Page 29 of Christmas Ransom

She opened the refrigerator and took out the wine bottle. As she poured herself a glass, she finally looked at him again. “I got grilled by the feds. They already knew I was the one who took in the dinner tray and picked it up from the first time they talked to me. Again, they wanted to know what I did with it. What they really wanted to know was if there was a note with it.”

“What did you tell them?” he asked as he followed her into the living room.

She kicked off her shoes and sprawled on the couch, leaving him just enough room to sit, if he didn’t mind her feet in his lap. “What do you think I told them? That I wrote the note?” She shook her head. “I said like I did the first time that I didn’t see any note. At least one of the feds believes me. He asked what Carla had said to me. I told him again that she said she wasn’t hungry and to get rid of the tray.” Jesse smiled. “I could tell that they suspect she lied about there being a note.”

“So it’s all good,” he said, sighing in relief. So why was she so upset? She looked angrier than when she’d come home.

“No, it’s not all good, Jud.” She bit off each word. “Carla Richmond drew them a sketch of your tattoo. They were showing it around to everyone, asking if they knew anyone who had a tattoo like that.”

“No one did, right?”

“That’s not the point. The point is I warned her to keep her trap shut.” She shifted on the couch, her expression going dark. “That woman is as good as dead. She should have done what I told her.”

He was no fan of Carla Richmond either, but all he really wanted was for this to be over. “I think we should take the money and leave.” He’d been thinking about it all the way home from Butte. It was time to get the hell out of Dodge. Not that he thought anyone could connect him to what had happened at the tattoo parlor. He’d gotten his forms and destroyed them on the way home. At least for this, he was home free.

He didn’t want to wait around until the loan goons got arrested in case the money he’d given them was marked. Mostly, he was ready to start spending some of that cash—the unmarked cash. “We can go anywhere we want. I was thinking—”

“We’re not going anywhere, not yet,” she said, sitting up. She pulled her legs into her and wrapped her arms around them. She wasn’t as angry now. Somehow it made her scarier. “I’m not leaving until she’s dead.”

He hoped she was merely venting. “That’s not going to happen as long as she’s staying with Davy Colt.”

Jesse nodded. “Eventually she’ll have to go back to her place. No one crosses me. No one.” Her gaze met his, and he had to fight hard not to flinch. “I’m going to make something to eat.” She got up and left the room.

He sat for a moment listening to her bang around in the kitchen before he got up and followed her. He couldn’t let her go off half-cocked. She’d get them both arrested.

“Jesse, you’re making me nervous,” Jud said as he watched her chopping up carrots. She was angry and waving the knife around as she cursed and fumed. “I can’t let you do something you’ll regret,” he said.

“Then cut up the carrots yourself,” she snapped, throwing down the knife.

“That’s not what I was talking about,” he said, quickly pulling the knife and then sliding the cutting board and the rest of the carrots across the counter out of her reach. “You can’t kill Carla Richmond.”

She glared at him, and he was glad he now had their only decent knife. “That’s your problem, Jud. You don’t stand up for yourself. You would have never robbed the bank if I hadn’t put the idea into your head.” Was that true? She had been nagging him relentlessly. “Just once, don’t you want to prove to people that you have a backbone?”

He thought of what he’d done in Butte and grimaced. “I can’t see how killing that woman would help matters,” he said, only to have her turn toward him with a look in her eyes that chilled him to his very core. “I’m not saying we can’t kill her,” he amended quickly. “But we have to plan. We don’t want to get caught, right?”

Her mouth was set in a stubborn line. “What are you suggesting?”

“That you let me take care of it.” He thought of the day he’d had—all the blood—and tried not to gag. “You didn’t ask me about my day.”

“You have blood on your shoes,” she said and met his gaze. “What is there to ask?”

He looked down, shocked to see that while he’d stripped out of his bloody clothing, tossed it into the wash and changed as soon as he got home, he’d put on the same shoes. He swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat. With the other bank robbers, it had been self-defense. They would have killed him for the money if he hadn’t killed them first. But the woman at the tattoo shop...

“All I’m saying is that I have more experience with this than you do,” he said.

Jesse laughed and cocked a brow at him. “You sure about that?”

He wasn’t. He thought her more than capable of murder though, especially when she was angry. He could hear Cora Brooks again warning him about Jesse. Buddy too.

“Then you’re going to handle this before we leave?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him as she waited.

At this stage, he thought it unnecessary to kill Carla. It was risky and foolish, but right then he would have said anything to mollify Jesse. “You know she can’t hurt either of us since she’s already told the feds everything she knows.” Jesse’s eyes narrowed to slits. He could see that there was no talking her out of this. “I’ll take care of her, though I don’t think it’s necessary.” Jesse began to tap her foot. “I’ll kill her, okay?” The tapping stopped.

Jesse took the knife, cutting board and carrots from him. She carefully chopped up the rest and dumped them into the pot. “When? When will you do it?” she asked, still holding the knife.

ITWASN’TUNTILCarla came back downstairs after getting ready for her meeting with the bank manager that she heard. As she walked into the office, she saw Davy on the phone. From his expression, she knew something had happened—and it wasn’t good.

“What?” she asked the moment he disconnected from the call.

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