In the Paths of Righteousness (Psalm 23 Mysteries)

  “Do you know who wasn’t with us the entire time we were trying to revive Brent? I was a bit...occupied. I don’t know who might or might not have been present.”

  “I thought only the cowboys were missing, but I could have been wrong,” she said. “There was a lot of stress going on.”

  Jeremiah’s chest tightened. “I’ve been meaning to ask. How are you doing? I know you...liked...Brent.”

  She turned to look at him and the firelight reflected in her eyes made them smolder.

  “Either it hasn’t really hit me yet or I’m becoming desensitized to these things I think. I mean, I’m upset, but I’m more worried about figuring out who did this before someone else gets hurt.”

  “Still, I’m sorry.”

  “Brent was really nice. I was shocked when he asked me out, and I didn’t really know what to say. I mean, I’m sure he was a great guy, but...”

  Jeremiah wished he could decipher the way she was looking at him. He felt himself getting pulled in closer. He forced himself to turn away and he hastily added another log to the fire just for something to do while he cleared his thoughts. Being on watch together was more of a mistake than he had previously thought.

  Finished he turned back. Cindy was once again staring out over the sea of sleeping bags. “Who do you think is the killer?” she asked after a moment.

  “Given that only one person has actually managed to hurt Kyle my money’s on you,” he teased to try and shift the mood.

  She sighed. “That’s not funny.”

  “It is a little bit, you have to admit it.”

  “Okay, fine, but just a little bit.”

  “I mean, if you had asked me a couple of days ago I would have said he was in the most danger from Traci hugging him to death, but she’s been a model of restraint.”

  Cindy smirked. “Wait, it’s early yet.”

  Someone coughed and they both fell silent. There was a rustling and then someone sat up. After a moment Jeremiah recognized it as Norman. The man slowly got up and then headed stiffly in the direction of the restroom area. He was quickly swallowed up by darkness. Jeremiah briefly contemplated following him, but that would mean leaving Cindy alone and he wasn’t about to do that.

  Beside him he could feel her tension. Clearly she wasn’t happy with having him wander off either.

  “That note you found in his pocket, you said it was a love letter.”

  “Yes,” she said, sounding intensely uncomfortable.

  “Was it to him or from him?”

  “To him. It started ‘My dearest Norman’.”

  “Did you see who wrote it?”

  “No, I assumed it was a girlfriend. I didn’t read very far. It was pretty personal.”

  “Do you think it could have been from Liz?”

  “I never thought about it, why?” she asked, startled.

  “Generally speaking guys aren’t in the habit of carrying around love letters in their pockets. With cell phones they rarely even carry around pictures anymore.”

  “So, you think it’s something he got since arriving and not before?”

  “It’s just a theory.”

  “Liz and he don’t act like a couple,” Cindy said.

  “Maybe they’re hiding it for a reason. Or maybe Liz didn’t write it.”

  They fell silent as a figure approached out of the dark. It was Norman returning. A minute later he was back in his sleeping bag.

  They sat in silence a while longer before Cindy asked, “Did you ever carry around a picture of a girl in your wallet?”

  “Yes,” he answered.

  “Oh, who?” she asked, her voice sounding a bit odd.

  Jeremiah smiled. “Her name was Alize, it means Joyful and noone ever lived up to a name more than she did. She was beautiful, long golden, red hair. We used to spend every moment of every day together. I miss her terribly.”

  “I’m sorry,” Cindy said. “What happened to her?”

  “She died.”

  “Oh, that’s terrible!”

  “It took me a long time to get over it. I never thought I’d have another dog again, but then Captain came into my life and changed all that.”

  “Dog? Alize was a dog?” she asked, sounding strangled.

  “Yes, beautiful Golden Retriever that I had as a kid. She made it to fourteen, which was a good, long life. How about you?”

  “No, no dogs.”

  “No, I mean, ever carry a picture of a boy around in your purse?”

  “I went to Homecoming my sophomore year of high school with Michael Fowler. We had our picture taken and I carried that picture in my purse for quite a while. His family moved away shortly after that, though.”

  “So, you never heard from Michael again?” he asked.

  “We wrote a few times, but you know how it is.”

  He wasn’t sure he did. He was sure, though, that the way he was feeling at the moment it was a very good thing that Michael Fowler was nowhere to be found.

  Cindy couldn’t believe the wave of emotions that had been filling her for the last few minutes. Sorrow, curiosity, relief, and most startlingly, deep, intense jealousy. She had been nearly overcome with it when she thought Alize was a girl. She and Jeremiah had never really had a conversation about past boyfriends and girlfriends and she found that she really, really didn’t want to know because the thought of him being with someone else upset her.

  Not that she had any right to be upset. They weren’t together, he wasn’t hers. She couldn’t help but think, though, about what Traci had said about her needing to discuss her feelings about Jeremiah with someone soon.

  She was beginning to think she was right. Besides, if things continued this way she might find herself accidentally discussing those feelings with Jeremiah before she was even willing to admit them to herself.

  Is it the shared danger that brings us together? she couldn’t help but wonder. Or is it something more than that?

  She closed her eyes for a moment. Kyle had told her that she had changed a lot. Maybe that was true. Some days she felt it more than others. How much of that was because of Jeremiah, his friendship and the things that he brought out in her?

  She opened her eyes. The middle of the wilderness surrounded by cattle and potential killers was not the place to have such deep thoughts. She needed to focus on the task at hand which was getting everyone home alive.

  One of the sleepers stirred and began to sit up. At the same time she heard something walking toward them from her right.

  “It’s time for Curly to take over the watch from Zack,” Jeremiah whispered.

  A moment later she saw Zack walking toward them leading a horse. Curly got up and crossed silently over to him. He took the reins from Zack.

  “They’re calming down finally. Still more restless than I would like,” Zack said softly.

  “Wonder what’s got them so spooked tonight?” Curly said.

  Zack shrugged. He turned and tipped his hat to Cindy and Jeremiah.

  Cindy gave a little wave. If they were trading shifts that meant hers and Jeremiah’s should be half over. It was actually going by faster than she would have imagined.

  The two cowboys were lost in discussion and she couldn’t help but wonder what they’d decided to do about the renegade steer that was causing them problems. She wasn’t about to ask, though, and then have to explain it all to Jeremiah.

  Over in the sleeping area Mark stirred and sat up slowly, rubbing at his eyes. Cindy was about to go over and tell him that he didn’t have to get up yet when she stopped.

  Jeremiah had cocked his head to the side as though listening intently to a sound that she couldn’t hear. Zack and Curly had both stopped talking and also seemed to be listening. Something was wrong, she felt it deep down. A second later she heard the sound of galloping hooves. She turned and looked at Jeremiah uncertainly.

  He shook his head. “That’s way too fast for Tex to have reached town and sent help.”

  “Who do you think
it could be?” Mark asked, voice strained, looking suddenly very alert.

  “I don’t know,” Jeremiah said, “but something tells me it isn’t good.”

  Others began to stir and sit up as the sound grew louder. Cindy felt like she was holding her breath, waiting to find out what was going on and who the rider could be.

  Finally a horse appeared out of the darkness. He was moving fast and heading straight for the campfire.

  “He’s not slowing up,” Jeremiah said, springing to his feet at nearly the same time as Zack leaped forward.

  “There’s no rider!” Zack shouted a moment later.

  The horse came barreling toward them and too late Cindy realized she and the others should get out of the way.

  Jeremiah and Zack rushed forward, arms up. The horse started to swerve at the last moment and Jeremiah snatched at its bridle. The horse reared for a moment and then came crashing back to the ground. He stood, sides heaving and head bobbing up and down.

  “That’s the horse Tex was riding,” Curly said, his voice strained as he struggled to calm his own mount who had been agitated by all the activity and was prancing from foot to foot impatiently.

  “Whoa there, fellow,” Zack said, reaching out a hand to the riderless horse. He patted the animal’s neck and then touched his hand to the saddle. He pulled his hand away after a moment and brought it under his nose.

  “What is it?” Curly demanded.

  “Blood.”

  13

  Mark jumped to his feet as chaos seemed to explode around him. Another dead man was the last thing they needed, especially when that particular victim was supposed to be getting them help.

  Zack had pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and was inspecting the horse that had returned. Jeremiah was still holding the horse steady and the animal looked exhausted.

  Curly was mounting his horse. “We have to go look for Tex. He could be out there hurt,” he said, urgency tingeing his voice.

  Zack shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he said quietly. “Not with this much blood. There’s no way he’s alive.”

  Mark clenched his fists and took a deep breath, working to keep it together. He felt a light hand on his arm and knew it had to be Traci. He glanced at her and she looked up at him, eyes enormous, worry written all over her face.

  Kyle appeared on his other side. “There’s no way anyone could have mistaken Tex for me,” he said quietly.

  “No,” Mark agreed. “But someone didn’t want us sending for help.”

  “How is that even possible? We were all together?” Kyle said.

  “Not all of us, not every moment,” Mark growled. “Not to mention that Roddy is still missing.”

  Zack had been carefully going over the horse’s saddle and now he had moved around to the horse’s hindquarters where he was shining the light on the animal’s right flank.

  “What is it?” Jeremiah asked him.

  “Tex carried a whip on his saddle along with a rope. The whip is missing, but this horse has a nasty cut back here as though someone whipped him to encourage him to run.”

  “Tex?” Mark asked.

  “No, Tex would never have used that on a horse,” Curly said.

  “Agreed,” Zack said.

  “So, what, his killer whipped the horse then?” Mark asked.

  “That would be my guess. He probably killed Tex then whipped the horse to send him running. Eventually the animal turned and decided to head back to camp.”

  “Any way to tell how long ago all this happened?” Mark asked. Finding out how far away could help them eliminate suspects. Only Curly and Zack would have access to the horses to ride after Tex and do this. Or, perhaps Roddy had been laying in wait.

  On the other hand, Tex might have been the one waiting for someone and he might have been killed for it.

  “I can’t tell.”

  “Do you think he was shot?” Mark asked, cursing the fact that his own gun was still under his pillow.

  “Can’t tell that either. Out here, though, a gunshot could be heard pretty far away. I certainly didn’t hear anything. It’s possible he was shot, but just as likely he was stabbed. After all, whoever did this was close enough to take the whip.”

  “And if it was a gun, and they were that close, they might have managed to use his own gun on him. If it was a knife...I’m not even sure we’ve seen a knife here,” Mark said.

  “I think the real question is, who had the opportunity to do this?” Cindy asked.

  “It most certainly is. Did you see anything while you were on watch?” Mark asked Traci and Kyle.

  Traci shook her head. “No, just a couple of people using the bathroom and coming back.”

  “Who?” Mark asked.

  “Liz was first and then later Jeremiah,” Kyle answered.

  “Norman was the only one who got up to use the bathroom while we were on watch,” Cindy volunteered.

  “And, of course, we still don’t know what happened to Roddy,” Jeremiah added.

  “Crossing off suspects should make things easier not harder,” Mark growled. “Okay, there’s nothing more we can really do until daybreak. I suggest those of us who can get some more sleep do so while they can. Zack, take care of the horse and then get some sleep. Curly, you’re up on cattle duty, right?”

  “Right,” Curly said.

  “Okay, everyone else hit the hay.”

  Reluctantly the others started to return to their sleeping bags. Fear hung heavy in the air, though, and Mark doubted anyone would be sleeping well. He knew he couldn’t go back to sleep at this point.

  “Cindy, Jeremiah, you can go back to sleep, too. I’ve got the watch from here.”

  Cindy nodded and trudged over to her sleeping bag, walking beside Traci.

  “I’ll stay up with you a while, at least until everyone get’s settled,” Jeremiah said.

  Mark nodded. It was a good idea. Two sets of eyes at this point were definitely better than one. He sat down with his back to the fire as everyone dispersed. Jeremiah sat beside him.

  A few minutes later Zack returned and once he was in his sleeping bag everything seemed to get pretty quiet. That was good, because Mark needed serious time to think about what the plan for the morning was.

  “You awake?” Cindy whispered as softly as she could to Traci.

  Traci rolled over and looked at her. “Yes, what is it?”

  “I know the timing couldn’t possibly be any more inappropriate, but I wanted to tell you that I think you’re right.”

  “About what?” Traci asked with a yawn.

  “About me needing to talk to somebody about Jeremiah and soon.

  Traci broke out into a grin. “I knew it. So, you want to talk now?”

  “No, I want to try to sleep now. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be crazy.”

  “Tomorrow? What would you call today?”

  Cindy took a deep breath. “Honestly? I have a feeling today was just the dress rehearsal for crazy.”

  Traci’s eyes widened, but she didn’t comment.

  “So, let’s try talking tomorrow,” Cindy said.

  Traci nodded. After a minute she closed her eyes and rolled over.

  Cindy lay, staring up at the stars overhead. She tried to pray, but her mind kept wondering in all sorts of directions. The dress rehearsal for crazy. She wished that wasn’t true, but she felt instinctively that things were going to get weirder if not downright worse before this was all over.

  She yawned and flipped over on her side. A moment later she was asleep.

  It was just before dawn and Jeremiah was the only one awake. Mark had finally fallen asleep while sitting upright, his back to the fire. Exhaustion and stress coupled with the darkness and stillness had finally taken their toll. Jeremiah had helped bring that about by being quiet for the last hour and refusing to engage in idle chatter. It was nearly the end of the shift and soon the others would be waking up. Still he had maybe half an hour before they did or Curly put in an a
ppearance. That was just enough time for him to do what he needed to if he was swift and quiet.

  He rose noiselessly from his seat by the fire and walked away without the merest whisper of sound, ears listening for any stirrings from those behind him. In a few seconds the chuck wagon loomed in front of him in the early morning darkness, a hulking structure, it’s white canvas only reflecting a tiny bit of light from the campfire.

  Inside was all the camera equipment containing the footage from the last couple of days. That footage could never see the light of day. Even as he eased himself up into the wagon, though, he couldn’t help but wonder who the original saboteur had been. Odds were good that whoever it was had been caught on camera doing something they shouldn’t, possibly engineering one of the “accidents” that had happened.

  That mystery, though, needed to take a backseat to making sure that all of the footage was destroyed and the cameras disabled going forward. He slid on a pair of disposable gloves he had found in a stash in the wagon earlier when searching for the truffle salt. As he picked up the main camera he struggled not to curse Kyle’s name for getting him into all this. He should have known that any vacation involving the television show host would by necessity involve a camera.

  He erased the footage, removed the camera battery and found and took the backup batteries as well. Next he turned to the helmet cameras, going through them swiftly but systematically to make sure nothing was overlooked.

  At last he gathered all the batteries up and exited the wagon. He walked almost a quarter of a mile away from everything else before stopping to bury them and the gloves in the ground. Finished he made his way back to camp, chasing the coming of the dawn.

  Everyone was still asleep as he slid down back into position near the campfire next to Mark. He took a few deep breaths, forcing the adrenaline from his system. He allowed his heart to calm and he sat and watched the first rays of the sun peek over the horizon.

  “Was starting to think morning would never get here,” he whispered.

  “Hmm, what?” Mark asked, coming awake.

  “Dawn’s here finally,” Jeremiah said.

  Mark yawned and looked up. “I guess it is.”