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Gardening columnist Jillian Bradley and her faithful Yorkie Teddy attempt to solve the mystery of an amnesia victim, but they get much more than they bargain for. Murders in a remote farming community, a mysterious compound, and family secrets create the ultimate test for Jillian and Teddy's survival.
CHAPTER ONE
The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin. Proverbs 20:12 NIV
Madison looked about nervously toward the back of the house. She hoped and prayed no one would notice their departure. Satisfied they were still safe, she peered at her companion, so handsome with his neatly cropped auburn hair and soft brown eyes. So vulnerable.
“Listen to me,” she said. “We’ve got to get out! If we don’t go right now we may never have another chance.”
Her long blond hair whipped back and forth as she surveyed the house, then she turned her gaze on him.
“All right, I’m coming.” He crept forward. “But why do we have to leave like this without telling anyone?”
Madison’s heart began to beat faster as she motioned for him to be quiet.
He followed her. Together, they walked quickly to the end of the long garage and raised the wide door.
The car was still there. She bent down and checked the back tire. The dry leaf she had placed in front of the tire a week before lay undisturbed. The car had not been driven.
As she stood up, she thought about the terrible risk she was about to take, and a chill ran down her spine. She looked into his questioning eyes.
“You have to trust me,” she said.
Madison pulled the tarp off the small compact and got in the driver’s seat.
“Come on! Get in the car.”
The keys were still in the place where she’d found them. Someone had hung them out of sight. She had checked the car out with a flashlight the week before after she learned the circumstances.
“No, don’t think about that now,” she told herself. “Just get him away from here.”
Madison unlocked the passenger door from the inside, and the young man got in.
He fastened his seat belt.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Madison? It’s going to be dark soon.”
“Just hang on!” She started the ignition and headed for the road that ran behind the property. The side road was her little secret. The road led back down the hill. Until two weeks ago, she’d never known the secondary road existed.
Madison glanced in her side mirror to check the house one last time.
Suddenly, two men ran out through the back door. Fear gripped her once again.
The older man yelled at them. “Hey, stop! Where do you think you’re going?”
The other shouted, “Come back, you two!”
Madison floored the accelerator and didn’t bother to look back. They flew down the winding narrow road. The young man turned around.
“Madison, they’re following us. What’s wrong? You’re scaring me! What have you done? I’ve changed my mind. We can’t do this. You need to stop right now. I’ll tell them something so you won’t get in trouble. Just take me back.”
“No, I can’t. You don’t understand. You can’t go back there.” She glanced in the rear view mirror.
The men had gained on the fleeing couple. Both cars sped up.
When the road ended at the back of the old feed barn, Madison knew exactly where she was. Main Street was only a block away. If she drove down the next alleyway, the shortcut would give her an advantage in the chase. She made a left on Main, which took her through the outskirts of the small town, and made a right turn onto Benito Canyon Road. A long winding stretch bordered the expanse on one side with oak forests and thick undergrowth. On the other, a deep narrow gorge held a creek bed.
The gorge was filled with a heavy undergrowth of wild grasses and trees which lined the banks of the trickling creek. Willows, buckeyes, and sycamores were home to wild turkeys and deer. Hawks made their homes in the branches. The creek provided water for them all. The deer usually waited until dusk when they felt safe before they emerged from their hidden shelters to feed, but on occasion, hunger made them venture out earlier in the afternoon.
A doe, followed by her fawn, spotted a particular strip of grass which lay across the road on the hill above the gorge. The doe stepped out on the road at the exact moment Madison glanced in her rear view mirror and checked the car in pursuit. The young man turned to look as well.
The men were gaining fast.
Before she could swerve to avoid impact, in a split second, Madison’s car hit the doe and killed it as the frightened fawn ran back into the undergrowth. She screamed as their car flew into the air and careened into the gorge. After it rolled over several times, they finally came to rest in front of a large boulder.
Madison slumped over the steering wheel as blood trickled from her face, her body grotesquely contorted. She searched with one open eye for her young man. He lay on the ground outside the car, still.
A sound from above caused her to cast a painful glance up to where their car had gone off the road.
The two pursuers got out and stared down at the crash.
Suddenly, the men turned and got back in their car and drove away. As blackness engulfed her, Madison had only one thought.
They would not be rescued.
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