At the Crossroads (Buckhorn, Montana #3)(69)

She lay in the back between the seats wondering where they were going. To meet Culhane and make the exchange, but where? She’d heard enough of Furu’s phone call to know that she was going to be traded for the necklace. But then what? Surely Culhane realized that Garwood couldn’t be trusted to keep his word.

That meant she had to find a way to even the odds.

“There was this one time after a big Thanksgiving dinner driving home...” she said.

The deputy laughed. “I’ve been there. Miserable, huh?”

“Yes. The other kids made fun of me because I couldn’t go on any of the carnival rides, even the ones for babies.”

“The worst were the Twister and the Bullet,” Furu said after a moment. “I upchucked all over my friends.” He laughed again. “I hated the carnival. I loved the cotton candy—”

“Oh, no, that only made it worse.”

“That and the corn dogs.”

“You’re going to make me sick again,” she said but laughed to let him know she was kidding. This was the most conversation she’d ever had with the deputy, even though she’d worked with him for several years before she was fired. He’d always been so aloof that she’d thought it was arrogance. Maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe he was just ambitious. Too bad he’d grabbed onto the sheriff’s rotten coattails.

Furu slowed. She suspected they’d been on Interstate 90, based on the sound of the other traffic and the speed with which it seemed they were traveling. The interstate speed limit in a lot of Montana was now eighty.

“You should keep your head down,” the deputy said as he drove up a bumpy road, pulled over and cut the engine.

As if she had a choice, she thought, still trapped between the seats. Then she realized that he was referring to when she got out. It surprised her. As he opened his door, she felt the cold breeze and smelled water. Given the length of time they’d traveled, she knew it had to be a river. She wasn’t all that surprised when Furu helped her out and she saw the silos.

AS IF ON CUE, Culhane had heard the sound of a vehicle engine. He hadn’t turned around to look as it had grown closer, though. He’d noticed that the sheriff also hadn’t bothered to look, which he took to mean that Garwood knew who had pulled in. He ached to see Alexis, to make sure she was all right, to find a way to keep her safe, knowing how dangerous this was going to get.

“The necklace,” Garwood called, sounding both irritated and worried. A breeze had kicked up. It blew across the sagebrush-covered area, kicking up dust that whirled around them. The breeze, especially this close to the river, was chilling.

He heard the vehicle engine switch off. A door opened and closed, then another. Still Culhane didn’t turn. He kept his gaze on Garwood, waiting for him to make his move—even as he worried that Furu or Cline might shoot him in the back. Probably Cline, since he was even more Garwood’s puppet than Furu.

He watched the sheriff stomp his feet as if trying to warm them. But Culhane suspected he was mostly just getting impatient. This was taking too long. Garwood needed this over so he could start covering his tracks. He would frame this to make both Culhane and Alexis look guilty of Jana’s death. The man had resources. Culhane didn’t doubt that he would pull it off—unless stopped.

Behind him, he could hear the crunch of boots. He listened, surprised that he heard only two people approaching.

Just as his heart was about to drop to his feet, Deputy Dick Furu and Alexis came into view off to his right. He heard no other sound as they stopped some distance away. Garwood, Culhane, and Furu and Alexis made a triangle. None of them too close to the others.

“You can see that she is fine,” the sheriff called. “Now, let’s see the necklace.”

“Not until he uncuffs her,” Culhane said.

Garwood swore loudly. “You have pushed me as far as—”

The snap of the cuffs being removed cut off whatever else the sheriff had said.

Furu pushed Alexis forward, then turned and began to walk back in the direction he’d come.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Garwood demanded, but the deputy didn’t answer as he kept walking. “Furu?” He’d told him he could leave, but now that he was here...

Culhane could hear the deputy continue departing. A moment later, a vehicle door opened and closed, an engine revved and tires threw up dirt and gravel as Furu left.

The sheriff looked as if he might have a coronary.

“I guess it’s just you and me,” Culhane said.

“And your girlfriend. Let’s not forget about her,” the sheriff said.

THE COLD BREEZE stirred her curls as Alexis stood out in the cold. Culhane was on her left, the sheriff off to her right by the river. She was afraid to move. Deputy Furu had cut the plastic cuffs off, leaning close to her. She’d felt the sudden weight in her right-hand coat pocket as he’d put something in there before he’d walked away.

She listened to him leave, seeing the sheriff’s reaction to it. Clearly that was not what the sheriff had in mind. Was he suddenly afraid that he couldn’t handle the two of them alone? He had no idea, she thought, as she slipped her hand into her pocket and felt the gun Furu had put there.

A ripple of excitement raced along her nerve endings. Of course, it might not be loaded. Maybe it was just a cruel trick to make her think she was safer than she was. She didn’t think so, though. Furu had told her to keep her head down. He wasn’t happy about this and wanted no part of it. He’d just evened the odds with the gun, she told herself, hoping she wasn’t wrong.