At the Crossroads (Buckhorn, Montana #3)(36)

He squatted next to him. Blood still oozed from a bullet hole in the man’s side. Who’d shot him? Had to have been Gene. Bobby was struggling to breathe.

“I need to know about Jana.”

Bobby raised his gaze but seemed to be having a hard time staying focused. “I know you were there that night. I saw you coming out of her house after she was allegedly murdered. You saw me, too.”

There was a moment of recognition. When Bobby spoke, his words came out as gasps. “I don’t want to die.”

He wished he could give the man hope, but he figured Bobby knew that even if Culhane called for an ambulance, it would never get here in time. “Do you know where Jana is hiding?”

Bobby swallowed and shook his head, his gaze starting to slide away.

“Bobby, please. Is Jana dead, or did she fake her death?” Another shake of his head. “If she’s alive, who is she running from?” He could see the young man’s lips moving and leaned closer.

He coughed. “Water—”

“I’ll get you some water. Tell me why she would fake her death. It has to be more than a shoplifting arrest.”

Bobby began to wheeze. “Wat—”

Culhane heard the sound of the pickup engine. Earl Ray’s pickup engine. Alexis would reach the other side of the river any moment.

Bobby heard it, too, and for a moment he seemed to brighten. Then his head slumped to the side, his eyes going blank as his face relaxed, the pain gone as he took whatever he knew about Jana with him.

Culhane swore as he saw his chance to clear his name die with the man. He swallowed before gently closing Bobby’s eyes. As he pushed to his feet, he pulled out his phone and called 9-1-1 to tell them where they could find the gray van. Then he turned off his phone again and turned to see Alexis come flying over the rise.

She hit the brakes before coming to a dust-boiling stop on the other side of the river. He couldn’t see her behind the wheel for the sun glinting off the windshield.

Climbing up the embankment, he walked back to the bridge. He suspected she was surprised to see him still there. That made his heart hurt. He’d broken trust with her. He wondered how long it would take to rebuild it and if he had the time.

He could only hope as he headed back across the bridge toward the pickup—and Alexis.



CHAPTER FOURTEEN


BY THE TIME Culhane reached her, Alexis was standing on the bank staring across the river at the wrecked van. He took her in his arms and held her close for a few moments. They couldn’t stay here. He wasn’t sure where to go next. Both Leo and Bobby were dead. For all he knew, so was Jana.

“Are they...”

“Dead,” he said as he released her. “We have to go.”

“You didn’t get to talk to Bobby?” she asked as she followed him to the pickup.

“He was still alive,” Culhane said as he climbed behind the wheel and Alexis slid into the passenger seat and buckled up. “But all he kept asking before he died was for water, even though he was lying by a river full of it,” he said and shook his head.

“I’m sorry.”

He started the engine and turned around to head down the road. “I called 9-1-1 so it shouldn’t be long before the cops arrive.” She nodded as if there was little else to say. They couldn’t be here when the law enforcement arrived—just like back in Buckhorn. He hated being on the run but had been since he’d left Alexis’s warm bed last night.

Time was running out. If he didn’t find evidence to clear himself soon... The part he hated most was involving Alexis. He turned onto the two-lane highway and headed west until he could find a road that headed north. They couldn’t go back to Buckhorn. Not yet.

“I’m worried about what happened back at the café,” she said as if she too had been thinking about it.

He pulled out his phone. Earl Ray’s number came right up. “It’s Culhane. Can you talk?” He turned to her. “He’s at the hospital now with Bessie.”

“Ask him how she is,” Alexis said.

He put the phone on speaker. “How’s Bessie?”

Earl Ray said “She’s doing great. She’s strong. The doctor said she has the constitution of a mule.” They could hear Bessie say something in the background, then Earl Ray laugh.

“Sounds like she’s holding her own.”

“Always. I’ll let you know how it goes,” Earl Ray said. “Also, I still have a few contacts so if you need help, just call me.”

“Thanks.” As he hung up, he felt Alexis’s gaze on him.

“You get the feeling Earl Ray is more than he lets on?”

Culhane chuckled as he pocketed his phone. He drove for a few miles before he said “You understand why I can’t let you turn me over to the cops. If I’m right and Jana is alive, she’s fighting to stay that way. I don’t know what all she’s involved in—just that if she’s alive, it’s dangerous enough to make her do something as drastic as faking her own death. I need you to get out in the next town and walk away from this, from me, until I find out what’s going on. So far you’re not so deeply involved. But if you stay—”

“I’m staying.” He swore under his breath. “You need me.”

“Alex—” The word was a plea and a curse.