Page 32 of Murder at Rescue Ridge

“The situation is complicated, but I’m fine, and they’re gone now. So, there’s no problem. You can call off the law. I’m not pressing charges.”

“You sure about that?” the older man asked.

“I am.” She needed to get back to Saddle Junction and figure out where Conrad was being held. “Do you have a phone I can use? I need to check on a friend. My name is Nikki, by the way.”

“I’m Harold,” the older man said. “And this is my grandson, Paul.”

“Thank you both for the help,” she said.

“I’ll call off the law before they waste their time heading this way,” Harold said as Paul produced his cell as question marks danced over their heads.

She thanked him and looked up the number for the jail in Saddle Junction.

“I’m the attorney for Conrad Sturgess,” she said to the sergeant, who answered. “I’d like to speak to my client.”

“Your client has been released,” Sargent Smith said.

Okay. Deep breaths. “Thank you.” She ended the call with new marching orders. Get to the Sturgess ranch. She turned to the two men who’d saved her. “I have a huge favor to ask.”

Paul gave a slight nod.

“I need a ride to the Sturgess ranch.”

“You know the Sturgess family?” Paul asked with more than a hint of admiration.

“I do,” she said. Would dropping her last name put them off?

Paul looked to his grandfather, who gave an almost imperceptible nod. “We can take my pickup.”

“You have no idea how much this means to me,” she said.

“Be safe,” Harold said to her.

“Yes, sir,” she said. “Could you hold on a second? I need to find my shoes and handbag before we go.”

Harold was already on the line, canceling his request for a deputy. Said he’d made a mistake and that all was well. There was nothing to worry about.

How she wished those words to be true.

“I’ll help you,” Paul said.

He located her shoes while she found her purse and collected the contents that had spilled onto the ground.

Conrad was out of jail. Thankfully, Sergeant Smith had bought her line about being Conrad’s attorney. Now what?

The pickup was a dual-cab Ford. Nikki settled into the passenger seat and then buckled in for the ride.

“Do you have the address?” she asked Paul after he buckled into the driver’s seat.

“I can look it up,” he said. “Shouldn’t be too difficult.”

The Sturgess ranch was well-known in Texas and would be listed. Paul found it in a matter of seconds and then tapped on the screen, which brought the location up in the phone’s map application. He placed the phone in a cupholder and headed toward the ranch.

“How do you know the Sturgess family?” Paul asked.

“My father worked for them,” she said. “He recently passed away.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, ma’am.”

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