Page 45 of Christmas Ransom

“We’re going to keep coming back until you tell us the truth,” Grover said. “Think about making a deal, Ms. Richmond. I’d hate to see you spend the rest of your life behind bars. So either hire a lawyer or...”

“Or what?” she snapped.

“Or wait until we arrest you and one will be provided for you.” Grover signaled his partner and the two left her room as Davy came in with the wheelchair—and a pair of crutches.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jud wasn’t surprised to find Jesse waiting for him when he finally got home late the next morning. He figured she’d already heard about what had happened last night. She might have been close enough by that she’d heard the sirens or maybe even seen the flashing lights of the cop cars. She might have even chased the ambulance to the hospital to find out who was inside—and whether or not they were going to survive.

He wouldn’t have put it past her.

That’s why he half expected her to have the butcher knife within reach as he came through the door. He hesitated as he closed the front door behind him.

She was sitting in the dark waiting for him. He could feel her rage. He stayed where he was as his eyes adjusted and he could see her shape more clearly.

As he decided how to handle this, he watched for any movement. He might have only an instant between when the blade of the knife caught a slice of sunlight through the crack in the curtains and when she was on him.

“Where have you been?” she asked quietly.

It had been close to daylight before he’d been able to get Jesse’s car where he’d left it. He’d been cold and wet. He’d started the engine and turned on the heater and must have fallen asleep. He awoke when the engine died. He’d run out of gas. He’d had to hike into town with the gas can he kept in the back, since this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

“I think you know where I’ve been.”

She smiled, her teeth shining in the darkness. “While you were messing up my plans, did you also check to make sure the money wasn’t where you left it?”

He wanted to turn on a light so he could see her better, but he was afraid of what she might see in his eyes. He would have been home hours ago, but of course she was right—he’d been searching for the money.

“You didn’t think I believed that you moved it? By the way, why did you do that? Don’t you trust me?”

She made a sound of displeasure before she said, “You know why I moved the money.” She waved a hand through the air, as if that covered it. “I told you I would handle things with Carla Richmond if you didn’t.” Her tone was scarily reasonable. He hadn’t seen the butcher’s knife out of her reach for a while now.

“I didn’t want blood on your hands too,” he said. “I did it to protect you.”

Her laugh could have shattered crystal. “But you didn’t kill her.Surprise.”

It was a surprise. He’d T-boned Davy Colt’s pickup on the passenger side hard enough to kill her. Now he was even happier that he hadn’t turned on a lamp. For sure she would have seen his disappointment that this wasn’t over—and right on its heels, his relief that he hadn’t killed another person to get out of this mess.

“I had a plan, Jud,” Jesse said. “It would have worked too. I was waiting in the alley behind Colt Brothers Investigation. I was waiting for them to come back. She and her cowboy would be dead now. But you had to...protectme. I don’t think you trust me anymore.”

He looked down at the floor, no longer shocked by anything she did. But he didn’t want her to know that he’d gone to the spot where he’d hidden the money. She would take that as a betrayal, and he already knew how she reacted when feeling betrayed.

Last night, he’d heard sirens and an ambulance. “She has to be badly injured.”

She shook her head. “A broken ankle and a bump on her head. So no, Jud, you failed, and we’re not leaving until it’s finished.”

“Itisfinished,” he said, raising his voice. He saw her shift on the couch. He could no longer see both of her hands. “Jesse, I’m begging you. She’s not worth it. Let’s get the money and leave.” He took a wary step toward her, then another. “Staying here will only get us arrested or killed. Please, let this go.”

She snapped on the lamp next to the couch, stopping him in his tracks and momentarily blinding him. He blinked and saw that she wouldn’t be happy until Carla Richmond was dead.

He wasn’t sure he cared about trying to make her happy anymore, but if he wanted the money, he had no choice. He had to kill Carla Richmond—and soon. The problem was that the woman seemed to have nine lives.

Then he would deal with his other problem. Jesse. She was right about one thing. He no longer trusted her. He wasn’t all that sure that she wasn’t planning to take off with the money without him. Or worse, kill him.

“The good news is that she’ll have to go home now to her house—and on crutches,” Jesse said. “Even you should be able to handle that.”

He watched her get up from the couch. Both of her hands were empty. No butcher’s knife. That should have relieved him, except that she was now headed for the kitchen.

“I hope you’re hungry,” she said over her shoulder. “There’s leftover stew.”

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