Page 23 of Christmas Ransom

So now he realized he may have given the wrong people marked bills.

Jud hated feeling so asinine. It made him angry and that anger found itself aimed at Carla Richmond. She knew all of this. She’d known it the day of the robbery. That’s why he’d driven by her house. He hadn’t known what he was going to do. He knew he’d be smart to just let it go. But it made him angrier that he couldn’t get to Carla even if he wanted to.

So he’d passed her house and gone to work feeling out of sorts long before his conversation with Jesse. He felt worse after her second call.

“I was right. Your bank girl talked,” Jesse said without preamble. “The feds know about the note. They’re interviewing everyone with access to her food tray. I’ll be called in at any moment.”

“Lie.” It was the best advice he had to give. “Tell them you didn’t know anything about it. You can handle this.”

“It just makes me so angry that she talked to the feds after I warned her not to,” Jesse was saying. “She can’t get away with this.”

Alarmed by her tone as well as her words, Jud tried to calm her down.

“Easy. We don’t want to do anything rash, right? You’re the one who said we had to keep our heads and play it cool.”

“I’m getting paged. I have to go.” She disconnected, leaving him still alarmed and worried. Jesse could handle this, he assured himself. Unless she let her anger get the better of her, and he knew from experience how dangerous that could be. He’d almost blown the bank job because he’d wanted to punish Carla Richmond for not giving him a loan he hadn’t even applied for. At least now he had a good reason to hate her and want to harm her.

He didn’t even make an excuse this time for driving past her house.

Chapter Fourteen

“Are you feeling all right?” Davy asked when Carla said she was going upstairs to lie down. “Maybe you checked out of the hospital too soon.”

She scoffed at that. “I couldn’t get out of there soon enough. I’m fine, really. I just tire quickly.” He offered to go with her to make sure she made it upstairs.

“Davy, I can climb stairs by myself. Please, I feel helpless enough.”

“Sorry.” He let her go and went back to the office.

“Everything okay?” James asked when he walked in.

“She’s still weak from her injuries.” But he knew that wasn’t the real cause. Like him, she was worried. The feds seemed to think the robbery had been an inside job. Agent Grover especially thought it was Carla. “She needs a good lawyer. You know one?”

“Slim pickings in Lonesome,” his brother said. “You might want to try Missoula. I’ll ask around. How soon do you need one?”

“Yesterday,” Davy said. “What about the lawyer helping us with Dad’s case?”

“Carla needs someone who specializes in defense cases,” James said. “Especially with the FBI involved.”

Davy was worried about her, and he knew that his brother saw it.

“Might have trouble finding one over the holidays,” James said. “Could be a problem.”

That wasn’t the biggest problem, Davy thought. After giving Carla some time alone, he climbed the stairs, hoping she’d gotten some sleep and was feeling better. At least he hoped she was upstairs and hadn’t sneaked out. It would be just like her to feel like she was too much trouble and go home, scared or not.

As he entered the apartment, he saw that she was up and awake. He also saw that she looked anxious. She’d always been so independent. Not like other girls at high school who had to be with their boyfriends 24/7.

Before he could speak, she said, “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier.” He started to wave it off, but she continued. “You know me. I can’t stay locked up here like a princess hiding in her castle.”

“This space is nice, but it’s no castle.”

“You know what I mean. I’ll stay for a few more days until I’m more myself, but I’d at least like to go over to the house and pick up a few more things. Willie brought everything on my list, but if I’m staying longer...”

“Sure. I’ll take you.” He realized that she was going to make it harder for him to keep her safe, but he was surprised that she’d agreed to come here to begin with. Not that he’d given her much choice. He and his brother Tommy had picked up her car from where she’d parked it downtown and taken it back to her house. He hoped she wouldn’t want it yet. “Whatever you need.”

“I’m not trying to be difficult.”

“You’re not. I would feel the same way.” Their gazes held for a few moments. He did know her, intimately. Or at least he had a long time ago. Had either of them really changed all that much? He didn’t think so. She looked more rested. He could see that she was feeling better, getting stronger and more like her old self. So it would surprise him if she stayed even a few more days.

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