Familiar Escape

Molly sighed. “That’s funny because she told me I was too ornery to catch a man.”

It was the first time he’d seen her really smile, and it literally made him catch his breath. There was something in Molly Harper’s smile that touched his heart and made a shiver rush through him.

“You okay?” she asked.

He nodded. “I guess someone just walked over my grave.”

IN THE BLACKNESS of the wilderness, Molly didn’t see the outline of the cabin until the SUV’s lights struck the cypress exterior. She suppressed a shudder. The cabin was dark and lonely looking, but she needed to get out of the vehicle. She felt as if she’d been riding in darkness for half her life.

“Let me go in first and check it out.” Thomas got out of the SUV, pocketing the keys and her only chance of escape.

In truth, even if she had had the keys, she would have had no idea how to get out of the forest. The road had switched back and forth. Thomas had taken turnoffs that seemed to repeat themselves every ten miles. With less than a quarter tank of gas, she might end up hopelessly lost.

Familiar, her legendary private investigator, had napped most of the way. She nudged the cat. “Wake up.”

Familiar stood, arched his back and yawned. He certainly wasn’t concerned about their plight. He hopped from the vehicle and trotted behind Thomas up the steps of the cabin. The two of them disappeared from the light cast by the vehicle’s headlamps.

Molly got out and stretched. The woods were alive with sound. Insects, the rustle of leaves and branches that could be deer—or something more sinister. She hurried after Thomas. It was his bright idea to bring her there, and if someone was going to be eaten by a wild animal, it was going to be him.

Inside the cabin a lantern flared to life. The warm glow revealed a comfortable front room. Rocking chairs were drawn before a cold fireplace. There was a stout wooden table and cast-iron cooking utensils hanging on the wall behind it. A thin coating of dust covered everything, but otherwise the cabin was carefully maintained.

“I’ll get some wood.” Thomas acted on his words. Molly took the lamp and examined the rest of the house. There was a kitchen and a single bedroom. Her anger flared.

Thomas entered with an armload of wood. As he bent to light the fire, she rounded on him. “If you think you can hold me here, you’ve got another think coming. I have to get on with my search for Katie.”

Ignoring her, Thomas struck a match and the dry wood gave a cheerful crackle. He rose slowly and looked at her.

“You can’t leave tonight.” He looked at the fire. “You can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor here by the fire. I’m going to check for supplies in the kitchen. There probably won’t be much, but we might be able to find some beans or something.”

With that he was gone. Molly stood, hands on her hips, frustration gnawing at her gut. She wasn’t a single step closer to finding her niece.

She pulled the note from her pocket and read it again. The words seemed more ominous.

“The baby is alive. Don’t stop hunting, but don’t go to the police.”

“What’s that you’re reading?”

She lowered the note and turned to find Thomas standing not five feet away, his gaze on the scrap of paper.

“It’s why I’m here.” She handed it to him and watched his face as he read it.

“Is this for real?”

“I don’t know.” She bit her bottom lip. “I have to believe it’s real. I have to hang on to the idea that Katie’s alive. That’s why I have to get out of here now.”

He nodded. “You received this in Arizona? At your home?”

“Yes. Day before yesterday.”

“Via the mail? Where’s the envelope?”

“It was mailed from here in Jefferson.”

Thomas’s face actually showed hope. “So the person who mailed it knows your physical address and knows your relationship to Katie. That’s good, I think.”

“Are they going to demand a ransom?” Molly asked.

Thomas threw more wood on the fire and held his hands out to it. “I don’t know. That note doesn’t have the sound of someone seeking a ransom. In fact, it sounds more like someone trying to tip you off. Is there someone at your home checking the mail, in case they contact you again?”

“I have a friend I can call to do that.”

“Good. But you should warn your friend that the police may be watching him.”

If Molly hadn’t realized how serious her situation was, Thomas’s words brought it home. “Why would they be watching my friends?” Reality touched her. “Because they think I’m on the lam with an escaped murderer.” It was a statement.

Thomas nodded. “Either as a hostage or a co-conspirator in a jail escape, you’re going to be of interest to law enforcement. And so will your friends or anyone seen going in and out of your home.”

“But that could work to our advantage, couldn’t it?” She felt a surge of hope. “The police haven’t shown a lot of interest in searching for Kate, but if they’re looking for me, they might find the baby.”

Thomas smiled. He couldn’t help it. Molly Harper had spunk. “That’s one way to turn it to a positive light.”

“What’s the point of being negative?” She paced the cabin. “But we do have to resolve this—” she waved her hand around the room “—hostage thing.”

“What do you suggest?” Thomas asked.

She could see he was willing to listen. Initially she’d been mad at him, but now she felt the anger slipping away. He was only trying to get his life back. She’d lost her sister and her niece, but he’d lost big, too. He’d lost his identity and, if he was telling the truth, only because he’d been kind to Anna.

“We can play it two ways. I can turn myself in and say you released me, or we can team up and try to outrun the law.”

He was very still, but his gaze never left hers. “You’d risk it all by teaming up with me? You believe me when I say I’m innocent?”

She swallowed. “Right this moment, I believe you. Please don’t give me any reason not to.”

She felt the sharp claws of the cat digging into her shin. Leaning down, she pulled him into her arms. “You haven’t been a lot of help, Familiar.”

“Meow!” He struggled in her arms and she released him. In a moment he was patting her pocket where she’d put the note. She pulled it out and spread it on top of the table where the cat sat in front of it as if he were reading.

“Meow,” he said, putting his paw on the words The baby is alive.

Molly inhaled sharply. “The person who wrote this note knows enough about my family to track me down. This had to be someone that Anna talked to.”

“And that’s the best clue yet,” Thomas said, nodding.

Chapter Four

Molly watched Thomas’s skill with the open fireplace and the food he’d prepared. He’d taken basic canned goods and come up with a meal, including hot coffee. “I guess you really enjoy camping,” she said. She didn’t add that her idea of a weekend off included a massage and room service.

“It was part of a life I left behind.” He unhooked the pot from the cast-iron brace and carried it to the table. “If I had my druthers, I’d still be out on the range.”

“You’re a computer software designer, right?” Molly found the two careers—software designer and cowboy—almost diametrically opposed.

“That’s right. I work in the Security Department at McGivens. We write programs to protect computer networks from privacy threats.”

She laughed. “I don’t see what that has to do with herding cows.”

Thomas signaled for her to have a seat. He served them both some beans and corn bread before he sat down across from her. Familiar nibbled daintily on the corned beef Thomas had opened for him.

“Nothing to do with the cows, but with the strategy for keeping the cows safe,” he explained. “It isn’t the same, but sometimes it requires the same mindset—to see danger on the horizon and figure a way to head it off at the pass.”

He was entertaining her, trying to keep her mind off the crazy twist her life had taken, and she appreciated his efforts. “So why did you leave the open range?”

“The big cattle companies are breaking up the family ranches. The new breed of rancher sits in an office in Houston and wants to feed-lot the cows. It’s not a business I want to be involved in anymore. I had a buddy in computer security. Turns out I had an aptitude for it. I got training and a job.”

She could understand that. Once, a cowboy rode miles and miles of open land pushing cattle from pasture to pasture. It was a job description that fit the cowboy’s need for wide-open space, self-reliance and a bond with nature. Now it was a business where a cow was born and died within the same small compound.

Thomas shook his head, and a sheepish grin touched his features. “I’d be laughed off the ranch, but I’m a vegetarian these days.”

The light from the fire danced across his features, and Molly thought, not for the first time, what an attractive man he was. His brown hair was cut short and neat, and his hazel eyes glittered with intelligence tempered by kindness. His build bespoke of long days with little attention paid to food, yet he was an excellent cook. He was a man filled with complexities. She looked down at her plate of beans. “I don’t miss the meat, but a glass of wine would be nice,” she said.

He frowned. “We’re going to need supplies. I’m sure my bank account is being watched, which means I can’t withdraw funds.”

“I have some cash.” She surprised herself. She was offering aid to the man who’d abducted her. “And a credit card, but they’re probably watching my accounts, too.”

He pushed his half-eaten food back. “I’ve been thinking, Molly. You should call the police. Tell them you were abducted and that I let you go. You can go on with your search for Kate without being involved in my troubles.”

Across the table, Familiar stopped eating and looked at her.

Molly was shocked—at her reaction. Thomas was offering her freedom, and she found herself resisting the idea. Had she lost her mind? “What if the police think I was involved in breaking you out of jail? They’ll just arrest me, and I’ll be behind bars and unable to hunt for Kate.”

“I suspect they’ll assume you were innocently taken by the mad killer of your sister.” Thomas didn’t bother to hide the bitter hurt in his voice. “If you tell them I took you by force, they’ll believe you. They’ll want to believe you because it fits in with their idea that I killed my friend and did something awful to her baby.”

“They might not believe me. I don’t want to risk it.” Molly had a mental image of a thermometer shooting up to 105 degrees. Her brain was really cooking! She was trying to convince her abductor to let her stay. What was it called? The Stockholm Syndrome, when a captive began to identify with her abductor?

“We need to hear the news,” Thomas said. “That way we can get a line on what the law is thinking.” He looked around the cabin.

“There’s no electricity, much less television,” Molly pointed out.

“Meow!” Familiar reached across the table and snagged the sleeve of Thomas’s shirt. “Meow.”

The cat hopped down and walked to the door. He cast a solemn green gaze on Thomas and Molly and waited at the door.

“He wants us to follow him,” Molly said, rising.

“How can you tell?” Thomas didn’t move.

“Trust me, we should follow him or else he’ll come over and bite your shins.”

Thomas rose. “So we’ll follow him.”

Molly caught the tone of condescension in his voice, and she smiled. Familiar would make a believer of him—and soon.

They stepped into the night, following the cat in the beam of lantern light that fell from the open door. Familiar sauntered to the SUV where he stood on his back legs and patted the door of the vehicle.

Molly opened the door and he hopped in, his black paw batting the radio.

“He’s right,” Thomas said. “I can’t believe he thought of it before we did.” His voice held awe. “The radio could have a story on us.”

“I told you the cat was a detective,” Molly said, sliding into the driver’s seat. “Give me the keys.”

Thomas handed them over and she turned on the ignition. After spinning the dial, she finally found a crackly newscast.

Through the static, the newscaster’s voice sounded serious. “Law enforcement officials in a five-county area are searching for an escapee tonight. Sheriff Paul Johnson has issued an alert to the area citizenry to be on the lookout for Thomas Lakeman. The thirty-eight-year-old man is accused of murder in the shooting death of thirty-year-old Anna Goodman. It is believed the victim’s sister, Molly Harper, has been taken hostage by the accused murderer. Miss Harper was at the jail earlier today when Lakeman made his escape. Missing in the case and presumed dead is the nine-month-old daughter of the slain victim. We’ll have an update on this story on the hour.”

Molly snapped the radio off. She had to admit that Thomas was right. The best course of action would be to go back and tell the police she’d been abducted. That way she’d be able to access funds and help Thomas.

“You see why you should go back to Jefferson?” he asked.

She nodded and looked at him standing in the doorway of the vehicle. “I don’t think you killed my sister.”

Relief swept across his features. “Do you mean that?”

“Yes. I’ll go back to town and get some money and ask some questions, then I’ll meet you. We’ll figure a way to get a car for you.”

“I can’t believe you’re going to help me.”

“It’s not just about you. The person who killed Anna is still out there, and my niece is missing. If we find the real killer, he’ll be able to tell us where Kate is.”

Thomas put his hand on her arm. Molly felt a warm flush move through her body as she stared into his hazel eyes. How long had it been since she’d been moved by a touch? She didn’t even want to think about it.

“I’m going to make you a promise, Molly Harper,” Thomas said, his voice soft but steely. “We’re going to find Kate and bring her home to you. No matter what we have to do to find her.”

“Meow!” Familiar jumped into Molly’s lap and put his paw on top of Thomas’s hand.

KNEELING IN FRONT of the fireplace, Thomas added another log to the fire. He felt Molly’s gaze on him and wondered what she was thinking.

Sparks flew up the chimney from the new log, and he thought how fleeting so many things in life were. Only a week ago Anna Goodman had sat on his leather sofa holding little Kate in her lap. Anna had been crying, but she hadn’t been hurt. Deep in her eyes had been resolve to leave Darwin and build a new life. If he thought about it hard enough, he could hear her voice, the unexpected strength she’d found. And he could so clearly remember his pride in her, and his relief that she was finally going to do something to protect herself and her baby.

Now she was dead.

When the sheriff’s deputies had shaken him awake in his sleeping bag, he’d been puzzled but unconcerned.

“What’s going on?” he’d asked as he’d gotten out of the bag and reached for the coffee to brew a fresh pot. The deputy had snapped the cuffs on his wrist and read him his rights. They’d searched through his things looking for evidence of some crime they wouldn’t even define for him. When they’d found nothing they’d shoved him into a car and driven him to the station.

The entire ride Thomas had been confused, but under the assumption that he could clear matters up. There had surely been a mistake.

When he’d heard that Anna had been murdered—shot in his home—he’d been too stunned to think clearly. In the eyes of the investigating deputy, Thomas had looked guilty.

The arraignment and grand jury indictment had followed swiftly. The small town of Jefferson didn’t see a lot of murders. The wheels of justice were set in motion almost before he could find a lawyer to defend him. Bradley Alain had put a halt on the railroad job that was in progress, but Thomas was still charged with a crime he didn’t commit.

“Thomas, are you okay?”

Molly’s question brought him back to the present, and he felt an unexpected rush of pleasure as he rose and turned to face her. The firelight flickered over her classic features, catching in the lengths of her hair. The black cat lay across her lap, enjoying the strokes she applied so liberally.

“I was just trying to figure out how all of this happened. Most of my life has been calm and orderly. Get up at five, eat breakfast, saddle my horse and ride out. Come home at supper, eat, wash up, play some cards with the guys or go into town. At McGivens, it was work eight hours, go home. Same thing, day in and day out.”

“Now it’s much different.”

“That’s an understatement. I’m a fugitive from the law, accused of a crime I didn’t commit. I have a hostage and her black cat detective.” He shook his head. “Have we stumbled into the Twilight Zone?”

“I feel the same way.”

A wistful look crossed her face, and Thomas felt a pang. As awful as his life was at the moment, he hadn’t lost family. “We’ll find Kate,” he said again.

Molly smiled. “We will.” She stopped petting the cat.

“It won’t bring Anna back, I know. But she’d finally decided to leave Darwin. She was getting stronger. I think Kate was the best thing that ever happened to her.”

Molly looked up, unshed tears shimmering in her eyes. “Anna was always in hot water somewhere. In high school she was constantly in trouble. When she got out, she didn’t want to go to college, but she couldn’t hold a job. When she finally went to university, every week it was a crisis with one class or another.” She bit her bottom lip. “I got tired of her woes, tired of trying to bail her out so she could make the same mistake again and again. I abandoned her.”

Thomas sat beside her. In his adult solitary life, he’d been careful never to assume emotional responsibility for anyone other than himself. But he understood guilt, and he knew that was what Molly felt. Survivor’s guilt.

“Molly, you and I both know that no one can force another person to confront their problems and grow up. If you’d continued to hold Anna’s hand, she may never have begun to change.”

“If I’d held her hand a little more, she might be alive to change.”

He picked up her hand, noting the long, slender fingers. “I’m just a software designer, so I don’t have any deep answers. I will tell you what Anna said the last time I saw her.” The night she was killed. He didn’t say it, but they both knew it.

“Tell me she was happy.” Molly blinked back the tears.

“I can, without lying.” Thomas squeezed her cool fingers. “When Anna showed up with Kate, I was worried. I was afraid Darwin was thumping on her again, but he wasn’t. In fact, Anna had come to visit because she had good news. She said she was leaving the software company, that she’d found a better job, one where she could work at home and stay with Kate more.” He could see he’d caught Molly’s interest.

“What kind of job?”

“She said it was a secret until it was a done deal. With the new salary, she said she could afford to divorce Darwin and still take care of Kate.”

“She stood up to him? Do you think that made him kill her?”

Thomas hesitated. “From what I knew of Darwin, material things were very important to him. At first I was worried, too, but Anna said she’d told him she didn’t want anything. No furniture, no alimony. She just said she’d leave with nothing.”

“That was smart, but it’s hard to believe Darwin was agreeable to this.”

Thomas still held Molly’s hand. It had grown warmer in his grasp, and he rubbed the top of it with his thumb. “Anna said that Darwin was surprised, but he was rational. She told me she’d been thinking, and she’d decided that she could relocate. She was the happiest I’d ever seen her, like she’d just gotten the best news in the world.”

Molly nodded. “Anna could have done anything she wanted to do. She just never believed in herself.”

Thomas leaned closer. “She said you always believed in her and encouraged her, and now she was going to prove that you were right. She was going to change her life.”

Molly choked back a sob. “I would have helped her. I would have done anything for her and Kate.”

“She knew that, but she also knew she needed to do it on her own. She saw a completely different life ahead of her, and she was ready to make it happen. She found her belief in herself.”

“And then she died.” Molly’s face settled into an angry expression. “She was murdered.”

Thomas released her hand. “It’s true. But I think it’s important for you to know that Anna was on the road to change. She adored you, Molly. You were her hero. And before she died, she felt she could be your equal. That’s an important thing to hang on to. All of the love and effort you gave Anna paid off.”

Molly got up and went to the fireplace. She used the poker to stir the logs, sending a shower of sparks up the chimney. “I have so many regrets.”

Thomas hesitated, then went to her side. He put an arm around her. Her shoulders were slender, and he could feel the pent-up tension in her. “If Anna were alive now, would she want you to blame yourself?”

Molly smiled. “Anna didn’t like blame.”

“She was right about that part. Blame doesn’t do anyone any good. She talked about your work with the American Indians and the good things you were accomplishing. You were doing what you were meant to do. Anna would only have resented any effort you made in trying to straighten up her life.”

Molly looked up at him. He could see the sadness in her gaze, but there was also a spark of humor. “You really were her friend, weren’t you?”

“Yes. We were friends.”

“It gives me comfort to know that. She had you to turn to.” Molly stepped closer and brushed a kiss across his cheek.

The kiss was one of gratitude, but Thomas felt it to the bottom of his boots. Molly Harper was a dangerous woman. “You should get some rest,” he said. “Tomorrow is going to be a taxing day.”

She lingered next to him for a moment, as if she were drawing from his strength. When she stepped away, she called the cat to follow her into the bedroom. The door closed, and Thomas settled onto the sofa, wondering if the tumultuous rush of his thoughts would allow him any rest.

AT LEAST THE COWBOY and Molly have come to an agreement. I was getting a little concerned at first. They need each other to find baby Kate, and to bring the murderer to justice.

I took one look at Thomas and knew he hadn’t killed anyone. He’s a rough-and-tumble guy, a cowboy, but there’s a gentleness about him that marks him as one of the good guys. Maybe when we go into town tomorrow I should buy him a white hat. Make him a little more easily identifiable. But I doubt we’ll have time for a shopping spree. Too much to do.

The person who killed Anna is very clever. The evidence they planted shows great skill and knowledge of police procedure. I’m just not sure of the motive—was it to get rid of Anna or was it to steal the baby?

The primary suspect, in my opinion, is the baby’s father, Darwin Goodman. If he wasn’t instrumental in framing Thomas, he sure didn’t help matters when he could have. Was he just allowing Thomas to be the convenient scapegoat, or did he plan this out?

Someone had to know about Anna’s friendship with Thomas. And that someone had to know where the gun was located in Thomas’s house. They had to lure Anna and the baby there, presuming she knew Thomas was camping. That’s a question I’ll have to clear with him tomorrow.

As soon as we get into town and let the sheriff know that Molly has escaped Thomas, we need to go to the scene of the murder. The crime lab techs have scoured the area, I’m sure, but sometimes my eyes are sharper than the humanoids’. I also have the sixth sense of the feline, which is a tremendous asset in working a case.

On another front, we need to stop for supplies. Thomas did the best he could with what was available, but a steady diet of corned beef will clog up my arteries and cloud my brain. I’m thinking fresh shrimp or maybe some rainbow trout. These clear mountain streams are known for the fish. I’ll make sure Molly understands that fine cuisine is part of my contract. After all, I am a very discerning cat.