Page 57 of River Justice

Stuart called his FBI agent contact. “The girl is still alive. He wants the rest of the money. He says he’s written an obit for Holden McKenna. He wants it published.”

“I thought the rancher wasn’t dead.”

“He’s not.”

“What about the exchange?”

“I’m meeting him this evening at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere. He definitely knows this area. He picks places where it’s impossible to set up an ambush,” the sheriff said. “This time he won’t get the money unless I get the girl.”

HOLLYJOHADheard the sheriff say her name before the phone was ripped out of her hands. She’d cried out in frustration. There was so much she needed to tell him. But the kidnapper had slapped tape back over her mouth and pushed her against the passenger side of the pickup, where he tied her to the grab bar again. He’d fixed the door so she couldn’t open it or roll down the window, saying he couldn’t let her spoil his plans.

His plans were what she’d wanted to tell the sheriff about. The large cans of gas in the back of the pickup and what the man was saying he was going to do to the McKennas and their ranch house.

Last night, he’d left her tied up in a shed. He hadn’t come back until almost daylight. He’d brought a metal briefcase that he kept opening. She saw that it was full of money. He’d counted it. So much money, and yet he didn’t seem happy about it.

He’d started ranting about how he’d listened to Melanie. Trying to make her happy, he’d asked for the money, a mistake. He had just wanted the truth to come out. But now...now he wanted more. He wanted revenge.

She’d listened to him debate how to get to Holden in the hospital. After a while, he’d finally given up on that idea and pulled some old papers out of the glove box and a pen. She’d watched him scribble something onto the paper.

When he’d finished, he folded the paper and put it into his pocket. He smiled over at her. “I know just how to take Holden down,” he said more to himself than to Holly Jo. “I’ll destroy everything the man has built. Everything he holds dear.”

The look in his eyes when they focused on her sent a chill through her. If the sheriff didn’t find her soon, she was going to die.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHARLOTTEHATEDTHEhospital smell, the sounds of machines and squeak of nurses’ shoes scurrying around, but worse, she hated the worried, scared looks on people’s faces as they waited for news about their loved ones. She promised herself she wouldn’t break down even as tears burned her eyes. She pushed open the door to Holden’s room.

He had always been big and strong, like a tree that had withstood years of storms to stand tall to the very end. She knew this man’s heart, had heard it pound in sync with hers. She couldn’t bear the thought that it might stop beating and she might never lay her head on his chest and hear it again.

She moved to his bedside slowly, afraid that he might already have left her. Relief filled her eyes with fresh hot tears as she saw the rise and fall of his chest. She swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat, her heart breaking at the sight of him lying there so helpless.

“Holden, I’m here.” Her voice broke as she looked down at his hand. It was large like his heart, strong, and yet it could be so gentle. She lifted it from the bed to hold it to her lips for a moment.

Her words came out a whisper. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. Will always love you. I’m so sorry.” She placed his hand back on the bed and brushed her fingers over his cheek. “I understand if you can never forgive me. But don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me.”

She heard the hospital room door open. Hurriedly she wiped her tears, then turned, knowing her time was up. Holden would survive—she had to believe that. But she feared he would never forgive her and would be lost to her forever. Taking a deep breath, she let it out as she nodded to the nurse and left, her heart shattered in a million little pieces.

ITWASSOMETHINGone of the regulars from the Wild Horse Bar in town had said that had gotten Birdie thinking—and had gotten her mind off Holly Jo and her fear for her for a little while. She found elderly retired ranch hand Elmer Franklin on his usual stool, bellied up to the bar, drinking coffee with a couple of his friends.

His face lit up when he saw her. She walked up to him. “Mind if I have a word?” She motioned to a table against the wall, away from the bar.

Elmer flushed, looked to his friends, then slid off his stool. “Get you somethin’ to drink?” She shook her head, so he brought his cup of coffee with him as he followed her over to the table. As she pulled out a chair and sat down, she could see that he was nervous. It made her even more certain that he knew something.

Birdie waited as he sat down. He was about the age her father would have been now. She swallowed that thought. “You said something yesterday that got me thinking.”

“Can’t imagine anything I would say that would be worth mulling over.” He said it into the coffee cup before taking a sip.

“You said that the last time you saw my father, he was threatening to do something crazy.”

“Did I?” He chuckled and looked back in the direction of the bar.

“Elmer, I need to know what he said to you. Please.”

“Not good to speak ill of the dead,” he muttered. “Especially to his daughter.”

“I’m looking for the truth. So don’t honey-coat it.” Her grandmother had told her that she might not like what she learned. At the time, she hadn’t believed that it might be true. Nana had always spoken favorably of her son. Was this going to be what her grandmother had been talking about?

“What was he threatening to do?” she asked quietly, leaning toward Elmer, and waited.

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