The Missing McCullen

by Rita Herron

  “We have to let Maddox know,” Cash said.

  “Right now all we have is a theory,” BJ said. “We can’t accuse a sheriff of murder or kidnapping without more evidence.”

  She was right. Jasper would make Maddox’s life hell if they made accusations.

  “Let’s talk to Jasper’s deputy,” BJ said. “Maybe he knows more about Jasper.”

  Going out on their own without telling Maddox was chancy. But Maddox had stood up for him. He didn’t want to jeopardize Maddox’s career—or his life.

  BJ looked up as Maddox approached. “Did you find anything?” Maddox asked.

  “Nothing concrete,” BJ said. “Where’s Jasper?”

  “He insists on waiting here for Elmore to wake up. I’m going to do the same.”

  BJ handed Maddox the files. “All right. Let us know when he regains consciousness.”

  Cash followed BJ outside, feeling antsy. Jasper had been quick to arrest him.

  Because he’d made the perfect patsy?

  He was all alone. A man with no money and no way to defend himself. A man who was close to Sondra, and who Elmore thought was Tyler’s father.

  Jasper had also been friends with Elmore, so Elmore hadn’t once suspected that his friend would betray him.

  * * *

  BJ DIDN’T LIKE where this case was going. But the elaborate way Cash had been framed was orchestrated by someone who knew what he was doing.

  Dark clouds rolled in, a light rain drizzling down as they drove toward Jasper’s office.

  If Jasper was Tyler’s father, he wouldn’t have wanted Elmore to know—why? Because he didn’t love Sondra? Because he didn’t want a child?

  Because he had forced himself on Sondra and knew Elmore would kill him if he found out?

  A deputy’s vehicle sat in front of the building. She climbed from the truck, and they walked up the sidewalk together. In spite of his bad memories, Cash opened the door and strode in, shoulders squared.

  She followed, her stomach clenching. If Jasper was as devious and coldhearted as she suspected, he had covered his own butt.

  So why ask for a ransom? To make it appear that the kidnapping and Sondra’s murder was about money?

  The deputy looked up at her with a scowl as she entered, his frown deepening when Cash halted in front of him and crossed his arms.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” the deputy asked.

  BJ adopted a poker face. What if the deputy knew what Jasper had done and was covering for him?

  * * *

  ANGER COILED INSIDE CASH. He stepped forward, tempted to jerk a knot in the deputy’s collar, but BJ placed a warning hand on his arm and he froze.

  He had to keep his cool or he’d wind up locked up again.

  “I have some questions,” BJ said “Did you know Sondra Elmore?”

  The young man shook his head. “I never met her, but her father and Jasper’s father were friends.”

  “What about a woman named Frannie Cooper?” BJ asked.

  “Can’t say as I do. But I’ve only lived here three months. Moved here from Cheyenne.”

  “Did Jasper ever mention having a child?” Cash asked.

  BJ shot Cash a dark look. The deputy’s brows rose in a puzzled expression. “Where’d you get that idea? Jasper doesn’t have any family. Heard him say he liked it that way. He was planning to run for Mayor and didn’t want anything to get in the way.”

  An election could mean that someone might expose his secrets.

  Having two illegitimate children, abandoning one who was sick, and possibly assault or rape charges against him would definitely have tainted his chances.

  Sounded like a motive.

  Cash glanced at the sheriff’s desk. He’d like to take a look inside. Not that Jasper would be foolish enough to leave any evidence behind.

  Except for the evidence he’d planted against Cash.

  BJ thanked the deputy for his help, then they stepped outside. “It’s time we let Maddox know what we learned.”

  Cash removed his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call him.” He punched Maddox’s number and filled him in.

  “Good god, that makes sense now,” Maddox said. “Jasper’s been behind everything.”

  “Is he still there?” Cash asked.

  “He left a minute ago. Said he had a clue he was going to check out, but he refused to tell me what it was.”

  “He may be going to Tyler,” Cash said. “Did Elmore wake up?”

  “Not yet.” Maddox muttered a sound of frustration. “I’ll call Jasper’s office and see if he’s there.”

  “We’re there now and the deputy hasn’t seen him.”

  “Then I’ll check his house,” Maddox said. “You and BJ sit tight. I’ll keep you posted.”

  Cash didn’t like it, but he had to trust Maddox. Hard to do, but so far he’d been aboveboard with him.

  He ended the call, then he and BJ walked over to the diner to get coffee. From there, they could see the sheriff’s office and would know if he came back.

  Thirty minutes passed with no news from Maddox. Jasper didn’t show either.

  “I can’t stand this waiting,” BJ said. “I’m going to talk to the deputy again.”

  Cash stood. “All right.”

  “Wait here, Cash,” BJ said. “He might tell me more if I’m alone.”

  Cash exhaled. “Okay, but I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.”

  They walked across the street and BJ went inside. Cash paced the sidewalk, every second increasing his anxiety as he waited.

  Finally she came out, but she looked anxious. “Jasper owns a cabin in a desolate wooded area. He likes to go there and think sometimes.”

  Cash’s heart pounded. “He might have Tyler there.”

  “That’s what I was thinking.”

  Cash’s keys jangled as they hurried to his truck.

  “I’ll call Maddox,” BJ said.

  Cash nodded, and she made the call while he entered the address the deputy had given her into his GPS.

  BJ must have gotten Maddox’s machine because she left a message.

  He fought the fear eating at him as he drove. Twenty minutes later, they were in the wilderness when BJ’s phone buzzed. Maddox.

  She put him on the speaker.

  “I got your message,” Maddox said. “You may be right. Jasper isn’t at his house so he may be at that cabin.”

  “We’re on our way there now,” BJ said.

  “Dammit, I warned you two to let me handle this,” Maddox said.

  “I’m sorry, Maddox,” Cash said. “BJ tried to reach you.”

  “Just wait on me when you get there. Jasper is dangerous,” Maddox said.

  “We know that,” Cash said. But Tyler was worth it.

  “Devon phoned about Sondra’s computer,” Maddox continued. “Jasper is Tyler’s father. Sondra found out Jasper had another son, Drew, and started asking questions about his mother. One of Jasper’s emails warned her to keep quiet or else.”

  Maddox hung up, and Cash accelerated as they crossed the rugged terrain. If Jasper was desperate, he might be planning an escape.

  Cash clenched the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip and veered down the graveled road. The truck rumbled over dirt and potholes, across rugged land that was untamed and so far off the grid a person could hide out for months.

  Suddenly a burst of light illuminated the sky above, streaking the dark clouds.

  “Oh, my God,” BJ cried. “That’s a fire.”

  Terror clawed at Cash, and he pressed the accelerator. Tyler...

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Flames burst into the sky, lighting the dark clouds and sending panic th
rough Cash. He rounded a curve, spotted a barn on fire and screeched to a stop.

  “Tyler might be in there!” He vaulted from the truck “Call for help!”

  Just as he neared the barn, Jasper ran out. Cash jerked him by the collar. Jasper raised his weapon at Cash, but Cash was fast, and knocked it from his grasp. The gun flew into the dirt a few feet away.

  “Let me go, you son of a bitch!” Jasper yelled.

  Cash slammed Jasper against the barn wall. Heat from the fire seared him. “You killed Sondra and took Tyler. Is he in that barn?”

  Jasper’s eyes flashed with rage. “She was going to ruin me!”

  Cash squeezed the man’s neck. “Is Tyler in there?”

  Jasper slammed his fist into Cash’s stomach. Cash grunted and threw the man to the ground, then punched him in the chest. Anger heated his blood, and he punched him again.

  “Let him go, Cash,” BJ said in a commanding tone.

  She inched toward them, her hands gripping Jasper’s gun. She aimed it at Jasper.

  “Go get Tyler, Cash!” she shouted. “If he moves, I’ll shoot him.”

  Cash dragged the sheriff to the wooden railing of the pen, grabbed the man’s handcuffs and cuffed him to it. Then he turned and ran toward the burning barn.

  Fire crackled and popped. Wood splintered. Flames danced from the rear of the barn and crawled along the straw on the floor. The fire hadn’t yet reached the front door, but it was creeping toward it.

  “Tyler, are you in here?”

  Heat seared Cash’s neck. A board from the roof splintered off and fell at his feet. He jumped over it, dodging fire as it crept up the wall.

  “Tyler!” He weaved past two stalls, then made it to the last one. Tyler was hunched in a corner, tied to a post.

  Rage fueled Cash’s adrenaline. Flames were eating the wood, catching the straw near the little boy’s feet. Tyler had been gagged, but he was trying to scream, and pulling at the ropes.

  Cash ran to the tack room, grabbed one of the horse blankets, then darted back toward Tyler. The poor little boy’s eyes were panicked and tears streaked his dirty cheeks. Smoke clogged the air.

  Cash beat at the flames as he ran through them. He used his pocketknife to cut the ropes, wrapped the blanket around the little boy, then picked him up. Tyler sagged against him, trembling with fear.

  Cash covered Tyler’s head and body with the blanket, then ran through the barn. The front was just catching fire. He ducked his head against Tyler and hurried outside.

  Flames licked at his arms and legs, but he beat them away with one hand, then carried Tyler to a tree several hundred feet away.

  BJ was still standing guard over Jasper, who was growling and cursing.

  She glanced over her shoulder at Cash and relief filled her face when she saw Tyler.

  Sirens wailed in the distance. Maddox roared onto the scene along with an ambulance.

  Tyler coughed, but clung to Cash. Cash rocked him back and forth until the medics reached them.

  * * *

  BJ DARED JASPER to make a move. She’d never shot a person before, but this coldhearted bastard had left an innocent little child in a barn to burn to death.

  “How could you kill your own son?” BJ asked.

  Jasper’s harsh face hardened even more. “I didn’t ask for a kid.”

  “You know how it happens and you didn’t prevent it,” BJ said, furious. “Even worse, you have two children, neither of which you’ve taken responsibility for.”

  “He’s your son,” Cash snapped. “How could you hurt him?”

  “That’s your fault,” Jasper said. “If you two hadn’t kept snooping around, I would have taken the money and gotten him back to Elmore. But you had to interfere.”

  BJ tightened her fingers around the gun. Poor little Tyler was crying in Cash’s arms.

  The big tough man’s body was shaking as well, as if he was overcome with emotions. He was so tender with Tyler. He’d saved his life.

  The medics knelt beside Cash and Tyler and began to examine Tyler.

  Maddox approached slowly. “BJ, I’ve got it. You can put the gun down.”

  Her hand jerked, but Maddox gently pushed the weapon down with one hand. “I’ve got it, BJ. He’s not going anywhere.”

  BJ released the breath she’d been holding and lowered the gun.

  The next few hours passed in a blur as the medics transported Tyler to the hospital for observation. Cash rode with him, and she drove his truck. Whitefeather arrived to meet the crime team, with promises they would have all the evidence they’d need to put Jasper away for a long time.

  Maddox was transferring him to jail to book him.

  While Cash stayed with Tyler and they settled him into a room, BJ checked on Drew. Candace, his social worker, was sitting by the little guy’s bed.

  “How’s he doing?” BJ asked.

  A sad expression tugged at the woman’s mouth. “Not very well, I’m afraid. We need a donor soon.”

  “We found his father.” BJ’s mind raced with the beginnings of a plan. “He needs to be tested to see if he’s a match, right?”

  “Right. Will he agree to it?”

  BJ removed her phone from her purse. “I’ll make sure he does.”

  She dropped a kiss on the sleeping little boy’s head, then stepped into the hall to make a call.

  * * *

  CASH COULDN’T RELAX until he knew Tyler was all right.

  But how could he be all right when his mother had been murdered and his father had tried to kill him?

  How did a child overcome that kind of trauma?

  He hadn’t known his own parents, but at least they had wanted him. Neither one of them had tied him up in a burning building and left him to die.

  Instead they’d died trying to find him and his brother. Maddox had filled him in when they were in the waiting room. The killer made it look like his mother crashed her car while she was drinking, but the accident hadn’t been an accident at all. She’d been drugged.

  And his father, Joe McCullen, had been poisoned.

  The doctor who examined Tyler motioned for Cash to step into the hall.

  “Is he going to be all right?” Cash asked.

  “Physically, he’s fine. But emotionally, he may have a hard time. Are you family?”

  No, but he wished he was. He explained about Jasper and Sondra’s murder. “His grandfather, Lester Elmore, was brought in suffering from gunshot wounds.”

  The doctor scratched his chin. “We’re required to confer with Children and Family Services. Depending on his grandfather’s condition, Tyler may be placed in foster care.”

  Cash fought a reaction. So many bad memories for him. He didn’t want Tyler to suffer the way he had.

  And what would happen to Tyler’s half brother, Drew?

  “If Tyler wakes, tell the nurse to assure him I’ll be back.”

  He rode the elevator to Elmore’s floor and stopped at the nurse’s station. “I was with the ambulance that brought Lester Elmore’s grandson in. How is Mr. Elmore?”

  “He’s in and out of consciousness. It’s still touch and go.”

  “Can I see him?”

  Maybe Tyler could stay with him until Elmore was released and feeling better. Would Elmore consider taking in Drew?

  “Are you family?” the nurse asked.

  Cash hesitated. “Not technically, but I’m close to his grandson. You know he was kidnapped?”

  “Yes, I saw the story on the news. I’ve been praying for the little boy,” the nurse said.

  “Elmore was shot trying to pay that ransom,” Cash said. “It might help him to know that we rescued Tyler and that he’s safe.”

  “Of course it would.” She led him
to Elmore’s room. “Just don’t stay too long or upset him. He needs to rest.”

  Cash nodded. He had bad blood with Elmore. It was possible that his presence might agitate the man.

  But...he needed to know that Tyler was safe.

  That he had to fight to live.

  Because Tyler needed his grandfather now more than ever.

  * * *

  BJ CLENCHED HER phone as she explained the situation with Jasper to her father.

  “So Cash Koker is a McCullen?” her father asked.

  “Yes, Dad, and he’s innocent.”

  “Hmm.” A pregnant pause. “I’m sure the McCullens are happy.”

  “They will be,” BJ said. “Right now we’re dealing with Sheriff Jasper.”

  “He’s guilty. You’ve got the proof. He’ll go to jail.”

  “Yes, but it’s complicated. He had another son, a little boy named Drew, who needs a kidney transplant badly. Jasper may be a match, but he hasn’t agreed to testing. I was thinking that if we had leverage, maybe offered him a deal, he might agree to donate his kidney.”

  “If he killed two women, kidnapped his son for ransom and tried to kill him, then he should rot in jail.”

  “I agree,” BJ said. Jasper had admitted that Drew’s mother had threatened to expose him if he didn’t pay her. “But Drew may not make it without that transplant. Can you talk to the DA and ask him to take the death penalty off the table in exchange for a kidney? That is, if Jasper is a positive match to Drew.”

  Another hesitation. “I’ll make the call.”

  BJ closed her eyes and said a silent prayer that her plan would work. Once Drew was healthy, it would be much easier for him to find a forever home.

  She phoned Maddox and relayed her conversation with her father. Maddox agreed to coerce Jasper into taking the tests.

  BJ went to check on Tyler and Cash. Maybe if Drew got well, he and Tyler could connect. Then neither little boy would have to be alone again.

  Of course, that depended on Elmore...

  * * *

  CASH EASED INTO a chair beside Elmore. The astute man who’d made his life hell looked frail in the hospital bed, not so imposing.