What scared her was just that. He was risking his life and hers. So what was behind that rock wall? Hidden treasure? The famous Winchester fortune Jack had told her about?
No, she thought. Knowing Jack it was something much more important.
Standing on the balcony in the darkness and cold, Josey wondered when the exact moment was that she’d fallen in love with Jack Winchester. Had it been that first kiss in the Cadillac? Or when he held her while she cried on that high ridge during their horseback ride? Or was it when he’d taken her in his arms and carried her over to the bed? Sometime over the past few days she’d begun to realize she was no longer pretending. She felt like his wife.
With a start, Josey realized that she’d just seen something move along the edge of the far building—the same one Jack was in right now. It couldn’t be Jack. He’d left a long time ago. Unless something—or someone—had held him up.
She stared hard into the blackness at the edge of the building, fear gnawing at her insides. If not Jack, then—
Alfred. The old man was sneaking along the edge of the building. He must have seen Jack go into the closed wing earlier. Or suspected that’s where he was headed. What would Alfred do when he caught Jack opening that old rock wall? Why would he care?
She thought about the other night when Alfred had caught her in that wing. Had he gone back to make sure no one had tampered with the wall? Then that would mean he knew something had been hidden behind it.
Her heart began to pound.
What was he up to?
As he stepped to the edge of the far wing, the moon slipped from behind the clouds. Her skin went clammy, fear closing her throat, as she saw what Alfred gripped in his hands. An ax.
Chapter Thirteen
Jack had made some progress on the rock wall the past two nights. He worked harder and faster tonight, anxious to get back to Josey. He didn’t believe there was any way that her homicidal stepbrother could find her, and he’d made sure he had the Cadillac keys on him so she didn’t do anything crazy like leave on her own.
He wished he could just let this go, but he’d promised his mother and himself years ago that he would see that Pepper Winchester got what she deserved. Today was that day. Then he could put this place and all that behind him.
But even as he thought it, Jack realized that something had changed in him. For years he’d been waiting for an opportunity to get back on this ranch and see what was behind this wall. It had always been there, that need to finish things in Montana. It hadn’t mattered how well his life or his career had been going in Wyoming. There had always been this mission hanging over his head.
Now, though, his thoughts kept returning to Josey, and he realized just how much he’d changed since he’d met her. It was all he could do to keep chipping at the mortar. Did he really need to know what was behind this wall anymore?
The mortar in the wall was old, more than forty years. He chipped out another stone and set it aside. As he shone his flashlight into the space behind the wall, he could make out what looked like a large bundle wrapped in cloth.
His pulse kicked up a beat. Hurriedly, he removed another rock. There was definitely something in there. Something wrapped in what appeared to be an old canvas tarp.
For so long he hadn’t been sure if his mother’s story was even true. After all, she’d heard it from Angus Winchester, her lover, the man who’d lied to her for years.
Jack worked another rock out, and then another. Just a few more and he would be able to see what had been hidden for all these years behind this rock wall.
AFTER SEEING ALFRED with the ax headed for the wing where she knew Jack was working, Josey grabbed the gun out of the backpack and tore out of the room at a run. She heard someone call to her as she threw open the front door, but she didn’t look back as she sprinted toward the closed wing.
The air chilled her to her bones. That and the fear that had her heart in her throat. There was no sign of Alfred as she ran the length of the building. She skidded to a stop as something moved out of the darkness just before she reached the door into the closed wing.
A low rumbling sound filled the air, and she froze as she saw the old dog. It blocked the way, the hair standing up on the back of its neck, a low growl coming out of its throat.
It took a step toward her. She raised the gun, but knew she wouldn’t be able to shot it. “Nice dog,” she whispered, and took a step away from it and the side of the building. The dog remained where it was. She took another step, then another, frowning. The old dog acted almost as if it was protecting something.
A bone? She squinted into the blackness at the edge of the building. Her blood suddenly ran cold. At first she thought it was a fawn deer or some other animal that the dog had killed and was only protecting its food.
But then she caught the glint of metal and saw that something was protruding out of the center of the dead animal. An ax.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed as the moon broke free of the clouds, and she saw Alfred lying on his back, the ax buried in his chest.
Her mind whirled. Who would...? Jack! Where was Jack?
She turned and ran the last few steps to the door into the closed wing.
JACK REMOVED THE last rock in his way. Kneeling down, he picked up one
