by B. J Daniels
“I’m fine. I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry about me and don’t tell anyone where I am—especially Culhane.”
He shook his head as he handed back the phone and pulled back onto the highway. “This makes no sense.”
“She was apparently troubled,” Alexis said. “Do you think she’d go back there?”
Culhane didn’t know what to think. He couldn’t see Jana at the ranch unless she was involved in some kind of scam. But there was only one way to find out.
The driver behind them laid on his horn as Culhane swung into the passing lane. He ignored the driver as he turned left at the light and headed toward the Lost Sunset Ranch.
* * *
THE SHERIFF WAS in his office when his deputy Furu came in and closed the door. Willy swore, seeing the deputy’s expression. “What now?”
“Leo Vernon. The parolee who worked as a cook in Buckhorn, Montana? He’s dead in that café shoot-out.”
He’d thought it was going to be bad news. “That saves me having him arrested.”
“Same for Bobby Braden. Also deceased.”
“Sounds like my lucky day.” He was growing impatient. “I already heard about all of this. The bank robbery in Idaho, the disturbance at the café and the men being found dead down the road.”
Furu waited. “Why was Culhane there in the first place? Coincidence that he just happened to be in the café where Leo worked and then Bobby ends up there, too?”
“How should I know? So somehow Culhane knew that Leo and Bobby were involved with Jana.” Willy couldn’t believe that Jana would have told him.
“What if Culhane knows now? He could have spoken with either Leo or Bobby before they died. Culhane and Alexis left both scenes before law enforcement arrived.”
The sheriff felt as if his head might explode. “We have to assume that Culhane knows that Jana is alive. He’s probably looking for her. We have any idea where he is?”
Furu shook his head.
“I can’t believe someone hasn’t picked him up,” the sheriff said as he swore and rubbed the back of his neck. Culhane was determined to bring him down. If he found Jana... “You know what has to be done.” He looked up to meet Furu’s gaze. He could see that it was a line the deputy wasn’t comfortable stepping over. “First, Jana. Find her, and have Cline keep her on ice until I get there.”
“She hasn’t been easy to find. She’s streetwise and running scared.”
“You sure she isn’t already dead?” the sheriff asked. “I saw the report that just came across my desk. Sounds like there was a lot of blood. Maybe Culhane killed her.” He wanted Furu to agree with him, but the man shook his head.
“She wants us to believe she’s dead,” Furu said. “She’s out there, and if anyone can find her, it’s Culhane.”
“I don’t want to hear that,” the sheriff said, shooting to his feet and sending his chair flying. “You’re better than Culhane. Find that bitch. And then get me Culhane, dead or alive. Preferably dead. Same with his new girlfriend.” When Furu raised a brow, he added, “She should be more careful of the company she keeps.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
DARK SHADOWS HUNKERED under the pines as they neared Lost Sunset Ranch. Culhane felt the temperature outside the pickup dropping as nightfall came on quickly. He still couldn’t believe Jana had spent seven months at this place. Maybe she’d only told her father that she was staying here and taken the money.
“Is that a guard booth?” Alexis asked as they neared the gate. “This place has better security than the White House.”
The closer they got, Culhane could see why she was surprised and suspicious. Two armed men stepped from the booth and blocked the already-gated entry into the compound.
“They need this kind of security?” she asked.
“My thought exactly, the first time I came out here. There is definitely something off about this whole place.” The times he’d come out to do sheriff’s department welfare checks at Lost Sunset Ranch with its cultlike following of young women had creeped him out. Something was off about all of it.
The general feeling was that the Reverend Jerome Franklin was either a saint to help these young women or a dirty old man. Culhane hadn’t seen anything illegal going on during his previous visits. He and another deputy had found the young women in question, talked to them, asked them to call home and left. Because the women were over eighteen, there wasn’t anything they could do. With churches, even ones as sketchy as this one, the law tended to keep hands-off.
But Culhane had picked up on something at the ranch that left him feeling uneasy and concerned about the young women he’d seen living out there. Hearing that Jana had come here made him all the more suspicious.
He pulled up to the guards, both holding assault rifles.
He whirred down his window. “I’m here to see Jerome.”
“Do you have an appointment with the Reverend Franklin?” the guard asked, bristling at his use of the man’s first name.
“Tell him it’s about Jana Redfield Travis. I’m her husband, and I’m not leaving until I see him.” He didn’t add that he was going in there one way or the other.
One of the guards remained in front of the pickup while the other went inside the booth.
“If Jana is here,” Alexis said, “at least she’s safe, right?”
Culhane said nothing as he watched the man in the booth turn his back to them to pick up the phone. A few minutes later, the man hung up, stepped out and signaled the other guard to let them pass, and the gate opened.
As they drove, dense pines lined the narrow paved road. Several more guards appeared from out of the trees. Ahead he could see women and children, all wearing bonnets and long full dresses as if this were the 1800s.
But it was the way the women and children looked at them as they drove in, the suspicion and fear as they hurried away, that raised red flags.
“I have goose bumps,” Alexis said. “Who are these people, and what is going on out here?”
Culhane shook his head. “I would imagine the young women are lost souls. I suspect Jerome preys on them in some way. Maybe just financially. You said it was costly to stay here?”
“Very. Especially for seven months.”
“From what I understand, they’re also required to work.” As they came around a curve in the road and the pines opened, the massive rock-and-log structures that made up the ranch complex appeared. “But someone’s picking up the bill for this place. Jerome was a former hippie with no visible means of support before he found his calling.”
Having been here before, Culhane wasn’t surprised by the staff that came out to escort them to Jerome. They all wore one-piece tan jumpsuits and slack expressions.
“We’ll take you to the Reverend Franklin,” one of the staff said in a monotone.
“Don’t bother. I know where to find him,” Culhane said, striding off in the direction of the man’s office.
“They’re like zombies,” Alexis whispered, forced to trot alongside him to keep up as he left the staff behind. She hugged herself, feeling an uneasy chill.
Culhane stormed into the reverend’s office, Alexis at his heels. He told himself not to lose his temper, but everything about this place, this man and this situation had him fuming. As he looked at the man behind the huge desk, he wanted to grab him by his throat and shake the information he needed out of him. As if sensing his growing anger and frustration, Alexis laid a hand on his arm.
* * *
ALEXIS HADN’T KNOWN what to expect—but certainly not the man in front of her. The Reverend Jerome Franklin had a shock of white hair that stood on end as if he’d been raking his fingers through it.
As they burst in, he looked up with mild amusement rather than concern. Which seemed strange, given all the security she’d seen. He settled his startling blue eyes on the two of the
m and smiled.
“Hello.” As he rose to his feet, he looked younger than his white hair suggested. “Welcome to Lost Sunset Ranch. I’m sorry you had trouble at the gate. We have to be careful who we allow in for the protection of the young women here.” The man’s voice was calming, almost hypnotic, but it didn’t seem to be having a soothing effect on Culhane.
“Right,” Culhane said. “A sanctuary for young women.”
“Would you like to sit down? I could have my assistant bring you a cup of coffee, tea or—”
“We won’t be staying that long,” Culhane interrupted. “We want to see Jana Redfield Travis.”
Alexis suspected it wasn’t going to be that easy, even though the reverend didn’t seem in the least ruffled.
“The name doesn’t ring a bell,” the man said as he lowered himself back into his chair behind his desk. “But I’ll check to see if she’s with us.” He picked up his phone and asked his assistant to check to see if they had a follower by that name. “It should take just a moment,” he told Culhane as he hung up the phone and gave them his disarming smile.
Culhane refused to sit and began to pace as they waited. Jerome turned the full force of his attention on Alexis, making her feel as if she were in a bright warm spotlight. His blue-eyed gaze was so intense it was almost spellbinding.
“I know the former sheriff’s deputy, but I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said.
“Alexis Brand, also former sheriff’s deputy, now bounty hunter.”
Jerome clasped his hands together as if in prayer and smiled broadly. “Bounty hunter, how wonderful! What an interesting profession.”
His phone rang. He excused himself and picked up. “Yes, thank you so much.” He hung up and said, “I’m sorry, but Jana isn’t staying with us at the moment.”
“But she was here seven years ago,” Culhane said.
“I’m afraid that isn’t public information, but I will tell you that she has been a guest of ours.”
“Guest. Her father paid you for her to stay here seven months.”
“Possibly. I would have to look at her file, but that sounds about right.”
“What was she doing here?” Culhane demanded.
“What most of the women do who come here,” Jerome said. “They rest, they rejuvenate, they contemplate their lives and heal.” He turned those eyes on Alexis again. “I wish we had more time. I’d love to hear about this bounty-hunter business you’ve just started. Can I assume you’re taking in Mr. Travis here? I understand he’s wanted for questioning in Jana’s murder. But then, I believe you, too, Ms. Brand, are now wanted for questioning as well, in another incident. Such exciting lives you two lead.”
Culhane advanced on the desk like a mountain lion about to disassemble its prey. “You didn’t call for her file, did you?” He swore. She could see that he was estimating how long it would take the law to get here. He swung away from the desk. “Come on,” he said, and they headed for the door.
“We can’t get out of here,” she said as they jumped into the pickup and he started the engine. “You know those guards have been told to detain you.”
“We’re not going out the front.” He revved the engine and backed up, heading in the opposite direction they’d come in. He took what looked like a service road, tires squealing on the pavement before the road turned to dirt and wound through the pines.
Alexis had to hang on as he took one curve after another. Ahead in the pickup’s headlights, she could see an electronic gate blocking the road. It wasn’t as fortified as the front gate, but still...
Culhane tromped on the gas. “Hang on,” he said. “I’m going to have to buy Ford a new pickup.”
But right before they reached the gate, it slid open. They raced through and up onto a two-lane highway. As he made the turn, a piece of paper fluttered to the passenger-side floorboard. Alexis reached for it, just as she heard Culhane curse.
Sitting up she followed his gaze and saw the flashing lights before she heard the siren.
“They’re looking for a man and a woman,” Culhane said as he pulled off his Stetson. “Get down.”
She quickly lay over in the seat and, taking his hat and holding it close, held her breath. The hat smelled like Culhane. She breathed it in and closed her eyes. This might be the end. No way could they outrun a cruiser in this pickup. The sound of the siren was deafening as the cab filled with the glow of the patrol’s headlight. She could imagine the officer behind the wheel studying the back of Culhane’s head. Then the siren screamed on past.
She stayed down, waiting until the wail was lost in the darkness of evening. It wasn’t be the first cruiser they’d seen nor the last, she thought. They were both wanted by the law now. She’d left the scene of a crime and was on the run, aiding and abetting a suspected killer. Her parents would be so proud, she thought grimly and wondered how long before they heard that their daughter was now a wanted woman.
Alexis leaned over to pick up the scrap of paper that had fluttered to the floor. As she unfolded it, she read what had been hurriedly scrawled on it. She showed it to Culhane. “Appears you have a friend at Lost Sunset Ranch.”
* * *
CULHANE READ THE short note. I can help you. April. Followed by a phone number. He looked over at Alexis. “April was one of the young women we checked on one of the other times I went to the ranch. I wondered at the time why someone who seemed to have it all together like she did was living there.”
“You think she’s working undercover?” she asked.
He feared that might be the case. She hadn’t seemed like the others he’d come across out there. She hadn’t seemed lost. She’d seemed smart, observant, capable. He just hoped she knew what she was doing.
After putting some distance between them and the ranch, Culhane took a back road south, then pulled onto the shoulder and made the call.
“You’re looking for Jana, right?” April asked on the fifth ring. He got the impression that she hadn’t picked up until she was in a safe place away from the others. He was surprised that she had a cell phone. He thought that was something they weren’t allowed to have.
“Yes. Is she staying there again?”
“No. But I’ll call you back. It might be late.”
“That’s fine.” He disconnected. “April’s checking her file. In the meantime, I’m beat. Let’s get a motel for the night.” He could see he wasn’t going to get an argument out of Alexis. Even with her earlier nap, she looked as tired as he felt.
“I can’t believe Jerome called the cops on you even as he gave us that smile and offered us coffee and made small talk,” Alexis said. He could hear her getting madder by the moment.
“He got to you, didn’t he?” he asked with a laugh. His own temper had cooled. He’d expected as much from Jerome. Also, not much surprised him anymore since he’d become so cynical.
Like Alexis, he’d gone into law enforcement because he believed in justice, and look how that had turned out. He’d found himself working for a crooked sheriff and a couple of dirty deputies.
“Jerome with his smooth talk had you believing that he’s this caring, loving father figure to those people at the ranch. Maybe he’s for real and was just doing his duty back there. Or maybe he’s a fraud.”
“Do not give me your life-isn’t-fair look,” she snapped. “I’d just like to see more justice meted out on earth, thank you.”
He smiled. “Which is how you ended up in law enforcement.”
“What’s your excuse?” she demanded, but he could see that she was starting to calm down.
“I guess you and I have that in common,” he said and grinned over at her. “Among other things.”
She shook her head at him even as she felt her cheeks heat. The look in his eyes was a tantalizing reminder of his touch on her naked skin. She swallowed and said, “I think we need to establ
ish some ground rules. For the next forty-eight hours, I try to help you clear your name. That’s it.”
“Why forty-eight hours?” he asked, even though he could guess.
“I figure if we get lucky, we have forty-eight hours before some trigger-happy lawman finds us. I plan to take you in before you get us both killed.”
“I’m glad you brought that up,” he said. “How about this? I drop you off in Bozeman. You tell the sheriff I held you at gunpoint and made you leave Buckhorn with me.” He hurried on before she could object. “I promise to turn myself in forty-eight hours from now.”
“Not a chance.”
“Alex—”
“You also don’t get to call me Alex.”
He looked over at her as he pulled back onto the highway and headed toward Bozeman. His grin was all sexy-cowboy Culhane—just like the look in his eyes.
“And you don’t get to look at me like that. This is a business arrangement. Nothing more, since you’re a married man.”
He scoffed at that. “If that’s the way you want it.” He drove for a few moments before he said, “By the way, you’ve been amazing. I’m still surprised we got out of the café alive.”
She didn’t look at him, couldn’t right then. She’d been terrified that Gene was going to kill him. All the hours she’d spent denying her feelings for this cowboy had gone up in a puff of smoke. The thought of him dying...
“You were pretty amazing yourself.” She looked out the side window, knowing that one look at him and she’d be melting into his arms. They weren’t out of the woods. Far from it. Every lawman in the state would be looking for them. Forty-eight hours. She had little hope they could find Jana in that amount of time, but she was willing to risk her life trying.
She was also no fool, she thought as she glanced over at him. He’d try to ditch her the first chance he got. She would have to keep on her toes. But the real danger was letting that grin of his get to her. He knew exactly how to charm her. If she made the mistake of letting him into her bed again...