Page 60 of Hiding in Montana

“Just letting you know twenty guys are headed your way.”

“Thanks.” He put his phone on vibrate and jammed it back into his shirt pocket. No sense letting the entire world know he was around.

29

Inside the cave, the first light of day barely made a difference to how much Polly could see. Her head ached where Matthew had hit her before dragging her out of the greenhouse. A soft groan came from the mound next to her. She hoped they were alone for a minute. She needed to check on Jed.

She inched closer, despite her hands and feet being bound. In a whisper, she said, “Jed. Open your eyes.”

He groaned again as he struggled against the ropes around his wrists and feet. Leaning over, she whispered in his ear to lie still. She needed to get her hands free so she could get to her gun. There was no way she was going to allow them to be sitting ducks for Matthew when he returned from wherever he had gone.

Jed rolled over and seemed to wiggle his fingers. He wanted to get her untied. She scooted along the cold cave floor until his fingers grazed her hands. Holding still, she could feel him trying to untie them. The ropes were loosening. She wanted to tell him to hurry, but talking wouldn’t help. He understood the urgency. After all, he’d been trying to help her when Matthew knocked him unconscious and tossed him into the trunk. When they got to the old ranch, he forced Polly to get Jed out of the back seat and help drag him to the cave. The entire time she was trying to figure out a way to shoot him, the low-life scum. But the way he had tied her hands and feet, all she could do was half drag Jed.

She blinked back the tears of regret that her friend had gotten involved. No one should have to be here with her. She planned to convince Matthew to leave Jed in the cave, that his head injury would kill him. That way, he wouldn’t be facing a murder rap besides kidnapping. Not that she had any intention of letting Jed die. Her ex-husband was going down, one way or the other.

She tugged on her ropes, and they gave way. Now to fake still being secured. Jed rolled back over to his previous position. Which was perfect since this was all a head game now. It didn’t require physical strength. But before she ended this, she needed answers.

It wasn’t long before Matthew entered the cave, ducking his head until he got farther in. Polly should know; she smacked her head last night and saw stars for the second time in one day, and not the good kind.

How was it possible she could have smart remarks running around in her head, considering that she was facing the end of her life?

“Good morning, dear wife. I’m glad to see you’re awake.”

Although Polly couldn’t see him clearly, he had used that phrase enough times during their marriage she could picture the benign smile on his face.

“Matthew, so what’s our plan for today?”

He tipped his head as if surprised, but not at the sass in her voice. “You want to know the events leading up to the big ending? You always did read the last chapter in a book first.”

“Can you blame me?”

“I guess not. Well, in a little while you and I will take a walk, after of course, I finish your friend over there. It really is too bad he’s not your boyfriend. I would have enjoyed the pleasure of seeing your face as his life ebbed away, knowing that you were the reason.”

Despite the overwhelming desire to scream and lunge at him, she forced herself to keep a cool head. Now was the time where she could attempt to save Jed. “I’ve been thinking about that. With his head injury, our location, and lack of water, he won’t last long as it is, so why don’t we just leave him here? That way, you won’t have two murder raps hanging over your head.”

“Paulina, I have quite a few. You and that cowboy are just two more. Even if I were ever to get caught, I can’t serve more than one life sentence, but after I receive your life insurance money, I’m moving to a sunny beach to live out the rest of my life in quiet tranquility.”

She blanched at the thought of him casually saying she and Jed would just be two more. “Did you kill that guy from the diner?” The last thing she wanted to know was if he had just killed someone, but she also needed to know.

“Don’t worry about him. After he botched your last accident along with his buddy, well, they became expendable.”

“You killed them?” The glint in his eye made a shiver race down her back. “How could I not know the real man you are? Did you ever love me, or was this always your plan?”

He sat down on a small rock and crossed his legs. The revolver was in plain sight, and she would not underestimate what kind of shot he was. He was the one who taught her how to handle a gun.

“Don’t be upset with yourself. I only let you see what I wanted you to see.” He waved the gun around. “But things could have been different if we’d had a kid. You never kill the mother of your child.”

“We agreed to wait.” Not that she would have wanted to have a baby with this monster. How could she keep him talking and buy extra time? By now, people had to be out looking for her and Jed. Would anyone even think about looking on the ranch? Most people who were taken ended up far away from the scene of the abduction. At least that’s what she read in newspaper accounts.

“I can tell your brain is working overtime. What’s going on behind those ordinary hazel eyes?”

“You didn’t used to say that I was ordinary in any way. You’d say I was beautiful.”

With a snort of rude laughter, he said, “And you believed me, hook, line, and sinker. Right down to where I said I was divorcing you for your safety. How could you be so stupid?”

That did it. Telling her she was stupid set off all kinds of emotions. “Well, if I had known I was married to and living with a psychopath, I would never have believed a word you said.”

“Temper.” He got up and walked to where she was on the ground. “You wouldn’t want me to kill you right here. It will be so much more effective than what I have planned. It’s important that your body is discovered. No body, no money.”

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