Final Encore (27 page)

east barn, and just for a split second, he saw Buck with

a basebal bat in his hand about to swing. Before he

could speak, he felt a blow against his head and

everything went black.

AT TEN forty-five a.m., Todd came to a stop in front

of Ian’s townhouse. The plantation shutters were al

closed and the house was in darkness. Todd discreetly

parked his car in front of the neighbor’s house and

waited for Bily to arrive. He hadn’t slept at al worrying

about the day’s outcome. He kept teling himself that,

either way, the truth would come out, and that was al

that realy mattered.

As he waited he relived the cal from Bily. He

had sounded so desperate, but al Todd could think

about was how al these years he’d thought Ian had

abandoned him for money, and that hurt so much, but

that was nothing compared to Ian thinking that Todd

had accused him of rape and was going to testify

against him if he didn’t leave town. At least I got to

finish colege and keep my family, no matter how awful

they were, Todd thought. Ian was forced out of town

with no education and no money. Todd couldn’t

imagine what Ian must have gone through.

When Todd looked at his watch, he realized he’d

been sitting there for over an hour. He tried caling the

cel phone number Bily had given him, but there was no

answer.

What have I gotten myself into?
he thought.

Now what do I do?

He waited about fifteen more minutes, tried caling

Bily one more time, and made his decision. Todd

walked up the stairs leading to the front door and stood

there for a minute, frozen. He wiled his arm to reach for

the door knocker. When his hand landed on the

knocker, he only hesitated a second and then slammed

it against the door, over and over.

“THIS better be important,” Ian muttered as he opened

the door, ready to snarl angrily at the noisy intruder.

His emotion quickly changed from anger to shock

and then just as quickly to rage as he recognized the

visitor. Al the hurt Ian had buried eight years ago

instantly rushed to the surface, as fresh and fervent as it

had been the day he’d left South Carolina forever.

“What the hel are you doing here?” he hissed.

As the man started to open his mouth to speak,

Ian felt his body tighten, and he involuntarily clenched

his hand into a tight fist and lifted his muscular arm to

strike the intruder from his past. Taken off guard, Todd

put his arms in front of his face, protecting himself from

the damage Ian’s blow would surely deliver.

“Ian, don’t,” he yeled. “Bily sent me! Hear me

out, Ian, and then if you stil want to beat me senseless,

we’l give it a go.”

Ian stared into Todd’s eyes, unsure of what to do

next. Should he just beat the man to a pulp now or

listen to what he had to say and then beat the hel out of

him? Exhausted from the emotions of the last two days,

Ian relaxed his fists, dropped his arm, and stepped

aside as Todd Slocum entered his home.

As Ian closed the door, he said, “Say what you

have to say and get out. And furthermore, what does

Bily have to do with this?”

“He asked me to come,” Todd said. “He loves

you.”

“Yeah, wel,” Ian said. “After what you did to me

eight years ago, I can’t love anyone ever again, so you

can thank yourself for whatever I’ve become.”

Crushed, Todd whispered, “Ian, my parents

played us both.”

“What are you talking about?” Ian barked back.

“Ian, they told me you said you never cared for

me and accepted twenty thousand dolars to get out of

town, and now because of Bily, I know they told you I

accused you of rape. Ian,” Todd said with tears in his

eyes. “They played us, man, both of us. I loved you,

Ian. I could have never accused you of rape, but they

spent hours convincing me that you sold me out for

twenty grand, and after al, you did leave town.”

Shaking his head like he wasn’t hearing correctly,

Ian stood there chiled to the bone. He finaly muttered,

“Yeah, I left town. I had to. They told me if I didn’t,

they would have me arrested for rape, and that you

were prepared to testify against me.”

Todd moved to Ian’s side and took his hand. “I

know, man, I know. They lied to both of us.”

Tears began to run down Ian’s cheeks. He puled

Todd into an embrace and said, “I loved you too,

Todd. I would never have left you for any amount of

money.”

Todd and Ian looked at each other, and for the

first time in over eight years, held each other tight.

When they broke the embrace, they sat down and

talked for almost two hours. Todd told Ian about his

relationship with his parents, how they’d died, his

career path, and his relationship back home. Ian shared

the pain and loneliness he’d felt at the abandonment of

his parents, the road to rebuilding his life, about Jean

and Jules, and of course, Bily.

“Bily?” Ian said. “Oh my God, I need to talk to

Bily.”

BILLY woke up with the worst headache he had ever

experienced in his life. He was lying on a bunk bed with

his hands tied over his head and his feet secured to the

rails at the foot of the bed. He could feel what he

assumed was blood running down his face and neck

and he didn’t know where he was or how he’d gotten

there. The last thing he remembered was going out to

the ranch to help Buck. “Buck.” Then he remembered.

Buck had struck him with a basebal bat at the barn.

As his eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light, he

saw split rails neatly stacked on one side of the room

and rols of barbed wire on the other, and suddenly, he

realized where he was. He was in the old cabin on the

ranch they used to store supplies for repairing the many

miles of fence surrounding the property. After blinking a

few times and scanning the room for any chance of

escape, he realized he was not alone in the cabin. There

was another bed across the room, and there was a

woman tied to that bed as wel. His mind was stil

foggy, but he knew he recognized the woman, though

for the life of him, he didn’t know from where.

Suddenly it hit him. The unconscious woman tied

to the bed next to him was Tina Roth, the woman he’d

competed against at the open mic night and Buck’s

girlfriend.

“Tina,” he whispered. She didn’t move.

“Tina,” he said a little louder. Stil no response.

“
Tina
,” he yeled, and she began to moan. Her

face appeared to be badly bruised, and she had a black

eye.

She was moaning more loudly now and

attempting to move. When she realized her hands and

feet were tied to the bed, she began to panic and

struggled to get free.

“Tina,” Bily said. “Calm down, you can’t get

loose.”

“Who are you?” she screamed. “Help me.”

“Tina, it’s Bily Eagan. I used to work at the Lazy

H ranch, and we competed at the open mic night at

Jean’s, remember?”

“Oh, Bily,” she pleaded. “Help me. Buck’s

crazy. He beat me up last night because I tried to leave

him. He said if I tried to leave again that he would kil

me.”

“Calm down, Tina,” Bily said. “I’m going to get

us out of this.”

Bily thought for a moment. “I understand why he

thinks he should be angry at you, but how am I involved

in this?” he asked.

“He hates you, Bily. Because you’re gay, for

taking the foreman job at the ranch away from him, and

for destroying my big break at Jean’s. He has it in his

mind that I would have won the open mic contest and I

would have become a huge singing star if it wasn’t for

you. Bily, he’s lost it.”

Tina looked down and said, “I never wanted to

sing for a living, but Buck said I was realy good and

one day I would be discovered, make us rich and we

wouldn’t have to worry about anything ever again. I

know I have limited talent. I guess I went along with it

because I loved him. People tried to warn me about

him. They told me he saw me as his way out, his meal

ticket, but I didn’t believe them. I trusted him. Bily, I’m

so stupid,” she whispered.

“You loved him, Tina. Love is not stupid,” he

said.

“Bily, there’s one more thing you should know.”

“What?”

“Buck confessed last night that he was in the

woods the day your boyfriend was hurt. He folowed

you guys up the mountain and saw you when you

stopped for lunch. He said he was so appaled at what

he saw he went back down the mountain and waited by

the stream. When your friend entered the stream, he

launched a rock at the horse and spooked her. He told

me if I ever told anyone, he would say I was in on it.

Bily, I’m so scared. What’s he going to do with us?”

“Tina, I have no idea what his plans are, but I’m

going to get us out of here.”

Just then the cabin door opened and Buck

walked in. “Look who’s awake,” he said with a smirk.

IAN grabbed the cordless phone from the cradle and

quickly dialed Bily’s number.

He had so many things to say. He needed Bily.

He wanted Bily. He was so sorry not to have trusted in

their love. The phone rang once and then went

immediately to voice mail.

“Bily, it’s Ian. Please cal me. Todd’s here.

Please forgive me, I was so wrong. I’m so sorry. I love

you. Please cal me back.”

Ian put the phone back in the cradle and looked

at Todd. He hung his head.

“What if it’s too late? What if he’s already put me

out of his mind? What if he’s gone to New Orleans

without me? I’ve got to find him.”

Ian ran upstairs and put on a pair of jeans, a T-

shirt, and some sneakers. He ran back downstairs and

looked franticaly for his car keys.

Todd thought he looked like a mad man. “Wait,”

Todd said. “You’re not driving like this. I’l take you,

and we’l find Bily together.”

Ian grabbed Todd and put his arms around his

neck, then quickly guided his shoulders toward the

door.

“Where do we start looking?” Todd said.

“His apartment downtown is as good a place as

any,” Ian replied.

Todd drove as fast as he could, most of the time

over the speed limit but not too much over to draw

attention. They arrived at Bily’s apartment in just under

an hour. When they puled into the parking lot, even

before Todd could bring the car to a stop, Ian jumped

out. He ran up the stairs and used his key to open the

front door. “Bily,” he shouted.

Bily wasn’t there. His half-packed suitcase was

on the floor next to the bed, so Ian knew he hadn’t left

for New Orleans yet.

Ian banged the palm of his hand against his

forehead over and over. “Think, Ian, think. Where

would he go?” Then it hit him. “Jean and Jules, or

maybe Josh,” he said under his breath.

He opened his phone and caled Jean’s cel

phone. She answered on the first ring. “Ian?”

“Jean, is Bily with you?”

“No, honey, he’s headed to the ranch. Jules and I

were just finishing up dinner and Jules got a message

from Bily saying that the smoke alarms were going off

at the ranch and he was heading out there to help Buck.

We’re on our way there too. Is everything okay?” Jean

asked.

“Buck? Why would he help Buck? That guy hates

him.”

“Ian, I agree, honey, but we’l figure it out when