Page 4 of Christmas Ransom

Swearing under his breath, he tried not to scratch his neck again, but this mask and beard were making him hot and itchy. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand having it on. He felt as if he couldn’t breathe. All he wanted to do was rip it off and scratch his damned neck.

He glanced anxiously toward the short hallway to the vault. What was taking them so long? He quickly looked back at Carla Richmond. He thought about what Jesse had said about her. Worse, he figured Carla was smart. Too smart for her own good. But she’d made a mistake that was now going to cost her her life.

The thought made him a little sick. But how could he let her live now? Even if the cops couldn’t track him down because of the tattoo, she might remember him from the day he’d come in for the loan. He swore under his breath again. If only he hadn’t lifted his mask. If she’d done what he’d told her to do... It was her own fault. He hadn’t wanted anyone to get hurt.

Glancing toward the vault again, he was about to yell back to see what was taking so long when two Santa-suited figures came out, pushing the bank manager ahead of them and forcing him down on the floor near the tellers.

The larger of the two looked up, signaling that it had gone well. “Let’s go!” Buddy called and started toward Jud, carrying a bulging bag filled with money. Eli was right behind with a tote that looked just as full.

For a moment, Jud felt a surge of joy and relief and pride. It had gone just as Jesse had said it would. His good mood didn’t last though as he looked down at the executive loan officer at his feet. He couldn’t leave her here alive.

Jud swung the end of the rifle at her head, his finger on the trigger. It wasn’t like he had a choice. He hadn’t had a choice his whole life.

OUTOFTHEcorner of her eye, Carla saw him standing over her with his weapon pointed at her head. She could hear him breathing hard under the mask and she knew. He was going to kill her. She’d seen his tattoo. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath, but all she could think about was Davy. Hadn’t she been holding out hope for years that somehow they would find a way to be together? She felt scalding tears behind her lashes.

“I said let’s go!” She opened her eyes and could see that the other two robbers had joined them. “Whatever it is you’re thinking about doing, don’t,” one man said. He was taller and broader than the one with the tattoo. She could feel the tension between the two. “We need to get out of here.”

“I can’t leave her here,” he said, his finger still on the trigger. “Not alive.”

“We said no one gets hurt.”

“Then I’m taking her hostage.”

“No. You’re not.”

Her arm was suddenly grabbed, fingers digging deep into her flesh as she was jerked to standing. He spun her around and locked his arm around her throat. Nearly lifting her off her feet, he said, “She’s coming with us.”

Carla heard the screech of tires. She saw a van pull up out front. The driver honked the horn. Somewhere in the distance, she thought she heard sirens. The larger of the men swore and said that someone had pushed an alarm and they had to get out of there.

The robber holding her began to drag her toward the door. She’d watched enough crime television shows to know the last thing she could let this man do was take her out of the bank and into that van. She tried to fight him, but his hold on her throat was cutting off her air supply.

The bank manager was yelling something at the men. One of the robbers was threatening him, telling him to stay down or he would shoot him. Someone on the floor was sobbing loudly now. Someone else began to scream. Then someone else screamed. She realized that the second scream was coming out of her mouth and her terror rose. The time for remaining calm was over.

Frantically she clawed at the arm clamped around her neck, but the Santa suit was thick and she found little purchase as the man dragged her toward the door and the waiting van.

Chapter Five

“Mistletoe?” James Colt laughed, and his brothers Tommy and Willie joined in.

“Hey, I was thinking fast on my feet, okay?” Davy said. He’d been taking a ribbing from his brothers for as long as he could remember. They’d always been close but had grown more so since their father’s death. They had the classically handsome Colt features, dark hair and blue eyes, and the reputations to go with them—the wild Colt brothers, as they were known in Lonesome, Montana.

Even if they hadn’t been rodeo cowboys like their father and grandfather, most mothers in town didn’t want them dating their daughters. Davy didn’t think it mattered that both James and Tommy had settled down recently, become private investigators and were now married.

“That is so cheesy,” Tommy said of the mistletoe. “So what happened?”

“I hope you got the kiss,” Willie said, eyeing him speculatively. “That was all you were after, right?”

His brothers knew how heartbroken he’d been when Carla had ended their relationship years ago. “Like I said, spur-of-the-moment. I’m not sure what I had in mind. Maybe to just say hello. Maybe I thought we could have a drink together, talk old times, I don’t know.”

They were all gathered in the Colt Brothers Investigation office. It had changed since his father, Del, had started the PI business almost ten years ago—before his death. James and Tommy had moved the office downstairs, keeping their father’s desk and large leather office chair.

There were two bedrooms now upstairs for when Davy and Willie were home. They would have been welcome to stay with James or Tommy at their homes, but they preferred the upstairs apartment on Main Street, Lonesome. They all had memories of spending time in the office with their father.

“So did you get around to asking her out?” James had been the first to leave the rodeo circuit. After getting involved in one of their father’s old cases, he’d decided he wanted to be in the PI business.

Davy looked down at his boots. “Just my luck she already had a date.”

Willie shook his head. “You sure you want to go down that path again?”

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