~ Chapter Five ~
The Connor Farm
"How is he?" Joe asked from the doorway.
"Better I think," Lily answered from her chair beside the bed. "He's been mumbling in his sleep keeps asking for some girl an Anna B," she told her husband.
"Must just be a dream," her husband replied watching his wife pull the covers up around the young man again.
"You want to sit here a spell while I go warm up some soup for our lunch?" she asked him.
"Yeah all right," Joe agreed waiting for Lily to get up so he could take her place. Sitting down he picked Sumner's hand up in his as Lily walked to the doorway and stopped. Turning she watched her husband for a moment bring the young man's hand to his cheek tears glistening in his eyes murmuring, "It's so good to have you home son."
Shaking her head she turned to make her way to the kitchen to go about heating the soup. She knew that once the young man woke up the story would come out and Joe would have to face the fact he wasn't Andrew, their son hadn't come home. A tear came to her eye over the thought. Not knowing what else to do she finished up her task putting the bowls of soup on a tray and went back upstairs. She had just reached the top stair when she heard Joe holler for her, "Come quick Lily he's awake. Andrew's awake!"
Moving as quick as she could she ran into the room setting the tray on the dresser she approached the bed where Sumner lay his eyes open staring blankly at the couple.
"Andrew, Andrew it's us your mother and father," Joe cried out.
"Land sakes Joe give the boy a minute," Lily scolded, "After all he's been through an ordeal here. Bumped on the head, shot, tied up…"
"I know Lily for God's sake I found him," Joe nattered back.
"Excuse me," Matt interrupted. "But who are you and why am I here?" he asked trying to sit up at the same time the pain of his injuries hitting him hard. "Ahh," he cried out, "What happened?"
"Lay back son you need to rest and get your strength back," Joe cried turning his attention back to Sumner. "We just want you to get well so we can be a family again."
Sumner looked to Joe who was lovingly smiling at him and then past him to Lily's face who stood there unspeaking and much more reserved. "I'm your son?" he cautiously asked.
"What's wrong Andrew don't you recognize us?" Joe answered with a question.
"Come on Joe let the boy rest he's been through a lot," Lily cut in. "I'm sure he'll see things more clearly once he's had a little more sleep."
Reluctantly Joe agreed resting his hand on Sumner's shoulder saying, "Your mother's right son you rest we have plenty of time to talk when you are feeling better."
"All right," Sumner agreed too a cloud of total confusion descending around him. All he could think is that when I wake up hopefully my head will have cleared and this nightmare will be over.
Sydney And Gage's
A couple of hours had passed since Syd had talked to her husband now she sat with Anna B facing the computer going over old police files and newspaper articles finding nothing unusual to report.
Anna B had told her that Hunter and his mother had lived stuck out there on that farm by his grandfather's command. His mother, Jonas Blakes' daughter, had gotten herself pregnant and in his eyes becoming an embarrassment to the family. He had sent her to live out on that farm with her bastard child telling everyone that she had married and was living in Europe.
"Hunter told me that living on that farm cut off from everyone is what killed his mother," Anna B explained. "By the time he was sixteen between the booze and the pills she took, his mother had killed herself. Hunter's grandfather had brought him back to live with him in Dallas fabricating yet another story that his parents had died in a horrible car crash telling him that was the way the story went and if he didn't want to die like his mother he'd stick to it. Hunter knew his grandfather had power and money and he wanted that too so he came to Dallas and never looked back," she finished the tale.
"Any idea who his father is?" Syd questioned.
She shook her head no answering, "I don't even think that Hunter knows for sure." Suddenly her eyes caught the headlines of a newspaper article that had popped up on the screen. "Blake Connors shooting deemed accidental," Anna B read aloud as both she and Sydney began scanning the article.
Syd was taking her turn at reading out the words as she skimmed the screen, "… in a controversial decision today the murder charges against Hunter Blake were dropped and the incident was deemed accidental. What was thought to be a cold calculated murder has been reduced to an accidental shooting of neighbour Andrew Connors.
It seems that over the past few weeks Connors and Blake have had quite a few disputes over vandalism on the Connors' property the accusations coming to a head recently with Blake threatening to kill Andrew Connors.
Connors was found days later at the bottom of the ravine that separates the two farms shot to death. With substantiated testimony from two eye witness it has been established that Blake and his friends were merely out hunting when the unfortunate accident took place," Syd finished to read.
"Anna B can you bring up all the sheriff's reports and the DA's reports on the incident?" Syd was asking pushing herself to her feet to stretch feeling her leg cramping up.
"Yeah… you all right?" Anna B asked watching Syd struggle to get up.
"Fine," Syd moaned adding. "Your turn is coming you know."
"Yeah it is," she tried to smile more to fend off the tears that had begun to threaten again.
Putting her arm around Anna B's shoulder to console her Syd was about to speak when they were interrupted by the sound of breaking glass. "Shh," Syd cautioned motioning Anna B to get down behind the desk un-holstering her gun at the same time.
"Sydney," Anna B cried out in a whisper.
"Shh," Syd cautioned again her eyes telling Anna B to be silent before turning her attention back to where the noise had come from. Going to the doorway she peered out seeing no one, gun in front of her she stepped out going across the hallway to the family room. Once again she cautiously surveyed the room catching sight of the broken glass from the patio door where the intruder had broken in.
"Sydney how nice to see you again," came the voice of Hunter Blake from behind her. "Nice and easy now Sydney put the gun on the floor," he told her.
"Or what?" Syd asked without turning around.
"Or I'll shoot to kill," he threw her words back in her face.
Slowly she lowered her hand to her side letting the gun slip to the floor. That's it Sydney now turn around and face me," he demanded.
Once more she slowly began to move turning to face Blake. "I told you before that I wasn't finished with you," he grinned knowing he was holding all the cards.
"What do you want Hunter?" Syd defiantly asked.
"What do I want? What do I want?" he shouted. "What I've always wanted from the start and you aren't standing in my way anymore," he shouted louder squeezing the trigger and firing the gun.
Same Time At The Blake Farm
"He's walking at the top of the ravine on old man Connors side going towards the flats where there are two more rangers," Sheriff McKay was walking along the bottom of the ravine looking up at Gage as he walked along too. "We have to make this look like an accident I don't want these snoopy rangers suspecting anything. Next thing you know we'll have a whole pack of these rangers up here into our business.
"Relax Jake I have him in my sights, this is going to be a piece of cake," Ted Lyons answered.
"You just make sure that it is because I don't want to face the wrath of Jonas Blake and neither do you if you're smart," McKay snapped breaking the connection looking up at Gage again.
Catching the Sheriff below Gage gave him a simple nod thinking to himself, "I wonder what you're up to?" It was nothing that Gage could put his finger on it was just something about Sheriff McKay that just wasn't sitting right.
Moving away from the edge he reached into his pocket to grab Syd's phone to dial his boss. "Walker any reason I've got the sheriff dogging me here?" he asked hearing Walker's voice on the line.
"Not on my part," Walker answered. "Stay alert Gage I'll double back."
"I think you were right about someone carrying Sumner out of here. There are fresh tractor ruts up here and the tractor was pulling a wagon of some sort," Gage filled him in.
"The way someone kicked the gravel and dirt around it looks like they were trying to make a feeble attempt to conceal the fact anyone had been there," Walker agreed. "Stay put I'll be there shortly," Walker advised him as Gage broke the connection.
Once again Gage's mind went to the sheriff and he walked over to the ravine's edge to see if the man was still tailing him. Looking below he saw no sign of the sheriff the man had just disappeared.
Gazing up and down the ravine below what he did see was that it had gotten considerably deeper and the sides were at right angles making it impossible to climb out for about the next hundred feet or so down. Also the little tiny stream that Gage had stepped over where he had crossed had widened to much more then a tiny trickle. By the looks of it had become quite deep as well. There was a small bank on the other side before you came to the steep rock wall Gage surmising that would have been how the search party had passed this area.
His mind suddenly went back to Sumner and the fact that they were the closest they had been to finding him since his disappearance yet still had nothing. Sighing deeply Gage turned to look in the direction the tractor tracks headed across the pasture only to be smashed in stomach with a heavy tree branch that his attacker was using as a club.
With the wind knocked out of him Gage fell backwards to the ground doubling in pain not able to roll quick enough to fend off another repeated blow as the branch came pummelling down on him more pain shooting through him. The assailant dropped the branch at this point in favour of using his feet to deliver kick after kick into Gage's side driving him closer to the edge of the ravine with each boot.
As the pain blurred his vision Gage grabbed out wildly catching hold of the man's foot able to pull him to the ground. That was only a minor set back the aggressor was up and on Gage in seconds his hands around Gage's throat squeezing tight. Gage grabbed at the hands trying to break the hold all the while feeling himself being pushed back so his head and shoulders hung over the cliff.
"This is where it ends Ranger," the killer shouted bringing his fist back to drive into Gage's face just as the ground began to give way beneath them.
Same Time At the Connor's Farm
Lily and Joe had gone downstairs letting Sumner close his eyes to rest. Coming to the bottom stair Joe put his hand on Lily's shoulder. "He's acting a might peculiar don't you think?" he asked his wife.
"Joe," she cried exasperation in her voice. "If he's not Andrew…"
"It's Andrew Lily you know that it is," his eyes were almost pleading with her to agree with him.
Taking his hand she lead him into the living room and sat him down on the couch. With heavy heart she walked to the fireplace mantle and lifted a gold frame that contained a picture of her real son Andrew Connors. She stared at it a minute tears in her eyes before turning to walk back over to her husband. Holding the picture out to Joe she quietly said, "This is our son Joe not that boy upstairs."
Connors turned away trying to get up until it suddenly hit him what Lily was saying was the truth. Heavily he sat back down burying his head in his hands and wept feeling like he had lost Andrew all over again.
Lily sat down beside him tears in her eyes too as she wrapped her arms around her husband and held him tight.
"He was such a good boy Lily," Joe was crooning.
"I know he was Joe," she quietly whispered unable to stop a tear streaming down her face.
"It just wasn't right what they did to him," Joe lamented further.
"I know Honey, I know," Lily whispered even more softly to leave them both in silence reliving the horrors of that day again.
It seemed as if an eternity passed by in reality it was only a few seconds when they were jarred out of their memories by the desperate shouts of their patient upstairs.
Getting to their feet they rushed back up the stairs taking them as fast as they could Joe rushing into the bedroom first to find Sumner sitting up in bed crying out the name, "Anna B, Anna B," over and over again knowing his wife was in trouble, some how Sydney and Gage too.
TBC.