Chapter 13

Chase was eager to get back and tell Ana that Giovanni Sardo would be fired the moment he returned from Tucson with the spare parts he’d been sent to pick up for the flatbed. According to Caleb, he’d been a model employee, not causing any trouble, and was a whiz of a mechanic. He’d left that morning for Tucson and was expected back in a few hours.

Maybe Sardo wasn’t there to cause trouble. Maybe they had nothing to worry about. And maybe the gnawing that had started in his belly the moment he’d found out that Sardo was there was due to indigestion and not impending trouble.

Cody leapt on Chase the moment he stepped out of the truck. With his front paws on Chase’s chest, he barked and yipped. “Whoa, buddy.” Chase had to force Cody to the ground with the dog still barking. “What in the world is it?” Chase asked at almost the same moment a sick feeling took hold in his gut.

“Ana!” He ran for the house with Cody beside him, barking all the way. “Ana?” he yelled as he pounded up the steps to the porch and in through the front door. “Ana!”

The house was silent. More than silent. There was an eerie emptiness to it that he’d never felt. “Cody, please!” The continuous barking was starting to wear on Chase’s nerves.

Cody silenced the barks but paced restlessly alongside Chase as he searched the house. “Something’s wrong,” he said as he got a look at the kitchen door standing open, a dishtowel on the floor and water running in the sink.

Cody started barking to beat the band at that point and ran over to Chase to grab the leg of his jeans between his teeth and tug as he backed toward the kitchen door. Chase didn’t know what had gotten into Cody, but now was not the time to try and figure it out.

He turned off the water in the sink, snatched up the phone and called the Circle R. Clay answered, out of breath. “Circle R. Clay Russell speaking.”

“Is Mama C there?” Chase asked.

“No, she’s at your place with Ana.”

“No, she’s not.”

“Well, call again. Maybe they’re tied up with the yoga stuff Ana’s going to teach her.”

“I’m at home, Clay.”

“Oh, well, then I don’t know. She’s not here.”

“Something’s wrong.” Chase’s rising anxiety had him snapping at his brother. “Her car isn’t here, and neither is she nor Ana. And Cody’s got a burr up his butt about something.”

“Hold on,” Clay said and yelled for his brother. “Cole! Dial up Mama C’s cell!” He came back to Chase. “Cole’s calling now. Hold on.”

The wait couldn’t have been more than a minute but to Chase it seemed to take forever until his brother came back on the line, and then it was not with what he wanted to hear. “No answer on her cell.”

“Ride out here. Make sure she didn’t break down along the way. Send Cole to town and have Caleb ride over to Smiley’s and see if maybe she stopped in to visit his wife.”

“What about Dad?” Clay asked.

“What about him?”

“Do I say anything to him?”

“Not yet. Just make sure you all have your cells and keep me updated.”

“You could be overreacting,” Clay pointed out.

“Maybe, but my gut says otherwise.”

“Then I better get moving. Talk to you soon.”

Chase hung up the phone and leaned back against the counter to close his eyes. For the first time in his life, he’d felt content. The last month with Ana had been like a wish come true.

He’d taken to rising with her before dawn to go outside and greet the day, watching Fergi circle and swoop, dancing on the air, and Ana circle and whirl, dancing in the dirt with Cody racing around both of them doing his own brand of dancing.

She worked alongside him, never complaining about the backbreaking work, the heat, the long hours, or having to fix dinner and clean up at the end of the day. And when the night came, she loved him with passion he never thought possible.

If there was a heaven on earth, this was it and it was all because of Ana. She’d found the key to unlocking his heart, and even though he felt a little silly even thinking it, she brought magic to his life. Literally and sometimes quite exotically.

A yip from Cody had him opening his eyes. The dog barked once, sharply, and then walked to the kitchen door, stopped and looked back at Chase. Suddenly something Ana once said came to mind. That night in the pasture, the first time he saw Ana with Fergi and doubted that the hawk talked to her. She’d laughed and told him that of course Fergi talked to her, just like Cody talked to him.

Chase remembered his reply. “He barks, but I’m positive he’s never spoken a word to me.”

Just as he remembered the knowing smile Ana gave him along with her response. “Well, sure he has, Chase. He’s told you lots of things. Like how he really hates that food with the liver flavor, and how he’d rather not go to Charlie’s, because they don’t let him come in the house, and how much he likes Clara because when she comes over, she always brings him treats.”

Chase walked over to Cody. “You know where Ana and Mama C are, boy?”

Cody barked and nudged the door with his nose. “Okay, then show me,” Chase said and pushed the door open.

Cody shot out into the yard, barking wildly, and looking at the sky. Chase looked up, not knowing what he was supposed to see. His eyes widened when a speck in the distance grew steadily larger. It was Fergi.

The hawk swooped down to hand on the porch rail. She chattered and twirped, all the while looking at Cody. When she finished, Cody barked twice and looked at Chase.

“Okay, someone want to let me in on the secret?” he asked.

Cody barked again, at the same time the hawk let out a cry. Chase took off his hat and ran his hand up over his forehead then back across his head. He had to be loco. He could have been out looking for Ana and Clara, but instead, here he was, trying to make sense of the goings-on of a wolf-sired dog and a hawk. If Ana were there she’d laugh.

Chase prayed to all the spirits that she would be there again soon. Because now that he’d found her, he couldn’t imagine life without her.

* * * * *

Ana turned off the road onto the trailhead. She wished she’d been making the drive under less stressful conditions. Aravaipa Canyon was breathtaking with its majestic cliffs and rugged terrain.

Chase had told her something about Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness. Over nineteen thousand acres of unspoiled land in Pinal and Graham Counties, the wilderness housed the eleven-mile-long Aravaipa Canyon along with the surrounding tablelands and nine side canyons. There were supposed to be over two hundred species of birds that lived in the shady cottonwood trees, bighorn sheep and a variety of desert fish in the streams.

You had to have a permit to enter Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness and even at that, only fifty people per day were allowed on the land. Ana could see how advantageous that would be for assuring a visitor’s solitude and minimizing the impact to the environment, but at the moment, she would have welcomed driving into a crowd.

Chase’s family land bordered the Wilderness, and was home to the ghost town, Aravaipa, which was once a mining and ranching settlement. Chase’s own land bordered the ghost town, making Aravaipa the barrier that separated his property from the Circle R. According to Chase the town once had a post office, a pool hall, a store and even a school. Initially it was known as Dunlap, after a local rancher, but when it was discovered that there was already a post office with that name, the town was renamed after the Aravaipa Indians.

All that was left now were a few buildings. Ana looked around as Giovanni directed her to pull the car behind one of the decaying structures.

“Okay, now what?” Ana asked as Giovanni climbed out of the back and jerked her door open.

“Now we go inside,” he said as he snatched the keys from her.

“Giovanni, please, just let Clara go home.” Ana didn’t budge. “She has no part in this.”

“Not so,” he said with a wicked smile. “See, I figure the old bat’s worth something to the Russells. And if rumors hold, you’re worth something to the half-breed.”

“No one is going to pay you anything,” Ana argued.

“You better hope you’re wrong.” Giovanni took a step closer to her, running the barrel of the gun from her chin to her breastbone.

Ana wanted to argue, to fight, to do something, but the glint in Giovanni’s eyes convinced her otherwise. She had never seen him like this, and it did scare her. There was a bloodlust raging inside him. Had it been from mere anger at her, perhaps he could have been reasoned with, but what she saw went way beyond anger. Giovanni had tasted blood, so to speak, and he liked it. Which made him the most dangerous of all predators.

“Come on, Clara.” Ana held out her hand to the older woman. Together they entered the building.

Light shafted through rents in the roof, their feet kicking up dust that hung in the still air, clouding the light with floating particles. Ana said a quick spell charm to ensure that they weren’t bitten or stung by poisonous insects or snakes.

She saw coils of rope lying against the far wall and turned to face Giovanni as he entered. He sneered at her and motioned her over to the ropes with his handgun. “Tie up the old woman.”

Ana thought about arguing but decided against it. Their best bet was to go along with him and wait for Fergi and Cody to figure out a way to lead Chase to them. She had no doubt that Chase would come.

As she bound Clara’s hands and feet, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had brought this situation down on them with her own deceit. She and Clara had been planning on coming up with something to get Charlie Russell and Chase together. They’d discussed faking falls or illnesses and even kidnapping and had planned to act out a deceit this very day.

Had the energy of her thoughts acted against her to put her and Clara in real peril? She hoped not. And as Giovanni started to tie her up, tightening the ropes around her wrists so they cut into the skin, she hoped Chase would come soon.

* * * * *

Chase parked behind the main house at the Circle R and entered through the kitchen. It was a somber group that met his sight. His three brothers, his father, the ranch foreman Ned, Smiley and his wife, and Jason were all sitting at the table. Along with Giovanni Sardo.

“Get the fuck out of this house!” Chase barked at Giovanni.

Giovanni looked from Chase to the people at the table then back at Chase. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Get the fuck out of this house and off this land. In fact, get the fuck out of Arizona.”

“Now, Chase,” Jason said in a placating tone as he started to stand.

“Shut up,” Chase snapped at Jason. “And you.” He pointed his finger at Giovanni. “You better be getting out of that chair or I’m going to pick your scrawny ass up and throw you out.”

“I fail to see what you have against me,” Giovanni said calmly. “In fact, it should be me who is angry. After all, you are fucking my wife.”

“You sorry—” Chase launched himself at Giovanni, only to be stopped by all three of his brothers who grabbed hold of him while Charlie got to his feet.

“Time for you to calm down,” Charlie boomed at Chase. “I mean it, Chase. Either sit your ass down or get out.”

Chase looked from his father to Giovanni, who wore a satisfied sneer on his face.

He’d charmed them. That explained it. Ana said he was a witch. “He’s responsible for Clara and Ana being missing and you’re sitting here having fucking coffee with him?” Chase exclaimed.

“He’s not responsible for anything,” Charlie said in a lower tone. “Chase, listen to me. Sardo came here to present his wife with divorce papers, not try to get her back.”

“That’s a lie.” Chase was not having any part of the story.

“Show him.” Charlie tossed the words over his shoulder at Giovanni, who pulled a fat envelope from his shirt pocket and slid it across the table.

Charlie took the document from the envelope and held it up in front of Chase’s face. “You see?”

Chase could see what it was, but he still wasn’t buying it. Ana had told him that Giovanni was not to be trusted and he believed her.

“What I see is a scumbag who’s pulled a fast one on you, Charlie.”

“No one pulls anything on me, boy.” Charlie got his hackles up immediately and took a step toward Chase. “And you best simmer down.”

Chase saw the satisfied gleam in Giovanni Sardo’s eyes and knew that at the moment he was outgunned. The only thing he could do was change tactics. “Let go of me.” He shook his arms against the hold Clay and Cole had on him. “Now.”

“Let him go,” Charlie said when the twins looked at him.

They released him and Chase walked over to pour himself a cup of coffee. “Any news?” he asked Jason when he turned back around.

“Nothing,” Jason answered. “I’ve put out an APB on the car, but so far no one’s spotted it. None of Clara’s friends have a clue where she could be, and there’s been no sign of Ana anywhere in the county. And before you ask, we’ve questioned Sardo, here. He returned with the parts and the man at the shop in Tucson remembered him being there, so there’s no way he could have been involved. It’s like Charlie said. He’s just here to get those divorce papers signed. And personally, buddy, I’d think that would be just fine with you because as soon as Ana signs, she’s a free woman.”

Chase grunted, took a sip of coffee then set the cup on the table. “I’m going back out.”

“Give it a rest,” Clay suggested. “Jason said he’ll call in the state boys if they don’t turn up by morning, and in the meantime every officer in three counties is out looking for them. They’ll turn up.”

“You willing to bet their lives on that?” he asked and looked around the room. What he saw was that there would be no support for him there. Whatever Sardo had done, his family now was useless to him. “Well?” He directed the last question toward his father. “Is that all Clara means to you?”

For the first time in Chase’s life, his father looked away. “Fine,” Chase said and turned for the door. “I’ll do it alone.”

He stomped out of the house and to his truck. Almost his entire life, he’d tried to distance himself from his family, from his father. But always he’d known that he had the strength of the family behind him if push came to shove. For the first time, he was completely alone and that cut him deeper than he’d ever imagined it could.

But family or no, he wasn’t going to stop looking until he found Ana and Clara. And god help the man if harm had been done to them, because there was no way Chase would let him live.

* * * * *

“I can’t get them to loosen,” Clara complained, still struggling against the ropes that bound her wrists behind her back. “Ana? Ana?”

“I’m still here,” Ana answered from across the room.

Giovanni had tied them up on opposite sides of the room, lashing their hands behind their backs, their ankles together and looping a noose around each of their necks that was tied off to a ceiling beam. If they tried to get to one another the noose would tighten.

Once that was accomplished, he’d clubbed Ana over the head, knocking her unconscious. When she woke there was a circle drawn around her on the floor, and one around Clara. Between them were thousands of scorpions. She knew what he’d done. He’d imprisoned her with magic. She didn’t know what kind of spell he’d used, but she was sure that it wouldn’t be pleasant should she try to breach the circle. The scorpions were obviously under his control so reasoning with them would probably be useless.

And she had no strength for that at the moment, anyway. The knock on the head had her still feeling a little disoriented and blood from the wound had streamed down her face, filling her left eye, and making it difficult to see.

“I’m starting to get scared,” Clara admitted.

“It will be fine,” Ana promised even though she was not in the least sure of it. She knew Fergi had followed them and had half expected Chase to find them before nightfall. That hadn’t happened, which meant one of two things. Either Cody and Fergi had been unable to communicate with Chase and get him to follow Fergi, or Giovanni had done something to prevent Chase from coming after them. She called on the power of every good force in the universe to let it be the former rather than the latter.

As if in answer to her prayer, she was seized with a powerful awareness. She felt Chase’s frustration, anger, and fear, and knew that against all obstacles and despite all odds and opposition, he would not give up until he found them. Even in this dark place, imprisoned by Giovanni’s evil, she felt Chase’s love and it filled her with the hope she needed.

“Chase will find us,” she said softly.

“How can you be so sure?”

“How can you not?” Ana asked.

Clara didn’t reply and Ana turned her mind to how to undo Giovanni’s spell. It took more effort than she imagined inducing a trance state, and far more time than it ever had. But at last, she felt the bonds of reality melt away. And then she was flying.

The land passing by beneath her was beautiful but unfamiliar. She did not know her direction. “Fergi, help me,” she pleaded. “Guide me to you.”

A ribbon of glowing amber appeared before her, and she followed it, moving faster and faster until the earth below was a blur of motion. Then she saw Fergi. Or at least her astral form, soaring toward her, with majestic wings stretched wide.

Ana’s forward momentum slowed to a gradual stop and then she was floating, with Fergi hovering before her. “Giovanni cast a binding spell, preventing me from escaping,” she told the hawk. “I’m working to undo it, but time is running out. Clara has been without water for more than a day and I’m afraid that another day in the heat will kill her.”

Fergi’s voice in her mind let her know that the situation was even more severe than she realized. Not only had Giovanni bound her magically, but he had cast a spell over Chase’s family, making sure that none of them thought to search for her and Ana at the ghost town. He had gotten them to believe that he was only there to serve her with divorce papers and now even had them thinking that she was only there to try and swindle Chase out of his inheritance.

“But how?” Ana asked. “Giovanni’s powers were virtually nonexistent before. How is he suddenly so powerful?”

The answer was enough to bring self-hatred flooding to the forefront of Ana’s mind. When she had collapsed the house on him, the cornerstone of the foundation had cracked, and something old and evil that had been imprisoned long ago beneath the old foundation was released. Incorporeal, it needed a host body, and found a willing one in Giovanni Sardo. Its powers became his, and he became the unwitting vessel for a being that had lost all touch with the Light.

Giovanni and the being were becoming more integrated with each passing day. If the being was not banished, and very soon, the incorporation would become complete and then it would take far more power than she and Fergi combined possessed to stop it.

“But does Giovanni know?” She hoped he didn’t. That he was as much a victim as she and Clara. Fergi’s answer shattered that hope. Not only was he aware of it, but he was also enjoying it. The being gave him free rein to do as he wanted. Its only demand was for pain and blood. It thrived on the agony of others, and Giovanni was more than willing to feed that hunger.

“Where did you get all this information?” Ana didn’t doubt Fergi, but if there was someone or something else out there that could help, she wanted to know who and how to enlist their aid.

“My grandfather?” Ana asked in complete surprise. “But he crossed over years ago.”

“Most roads run two directions, Little Cat.”

The soft gentle voice preceded a feeling of warmth and love that enveloped Ana in a cocoon she wanted to burrow deep into and hide. “This is the time for courage,” her grandfather’s voice spoke in her mind.

“And how do I fight this evil?” she asked.

“By enlisting the help of those who are imprisoned on this plane.”

“What?”

“Wake and look around you, Little Cat. This place is inhabited by souls who could not make the crossing until their debts were paid. Allow them the chance to clean their spirits and move to the next life.”

“And how do I go about doing that?” she asked.

“Believe.” His final word echoed in her mind as she was suddenly back inside her body in the dark shanty with ropes cutting into her flesh and the sound of Clara’s soft crying breaking the silence of the night.

Ana sent a call to Fergi, hoping the link was still strong enough for her plea to get through. She would do whatever she could to set the stage for the battle, but unless Fergi was able to get the message through to Chase, they might all end up being trapped in limbo.

* * * * *

Chase felt old, tired, and defeated when he climbed out of his truck. Cody ran up to him and leaned against his leg, silent for the first time in two days. Chase leaned back against the truck and stroked the dog’s head.

Everyone from the local to state police had been looking for Ana and Clara for nearly forty-eight hours and so far, they were no closer to finding them than they’d been in the first few hours. And he knew that was a bad sign.

He’d just returned from another visit to the Circle R, where he’d found his father and Giovanni Sardo in his father’s study, drinking bourbon and smoking cigars, as if they were lifelong friends.

Charlie announced that he had offered a reward for the safe return of Clara Mahoney in the amount of one million dollars. When Chase asked about a reward for Ana, Charlie just snorted and said the world would be better off without gold-digging whores like Ana Stillwater.

Giovanni had merely sneered at Chase and agreed. Chase had to make himself turn and walk away. It was clear to him that Ana was right. Giovanni had to be a witch. There was no other way to explain how easily he’d gotten Charlie and the rest of his family to accept his lies.

The problem was, Chase had no idea how to battle a witch. “Come on,” he said to Cody. “I need a couple of hours’ sleep, and then I’ll go back out and search again.”

He’d almost reached the steps to the porch when a shrill cry made him stop and look up. Fergi dove from the dark sky to perch on the porch rail. “Please tell me you know where she is,” Chase said wearily.

Fergi actually nodded her head. Chase took a step closer and tentatively reached out his hand toward the bird. He didn’t know how she would react, but he was overwhelmed with the sudden certainty that if he could touch her, he could learn Ana’s whereabouts.

She was motionless as his hand gently settled on her broad head. Her eyes angled up to lock with his and suddenly Chase felt himself freefalling into nothingness.

Abruptly his vision returned, but that brought little but confusion and a strong measure of fear. Where was he? And how did he get so high above the ground?

“Don’t you recognize this place, primate?” a rather sharp, but decidedly feminine voice sounded in his mind.

Chase suddenly did recognize the place. Aravaipa ghost town. He looked around and saw a semi-translucent Fergi flying beside him. “Am I dead?” he asked.

A laugh sounded in his mind. “Silly primate. Of course not.”

“Why do you call me primate?”

“Why do you call me bird?”

“Oh, I see your point, Fergi.”

She laughed shortly then her voice became serious. “Using our combined energy, Ana and I have made it possible for you to separate from your body. A human term for it is astral travel. Your body remains safely on your front porch with Cody guarding us. But that is unimportant. Giovanni Sardo has Ana and Clara tied up in that building to your left. They’ve been without food and water for two days and Ana fears for Clara’s life.”

“Can’t she use her magic to free them?”

“Giovanni has cast a spell. Ana and Clara are protected for the moment, each inside a magic circle. Outside the circle are Giovanni’s guards. Scorpions. Should Ana break the circle, she would be overrun by them and dead before she could free herself and save Clara.”

“Then I have to go get them.”

“Yes, but first we have to make Giovanni think you are close to finding them.”

“Why?”

“To force his hand.”

“What do you mean? Wouldn’t that just put them in more danger? If he thinks I’ll find them and expose him then he might—”

“Try to kill them. Yes.”

Chase was dead set against it and said as much. “You can’t expect me to sit on my hands and do nothing while that bastard goes back there to finish her off.”

“We most certainly do not expect that. But once he leaves the Circle R, his power over your family will be weak. We must first undo the spell he has cast, then we can go for Ana and Clara.”

“But how do we know he won’t kill them before we get there?”

“We do not. But Ana is not alone. There are others there who may offer aid.”

“Others?”

“What you humans call ghosts.”

Chase wondered if maybe he hadn’t just gone off the deep end. There was no way he was doing astral travel with a hawk, having a conversation about ending a spell on his family and fighting an evil witch with the help of ghosts.

“They prefer the term spirit,” Fergi said. “And yes, this is real.”

“And you think she has a fighting chance?” he asked.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“Your love.”

“What?”

“Ana will need the strength of your love if she is to battle the evil that has taken root inside Giovanni Sardo. It is a spirit of hate and thrives on the pain and agony of others. It lives to kill.”

“I have to go to her now, Fergi! I can’t leave her to face that alone.”

“As I have said. She is not alone. The spirits of those left behind due to unpaid karmic debt will be offered a chance to free themselves with their aid. And there is another who will stand beside her.”

“You?”

“Yes, but someone other than me. Her grandfather watches over her.”

Chase didn’t want to agree, but something told him that if he didn’t, Ana and Clara didn’t stand a chance. “Okay, so what do we have to do to end the spell Sardo has on my family?”

“First we return.”

Instantaneously Chase was standing on his porch with his hand on Fergi’s head. “What now?” he asked.

“To the Circle R,” Fergi’s voice was clear in his mind.

Chase ran for his truck. As soon as he opened the door, Cody leapt inside. “You didn’t think you were going to leave me behind, did you?”

Chase gaped at the dog, whose deep baritone voice rang clear in his mind. “This is too weird.”

“Worry about weird later. Right now, put the pedal to the metal.”

Chase cut Cody a look. “The pedal to the metal?” Maybe he wasn’t insane, and maybe all this was really happening, but one thing was for certain, it wasn’t the world he was familiar with.