by B. J Daniels
Was it just the old house settling? Or had Jake come back and was he now coming down the hallway toward them?
She thought of the words she’d withheld from him. If only she had told him the truth. She didn’t want to die. She wanted that happy ending Jake had talked about. She wanted Jake with all her heart. If only she had said those three little words. She might never get to tell him. Unless that was him in the hallway, unless they could somehow both get out of this alive, he would never know how she felt.
Blaze fought harder, only to have Lonny tighten the arm around her neck, lifting her off her feet and cutting off her oxygen. She dug her nails into his arm, but he didn’t relent. He was going to kill her and there was nothing she could do. He was too strong and she could see black dots forming in front of her eyes. She desperately needed oxygen. Her lungs screamed for another breath.
She felt panicked as Lonny let out a triumphant sound. He’d found his gun. She’d hoped that this would be her chance. But even as she thought it, she felt her vision go dark and her body start to go limp.
As she did, she realized that she’d thrown Lonny off balance. She was falling to the floor, but she was bringing him with her.
* * *
JAKE COULDN’T BELIEVE what he was seeing in the dim light. He snapped on the flashlight as he raised his gun. For a moment, Lonny Dean had a headlock on Blaze. He saw her go limp in his arms as the man appeared to be reaching down to pick up something from the floor littered with silverware.
The sudden light startled Lonny, blinding him. Jake could see that he was trying to keep his grip on Blaze, but was losing his balance. He let go of Blaze. She started to fall to the floor. But the movement had taken Lonny with it. He fought to get his feet under him, costing him only a few seconds, but it was enough for Jake to get the upper hand.
Lonny tried to turn toward the blinding light, the gun appearing in his hand as he struggled to stay on his feet. Jake fired, then dived to the side. He already knew that Lonny was a crack shot. He wasn’t surprised that the man managed to get off a round. The bullet hit the wall only inches away, sending Sheetrock dust and particles into the air.
Jake fired a second time as he was diving to the side. He heard Lonny grunt a few moments before the man dropped to knees on the floor next to Blaze. He saw Lonny trying to hold the pistol in his hand steady as he swung it around to point it at Blaze’s head.
Firing as he rushed the man, Jake got off three shots, all of them hitting their mark. Lonny’s head snapped back, the pistol falling from his bloody fingers, an instant before he fell face-forward on the floor.
Jake kicked the man’s pistol. It skittered across the floor only a few feet away as it got hung up in the silverware littering the floor. But Jake wasn’t worried about Lonny going after it. Lonny Dean wasn’t going anywhere but the morgue.
Jake dropped down beside Blaze, terrified that he’d been too late, terrified that she was already dead. But as he lifted her, he heard her gasp for air and try to sit up. “It’s all right,” he kept saying as she struggled for breath. He could see the reddened skin around her throat. Her chest heaved and her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at him.
“I’m here,” he said. “I’m here.”
“Jake.” The word came out in a hoarse whisper. “I love you.”
“Oh, baby,” Jake whispered against her hair and she began to sob as he held her tighter. “Oh, baby. I was so afraid that I’d lost you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
THE REST OF the night was a blur as sheriff’s department vehicles again roared up in the yard, followed by an ambulance and the coroner’s van. Jake insisted Blaze be taken to the hospital to make sure she was all right. Her throat was bruised and her ankle was sprained, but it was hard to tell if she had other injuries since so much of Lonny’s blood was on her.
He rode in the back of the ambulance with her. He had no intention of letting her out of his sight. She’d said she loved him. But he wanted to hear her say that when he wasn’t in the process of saving her life.
The sheriff came to the hospital emergency room to take down their statements. Jake hadn’t thought he could admire Blaze more, but he’d been wrong. He listened to her harrowing account of what had happened after Lonny had cut the power to the house and begun to stalk her. Jake couldn’t imagine how terrified she’d been and yet she’d managed to stay alive through her wits alone.
Things could have gone so differently had Lonny succeeded in killing her. Jake had no doubt that the man would have been waiting for him. Jake would have never seen it coming and he and Blaze would both be dead.
“That’s quite a story,” Bud said when Blaze finished. “Have you heard from your father?”
“Sheriff, Blaze was almost killed tonight and all you’re interested in is her father?” Jake demanded.
Bud shot him a warning look. He hadn’t wanted Jake in the room when he’d taken her statement, but there was no way Jake was going anywhere.
“I guess we don’t have to worry about Lonny Dean right now,” the sheriff said. “You kind of took care of that. Now I have to drive over and tell his pregnant wife and then his in-laws. But Frank Anson isn’t the only murder on my books right now.”
“I just told you,” Blaze said in a whisper. “Lonny confessed how he stole your son’s rifle to kill Frank. If I hadn’t seen Lonny trying to hide the rifle in the back of LJ’s pickup—”
“Don’t strain your voice,” Jake told her. “He’s got your statement and mine. His deputies took photos of the scene at the ranch house. They back up everything you told him. He was planning to frame your son for Frank’s murder and maybe our deaths, as well. If I hadn’t gotten there when I did...”
Bud nodded as he put away his video recorder and stood. “If you’re expecting me to thank you... Just let me know when you hear from Monte.” With that, the sheriff turned and walked out.
Jake felt his hands ball into fists. Blaze touched his arm and he let his anger go as he turned to her. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”
“You were when I needed you most.”
* * *
BUD FELT OLD as he went back to his office. The building was nearly empty except for the dispatcher and one of the deputies taking his break. He walked down the hall, his legs feeling lead-like. Not bothering to turn on the light in his office, he entered and closed the door behind him.
The snowfall outside lit the room enough that he didn’t stumble over the furniture as he plopped down in his chair. If what Blaze McClintock said was true, Lonny Dean had killed Frank. He’d been wrong. He swore under his breath. The evidence at the scene backed up her story.
Turning to face the window, he watched the snowfall. He should retire. The thought felt as heavy as his heart right now. He’d always thought that being a lawman was at least something he was good at. But here, in the dark of his office, he could admit that he hadn’t seen this one coming. He’d been so sure Monte had killed Frank...
Well, at least he would get Monte on Bethany’s murder. He had that to look forward to and then maybe it was time to hang up his star. Maybe he would take up golf and go to Arizona for the winter months after all.
He’d always told himself that he was too young to retire. That he had a lot of good years left. That Saddle Butte and the county needed him.
Now it felt like a lie. He’d been so focused on getting Monte... He shook his head and at the sound of his door opening behind him, turned to see his son standing in the doorway.
“Why are you sitting here alone in the dark?” LJ asked as he snapped on the light.
Bud blinked at his son. LJ was still healing from his accident. He was facing assault charges. Jake hadn’t filed them. Bud had. He couldn’t let his son get away with this. He couldn’t have people saying he played favorites. He told himself he was doing it for his son.
His phone rang.
He motioned for his son to come in and close the door. He took the call from the crime lab. He could use some good news.
“Tell me you have something definitive from the car so I can make the arrest stick,” he said without preamble. He noticed that LJ was walking around his office, seemingly lost in his own world and not paying any attention to the call. That worried him because he knew something was on his son’s mind. He realized he hadn’t been paying attention to the crime lab tech on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
“There was multiple DNA evidence left by the killer, so we had an easy time of getting the results you asked for.”
Music to his ears. He couldn’t help but grin. Maybe he wouldn’t retire. The last thing he wanted to do was learn to play golf. “Just tell me we have a match.” Monte’s DNA was in the system from his arrest for Frank’s murder. Wrong or not, they had it and now it was just a matter of tracking the rancher down and—
“It matches a man by the name of Frank Anson.”
“What?” He must have heard wrong. “That’s not possible.” He realized they weren’t talking about the same case. “This is evidence from Bethany McClintock’s car, right?”
“That’s correct. You asked for a rush on the results. That’s why I’m calling you tonight. We got lucky. Blood from both the victim and her attacker was found on a rag in the trunk along with the remains. Frank Anson’s DNA was already in our system.”
“That’s because he was murdered recently.” Bud felt sick. “What about the husband, Monte McClintock?”
“There is no evidence that he was involved in the homicide.”
Bud felt as if his feet had been kicked out from under him. Monte hadn’t killed her. Frank Anson killed Bethany? He looked at his son and felt his heart drop. “You’re sure?”
“There isn’t any doubt. The DNA on the bloody rag found in the trunk of the car with the remains matched both Bethany McClintock’s and Frank Anson’s. The test was conclusive. The killer took no precautions when it came to leaving his DNA behind.” He’d been careless. Frank Anson hadn’t realized he was leaving conclusive evidence that would lead the law right to him.
“I’m sending you the results,” the crime tech was saying. “I already sent it to your county prosecutor.”
Bud thanked him even as he was swearing silently to himself. If Dave had the same evidence he did, he would demand that the BOLO be called off against McClintock and his pregnant girlfriend. Bud wondered how things could get worse.
LJ finally quit moving around the office and took a chair across from Bud’s desk. “You heard the news?” he asked his son. LJ looked pale under his cuts and bruises, and he could tell that he was still in pain.
“I never liked Lonny Dean,” his son said. “Now it turns out that the bastard was the one who stole my rifle to frame me for not just Frank’s murder but Blaze and her...boyfriend’s? I heard Blaze put up one hell of a fight.”
He couldn’t miss the admiration in LJ’s voice. He should have known his son would have talked to the deputies at the scene after he heard the call on the scanner. He wanted to ask LJ how things were with his fiancée, but he held his tongue. He figured that situation wouldn’t improve until Blaze McClintock was long gone out of the county again.
“I’m afraid that isn’t all the news,” Bud said, still shocked by the lab’s findings. “That call I just took? It was from the crime lab about Bethany McClintock’s car.”
“Good news?”
Bud chuckled at that. “The good news is that the killer left a lot of DNA evidence in the car with the remains.” That dumbass Frank. “It wasn’t Monte.” He was watching his son, wondering if he knew that Frank was his father. “Frank Anson killed her.”
“No shit?” LJ shook his head. “I wasn’t expecting that. You were so sure it was Monte. But the lab said it was definitely Frank?”
“Definitely.” Bud knew the evidence had been there all along. He’d ignored the flat tire in the back seat just as he’d ignored the suitcase next to it. The clues had all been there, including the bloody tire iron in the trunk along with the remains. He’d been blinded by his hatred of Monte.
Now that he saw everything clearly, he could easily imagine what had happened. Bethany McClintock had packed a suitcase, planning to send for the rest of her things once she was settled, just as Monte said. She’d left late at night.
It was hard to say how far down the road she’d gotten before she had the flat. Knowing her, she would have tried to change it herself rather than call Monte to help her.
Who knew why Frank was on the road that night, but he would have seen her and stopped. Bud imagined him coming upon her car in the road after she had the flat. She would probably have been happy to see someone who might offer to help. Until she realized it was Frank.
Bud doubted Frank liked Bethany any more than he did Monte. Bethany had befriended Frank’s wife, Allie. That meant Bethany knew all his secrets. She knew the way he treated his wife. There would be no love lost between Frank and Bethany.
And there they were alone on the road in the dead of night, no one for miles. Had they argued? Or had Frank seen a way to get the woman out of his and his wife’s lives forever? Bethany had been leaving for good, but Frank wouldn’t have known that.
He started to tell his son about it, but realized LJ wasn’t listening.
“I have to ask you something,” his son said, looking young and vulnerable. “Is it true?”
For a moment, Bud feared what LJ was asking. He felt his heart bang against his ribs and hoped he didn’t have another panic attack. “Are you asking if Lonny Dean killed Frank Anson? According to Blaze, he admitted it.”
“No, not that.” LJ put his head in his hands for a moment. Bud felt sweat run down his back. He’d known this day was coming. With Frank having killed Bethany, it would only be worse if Bud told LJ the truth.
“Pastor Westlake says evil can run in a person’s genes.” LJ raised his head to look at him.
Bud found himself unable to breathe for a moment. He knew he had to say something. “I don’t think—”
“The pastor says that if a man finds God, though, he can overcome his genes and fight his weaknesses.” His son looked so hopeful, Bud felt his eyes burn with tears. He desperately wanted to tell him that there was no evil in his genes. He wanted to tell him that he was his son—not Frank’s.
But when he opened his mouth, he found he couldn’t speak. He knew nothing about genetics. But the truth was, LJ had inherited his father’s temper and maybe worse.
His son dropped his head again to stare at the floor. “Pastor says that a man can choose to be whatever he wants to be—with God’s help.”
Bud took a breath, then another, as he tried to still his pounding heart. He’d never wanted to believe anything more in his life. He wiped at the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve and stood on trembling legs to move around the desk to lay his hand on his son’s shoulder. “What kind of man do you want to be?”
LJ lifted his head to look up at him. He saw so much anguish in the young man’s eyes that he felt his heart break. “I want to be just like you, Dad.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
BLAZE LOOKED UP to see her father and Allie come into her hospital room. Her father rushed to her bedside. She opened her mouth to speak but burst into tears instead. Monte took her in his arms and she cried against his shoulder as she had as a girl.
When she stopped crying, she pulled back to look at him and Allie. “Have you heard? They found Mom.”
Her father nodded. “I’m so sorry, Blaze. I would have been here sooner but Allie and I... We eloped.”
She smiled as her gaze went to Allie and the diamond band on her left hand. “Congratulations.”
“Terrible timing,” her father said. “We headed back as soon as we heard the news.”
Blaze looked to Allie. “You know about...Frank?” She nodded. “I’m so sorry about all this.”
“We both are,” her father said as he reached for Allie’s hand. “It was such a shock. Even though I knew your mother had to be dead all these years... But even more of a shock was Lonny Dean trying to kill you.”
Blaze felt a shudder at the memory of the dark house and Lonny tracking her. She wondered how long she’d have to sleep with a light on before she could forget the horror of it. “But I’m fine now.” She smiled at the two of them. “It’s finally over, huh.”
Her father nodded. “We have to go down to the sheriff’s office, but then that should be the last of it. With Frank dead, there won’t be a trial to drag things on forever. The doctor said you are going to be released this morning.”
“Jake is picking me up.”
“Then we’ll see you at the ranch.” Her father squeezed her hand. “I’m so glad you’re all right. Maybe...” He shook his head. “Never mind, it can wait until later.”
She watched them go, wondering what could wait until later. Would her father stay on the ranch now that he and Allie were married? Or would they leave for a fresh start somewhere else? What would happen to the ranch?
Before she could consider how she felt about all of it, Jake stuck his head in the door. She’d never been so happy to see anyone.
* * *
JAKE STOPPED JUST feet from her bed and took in her amazing smile. She’d been through so much and yet she’d come out the other side smiling. He couldn’t help smiling himself as he moved to the bed and leaned down to kiss her.
She put her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He heard her sigh against his lips and sat back to look at her.
“How are you?”
“Now that you’re here? Happy. I know I shouldn’t be, having found out about my mother only hours ago, but—”