Black Canyon Conspiracy Read online

  “No, but you’re doing great. A lot of people would crack under the stress you’ve been under, but you’re hanging in there. You’re tough.”

  “Yeah, I’m tough as a marshmallow.” She moved her hand away and squared her shoulders. “But I won’t let that stop me. And I won’t let Richard Prentice stop me. Maybe he’s done me a favor, getting me fired from the station. Now going after him is going to be my job.”

  “I’m already on it,” he said.

  “Then, with both of us on his case, he doesn’t stand a chance.”

  * * *

  LAUREN WISHED SHE was as confident as Marco sounded. She’d meant what she’d said about making convicting Richard Prentice her full-time job. She desperately needed the focus on work to quell her anxiety and tamp down the threatening mania, but the idea that the man she was investigating wanted her dead shook her to the core.

  All she wanted was a normal life—a job and a husband and maybe a family one day. But all those things seemed so out of reach. Her own brain had betrayed her, and while the doctors and therapists had assured her that she could live a normal, productive life with bipolar disorder, she suspected them of lying to make her feel better. Or was that just the depressive side of her disorder pulling her down? She couldn’t even trust her own thoughts these days.

  While Marco contacted Ranger headquarters and summoned a wrecker, she walked around to the other side of the car and phoned Sophie. “Hey, I was just on my way back to the apartment,” Sophie said when the call connected. “I thought maybe we could take in a movie or something.”

  “I’m not there.”

  “Where are you?”

  “With Marco. My car broke down and we’re headed over to Ranger headquarters.”

  “What happened? What’s wrong with the car?”

  “Marco thinks someone sabotaged the brakes. We’re okay,” she hastened to add. “The car’s kind of beat up, but we’re fine.”

  “Was Marco with you when it happened?” Sophie asked.

  “Yes. I’m going to stay with him a few days.”

  “With Marco?” Sophie’s surprise was clear.

  “He thinks it will be safer. There was someone watching our apartment earlier.” She didn’t tell Sophie about the package with its implied death threat. Thank goodness Marco had taken it with them. She didn’t want to upset her sister, but also talking about the note made it too real.

  “I’m sure it is safer.” Sophie sounded amused. “That should be interesting. I think he’s attracted to you.”

  She shifted her gaze to Marco. Did all her friends think that he was interested in her? Then, why couldn’t she see it? He stood with his back to her, giving her a great view of his broad shoulders, muscular arms, narrow waist and admittedly perfect backside. He looked like the after photo in the advertisement for a workout program. Physically fit and totally together. The perfect match for a basket case like her—not. “He wants to get Prentice,” she said. “I’m the quickest route to that goal. It’s nothing personal.”

  “I don’t know about that. He’s good at hiding his feelings, but he’s bound to have some, somewhere beneath that stoic facade.”

  “You should consider staying with Rand,” Lauren said. “At least for a few days.” She didn’t want someone coming to the apartment looking for her and finding Sophie there alone.

  “Not a bad idea,” Sophie said.

  “Make him go back to the apartment with you to get your things,” Lauren said.

  “Do you really think it’s that dangerous?”

  She glanced at her destroyed car, the paint scraped from the side in a jagged, violent wound. “Yes,” she said simply.

  Marco tucked his phone back into his pocket and turned toward Lauren. “I have to go,” she said. The last thing she wanted was for him to overhear Sophie’s analysis of his potential as a love interest. “I’ll call you later.”

  “Someone will be here to pick us up in a few minutes,” Marco said once she’d hung up. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes. I was just letting Sophie know what was happening.”

  “Good idea.” He leaned back against the car and scanned the horizon. He had a stillness about him she envied, as if whenever he wanted he could quiet all the busyness and distraction that plagued her.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked.

  “That it would be hard for a sniper to position himself here. The country’s too open.”

  Her knees went weak, and she joined him in leaning against the car. “You think someone might be out there, ready to shoot us?”

  He shook his head. “It’s not a good location.”

  She closed her eyes. This was too real. Someone—probably Richard Prentice—wanted her dead.

  “I’ll feel better when we get out of the open,” he said. “Someone will probably come along soon to see if we crashed—to make sure we’re dead.”

  She swallowed hard. “Can we talk about something else, please?”

  He didn’t take his gaze from the horizon. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “I had six older sisters.”

  “Big family.” She envied him. Sophie was the only family she had. “Do you see them often?”

  “Not really. They live in California.” He fell silent for a moment, then added, “Only four of them are still alive.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry.”

  “One sister died of an overdose. The other disappeared. We don’t know what happened to her.”

  And here she’d thought she was the only one with troubles. “That must be hard,” she said. Not the innocuous conversation she’d hoped for.

  “It is what it is.” He straightened. “Here’s our ride.”

  A Cruiser identical to the one Marco usually drove made a U-turn and pulled in behind Lauren’s disabled car. Montrose County sheriff’s deputy Lance Carpenter, the local representative on the task force, left the vehicle running as he stepped out of the driver’s seat and pushed his Stetson back on his head. “Trying out for the demolition derby?” he asked.

  “Very funny.” Marco shoved the car keys into Lance’s hands. “Give these to the wrecker driver—and make sure nobody touches anything around the brakes until the techs have gone over it.” He took Lauren’s hand and pulled her toward the Cruiser.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Lance asked.

  “I need to get Lauren out of here before whoever cut those brake lines shows up to admire the results of his handiwork.”

  “What am I supposed to do?” Lance asked.

  “Wait here for the wrecker driver.”

  “Should we have left him?” Lauren asked as Marco gunned the engine and they headed toward the park.

  “The wrecker will be there any minute now, and I wasn’t comfortable with you standing around out in the open.”

  “The idea that I have a target on my back doesn’t seem real to me.”

  “The trick is to balance the awareness of danger with the need to keep from panicking.” He glanced at her. “Not easy, I know.”

  “I think I’m glad I got the extra meds.”

  “I want to stop by headquarters and talk to the captain, then we’ll get you settled at my place.”

  “I left my bag in the car.”

  “Lance will bring it.”

  “You seem pretty sure of that. Do you Rangers communicate via ESP or secret code or something?”

  “He’s got my back.” He glanced at her. “Now you’re with me, so he’s got your back, too.”

  His words—and the certainty with which he spoke them, sent a different kind of heat curling through her—part old-fashioned lust and part the unfamiliar warmth of acceptance. Her disease had separated her from others for so long. How ironic that a threat to her life had involved her with a community of friends again.

  Half a dozen Cruisers filled the spaces in front of the task force headquarters building. “Something’s up.” Marco parke
d along the side of the road and was out of the vehicle before Lauren had even unbuckled her seat belt.

  She hurried after him, running to keep up. Inside the building, uniformed officers crowded the small, low-ceilinged rooms. “What’s going on?” Marco asked.

  “You’ll find out as soon as everyone’s here.”

  The captain retreated to his office, shutting the door behind him.

  “Any idea what this is about?” Lieutenant Michael Dance, Abby’s boyfriend, asked.

  Everyone shook their heads. “All I know is, the captain has been on the phone most of the morning,” Carmen Redhorse, an officer with the Colorado Bureau of Investigations, said. “Whatever this is about, he’s not happy.”

  Twenty minutes later, Graham finally emerged from his office and surveyed the room full of officers. “Where’s Lance?”

  “I’m here.” Lauren looked over her shoulder to see the deputy in the doorway. He made his way over to them and handed Lauren her overnight bag, then gave Marco a slip of paper. “The car’s on its way to the impound lot.”

  “Did you take a look at the brake lines?” Marco asked.

  “Yeah. They look cut to me, but we’ll know more when the techs are done.”

  “If I could have your attention.” Graham stood at the front of the room and held up one hand. A hush settled over the crowd. Lauren clenched her hands into fists and fought to keep still; the tension was contagious.

  The captain cleared his throat. “The grand jury has failed to indict Richard Prentice of any of the charges against him,” he said.

  Chapter Four

  Lauren blinked, sure she had heard the captain wrong. He must mean the grand jury had indicted Richard Prentice, right? She turned to Marco, his face the stone mask of an Aztec warrior. “What’s happening?” she asked.

  “Somehow, Prentice managed to get off,” he said.

  “I don’t understand,” she said, still dazed. “He kidnapped me. He held me prisoner. You saw where he was keeping me.”

  “We saw.” Rand’s expression was as grim as everyone else’s. Even Lotte, who stood by his side, looked upset. “We know you’re telling the truth, not just about the kidnapping, but about the other crimes he’s involved in.”

  “At least you believe me,” Lauren said. “The jury obviously didn’t. They believed Richard when he said I was making everything up.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t you,” Marco said. “Maybe it was something else.”

  “They didn’t believe me because they think I’m crazy,” she said. “I’m mentally ill, so of course I must be a liar, too. I made the whole thing up. It was a wild fantasy I concocted just to get attention.” Online columnists and bloggers had already wasted plenty of bandwidth speculating on the reasons for Lauren’s “obsession” with the billionaire. Because of course, why would he ever be obsessed with her? Sure, she was pretty, they said. But she had a history of wild behavior. So of course, her side of the story couldn’t be trusted.

  “Prentice is trying to distract people by making this case about you,” Marco said. “It’s a game he’s playing, but it’s a game he isn’t going to win.”

  “What will you do?” she asked.

  “We’ll have to start over.” Captain Ellison joined them. “We’re going to work the case as if it’s brand-new, reexamining every lead, taking a second look at every bit of evidence. I want everyone focused on this. It’s going to take a lot of long days and hard work, but we’ll build a case the prosecution can’t deny.”

  Around her, heads lifted and shoulders straightened. The anger they’d felt moments earlier transformed into determination to see justice done. Lauren wished their energy was contagious, but she was still reeling from the knowledge that what had happened to her had been so easily dismissed by the twenty-three members of the grand jury. She touched Marco’s arm. “I’ll go now and let you get to work.”

  “Let me go with you,” he said. He pulled keys from his pocket.

  “No, you’re needed here.” She looked around the room. Already, members of the task force were pulling out files and booting up computers, ready to get to work.

  “It’s not safe for you to be alone,” Marco said.

  “I’ll be fine. I’ll call Sophie to come pick me up.” It wasn’t as if she could drive her wrecked car. “Now that he’s swayed the grand jury, Prentice knows I’m no threat.”

  He was going to argue with her, she could tell, but the door burst open and Emma stalked in, the heels of her stilettos striking the tile floor so hard Lauren expected to see sparks. Jaw clenched, eyes blazing, she looked ready to punch someone. “Hello, Emma,” Graham said, as calm as ever. “I take it you heard the news about Richard Prentice.”

  Emma set her bag down on the edge of a desk. “Officially, I’m here to get your statement on this turn of events for my story,” she said. “Unofficially, I need to vent to someone who understands my frustration. How could they do this? How could they ignore all the evidence you had against him?”

  “We’ll never know for sure, but I’m guessing they interpreted everything as circumstantial,” Graham said. “We don’t have fingerprints, tape recordings or any written records, and only one eyewitness.”

  “Whom they don’t consider reliable,” Lauren said. She blocked any protests they might have made. “Don’t deny it. I’m not.”

  “He is doing a smear campaign against you,” Emma said. “My editor sent me a copy of the press release Prentice issued this afternoon.”

  “What does it say?” Michael asked.

  She leaned against the desk and pulled up the press release on her phone. “There’s a bunch of malarkey about justice being done, proves his innocence, blah, blah, blah.” She waved her hand. “But here’s the part about Lauren. ‘It is painful to know my friend Lauren Starling is so ill. I can find no other explanation for why she would attack the one man who truly tried to help her. I hope she will find the help she needs to get well. On her behalf I am making a generous donation toward mental health research.’” She made a face. “Excuse me while I vomit. The man is disgusting.”

  Everyone gathered around Emma to examine the press release and rehash the grand jury’s ruling. Lauren took the opportunity to slip outside, where she texted Sophie to pick her up at Ranger headquarters.

  She slipped the phone back into her purse and walked over to the gazebo at the far end of the parking lot, which offered a view of the canyon that gave the park its name. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison plunged more than twenty-five hundred feet down to the Gunnison River. Sun penetrated the bottom for only a few hours each day, giving the canyon its name. The land around the gorge shimmered in the early August sun, wind rustling the silvery leaves of sage and rattling the dry cones of stunted piñons.

  When Lauren had first arrived here over two months ago the harsh landscape had repelled, even frightened her. She saw nothing beautiful in dry grasses and empty land. The quiet and emptiness of this place made her feel too small and alone.

  But her weeks of captivity had changed her opinion of this place. With nothing to do in the early days of her stay at Prentice’s mansion—before he moved her into the abandoned mine—she’d spent hours staring out at the prairie. She’d learned to appreciate the stillness of the land, which had called forth a similar stillness within her. She began to see beauty in the thousand shades of green and brown in the grasses and trees. Now the emptiness that had once repelled her calmed her.

  The squeal of brakes announced the arrival of a car. Lauren turned to see Sophie’s blue sedan pulling into the lot. She hurried to her sister and slid into the passenger seat.

  “I can’t believe it,” Sophie said before Lauren could speak. “Rand just called and told me Richard Prentice is getting off scot-free.”

  “I guess so.” Lauren buckled her seat belt and leaned back against the headrest.

  “What are we going to do?” Sophie asked.

  Lauren closed her eyes. She was so tired. “Right now, I just want to g
o home,” she said.

  Sophie put the car in gear and backed out of the lot. “Is something wrong?” she asked after a moment. “Are you not feeling well?”

  “I’m okay. I took an extra pill and it’s making me a little sleepy.” She hoped that was all it was. Sometimes lethargy was a sign of depression.

  “Why did you take an extra pill? Should you be doing that?” Sophie’s voice rose in alarm.

  Lauren opened her eyes. “It’s okay. That’s what the doctor said to do.”

  “You talked to your doctor? Why?”

  She knew better than to ignore the question. Sophie wouldn’t let it go. She’d always been like that, never giving in on anything. Lauren should be grateful; Sophie’s refusal to give up on her had led to her coming to Montrose and prodding the Rangers into finding her.

  “I had a minor manic episode this morning. Nothing big, and it’s under control now.”

  “When was this? What happened?”

  “After you and Emma left. After Abby left, too. I think it was just the stress of finding out about my job.” Though her life had been nothing but stress for months now.

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing. I just got a little...giddy. Feeling out of control. Marco was there, and he helped calm me down.”

  “Marco was there?”

  “I called him when I realized someone was watching the apartment.”

  “That must be why he left the café in such a hurry,” Sophie said. “Who was the watcher?”

  “I don’t know. Marco didn’t know him, either, and the man left. But there was something else—something I didn’t tell you before.”

  “What’s that?” Sophie kept her eyes on the road, her expression calm.

  “The guy who was watching delivered a package. Like a gift box, but all it had in it was a dried-up flower and a note.”

  “What did the note say?”

  “It was like one of those memorial cards you sometimes see at funerals, with the words in memory of written on it. It had my name on it.” She shuddered at the memory. “The Rangers are going to look into it, but I doubt they’ll find anything. Someone was trying to scare me.”