At the Crossroads

by B. J Daniels

  She’d wiped at her tears, eyes narrowing as she straightened to her full height. “You’ll be sorry if you don’t give it to me.”

  He’d stared at her. “Another threat?”

  “I’m trying to protect you, you damned fool.”

  Culhane had let out a howl. “Do. Not. Involve. Me. Whatever it is, do not drag me into it. I’ll get my lawyer to handle this. We’re done, Jana. I won’t be extorted, and I’m through being used.”

  “You’ll regret this,” she’d screamed after him as he’d stormed out. He could hear her shouting at the top of her lungs and breaking things inside the house. As he’d started to get into his pickup, she’d come running out, yelling obscenities.

  He’d stopped, surprised to see that her hair was wild, her T-shirt ripped and hanging off one shoulder. Blood dripped down her face from what appeared to be a cut on her forehead. What the hell? Several neighbors had come out. One was making a call on her cell phone, no doubt to the cops. The other was videoing both of them.

  Culhane had seen at once what Jana was up to. She was setting him up. But for what? He’d shaken his head as he’d climbed into his pickup and driven off, knowing he’d be getting a visit from the law—and probably a lawyer. This wouldn’t be the last of it. Jana was going to make him pay, one way or the other.

  It was the last time he saw her. Maybe the last time he would ever see her.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  VI MULLEN SAT in the back of a squad car in a daze—and it wasn’t the first time. She’d lost so much this year. Uniformed men and women scurried about in a flurry of activity. In and out of the café where crime-scene tape fluttered in the wind and blood stained the floor.

  She’d finally quit crying and screaming for someone to find her daughter. The female deputy who’d been questioning her had informed her that Tina had been rescued, was in the hospital in the next town with minor injuries, but would soon be released and returned to Buckhorn.

  Vi finished answering the deputy’s questions feeling empty inside. Tina was going to be fine. Chloe was fine, although with Lars. What had happened here today was over. It would dominate the news for a day or two, and everyone would forget. Hardly anyone even knew where Buckhorn, Montana, was—or cared.

  “That will be all for now,” the deputy said. “You’re free to go home.”

  Home? The deputy had gotten out to help her from the back of the squad car, making her feel old and weak.

  She pulled free of the woman’s steadying hands, straightened her back, lifted her chin and reminded herself who she was. Vivian Mullen. She practically owned this town. Buckhorn needed her. She was just fine.

  But she wasn’t. Even after she got the call from Tina. Her daughter was alive and well and getting her broken arm in a cast at the hospital. She hadn’t felt anything—it was as if the past year had left her unable to feel any emotions at all, except for anger.

  “Vi? Are you all right?” Lars asked as he appeared next to her. “If you want, I could walk you home.”

  She glanced at him and the baby. Not his baby. That much she knew now to be true. Yet seeing him standing there holding her granddaughter, Vi knew she was never going to be able to get rid of Lars Olson. Her daughter had forgiven him for his so-called indiscretions with that slut, Shirley Langer. The two had been humping like rabbits for months, and yet Tina had taken the man back.

  Vi thought of her own husband who’d jumped ship the moment he’d found out about her own indiscretions. She hadn’t strayed with anyone. She’d only lied to help someone she loved, and Axel couldn’t get away from her quick enough.

  She sighed. “Did you hear me, Vi?” Lars asked again.

  “I heard you. Tina’s fine. I’m fine. We’re all fine.” She stood to her full height and took a deep breath of the warm fall air. Hadn’t she heard that the weather was supposed to change? Winter was coming, long months of darkness and cold. The thought made her shudder. “I should get down to the store and see how much of a mess you made down there.”

  “Vi, you should come home with me and Chloe,” Lars said. “I’ll make us something to eat.”

  With a huff, she told Lars what he could do with his suggestion.

  “Well, I’m going, and I’m taking Chloe with me.” He held the baby closer as if worried that she would try to rip the infant from his arms. Not likely, Vi thought.

  “Go, get out of my way. I have work to do.” She started down the street.

  “Is there anything you want me to tell Tina when I go to pick her up?” he called after her, but Vi didn’t bother to answer. As she walked, she looked down the main drag of Buckhorn. The two-lane blacktop cut right through the heart of town.

  As she walked toward the center of town and her store, she could smell the promise of snow on the afternoon air. Winter would come swiftly. A few clouds already huddled on the mountaintops to the west.

  On the other end of town in front of the motel, Shirley Langer was loading her car as if leaving for good. Maybe something good had come out of this after all, Vi thought and was surprised that she didn’t really care anymore.

  She surveyed her hometown. Some of the businesses were already boarded up. Most of the snowbirds had left. Soon only the heartiest and most determined of residents would be left in Buckhorn. She worried that Buckhorn would die. Her husband used to joke that they’d be the last ones left and would have to lock up before they, too, departed.

  But Vi knew there would be only one way she would leave Buckhorn. It would be in a coffin. The thought actually cheered her. She would die here. The thought didn’t bother her in the least. She had to die somewhere. Why not here?

  Before she left though, she would make her mark on this town whether people liked it or not.

  * * *

  ALEXIS WOKE AS the pickup tires kicked up gravel. She sat up, surprised that she’d fallen asleep. But then again, she hadn’t had much sleep the night before. Culhane’s late-night visit seemed like days ago. Now it was late afternoon, the day already feeling incredibly long. Night came quickly this time of year in Montana, and so did the cold.

  Culhane drove through the gravel parking lot and pulled into a spot in front of Red’s Bar between a motorcycle and a truck with a four-wheeler and a blue heeler in the back. The dog growled at them as they climbed out and walked toward the front door. Alexis stepped over some smashed beer cans dumped on the sidewalk and shot him a look.

  “Red’s is an acquired taste, I’m told. So is its owner, Jack Redfield. I should probably warn you about him,” he said, but she shook her head.

  “Don’t worry about me.” She could see that Culhane was anxious. “When was the last time you were here?”

  “Jana and I stopped by to tell her father that we were getting married. He bought us a beer and wished us luck. She asked him if he wanted to pay for a wedding. He laughed.”

  “I see,” she said, and he opened the door for her to step inside.

  As Culhane pushed open the door, a large redheaded man looked up from where he was wiping down the bar. He froze for a moment before he went back to what he was doing as they approached.

  Jack stood well over six feet with a barrel-shaped body and large hairy arms. He wore a filthy tank undershirt exposing his numerous tattoos. Both hands, Alexis saw, were badly scarred. That and the odd angle of his nose told her he was a brawler. No doubt some of the fights had taken place right here in this very bar.

  “Remember me?” Culhane asked, even though Alexis had already seen the recognition in the man’s eyes before the shutters had come down.

  “You look vaguely familiar,” Jack said with a sneer. “Aren’t you wanted for the murder of my daughter?”

  “Who says she’s dead?”

  The man laughed. “The cops.”

  “You’ve never believed anything they had to say. Why start now?”

  Jack lean
ed his elbows on the bar. “You come here to give me shit? Because I only take that from paying customers.”

  Culhane reached into his pocket and tossed a twenty on the bar. The bill disappeared like magic under Jack’s big hand. “Two beers?” Culhane looked at her when he asked, and she nodded.

  “Bud Light?” Jack inquired in a mocking tone.

  “I’ll take a Moose Drool,” Alexis said as she climbed up onto a stool.

  The man’s gaze swung to her as if he hadn’t noticed her before. His eyes narrowed as his lips turned up in what could have been a snarl or a smile.

  “I’ll take the same,” Culhane said and joined her on an adjacent stool. Neither spoke as they watched Jack pull two bottles of Moose Drool from the cooler, uncap them and place the bottles on napkins in front of them formally as if he were serving royalty. “You don’t seem very concerned about your daughter.”

  Jack shrugged. “I’m concerned about all three of my daughters.”

  “Are the other two also missing and believed murdered?” Alexis asked, and this time Jack’s lip curl was most definitely a snarl.

  “Not that I know of,” he said before shifting his gaze back to Culhane. “Jana’s thirty years old. I no longer change her diapers or get her out of jail. She’s on her own.”

  Culhane nodded. “Which tells me you suspect the same thing I do.”

  “And what is that?”

  “That she faked her death to either get out of the trouble she’s in or to frame me. Maybe both.”

  Jack lifted one bushy red brow. “Sounds like you’re screwed either way. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”

  “Where is she?”

  Jack crossed his bulky arms to meet Culhane’s gaze. “What makes you think I’ve seen her?”

  “Because she’s your blood. She’s in big trouble. She needs money. She came to me. She’d come to you next—if she hadn’t already. Did you give her money?”

  Jack laughed and wagged his big head. “Like I said, she’s not my responsibility anymore. If she came by here...well, I would have told her to ask her husband. Aren’t you still married to my daughter?”

  “Funny you should ask. She promised to mail in the annulment papers after she signed them. But the fact that you know she didn’t means she’s been here. She mention why she’s on the run? I’m pretty sure she isn’t just running from snitching on her partners in crime. I think there’s someone in law enforcement who doesn’t want her to ever surface. If I’m right, she’s involved with even worse people than she was before. I think she’s realized that and is hiding out. If you know where she is—”

  “I don’t. But then again, I wouldn’t tell you if I did.”

  Culhane swore under his breath and looked away.

  “Even to save her life?” Alexis demanded.

  “I’m sorry, who are you?” Jack snapped, swinging his gaze to her.

  “Alexis Brand. I’m a former sheriff’s deputy—”

  “Turned bounty hunter,” Jack finished for her.

  “Only recently. Jana tell you that, too?” Culhane asked.

  Jack grunted again.

  “So Jana fakes her death. Maybe her idea, maybe someone else’s. But the problem is the sheriff missed his chance to arrest me last night. Now he knows that I’m looking for Jana to prove I didn’t kill her. He has to find her first and make sure she stays dead.”

  “What did you do to piss off the sheriff?” Jack asked.

  “I filed a wrongful-discharge suit against him and the department. He doesn’t want what I know about him and his department coming out.”

  Jack rubbed a ham-sized hand over his face for a moment. “Jana’s smart. She can take care of herself.”

  “Not this time, Jack. I suspect this time, she’s in over her head.”

  Jack scoffed. “Won’t be the first time. Or the last. That one attracts trouble. Drink your beer and get on with your business, or I’ll call the cops.” He moved to busy himself partway down the bar, his back to them.

  * * *

  ALEXIS MET CULHANE’S gaze for a moment, then excused herself. Sliding off the stool, she called down the bar “Restrooms down this way?”

  “That big sign over the opening to the hallway wasn’t plain enough for you?” Jack asked, not bothering to look at her.

  As she started down the hall, she listened to make sure she hadn’t been followed. Culhane struck up an argument with Jack as she slipped into the open doorway of what she saw was the bar’s office.

  She hurried to the desk, having no idea what she was looking for or how much time she would have to search. The top of the desk was a half-foot deep in bills, junk mail and liquor-order receipts. She quickly sifted through the pile, pretty sure Jack wouldn’t remember exactly where each item lay.

  Seeing nothing of interest, she tried the drawers. Most held the usual office-desk items. It wasn’t until she tried the bottom drawer that she found it locked.

  Culhane was still arguing with Jack. She just hoped that the bar owner didn’t suddenly realize how long she’d been gone and come looking for her.

  Grabbing a paperclip she began to pick the lock. It took her longer than she’d hoped, but she finally picked it. Opening the drawer, she saw it held a series of file folders. Most had to do with the bar business.

  Disappointed and about to give up, she spotted a folder at the back titled Letters. She pulled it out quickly, opened the folder and felt her pulse leap as she saw the top letter was from Jana to her father from seven years ago. Quickly, she opened the envelope to find a letter written on Lost Sunset Ranch stationery. She quickly pulled out her phone and took a photo before looking for more letters from Jana. She found none, but she did discover some receipts for payments to Lost Sunset Ranch. Hurriedly photographing them, she quickly put everything back in the folder.

  Jack’s voice boomed down the hallway. Hurriedly, she pocketed her phone and stuffed the folder in the back before closing the drawer. She could hear Jack approaching with heavy, angry footfalls. There wasn’t time to exit the office and get to the ladies’ room. She had only one choice since either way she would probably get caught.

  She ducked down into the space under the desk as she heard him stop in the office doorway. He stood there so long she feared he knew where she was hiding and was just waiting for her to come out. She hadn’t realized that she was holding her breath until she heard him let out a curse and stomp on down the hall, headed for the ladies’ restroom.

  At the sound of the bathroom door banging open and the boom of his voice as he called “You in there?” she slipped out from under the desk and hurried to the door. She heard him step in to check the stalls and made her move, rushing back to the bar. Instead of going to her stool, she went to the jukebox in the dark corner near the small dance floor. She was looking through the songs when she heard him come storming back into the room.

  “What the hell?” he demanded. “Where have you been?”

  Alexis turned, giving him her most innocent look. “I went to the bathroom and didn’t want to interrupt the two of you, so I was looking to see what songs you had on your jukebox.”

  Jack frowned, his naturally red face growing redder. “I didn’t see you come out of the bathroom.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “Culhane, I found a song I like, but I don’t have any change.”

  “I’m afraid we don’t have time to hear it,” he said as he grabbed up a pen and cocktail napkin lying on the bar. “Here’s my cell-phone number, Jack. Have Jana call me. It could save her life.” He shoved it in the man’s direction, but the bar owner didn’t move.

  “If you care anything about your daughter...” Alexis said as she joined Culhane at the bar.

  Jack looked at her, his gaze hard as a slap. “This from the woman who’s sleeping with my daughter’s...husband?”

  “Jack.” From Cul
hane the warning in his voice was more than a threat. “We came here because we’re worried about Jana. You should be worried as well. Alexis and I can help her.”

  The bar owner scoffed at that, picked up the napkin and crushed it in his big palm. “Get out. Don’t come back.”

  “You’ll only have yourself to blame when she’s dead,” Culhane said, and the two of them walked out.

  It wasn’t until they were in the pickup and had driven away that he asked, “Find anything of interest?”

  She thought about the papers she’d photographed. “Have you ever heard of Lost Sunset Ranch?”

  He frowned. “It’s some offbeat, pseudoreligious group that says it’s a safe haven for troubled young women. I’ve had to go out there a couple of times when I was a deputy in that county to do welfare checks on the women.”

  “Did you know Jana went there seven years ago?”

  Culhane stared at her a few moments too long. A horn honked, and he jerked the wheel, sending the pickup careening back into the right lane. “That’s where she went?”

  Alexis could tell that he was shocked by this news.

  “Why would she go there?”

  “I don’t know, but it cost Jack a pretty penny. She stayed for seven months.”

  * * *

  CULHANE FELT AS if he’d been hit upside the head with a baseball bat. He shook his head, trying to clear his whirling thoughts. Jana spent seven months at the ranch with a cult out there? It made no sense.

  But then, knowing Jana, nothing she did should surprise him. She’d thought by marrying him she would have money. Once she realized that wasn’t going to happen, she’d pretended she’d lost the baby and left. But why would she go to a place like Lost Sunset Ranch?

  “You might want to see this,” Alexis said. “But I suggest you pull over first.” He did and she handed him her phone.

  He read the letter from Jana to her father, recognizing her handwriting.