Page 28 of Grayson's Angel

“The money? You're mad I cut off the money? I’ll give you as much as you want. Please, just let me leave.”

“The money was nice, but I’m talking about the gold. I found it, and it was supposed to be mine. Then your good-for-nothing father came back from Vegas early to find me taking the gold out of the mine. He wanted me to give it to him.” Josiah was pacing back and forth, his hands clenched with each step he took. “I’ve spent my life running this place for your family. Have they ever done anything for me other than make me work more?” Kara knew the question was rhetorical, so she kept her lips locked tight.

She needed to get out of the mess she was in. She hoped Grayson was on his way, and if he wasn’t, she needed a backup plan. From the look of the barn, Josiah hadn’t been doing his job since she left. The pens were piled with manure, and the door hung off its hinges. She couldn’t see an animal in sight. Kara thanked her lucky stars that there were no animals because she knew he wouldn’t be taking care of them.

She couldn’t stop herself from saying the words. “It doesn’t look like you’ve been doing much work lately.”

“You dumb bitch.” She didn’t see his hand coming until it was too late. The force of it knocked her chair over. With her hands tied behind her back, she didn’t have any way to brace for the impact, and her head bounced off the dirt floor. Kara felt as though stars were flying around her head. “If you had just married the Russian man, this would be all over.”

“How did Rovshan get involved?”

Her father looked like he had been dead for a few weeks. The stench of his decomposing body was making it hard not to throw up.

“I tried to make your father see reason and share the gold with me. But the greedy bastard wanted it all for himself. It was supposed to be easy.”

Josiah liked hearing himself talk. As long as she could keep him talking about himself, she might have a chance of distracting him and escaping. When her body had hit the ground, she felt the chair crack a little.

“What gold?”

He puffed up his chest, so proud of himself. “I always knew there was still gold on this farm. With your family finally off the land, I was able to look for it. At least until your father came home early.”

“So you killed him?” She didn’t really need a reply. Kara could see the dead body lying on the floor.

“Yes, and everything was going well until your father's lawyer showed up for some meeting. When he couldn’t get a hold of your father because he was dead, I knew I needed another option. I contacted Rovshan and made a deal with him. I knew your father owed him money. I pretended to be your father and got him out here as part of my plan.”

At the mention of the family lawyer, Kara looked closer at where her father was lying. Next to him was another man in a black suit. She had a sinking feeling she was going to be in the body pile soon if she didn’t cooperate.

“Why do you need me? Take the gold.”

“People were asking questions, and I needed you to marry Rovshan to get all the heat off me. He promised he’d make everything go away once you were married. The gold would be in his name, and he would take care of everything.”

Noise from the front of the barn made Josiah swing around to see who was coming. Kara could see two people walking into the barn. It was hard to see their faces with the sun shining through the open door, but as they got closer, she was able to make them out. One was Sarah, and she had a man at gunpoint. It took Kara a couple of minutes to figure out who the other person was. Pastor Paul was walking next to Sarah. He was dressed in his white robes, and his Bible shook in his hands. He looked as if he had just finished a service.

Pastor Paul’s voice trembled when he spoke. “Sarah and Josiah, you don’t want to do this. This is not God’s way.”

Sarah shoved the pastor with enough force to make him stumble forward. Kara’s chair was still tipped over on its side, and she was using her position on the floor to run the ropes across the rock under her hand. The rope tying her to the chair was close to being severed. She needed a couple more passes on the rock for the ropes to fall apart.

Before she had a chance to break all the way through the rope, Josiah picked her up and sat the chair back on both legs. “Hurry up and marry us.”

“I will not force her to mar—”

He didn’t even get all the words out of his mouth before Sarah fired the gun and shot him in the foot. He dropped to the floor in agony.

Josiah took two large strides to stand next to the pastor. He grabbed him by the hair and pulled him to his feet.

Kara and Pastor Paul had all choice taken from them. He knew he had to do the ceremony even if it went against everything he believed in. She knew she’d have to say the vows or be shot as well.

“Just do it, Pastor,” Kara pleaded. She remembered his lovely wife and kids from her days at Sunday school. Two people lay dead in the corner stall of the barn. She was not going to be responsible for another death. She would figure out a way out once the ties were undone.

The ceremony was quick and to the point. When she was supposed to say, “I do,” Kara froze.

“Say I do,” Josiah demanded. Kara's mouth was dry, and she couldn’t speak. Her mind was telling her to say the words. But her mouth wouldn’t open. Sarah had the gun pointed at her temple. She felt the hammer being pulled back on the revolver. Grayson’s name flashed in the forefront of her brain. Kara was going to go out remembering the man that meant the world to her. Using all the force she had, she pulled at the ropes and felt them give way but not in time.

The loud bang of a gun firing echoed through the barn.

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