At the Crossroads

by B. J Daniels

  Culhane heard the sound of the pickup engine. Earl Ray’s pickup engine. Alexis would reach the other side of the river any moment.

  Bobby heard it, too, and for a moment he seemed to brighten. Then his head slumped to the side, his eyes going blank as his face relaxed, the pain gone as he took whatever he knew about Jana with him.

  Culhane swore as he saw his chance to clear his name die with the man. He swallowed before gently closing Bobby’s eyes. As he pushed to his feet, he pulled out his phone and called 9-1-1 to tell them where they could find the gray van. Then he turned off his phone again and turned to see Alexis come flying over the rise.

  She hit the brakes before coming to a dust-boiling stop on the other side of the river. He couldn’t see her behind the wheel for the sun glinting off the windshield.

  Climbing up the embankment, he walked back to the bridge. He suspected she was surprised to see him still there. That made his heart hurt. He’d broken trust with her. He wondered how long it would take to rebuild it and if he had the time.

  He could only hope as he headed back across the bridge toward the pickup—and Alexis.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  BY THE TIME Culhane reached her, Alexis was standing on the bank staring across the river at the wrecked van. He took her in his arms and held her close for a few moments. They couldn’t stay here. He wasn’t sure where to go next. Both Leo and Bobby were dead. For all he knew, so was Jana.

  “Are they...”

  “Dead,” he said as he released her. “We have to go.”

  “You didn’t get to talk to Bobby?” she asked as she followed him to the pickup.

  “He was still alive,” Culhane said as he climbed behind the wheel and Alexis slid into the passenger seat and buckled up. “But all he kept asking before he died was for water, even though he was lying by a river full of it,” he said and shook his head.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He started the engine and turned around to head down the road. “I called 9-1-1 so it shouldn’t be long before the cops arrive.” She nodded as if there was little else to say. They couldn’t be here when the law enforcement arrived—just like back in Buckhorn. He hated being on the run but had been since he’d left Alexis’s warm bed last night.

  Time was running out. If he didn’t find evidence to clear himself soon... The part he hated most was involving Alexis. He turned onto the two-lane highway and headed west until he could find a road that headed north. They couldn’t go back to Buckhorn. Not yet.

  “I’m worried about what happened back at the café,” she said as if she too had been thinking about it.

  He pulled out his phone. Earl Ray’s number came right up. “It’s Culhane. Can you talk?” He turned to her. “He’s at the hospital now with Bessie.”

  “Ask him how she is,” Alexis said.

  He put the phone on speaker. “How’s Bessie?”

  Earl Ray said “She’s doing great. She’s strong. The doctor said she has the constitution of a mule.” They could hear Bessie say something in the background, then Earl Ray laugh.

  “Sounds like she’s holding her own.”

  “Always. I’ll let you know how it goes,” Earl Ray said. “Also, I still have a few contacts so if you need help, just call me.”

  “Thanks.” As he hung up, he felt Alexis’s gaze on him.

  “You get the feeling Earl Ray is more than he lets on?”

  Culhane chuckled as he pocketed his phone. He drove for a few miles before he said “You understand why I can’t let you turn me over to the cops. If I’m right and Jana is alive, she’s fighting to stay that way. I don’t know what all she’s involved in—just that if she’s alive, it’s dangerous enough to make her do something as drastic as faking her own death. I need you to get out in the next town and walk away from this, from me, until I find out what’s going on. So far you’re not so deeply involved. But if you stay—”

  “I’m staying.” He swore under his breath. “You need me.”

  “Alex—” The word was a plea and a curse.

  “Culhane, originally, yes, it was all about taking you to the cops, collecting my fee and letting you rot in jail,” she said. “Well, maybe not rot in jail, but you have to admit, you probably deserve to be behind bars for a while for not being honest with me.” He started to speak, but she waved him off. “But you need me now to help you find Jana. We have to find out who is trying to frame you for murder before the cops catch up to you and shoot without even bothering to ask questions.”

  He knew she was right, which was another reason he didn’t want her in the crosshairs. Just being with him put her in danger in so many ways.

  “I can help you. But from this point on, you can’t keep anything from me. We’re in this together. If I suspect you’re not telling me everything, then all bets are off. Deal?”

  He glanced over at her as she held out her hand. Seriously? She wanted to shake on it? With a sigh, he took her hand, thinking there was still so much he’d kept from her. So much he wanted to tell her. But now wasn’t the time. He couldn’t make any promises because right now, he wasn’t sure of his future or if he would even have one.

  * * *

  ALEXIS PULLED HER hand away. “You’re going to try to ditch me at the first opportunity, aren’t you?”

  He shook his head, even though that was exactly what he wanted to do. “If I did, it would only be to protect you.”

  “I can protect myself.”

  “I’d be doing you a favor,” he said, not looking at her.

  “You want to do me a favor, then stay alive.”

  He glanced over at her. “When you look at me with those big brown doe eyes...” He shook his head. “Damn it, I’m worried about how bad things are going to get before this is over. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I never wanted you involved.”

  She gave him a pointed look. “I’m already involved. I’ve been involved for the past year. Want to tell me what last night was about?”

  He sighed. “I came over to your apartment to tell you everything, to warn you, to try to convince you to stay out of it.” He met her gaze for a moment. “Then I saw you, and I just wanted to hold you and kiss you and—”

  “Yes, I remember.”

  Their gazes locked for a few seconds, and the chemistry in the cab of the pickup sparked and popped like lightning. She felt the heat rush to her center and thought she might burst with her desire for this man.

  “You should have at least said goodbye,” she finally said, remembering what it had been like waking up alone in that big bed, his side cold, and wondering if she would ever see him again.

  “I didn’t want it to be goodbye,” Culhane said, his voice sounding husky with emotion.

  But it had felt like goodbye when she’d realized he’d left without waking her. Then this morning, finding out that there was a BOLO out on Culhane for murder! The murder of his wife!

  “Imagine how I felt like when I got the news about the murder and the BOLO out on you,” she said, realizing that she was still angry with him and yet wishing he could pull over and take her in his arms again and explain all of this away.

  But she knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Nor would it be enough. It would never be enough. Her love for this man made her weak with need and stole her good sense.

  “I know I hurt you.” He sounded as if he did. “I’m sorry. If I had stayed, maybe I could have talked you out of coming after me.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “I think you know better than that.”

  His smile was sad. “Alex, I could have gotten you killed back there at the café. I still might.” He shook his head. “I can’t bear the thought of what I’m dragging you into.”

  Alexis swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat. “You aren’t dragging me into anything. I’m here because there is no place else I want t
o be. They’re saying you’re armed and dangerous. The first law you run across might just shoot you. If there is any way I can prevent that—”

  “You can’t.”

  “Well, I’m going to try.”

  * * *

  CULHANE STARTED TO answer when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. His gaze shot to the rearview mirror an instant before he heard the siren.

  “Cops,” he said as the flashing lights of the patrol car raced closer.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “The only thing I can.” He slowed and began to pull over.

  He hadn’t realized that he’d been holding his breath until the patrol car sped past, the officer behind the wheel not even looking in their direction. The sound of the siren was a wail dying in the distance.

  Culhane looked over at Alexis and saw her relief as well. She was right about one thing. He did need her. He hadn’t realized how much. After Jana’s murder and everything that had happened today, he’d been reminded of how short life could be.

  The other night he’d gone to Alexis, knowing it was the last thing he should do. He had known that someone from the sheriff’s department would let her know about the BOLO. While the new sheriff wasn’t a fan of either of them, they still had friends in the department.

  He’d known that once she heard about the BOLO out on him, she would come after him—especially if he made love to her and then sneaked away. But he’d had to see her. He’d had to be with her. He couldn’t bear not seeing her one more time in case it was his last.

  Now he had to decide if keeping her close was safer for her than trying to ditch her. He knew this woman. No one was more headstrong or determined. She’d be even more dogged now about finding him and taking him in if he ditched her.

  “Okay, total transparency,” he said. She was right. He did need her in so many ways. He turned north to go around Buckhorn, staying right at the speed limit. With the shoot-out at the café and now the robbers dead at the river, there would be even more law enforcement out looking for them.

  Which meant he had to fight the urge not to tromp on the gas pedal and put as many miles as possible between them and the crime scenes they’d left behind. There would be hell to pay when this was over—and not just for him but for Alexis as well.

  He felt as if their trouble had only just begun. He’d already had all of law enforcement looking for him. After the shootings back at the café, Alexis was now an accomplice. For better or worse. He wondered if she knew what she’d signed up for with him. He just hoped she’d never regret it.

  * * *

  ALEXIS THOUGHT ABOUT everything that had happened since she’d opened her eyes this morning. She’d hoped that Bobby would have been able to tell Culhane something about Jana—a woman she hadn’t even known had existed until this morning.

  “Maybe you should start by telling me about the last time you saw Jana,” she suggested as Culhane drove. “You said you hadn’t seen her for years? Thought the two of you were no longer married? Must have been a surprise when you heard from her.” She hoped she didn’t sound as jealous as she felt, no matter how he’d played down the marriage.

  He drove for a few moments before he answered. “She apparently got my cell number from my dad’s lawyer. I hadn’t seen or heard from her in seven years. When she told me that we were still married, I was more than shocked.”

  “Let me guess. She wanted something.”

  Culhane nodded. “She said she needed fifty thousand dollars to get out of town.”

  That made Alexis’s eyes widen. “Did you tell her what sheriff’s deputies make a year in Montana—when they have jobs?” Alexis caught his hesitation and groaned. “Not another secret.”

  “She knew I could get the money.”

  Knowing how he lived, his answer caught her by surprise. “What are you telling me? That you moonlight as the head of a drug cartel in your spare time?” She tried to joke away the hurt. How was it that Jana, who hadn’t been around in years, knew he could get that much money but Alexis didn’t? Especially if this woman really had been out of his life all these years.

  He sighed. “I might have left out a few particulars about my life.”

  “A few particulars?” She scoffed and tried to control her hurt and anger. She had believed that the two of them were as close as any two lovers could be. What a laugh. He hadn’t trusted her with anything real about his life at all. Angry, she said as much.

  “That’s not true. I didn’t tell you some things, because they didn’t matter.”

  Was he serious? She could barely speak. “Apparently they do matter. At least the money part and the marriage to Jana.”

  * * *

  CULHANE KNEW WHY he’d never told Alexis about his family. Her parents were like something out of an old family sitcom. A stable, loving couple who lived in a nice home.

  Alexis had come from such a low-key background that he hadn’t wanted her to know how screwed up his upbringing had been. He didn’t want to admit that after his mother died, his father couldn’t stand the sight of him.

  “You know I don’t like talking about it,” he said but knew from her expression that he couldn’t leave it at that. “I told you I grew up on a ranch. That was partly true. My father was a businessman who bought a hobby ranch for my mother. So I grew up there until I was twelve and my mother died. Apparently she was the glue that held our family together. The day after my father buried her, he sent me to boarding school, sold the ranch both she and I had loved and moved into a condo in Bozeman. A one-bedroom condo.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He couldn’t look at her. He didn’t want to see the pity in her eyes. “I told you that I spent holidays and summers with friends. My father and I rarely spoke. When we did...” He shook his head. “The point is my mother’s family had money and my father made a lot of money, and I am his only heir.”

  “Jana knew about your family wealth.”

  Culhane wished he’d told her before Jana came back into the picture. Now it was so much worse. “My father, while he hadn’t wanted anything to do with me, had people keeping a close eye on me. He found out that Jana was pregnant and that’s why we were getting married. I would imagine her father called mine. Anyway, my father insisted on a prenup, threatening to disinherit me if she didn’t sign it. Jana was so upset. I was worried about the baby. My father had paid for my education, but I’d always made my own money. I knew I could support us.”

  “Knowing you, you got disinherited.”

  * * *

  HE LAUGHED. ALEXIS loved that laugh under other circumstances. Just as she loved the way he smiled at her, the smile lighting up his blue eyes like liquid silver on water. “Once Jana found out that I’d been disowned, suddenly she lost the baby and took off.”

  Alexis realized that he had never wanted proof of the pregnancy. Oh, Culhane, you sweet, naive man. “But then she came back seven years later wanting fifty thousand dollars.”

  He nodded. “Before my father died...”

  “He put you back in his will.” She realized this could explain why Culhane had been so upset at the funeral. She knew that he and his father hadn’t been close, but she’d assumed he’d been grieving not just the loss of his father but the loss of a chance to ever have a relationship with him.

  “His lawyer’s been calling me about the will. I didn’t want his money. I’m happy the way things are.”

  She heard the words, words he’d said before when it came to the two of them. When he’d mentioned that he didn’t do marriage or kids.

  “How about dogs?” she’d asked.

  He’d grinned and said, “I have nothing against dogs.”

  “I saw all of it as an unnecessary burden since both my parents came from old money. Jana coming back wanting money says it all.”

  She stared at him. Old money. “You didn�
�t tell me because of the money.” He looked shamefaced, and she knew it was true.

  “I would have eventually told you. Truthfully, I’d hoped it wouldn’t matter to you.”

  “It doesn’t. You keeping so much from me, well, that’s another matter. So did you give Jana the money?”

  “No. She made all kinds of threats, cried, said she was in trouble with some bad people and that if she didn’t get the money they would kill her.”

  “You thought it was another con,” Alexis said, seeing how guilty he looked.

  Culhane glanced away, pain in his expression. “I did. We argued, the neighbors heard. Jana was throwing things and screaming. The neighbors called the law.”

  “Which only made you look more guilty when it appeared that she’d been murdered.” She understood now why the sheriff had been so quick to put out a BOLO on Culhane. Garwood might actually believe he really was guilty. “How was it you were at the scene of the crime?”

  “Jana had left an urgent message. Feeling bad about the way I’d left things, I called her. She said she couldn’t talk. I heard a man’s angry, threatening voice in the background. When I tried to call her back, it went straight to voice mail. Worried, I went over there and played right into her hands. Or whoever is behind this. I saw the blood and the broken glass. I realized it was a setup the instant I heard the sirens. I barely escaped, making me look all the more guilty.”

  And he’d come straight to her, Alexis thought. “Any more secrets you want to reveal? Or would you rather wait and surprise me?”

  He glanced over and shook his head. “I probably should have told you I’d been married and maybe a little about my family.”

  She nodded. “There are worse things than being left a whole lot of money.”

  “Yeah,” he said and swore under his breath before glancing at her again. “I don’t even want to know what he left me. You’re sure it isn’t important to you?”

  “Actually, I think I liked you better when I thought you were poor.”