s murder. Not that she’s likely to go to trial any time soon, bad off as she is. They flew her to Good Samaritan in Phoenix and, if she doesn’t croak there, she’ll wind up in the prison ward of the state hospital.”
“State hospital … You mean for crazies?”
His look turned to pure disgust. “Yes, that’s right. She lawyered up before her little joyride up the mountain and was already mounting an insanity plea.”
Cate was beginning to remember pieces of the day, coming to her like parts of a dream. She’d heard her birth story …v she’d signed a paper … been shot … heard words mumbled from a woman lying in a field. She … got … what … she … de - served. Could that be deemed insanity or vengeance?
Something else was on Cate’s mind: Leelee’s brother, D.J.
“Did you locate the Ruiz’s kid, D.J.?”
Gomez had his scowl back.
“Well, we had an APB on him at the border crossings, not to mention through DPS. Nothing. The kid certainly knows how to hide, but we’ll find him eventually.”
“Is Leelee … is she a part of any of this?” She hated asking, but the girl had been close to Estelle all this time.
“We questioned her, and for now it looks like she thought she was on a ride with her student and the ranch manager. I told her not to leave the area for now, that more questions would be coming.” Gomez gave a Cate a quizzical smile. “So interesting how a riding accident brought Estelle to justice.”
For a long silent moment, he and Cate shared a meaningful look.
“So, you want to tell me just how you got shot?”
Chapter 62
September 4, Cabeza Valley
Cate’s shoulder was finally beginning to heal, Bronnie having cautioned her not to overdo it. For the past week, she’d busied herself “moving into” the ranch house and relying on Levi for all the lifting. The guy worked magic with a broom and vacuum, too. Other magic was happening in the master bedroom, which they’d begun sharing since Cate’s release from the hospital.
The first time they’d pulled off their clothing, bathing in a sea of sexual longing, she’d gasped at the extent of his tattoos. Beautiful, stark, patterns across his back and down his thighs and calves. She knew they were sacred to his Samoan roots, so she tried not to make a big deal of it. After all, a dreamcatcher owl peered out from her breast and the line drawing of a tiger glared from her lower back. The body decoration was a common tie, but their bond ran deeper than just ink. She felt committed for life, though a part of her wondered what that would mean.
Ambling to the stables this morning, she caught Leelee lugging a fifty - pound bag of feed from the bed of the ranch truck to the feed room.
“Hey, there,” Cate said, walking to open the feed room door for her. It still felt awkward between them. There had been no talk of what happened up at the cabin, although each of them had given a statement at the sheriff’s office.
“I never thanked you for what you did up there. You saved the day. I mean, she probably wouldn’t have gotten away with any of it, but you never know.”
Leelee cracked a smile. “It was your freaking brilliant idea to switch the two horses, Cate. I knew she never paid attention when she got on Pete.” Then her face darkened again, and she suddenly looked very much like her brother. “I hate her. What she did to Margaret, to my family? It was just deserts.”
Cate nodded in understanding.
“Just deserts, all right. I think you’re the bravest person I know.” Tears began to stream down the lanky girl’s face and Cate resisted an impulse to embrace her. Leelee had a proud streak and Cate wasn’t Rosa. Certain boundaries needed keeping.
“So, are you going to stay on here? I understand if you want to leave, but please don’t. This could be Diego and Rosa’s retirement home if they want it. I’ll help them get an immigration lawyer. I — we owe your family so much.”
Now they were both crying and Leelee was shaking her head.
“They keep thinking D.J. will turn up down there and they can talk some sense into him. He’s a fugitive and Papá thinks the cartels will exploit that.”
Cate nodded, remembering the pain of having to choose between her own child and a way forward.
“But you’ll stay, right? For Destino’s sake.”
Leelee brightened at the sound of his name.
“So, you won’t be selling him, then?”
“Sell the hero of the day? What kind of monster would do that? No, you own that horse now. I’ll make up a bill of sale that says so. One dollar, please.”
Then they laughed and Leelee reached into her pocket.
Chapter 63
November 10, Cabeza Valley
Levi
She set a pretty good pace; he loved that about her. Each morning since they’d moved into the master bedroom at the main house, she’d risen at dawn, put on running shorts and a tank — plus a sweatshirt now that the temperature had dropped — and headed for a run down the road toward the big rock. She was quiet enough getting ready, but it didn’t matter. He missed the feel of her next to him under the sheets. Once her body left the bed, sleep was over for him.
It had been her idea to sleep together, and how could he refuse? He’d ached for her for so long. Now he harbored the hope of making it permanent, of marrying the woman. It was something he would need to break gently to his mama. But it wouldn’t be the first time someone from his äiga married an outsider. He and Cate would make it work.
The greater hurdle was coming clean about his deception. Their meeting in the park that day hadn’t been random. His old army buddy Tyson Burroughs had asked him for a favor.
“Hey, man. How are you doing in ‘ol El Lay?” Tyson had asked him eighteen months earlier. “Meet anybody famous yet?”
It had felt good talking to Ty — a guy he’d first teamed up with in boot camp and then spent three years alongside, doing active duty in Iraq. Tyson had switched to reserve after his mandatory three. After passing the bar, he’d moved on to practicing environmental law in northern California.
Levi had soldiered on, putting in for more active duty and the higher pay grade that came with it. That ended the day the IED exploded next to his platoon’s tactical vehicle outside Kabul.
Six months after the incident, Levi was still on medical furlough and dealing with crushing migraines. He’d picked up some civilian work babysitting an IT setup at a hospital in the San Fernando Valley. That was when Tyson caught up with him.
“How am I doing, Ty? I’m dying ‘a boredom here,” he’d complained on the phone call.
“Hm, so, you’re working in the Valley?” Tyson had asked.
“Yep, ground zero for the homeless masses.”
“Feel up to doing some surveillance for me?”
“What, you want eyes on some polluters?” Levi watched a woman push a shopping cart overflowing with rubbish past the hospital entrance. “I’m looking at a sidewalk full of them right now.”
“What? No, that’s not … not what we do. Anyway, this is for, um, a family member back in New York. Sort of a welfare case. I need you to keep tabs on a woman for me.”
“Okay, that sounds more promising.”
Then Tyson had filled him in on the job. It didn’t pay that well, but he would only need to send a biweekly report and bill for a maximum of twenty hours per week. Levi got a description of Cate and her vintage camper along with a list of her frequent haunts around the valley. Just by coincidence, one of them was at the park next to his IT job. What were the chances Cate would park there the very next night? He hadn’t even planned to start surveillance until the weekend.
She pulled up in her distinctive camper truck, right next to the bench where he’d sat down for a momentary catnap before starting his hospital IT shift. A meet - cute convo had started up, leading to a friendly alliance with the target. At least, that was how he related it to Tyson. His friend had chuckled and given him full rein to have daily “convos” with Cate, as long as she thought he was nothing more than a homeless vet.
Cate was scary - beautiful in that earthy way some women have who live close to the bone, their emotions tucked deep inside. It all poured out of her eyes — sometimes fierce, sometimes sultry, sometimes wells of sorrow when she didn’t think anyone was looking. The pale green irises contrasted her olive complexion like a human version of the Bengal cat an auntie of his kept back in Samoa.
The woman had been raised right. Her tiny camper stayed clean and ordered, with her art supplies neatly stacked and her personal items tucked away and labeled in drawers and bins. He also saw how guarded she was — wary of revealing too much, even after they’d gotten to know each other, and she’d invited him to bunk there during his off - hours.
