That meant that no way was he getting to the ransom drop in ten minutes.
“He must have realized that he left his phone on. I’ve lost him,” the tech said.
“Keep me posted,” he told the tech. He disconnected and looked at the time, unsure what to do. He could see all the roads leading into the crossroads stop. There was no sign of the white pickup. No sign of Darius Reed.
Was this a test to see if Stuart followed the phone and hung around to make the ransom exchange? Or was Darius making a run for it?
Stuart had put out a BOLO on Darius and the pickup, expecting that if the man made a run for it, he would head out of the area one of three ways—west to hit the interstate and get out of Montana, east to North Dakota and all points beyond, or north toward Canada and a lot of open prairie and few people.
He’d never expected him to take the county road south, because he would have to go right through town. Why take a chance by going anywhere near Powder Crossing? Why head south? Toward Wyoming?
Unless... He felt his pulse bump up with a jolt. Unless he was headed for the McKenna Ranch. Did Darius not know that Holden wasn’t there? That the rancher was still in the hospital?
He told himself he could be wrong. But what if this ransom drop had been a ruse, as he was beginning to suspect? Then Darius was making a run for it, trying to get as far away from the Powder River Basin as possible. He already had a million dollars. Why take a chance of getting caught?
Or maybe Darius wasn’t finished with Holden. Because it had never been about the money?
He felt his heart spasm at the thought. She’d been alive—at least earlier, when Darius had called. She’d sounded terrified. Stuart had been so sure he was going to get her back, he’d quickly agreed to the trade, even though it meant a long drive out here to this desolate spot.
He’d never completely trusted his instincts and feared doing so now. It was a good twenty-minute drive back to town and another fifteen to the McKenna Ranch. Did he dare act on a hunch? Did he dare not?
THE STRONG SMELL of gas made Holly Jo’s eyes burn as the man who called himself Darius Reed half dragged her inside the house. Earlier he’d awakened as it was getting dark. “It’s time,” he’d said and had started the pickup.
He’d had a gun lying within his reach in case they came across anyone as he drove into the ranch. But no one seemed to be around. She’d seen at once that Elaine’s SUV was gone. HH’s was in the drive, though, and she knew there had to be some ranch hands way down at the bunkhouse.
She looked for the ranch manager to come up from the stables, but no one appeared as her kidnapper parked. They’d sat in the pickup cab, waiting for a few minutes. Nothing moved. No one came outside from the house. No one walked up from the stables or the bunkhouse. Everyone was gone or hadn’t heard them. How was this possible?
“Guess they’re all at the hospital, waiting to see if Holden pulls through,” Darius said and laughed. “Won’t they be surprised when they come back to find everything burned to the ground. Come on.” He’d untied her from the grab handle above the passenger-side door, but left her hands bound as he’d gotten out and pulled her after him.
Once inside the house, he’d taken her into the dining room and tied her in a chair, attaching the chair to one of the large legs of the massive table. “So you can watch,” he said before going back outside and returning with one of the large gas cans.
He’d wandered around through the empty house with the gas can. She could hear him muttering to himself as she heard the splashing sound. The gas fumes grew stronger. “Must be nice living in a place like this,” he said as he passed through on the way to another part of the house. “My sister could have lived here. Terrible shame to burn it down. Ashes to ashes, you know, and karma is a bitch, isn’t it, Holden McKenna.”
She could hear him getting angrier before he threw down the empty gas can and went out to get another. Her eyes burned from the gas, from fresh tears. She wanted desperately to believe he would untie her. He wouldn’t leave her here to burn alive.
But when she saw his expression as he returned with the second gas can, she knew that was exactly what he planned to do. He disappeared down the hallway to the kitchen wing of the house. She heard him banging around over the sound of a vehicle. She felt her breath catch, her heart pounding with hope. Someone was coming.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“WHAT WOULD YOUR father have done if mine had tried to blackmail him that night at the McKenna Ranch?” Birdie asked as she turned off the county road and drove toward the house.
Brand knew that she didn’t expect him to come up with the answer. Not that she gave him a chance to even speculate.
Earlier, she’d gotten out of bed, put her clothes on and told him the plan. He would have been happy to spend the rest of the day in bed with her, but apparently that wasn’t what she had in mind. “If he didn’t want the truth about his affair and your parentage to come out, he would have killed him.”
“That’s one thought,” he’d said, climbing out of the bed to get dressed. “Seems a stretch to me, but from what I’ve heard about Holden, I doubt he’d appreciate being blackmailed, especially by his ex-lover’s new husband.”
“My father was desperate for money so he could come get me,” she’d said defensively.
He’d turned to look at her. “I don’t think Holden McKenna killed him. According to my mother, Holden didn’t know about me. If he wanted to kill anyone, I think it would have been my mother.”
“Still, I think my father ran into someone over there, and that’s how he ended up in a well. I’m just wondering what they did with his pickup.”
Brand had wondered about that, too. “I doubt it’s still on the McKenna Ranch, if that really is where he was killed.”
“I have to find out if that’s where he died and who’s responsible.” She’d started toward the open window. “Also, there might be an older ranch manager or hand who was around back then who remembers something from that night—especially if things got as violent as I believe they did.”
“Hold on. Where are you going?”
“Weren’t you listening? To the McKenna Ranch. I’m betting that most everyone has gone to Billings to see your father in the hospital. I called, and no one answered at the house. This is a good time to search the place.”
“How about using my front door instead of the window?”
She’d grinned at him. “You are so thoughtful.” She’d moved swiftly to him, kissing him passionately but slipping away before he could put his arms around her and take the kiss to the next level. “Are you coming?”
Brand had groaned and reached for his hat. “I know I’m going to regret this,” he’d said under his breath as he followed her to her SUV parked down the road.
He wasn’t about to go to the McKenna house in a Stafford Ranch pickup with the logo on the side. Even some of the ranch hands at both the McKenna and the Stafford ranches were at war—because of the feud between his mother and biological father.
Birdie had no idea what she might be instigating. But he also knew that she would go alone if he didn’t go with her. “I can’t imagine what you’re hoping to find,” he said now. “A smoking gun?”
She shook her head. “As far as I can tell, the last time anyone saw my father was when he turned in to the McKenna Ranch. With Holden in the hospital and everyone away from the house, it’s like they are inviting us to see what we can find over there.”
“I am fascinated by the way your mind works.” He’d never been in the McKenna Ranch house. He’d never stepped on the property. It had always been off-limits. Now he could admit that he was curious about the place—about his father. He told himself he was only going with Birdie to save her from herself, but he knew that wasn’t all there was to it.
Under other circumstances, he might have been raised on the McKenna-Stafford Ranch with two loving parents and no range war between them. He thought about CJ, behind bars awaiting trial for what would probably be a life sentence. Would his life have turned out different if Holden and Charlotte hadn’t been at each other’s throats all these years? One thing was definite. Brand wouldn’t have been a bastard, unsure of where he belonged in all this.
Brand pushed away the what-ifs as he got his first glimpse of the house. It wasn’t until they drove closer that he saw the smoke. It billowed up from the far end of the sprawling ranch house.
