At the Crossroads (Buckhorn, Montana #3)(71)

From the corner of his eye, he saw four men materialize out of whirling dust in front of the silos. Dressed in black flak jackets and armed to the teeth, they rushed forward. “Drop your weapon!” one of the men was yelling.

He hit Garwood with the butt end of his gun with enough force to send blood flying, and then he dropped his gun, kicked away Garwood’s and fell to his knees next to Alexis’s motionless body.

The FBI swarmed over them, the blades of the helicopter sending the dust flying around them in a blinding whirlwind. He bent over Alexis to shield her from the flying debris and to feel for a pulse. Please, God. He felt one. Strong and steady. “That’s my girl,” he said. “I love you. Alexis. I love you. I can’t live without you.”

“FBI. Put your hands behind your head!” bellowed a male voice behind him. “You, too, Sheriff,” the agent said. “Now!”

Culhane didn’t want to let go of Alexis, but he had no choice. He put his hands behind his head. “Alexis is hit,” he said but wasn’t sure if anyone could hear him. The ground next to her was bright red with her blood.

“Get me an ambulance!” the sheriff was screaming. “I’m shot. Culhane Travis shot me. I was trying to take him in for murder! You can’t arrest me! I’m Sheriff Willy Garwood. It’s those two you want.”

“On the ground,” the FBI agent ordered.

“You don’t understand,” Garwood cried. “He murdered his wife Jana!”

“Jana Redfield Travis is alive and well and in custody,” the FBI agent said as he grabbed him, rolled him over in the dirt and cuffed him.

“She’s alive?” The sheriff shot a look at Culhane before the FBI agent pulled Garwood to his feet for his perp-walk to a waiting vehicle. Covered with dirt, the sheriff limped on his wounded leg toward the waiting vehicle. “You will pay for this, Culhane!” he yelled over his shoulder. “I will see to it.”

In the distance, Culhane could see that agents had detained Deputy Furu. They’d surrounded his vehicle and now had him out and on the ground.

All Culhane cared about was Alexis. Not that he didn’t hope that the sheriff lived to stand trial for murder, for attempted murder, for insurance fraud and whatever else the FBI dug up on him.

As he was cuffed and pulled to his feet, he stared at Alexis’s pale face. Two EMTs raced up and began to see to her. “How is she?” But he got no answer as he was led away. He stumbled as he felt his heart break. She had to be all right. He’d seen her try to roll away as the sheriff had fired. He had no idea how badly she was shot. But she had to make it. And the baby.

He felt another chunk of heart shatter at the thought of the baby.

Two FBI agents led him to a waiting vehicle. Before they reached it, an ambulance pulled up. He looked back at the two EMTs on the ground with Alexis as they motioned for a stretcher, and then he was forced into the back of a dark-colored van with no windows.

All he could do was pray, something he hadn’t done since his mother was alive.



CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE


ONCE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY, Culhane was allowed one phone call. He could have called a friend. He could have called his father’s lawyer. He called Earl Ray Caulfield in Buckhorn, Montana.

ALEXIS DRIFTED IN and out. When she finally opened her eyes and focused on the room, she realized she was in the hospital. Her mother sat on a chair next to her bed holding her hand.

“Mom?”

Her mother’s eyes filled with tears as she squeezed her hand. “Hold on. Your father is out in the hall pacing. I promised to let him know the moment you opened your eyes. Don’t close them again,” she said and jumped up to hurry to the hospital-room door to call for him. “Harry, she’s awake!”

“Don’t yell, Imogene. It’s a hospital.”

Alexis felt her heart fill with love for her parents as she heard the joy in both of their voices. In an instant they were at her bedside, one on each side, each taking one of her hands.

“Now, don’t accidentally unplug her, Harry,” her mother warned when he took her hand hooked up to the IV.

“She isn’t plugged in, Imogene.” He smiled down at Alexis. “I won’t hurt her.” She saw her parents share a smile across her bed. For all their chatter at each other, she’d never known a couple more in love. They were inseparable and always had been. Alexis had been a surprise late in their lives, one that seemed to have brought them even closer together.

“Now, what’s this we hear about you catching a bunch of crooks?” her father asked.

“Harry, I don’t think this is the time.”

“It’s fine, Mom. Have you heard anything about Culhane?”

Her parents shared another look. “I’m sure he’ll be by to see you as soon as he gets out of the hoosegow,” her mother said.

The doctor came in and asked her parents to wait outside. They both hurried out, looking worried, though.

“The baby?” she asked the doctor once they were alone.

“Is fine.”

She closed her eyes, tears leaking out as she let herself finally breathe. She’d been so afraid. The doctor was saying something about her loss of blood, a concussion and a future scar. Her hand went to a bandage above her temple.

“You’ll have headaches for a while, but you were very lucky that the bullet only grazed your skull. We’ll keep monitoring you and the baby, but I don’t see any problems at the moment,” the doctor finished and cleared his throat. “There is an FBI agent here, though, who would like to speak with you.”