Caroline Burnes - Babe in the Woods

“I couldn’t assign one of my men,” Dru agreed. “But I could stay myself. I think a night watch will be sufficient.”

He saw the unexpected rush of gratitude on Rebecca’s face and realized she would never have asked for special favors. That was another thing he liked about her. She didn’t assume anything.

“I’d rather catch him than scare him off,” Rebecca admitted. “I’m afraid if he gets scared off the river, he’ll just come in from the road.”

“I suspect you’re right about that,” Dru agreed, meeting his deputies’ amused glances.

“I’ll volunteer to help, too,” one of the deputies said with a wicked grin at Dru. “Me, too,” the other chimed in.

“All I can say is that the Adams County law enforcement is the most accommodating I’ve ever heard about,” Rebecca said. “Perhaps I could offer you gentlemen some coffee and breakfast?”

“If you’re sure it’s no bother,” Dru said, shaking his head in amusement at his two officers.

As he and Rebecca led the way to the cottage, he glanced back toward the river. Who was on Blackthorn property and what were they doing there? With the recovery of the treasure and Marcus’s confession that he’d been playing the role of Andre Agee, the mysterious horseman, to thwart development of the property, Dru had hoped that all of the rumors and odd events at Blackthorn would stop. Now it looked as if he’d been more than a tiny bit optimistic.

REBECCA SLIPPED into her riding breeches with a sigh of guilty anticipation. She’d brought Joey home from the hospital with a knot the size of a goose egg on his head, but the doctor had assured her he was perfectly fine. She’d left him sitting in the shade of a big pecan, watching over his garden.

She’d talked to the contractor, Eugene Batson, about the wiring, repeating all of the things Marcus had written on a list for her. One thing she’d learned from this experience was that she never wanted to build a house. The details were endless, and there were times she simply had to guess what Marcus and Aurelia would want. Perhaps the experience would be more enjoyable if she weren’t serving as absentee owner. Then again, how many people got to participate in the construction of what was going to be one of the most architecturally innovative houses ever built. She grinned as she laced her paddock boots.

For the time being, though, she could simply put all of that aside for an hour and enjoy a ride on Cogar.

Joey was drawing another diagram of a garden in the dirt, but he promised her he wouldn’t get hot working. She winked at him as she went on to the barn and saddled the big gray. Cogar was so tall, she almost needed a mounting block to get on. Almost.

When she was in the saddle, he moved out willingly, as eager for the ride as she was. As soon as she was in the woods, she let her troubles slip away. They walked until he was warm, moved into a trot, then eased into a ground-covering gallop. Her mind slipped to fantasy.

As a young girl, she’d often fantasized about Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest. That’s what the woods around Blackthorn reminded her of. At any moment the band of merry robbers could step out of the woods.

She smiled at a childhood memory: she’d been torn between wanting to be Robin—or Maid Marian. Robin seemed to have the most fun, but Marian was certainly beautiful. Those thoughts led her to Dru. He was a handsome man with a casual grace and easy confidence that she found delightful. Since he was so secure in who he was, she didn’t feel any pressure from him to change who she was. Of course, they were just getting to know each other. In the beginning, Mike had been easygoing, too. It was only toward the end that he began to act as though her hopes and dreams didn’t matter. What he wanted was the only important thing.

As if her thoughts precipitated it, a dark cloud covered the sun, casting the woods in shadow. Cogar had slowed to a walk, and Rebecca felt a little foolish as chill bumps danced over her arms.

Cogar’s head lifted, his ears pricked forward. Then she heard it. The sound of a baby crying. It was the eeriest thing she’d ever heard, rising and falling in desperate bursts from somewhere in the woods. Everything that Aurelia had told her came back to her.

Yvonne Harris and Randall Levert had been playing tape recordings of a crying baby in the woods of Blackthorn in an attempt to frighten Aurelia off the estate. And then Yvonne had taken it several steps further. She’d murdered Randall’s mother, Lottie, and tried to pin the murder on Aurelia by planting evidence. She’d also betrayed her co-conspirator by planting evidence against him, too. She’d intended to get both Aurelia and Randall out of the way.

Fortunately, Yvonne’s plans had been foiled. Aurelia, though charged, had been found innocent of Lottie Levert’s murder. Yvonne had been found guilty of Lottie’s death and was in the state penitentiary.

Randall, shocked that his partner in crime had murdered his own mother in an attempt to frame him, had turned state’s evidence against Yvonne. He, too, was serving time.

So why was a baby crying in the woods at Blackthorn, in some eerie repetition of past events?

Cogar stepped forward, as if he wanted to go into the woods. Rebecca reined him in. She sat and listened, the sound of the baby almost breaking her heart. But she wasn’t going into the woods. There were trespassers on Blackthorn and she was smart enough not to walk into a trap. If someone was playing tricks on her, she wouldn’t fall for them. Instead, she’d go straight back to the cottage and call Dru.

She had no belief that the baby crying in the woods was real. Therefore she didn’t feel it necessary to try and find it. Nudging Cogar into a trot, she headed back to the cottage and a telephone.

DRU FROWNED as he hung up the receiver. It wasn’t what he called justice, but then, he’d learned that when a witness cut a deal, lots of things were possible. He stared at the notes he’d made on a pad.

Randall Levert had been released from prison two days before based on the deal he’d cut with the prosecutor in testifying against Yvonne.

Dru wasn’t happy with that information, but he knew that Randall hadn’t been involved in his mother’s murder. What he’d done was attempt to frighten Aurelia into selling Blackthorn. And he’d used poor judgment in teaming up with Yvonne Harris.

And it would seem that he was using poor judgment once again. Dru stood up. He had no doubt that the sudden “intruder” at Blackthorn was none other than Randall Levert. But why Randall would risk losing his probation was what troubled Dru. He was either stupid or crazy, and both of those mindsets could be very dangerous under the right circumstances.

Dru drove out to Blackthorn and caught sight of Rebecca trotting out of the woods on a huge gray horse. The sight was breathtaking. He’d never been overly interested in horses, but the sight of Rebecca astride the gray made the sport seem infinitely more fascinating.

The expression on her face, though, told another story. He was out of the patrol car and at her side in a flash. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a baby crying in the woods,” she said, her voice trembling.

Dru realized she was more unnerved than she wanted him to know. His hand went to her knee in a gesture of comfort. “That stands to reason. They released Randall Levert on probation two days ago,” he said, “just about the time someone started trespassing on Blackthorn property. What surprises me is that he’s stupid enough to try the same stunt twice in a row.”

“Why is he doing this?” Rebecca asked, and Dru was relieved to hear anxiety beginning to turn to anger.

“That’s a good question. He’s risking real jail time for this stunt.”