At the Crossroads (Buckhorn, Montana #3)(58)

Culhane didn’t see Alexis, but he knew she would be close by, if not already at the back door of the structure. He’d gone along with her plan because he thought she would be safer bringing up the rear. As the cabin came into view, he hoped he was right. He headed for the front door, weapon drawn.

ALEXIS WORKED HER way through the pines. She could see the cabin ahead. She felt a quickening in her belly and slowed. Now wasn’t the time to think about how badly things could go wrong or to chastise herself for taking chances with not just her life but that of her baby. If she felt this way, she could just imagine how Culhane did.

She reminded herself that she was good at her job. She wasn’t taking unnecessary risks. She doubted, though, that Culhane would see it that way. As she moved quietly through the thick pines and falling snow, she could smell the smoke rising from the cabin’s chimney.

There was no movement around the building. No vehicles that she could see, as Culhane had hidden the pickup in a spot back down the mountain. They were to meet there, should they become separated. Or worse. As the snow began to fall harder, she wondered if she would be able to see him.

Alexis dropped down the mountainside to the back of the cabin. She was anxious to meet this woman who’d conned Culhane Travis and ruined him on marriage and children.

As she approached the small weathered dwelling, she pulled her weapon. Nothing around her moved. The snow was falling harder now, silencing an already-quiet world. She felt a chill. Maybe it was the quiet. Or the snow. Or knowing that they were meeting a woman they couldn’t trust, but she felt as if they weren’t alone on this mountainside.

She tapped at the cabin door lightly. No answer. She knocked harder and heard movement inside. She knocked again and heard the door being unlocked. Had whoever opened the door already let Culhane in?

The knob in her hand, she moved quickly the moment the door was unlocked, shoving the door inward with her weight behind it, and heard someone stumble and fall. She quickly forced her way in, her gun drawn, not sure of who or what she would be facing.

An attractive blonde woman lay sprawled on the floor. Jana? Seeing Alexis, the woman began to crabwalk backward. “Where’s Culhane?”

“I’m right here,” he said as he crashed through the front door.

Jana swung around at the sound of his voice and clamored to her feet to back up against the wall. “You were supposed to come alone. I can’t believe you brought...her.”

“Don’t act like the jealous wife, Jana. Tell me what’s going on. Did you set me up for murder?”

Alexis sheathed her weapon and quickly locked the back door before moving through the small space to the front window. Something about this felt wrong. She couldn’t shake the feeling she’d had earlier. She peeled the curtain back just enough to look out, but she didn’t see anyone. Then again, with the snow it was impossible to see in the distance.

“How can you even ask if I set you up?” she cried. “I just had to disappear. I had no idea you’d be blamed for my murder.”

“Tell me about the necklace.”

Jana frowned. “I don’t know anything about—”

“The emerald-and-diamond necklace you stole.”

“I don’t—”

“Jana, I’m trying to help you,” Culhane said, pleading in his voice. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Alexis turned away from the window for a moment. She could see that Culhane didn’t believe Jana. She knew the feeling.

“After you were picked up for shoplifting, you made a deal with the sheriff. Don’t deny it,” he said.

For a moment the woman looked as if she would keep lying, then she broke down. “That’s why I had to disappear.”

“Where is the necklace?” Culhane demanded. “I know you stole it from Atwater’s house at Big Sky. Come on, you can’t sell or pawn it. All it will do is get you killed. Hand it over, and I might be able to save your life.”

She made a pouty face but then dug the necklace out of her jacket pocket and dropped it into his hand. “The jewels aren’t real, anyway,” she said.

Alexis blinked. They jewels weren’t real? The Atwater necklace that had gone missing months earlier had to have been real jewels. The necklace would have had a certified gemological appraisal to confirm its value. “You took it to a jeweler?”

Jana scoffed. “What? You think I’m stupid? I took it to a fence I know. They told me the jewels weren’t real. It’s worthless.”

Culhane stared at the jewelry in his hand. “What did you hope to do with this when you stole it?”

“I don’t know. I saw it. I liked it. It’s a sickness,” she whined. “I didn’t know it was fake. So why is it such a big deal that the sheriff wants to kill me?”

“I don’t have time to explain it to you,” Culhane said and glanced at Alexis.

She turned her attention back to the road outside. Through the crack in the curtain and the falling snow, she saw movement. Two figures dressed in dark clothing were headed their way. Sheriff’s deputies.

“We have to get out of here. Now,” she said as she hustled away from the window. “Out the back. Just as we thought. It’s a trap.”

CULHANE SWORE. ONE look at Jana, and he knew it was true. She’d set them up, letting them walk into a trap. “Jana—”