Page 130 of The Killing Plains

“I thought the snakes got him. There was blood on his leg.”

“That was just a scrape, thank God.” Niall paused. “But you were bitten. Twice.”

“It’s coming back to me. Is that why I’ve been unconscious? I didn’t know rattlesnake venom did that.”

“One of the bites hit a major blood vessel. You went into anaphylactic shock, then renal failure. It was touch-and-go for a while.”

“Everything was spinning. Avery was there—and you, too. You were shining a light in my eyes. How’d you get there? Did Avery call you?”

Niall looked surprised. But before he could answer, a man’s voice behind him said, “You must’ve been hallucinating. That was the paramedic—we always have one at the Rodeo. And antivenom, too, fortunately.”

Colly and Niall both started and turned. Russ and Avery stood in the doorway, smiling.

They crossed the room, and Russ took Colly’s hand in both of his. “Look at you—you’re awake.” He was working to keep his voice light. “It’s about damn time.”

Chapter 35

Later that evening, Dr. Bhandari—the grave, dark-eyed young hospitalist who was treating Colly—stopped by to see her. He checked the bite wounds on her leg and seemed pleased.

“When can I get out of here?” Colly asked when he had finished typing notes on his tablet.

The doctor frowned. She should remain under observation for at least four more days, he told her. Snakebites sometimes had long-term effects, and her reaction had been particularly severe. “Not that you’ll listen to me,” he added glumly when he saw her expression. “Cops make terrible patients.”

“I’m not as bad as all that. If you say four days, that’s what I’ll do.”

In the end, she lasted three. Russ, still on leave from his job, hardly left her bedside. He seemed strangely shy and solicitous, watching her closely and leaping up to adjust the pillows or close the curtains or fetch her water if she showed the slightest discomfort. Colly found this attentiveness mildly annoying, but he seemed so eager to please that she didn’t have the heart to ask him to leave.

Avery joined them in the evenings, and together they talked for hours about the case, piecing together answers to the questions that remained. Brenda had refused a lawyer and had confessedeverything to Avery in the Crescent Bluff lockup before the sheriff’s people had arrived on Monday to transport her to the county jail.

Avery grinned at Colly. “Here’s a weird compliment for you—she told me she knew she was screwed when she heard Russ was calling you in to consult. She got the idea of trying to chase you off with anonymous texts, so she drove to Colorado City and bought that burner phone before you got here. When the texts and the snake booby trap didn’t work, she got desperate and staged the break-in at the farmhouse.”

At the memory of the hare’s mask in Satchel’s suitcase, Colly flushed angrily. “Why didn’t she just murder me? It would’ve been easier.”

“I asked her that. She looked at me like I was the crazy one—said she’d never kill to protect herself, only society.” Avery shrugged.

“I can’t believe she told you all this,” Russ said. “Is she trying to set up an insanity defense?”

“She knows she’s done for. Now she’s thinking of her kids—says she’ll plead guilty to spare them the spectacle of a trial.”

“What’ll happen to Logan and Minnie?” Colly asked Russ when Avery stepped out for a smoke. “Lowell’s not exactly a model parent.”

“They’re at the ranch with Momma, for now. I made Lowell come clean to her about the embezzlement.”

“Is she pressing charges?”

Russ shook his head. “The kids just lost their mother—she didn’t have the heart to send their dad to prison, too. She fired him as plant manager, of course, but says she’ll keep things quiet if he’ll go into rehab and stop gambling.”

“What about Jace Hoyer?”

Russ shifted uneasily and scratched his stubbled cheek. “We didn’t tell her he was involved. We can’t very well throw him under the bus if Lowell gets to walk. Besides, Hoyer’s lost his whole family,and he’s already in jail for assaulting you.” He cast a guilty glance at Colly. “I know it’s not by the book, but—”

Colly stopped him with a gesture. “I’m glad.” She relaxed into the pillows and closed her eyes.

Each day, Iris brought Satchel for late-afternoon visits. Colly was startled by how happy he seemed. He climbed onto her bed and babbled cheerfully about horseback riding with his cousins and trips to Dairy Queen with Avery. The events at the Rattlesnake Rodeo had given him a celebrity status at school, and he’d begun to make friends. On Tuesday, he brought a new ant farm to the hospital to show Colly—a gift from Niall, who’d volunteered to meet with him daily to help him process the recent trauma.

Satchel curled beside her, fingering the thin cotton of her hospital gown. “I don’t wanna go back to Houston,” he whispered. “I like it better here.”

In spite of all the company, Colly felt restless and lonely. She found herself hoping that Niall would visit again. But he was swamped with work—seeing Brenda’s clients as well as his own until he could hire another therapist—and he couldn’t get away. He rang her up each night, though, after visiting hours ended and Russ had gone home. And Colly waited anxiously for his calls.

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