At the Crossroads (Buckhorn, Montana #3)(55)

He just hoped that Alexis did what he’d asked her as Jana turned down an alley ahead as if doubling back toward the motel. He’d never been able to understand the woman, and now was no exception. Why had she been watching the motel?

Around another corner, down an alley, and he saw her ahead. But it was what he heard that had him concerned. Tires spinning out on pavement. Someone was chasing them in a vehicle. Jana hadn’t come alone, apparently.

ALEXIS SAW CULHANE nearly get run down on the busy street and knew she had to do something. She quickly threw her things into her bag, grabbed the truck keys Culhane had left on the small table and headed for the pickup.

As she climbed behind the wheel, she could see the course the two seemed to be taking. That wasn’t all she saw. A large black SUV was also chasing them, trying to second-guess where they were headed. She saw the vehicle race up the street and come to a screeching halt. Both doors flew open, and Furu and Cline jumped out and took off down an alley.

Shifting the pickup into gear, Alexis drove quickly to the abandoned SUV: the engine was still running. Pulling up behind it, she grabbed the Swiss Army knife her father had given her for Christmas when she was ten from her bag and jumped out.

“What you are doing is highly illegal,” she said as she opened the knife and jabbed the blade into one tire, then another, before getting back into the pickup.

She’d seen the direction Culhane had been headed. Now she drove in a wide circle around the blocks as she tried to catch sight of Jana. She had her window down, thinking she might hear something as she passed one alleyway after another. The sound of a gunshot startled her because it was so close by.

Another shot rang out. Alexis stopped short and jumped out, this time with her weapon, although she knew that if she used it against either deputy she’d be more than breaking the law. It didn’t matter that they were dirty. Or that they were trying to kill Jana and Culhane as well.

But it wasn’t the deputies who came flying out of the alley. It was Jana. She ran to a small vehicle parked at the curb and jumped into the passenger seat as it sped away. Alexis got the license-plate number but little else before Culhane came limping out of the alley not a minute behind her.

“How badly are you hit?” she cried as she rushed to him.

“It’s not from a bullet,” he said, sounding as if in pain, as she helped him into the passenger side of the pickup and quickly jumped behind the wheel and took off. “It was a splinter from a wooden door frame. Cline always was a lousy shot. But he’s death on door frames.”

In her rearview mirror she saw the two deputies come out of the alley and onto the main street—and notice their flat tires.

Fortunately, she and Culhane were too far away for them to shoot.

It wasn’t until she’d put distance between them and the deputies that she looked over at Culhane. He was pulling up his jeans and wriggling out of his boot.

For a moment all she saw was blood. She must have made a sound because he said, “It’s just a flesh wound. I thought I told you to stay in the room?”

“You’re welcome,” she replied.

“Thanks.” He smiled and reached over to place a hand on her thigh for a moment before looking in his side mirror.

“They won’t be coming after us for a while,” she said. “I slashed a couple of their tires.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him grin.

“What would I do without you?”

She hoped he never had to find out as she felt a flutter in her stomach and kept driving.

“YOU HAD THEM BOTH?” Sheriff Garwood demanded of the two deputies standing in front of his desk. He’d seen the way they’d come into his office and closed the door and known that they’d blown it. “Obviously not.”

“We were so close,” Cline said. “We followed Jana to this motel.”

“Why didn’t you bust her there?” Garwood demanded.

“She wasn’t staying there,” Furu said. “She was across the street watching it.”

“Because Culhane was staying there,” Cline said excitedly. “When he saw her and started chasing her, we thought we’d bag them both. I wounded him.” The deputy sounded proud of himself. “I could have finished him off, but Alexis showed up, and he got away. But we were that close.”

The man actually thought he got points for getting close. “This isn’t horseshoes, Terry,” he said with a curse and looked at Furu. “Now what?”

The deputy seemed to consider that. “The way I see it, we have several problems. I don’t know if you’ve been following the news out of Buckhorn, but some law enforcement has been questioning why a man wanted for murder would stick around to save a hostage.”

Willy groaned. “That damned Culhane. It’s like he’s taunting us.”

“I think you might have missed the point,” Furu said. “Without a body, we have no murder case.”

“I think you’re the one who’s missed the point. Get me the body.”

Furu sighed. “The second problem is that they may be connecting the dots. I got a call from Jerome at the ranch.”

Garwood felt his stomach knot. Jerome had called Furu instead of him? True, he’d had Furu handle things out there as needed, but Jerome had to know who was in charge. “They know about the baby?”