At the Crossroads (Buckhorn, Montana #3)(67)

The silos were near the confluence of the three rivers. He could get there easily in thirty minutes. By then, it would be full daylight. It had snowed in the mountains last night, but by the time he got to Three Forks, the ground was bare and so was the highway.

He had no doubt he was walking into a trap. The FBI had been alerted and knew the location. All he could do was hope that it didn’t turn into a shoot-out. Worse, that he might have made a terrible mistake by bringing in the FBI, a mistake that would cost him everything, including his own life.

THE SHERIFF WAS almost to the silos when he got the call. He saw it was from Furu and picked up, afraid that Alexis hadn’t been found. Still, he planned to meet Culhane and get the necklace, one way or the other.

“Cline may be dead.”

Willy realized he wasn’t even interested enough to ask how. “The bad news?” he demanded as he drove toward the headwater.

Furu cleared his voice. “I have Alexis. She nailed him with a rock behind the house where you had us take her.” The condemnation was in his words.

He wished that he’d stopped by the house where they’d been keeping Alexis and finished her before coming here. She would only complicate things further, he realized. But then, Culhane was just stubborn enough not to even show him the necklace until he saw Alexis.

“Is she all right?” he asked.

“For now,” Furu said.

“Good.”

“Apparently you let her talk to Culhane?”

“I did.”

“He seemed satisfied, so we’re all set.”

Silence.

The deputy had never been one to blather on about anything, but still Willy found his monosyllabic speech annoying. He knew he should show some remorse for Deputy Cline, but letting a woman kill you with a rock? He wouldn’t want that on his death certificate.

“I’m sorry about Cline. I’ve set up the trade. It isn’t that far from you.” He decided since Alexis was alive—after killing his deputy—he would make the trade, then arrest her and Culhane. He gave Furu directions to the silos. “All you have to do is show up with her and leave. I’ll take care of everything else.” He disconnected. He’d shoot Culhane and arrest Alexis.

As for Cline... He shook his head. The deputy may have done him a favor by dying while trying to bring Alexis Brand in for questioning. Good thing Deputy Furu had collared her. Then he’d used her to bring in Culhane. Unfortunately, Culhane would put up a fight and be killed. Willy could see how he could single-handedly solve the case. But Alexis would squawk. It might be simpler if they were both dead.

Ahead he could see the turnoff to the headwater. New snow turned the mountaintops glistening white and put a chill in the air. He’d wanted to beat Culhane here and apparently had. The former deputy would expect a trap.

Willy smiled at the thought, thinking how easily Culhane had walked into the trap at the cabin—and gotten away. That time, there had been Jana and four deputies. How Culhane had slipped the noose with Jana, he had no idea. At least Furu and Cline had been able to abduct Alexis without anyone being the wiser.

This time, he was on his own. As he pulled into the parking area near the silos, he checked his weapon. Loaded and ready. He holstered it.

Culhane would expect him to be armed and vice versa. It would be like the Old West. Just not at high noon, he thought, as the sun rose over the Bridger Mountains bringing daylight from behind a bank of snow clouds.

CULHANE THOUGHT ABOUT what he’d learned regarding Sheriff Willy Garwood while in his employ. He didn’t think most of it would be hard to prove. He had the necklace, which he’d photographed and texted to the FBI. Insurance fraud might be the easiest crime to prove against Atwater and the sheriff.

Murder would be harder. Right now all the evidence pointed to Culhane himself. No matter how this went down at the silos, he was on his way to jail until it was resolved. While he had Jana under wraps, he couldn’t depend on her telling the truth.

He had to believe that eventually, it would all come out—the kidnapping and everything else—and Willy Garwood would be convicted along with his rich friends. They wouldn’t get what they deserved, but at least Garwood would never be sheriff anywhere in the country again. Culhane figured that was something. If his rich friends bailed on him, the man might actually see some prison time—if he hadn’t destroyed all the evidence against him.

Culhane tried not to think about Garwood not getting what he deserved. But he told himself no matter what, he wasn’t taking the law in his own hands. That’s why he’d called in the FBI. He didn’t trust himself. But he didn’t want the man’s blood on him, either. He’d already decided he was done with the law. He wanted a different kind of life—with Alexis and his baby and the other babies he hoped they would have.

It was a vision of that life that he held onto as he slowed and turned off the interstate and onto the gravel road to the headwater. He could see the silos in the distance. A large black SUV was sitting in the nearby parking lot. Garwood. He’d come alone. At least it appeared so since Culhane couldn’t see anyone else.



CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE


ALEXIS COULD TELL that Deputy Furu wasn’t in the mood for trouble, but that didn’t stop her.

“You know this isn’t going to end well,” she said as he grabbed her roughly and bound her hands behind her with plastic flex-cuffs. “When it goes down, Garwood will let you take the fall. He’ll get his fancy friends to bail him out while you—”