Page 77 of River Wild

When AJ asked Bailey to dance, the sheriff couldn’t help but tense. He watched Bailey’s face for an indication something was wrong and saw none as they moved on the small dance floor. When the song was over, Bailey walked in Stuart’s direction.

Annette had started to ask AJ to dance when his estranged wife, Faith, came up to them. She only said a few words quickly and then walked away. AJ said something to Annette and then went after his wife, catching up to her as the chow bell rang.

The ranch hands served the barbecued beef and pork along with baked beans and coleslaw. As Bailey joined Stuart, he asked, “Hungry?” She shook her head. He could tell she was worried that they’d both been wrong. The man wasn’t going to make his move.

They got in line eventually, but barely ate anything on their plates. Next to them at a large table, ranchers were arguing about coalbed methane drilling. Bailey rose to take her and Stuart’s empty disposable plates to the trash. They hadn’t said two words to each other during the meal, no doubt both thinking the same thing. The man hadn’t taken the bait. This setup hadn’t worked. Which meant he would still be out there, waiting until he was ready to kill her. He’d seen through the trap.

Stuart had thought about what they would do now. He would resign. They’d leave town and go as far away from the Powder River Basin as possible. But even as he thought it, he knew they would always be looking over their shoulders—that’s if he could even get Bailey to go with him. Sometimes he forgot that the engagement wasn’t real. If she didn’t get closure, he wasn’t sure even their love could survive.

“BATHROOM,” BAILEYMOUTHEDto Stuart, who was still sitting at one of the long tables where she’d left him. As she headed for the row of portable outhouses brought in for the party, she felt a strange mix of emotions. This barbecue had been a mistake, a waste of time and money, a too obvious ruse to draw the man out. She had thought that the man’s arrogance would make him take the bait. She’d been wrong.

She walked the line of toilets, looking for an empty one. Experience had taught her that the last one would be the least used. As she did, she saw that people were already leaving as the evening dimmed to darkness. Deep black shadows hunkered in the trees toward the river.

She hardly noticed the night slipping over her. She’d been so sure thathewould strike today. Stuart hadn’t let her out of his sight. Was that why the man hadn’t made his move? She’d promised Stuart she would trust him. That she wouldn’t lie or keep anything from him. Not in words, but still a promise she didn’t want to break. She needed him, something that was hard to admit. She’d lost her trust in men after the attack. Stuart was more than a just a man she could trust. She loved him, but how could they move on? She couldn’t. Not until this was over.

Which made this all so much harder since she couldn’t lose him. She knew he would die trying to keep her safe, and because of that, she had to find the man before he came for her. She had to end this herself, but it might mean doing the last thing Stuart wanted her to do.

She finished and pushed open the outhouse door, determined to put some space between her and the sheriff. She desperately wanted this to end today, one way or the other. She couldn’t keep living like this.

Her mind on drawing out the killer, she stepped out of the portable toilet and collided with Norma Jones, who must have been about to try the door and had been standing too close. The older woman grabbed her arm as if for support, bony fingers and nails biting into Bailey’s flesh.

“We just keep running into each other, don’t we,” Norma said, hanging on as she seemed to have trouble regaining her balance. Had she been drinking? “You have been the bane of my existence for such a long time. I watched you grow up, saw how the men all buzzed around you like bees to honey.”

“Norma, if this is about Ralph again—” She tried to pull free, but the woman’s talons were embedded painfully in her flesh, making her wince in pain.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know how Ralph feels about you,” she snapped.

Bailey was glad no one was around to her the woman’s wild accusations.

Norma dug in deeper as Bailey tried to pry her fingers off her arm. The woman’s grip was so strong that Bailey stumbled as Norma tried to pull her into the nearby trees, away from prying eyes and ears of anyone who might come along.

Bailey finally yanked the woman’s fingers off her arm, having enough of this. As she did, she noticed the deep cuts she’d left. She rubbed at them. “How many times do I need to tell you?”

“That you didn’t tempt my husband? That it’s not your fault you’re all he’s thought about for years?” Norma’s voice broke with emotion. “You put a curse on him. Don’t act like you didn’t know.” Bailey was beginning to wonder if the woman was in her right mind.

The cool breeze here in the trees felt good since Bailey realized that she was sweating and a little lightheaded. “Norma, there is nothing I can say since you aren’t going to believe me. I need to get back to—”

“Your fake engagement?” Norma asked, the tone of her voice seeming to change as she studied her long fingernails. Speaking of fake, those nails looked so odd on the woman, who, as far as Bailey knew, had never worn them before. She tried to remember if Norma had been wearing them at the house when she’d drugged her.

She raised her gaze to the older woman’s face. Had she gotten fake nails just for the party? That seemed so out of character for this conservative, matronly ranchwoman.

Bailey took a step, stumbled, and had to grab a tree for support. Her mouth had suddenly gone dry. She tried to lick her lips, but she could no longer feel them. “What did you do?” The words came out slurred, barely audible. Realization struck her hard as she became aware of how much her arm burned with a strange fire where Norma had drilled her fingernails into her flesh. Worse, she couldn’t move. Her legs didn’t even feel as if they would hold her up much longer.

Norma was smiling. “Let me help you, dear,” she said as she took hold of Bailey’s arm. She pulled her further into the trees and whispered, “It will be over soon. Ralph will get you out of his system for good. Ralph’s a good man who lost his way. It wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t help himself. If he’d killed you the first time...” She tutted. “We won’t let that happen again, will we.”

She tried to shake the woman off her, but her limbs no longer worked as Norma drew her deeper into the growing blackness of the trees. “I’d hoped killing the other one would release your hold on him. But even when I got Willow to change her hair color, it didn’t work. I argued against it at first, but Ralph’s right. The reason Willow didn’t work was because it takes you to break the curse. Once you’re dead, he’ll be free of this sinful need inside him, and we can finally live in peace like we were meant to.”

She didn’t even hearhimcome out of the woods. Suddenlyhewas there, taking hold of her, lifting her off her feet as he had before and taking her into the woods. The sounds of the barbecue grew more distant. She could hear the river, the sigh of the breeze in the drying leaves of the cottonwoods, the sound of Ralph’s heavy breathing. She recognized it and felt her heart pound even harder than it already was.

Ralph Jones was going to kill her, and his wife, Norma, was going to help him.

STUARTHADLOSTtrack of time, he realized. Bailey hadn’t returned from the portable outhouses. He’d assumed when she didn’t come right back that she’d had to wait for one. He could see that a line had formed at this end.

He’d been about to go check when he heard a disturbance break out. Angie. Jay was trying to help her up from where she’d fallen on the dance floor. At the same time, Stuart saw Pickett hurrying over to another dining table where Holden was sitting. Stuart watched him lean down to whisper something to the rancher. At once, Holden was on his feet.

“What’s happening?” the sheriff asked, getting up to rush over.

“Tilly. She’s in labor,” Pickett said. “Cooper’s taking her to the hospital, but he needs some vehicles moved so he can get out.”

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