Luck of the Draw, page 22
“We need to talk about what to do now,” she said, her voice breaking.
He agreed. “For starters, let’s get out of here.” But as they turned again toward his pickup, Sheriff Sid Anderson stepped out from behind a prison bus.
“Going somewhere?” Sid asked. “Besides jail, that is. I’ve been waiting for you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“I’M TRYING TO keep Joslyn alive and myself out of jail,” Garrett snapped.
“So am I, no thanks to your interference,” Sid snapped back.
Joslyn stepped between them. “We don’t believe that Frankie or Harvey hired Leon Sheffield to kill me.”
Sid sighed. “So who does that leave?”
She looked to Garrett, still hoping she was wrong.
“The clerk at the convenience store was in on it. He figured out that Frankie and George just might decide to kill him as well as Joslyn, so he pulled the gun and killed George,” Garrett said to the sheriff. “We talked to Harvey Mattson. He has every reason to want Joslyn alive.”
Sid nodded, but said, “Although her name is Monica Wilmington. I agree. While all that might be true, so far all you’ve done is gotten yourself into more trouble.”
“So that leaves the person who killed my father and stepmother,” Joslyn said.
“Maybe,” the sheriff said.
“Or the person who doesn’t want her getting her inheritance in a few days,” Garrett added. “The trail seems to lead back to her family and the money.”
“Her stepsister and brother,” Sid said.
Joslyn shook her head. “Not just them. My guardian, lawyer and doctor have also been like family for almost twenty-five years and I’m sure there is some monetary provision for them as well should I die before my birthday. Amethyst and Peter are related by marriage. But my lawyer and doctor have been on retainer for the past twenty-five years. That ends when I turn thirty which is coming up soon.” Neither man spoke for a moment.
She saw it in their expressions. “I know what they write about me. Poor little rich girl. No one loves her.”
“Someone does,” Garrett said.
Sid sighed. “This is getting us nowhere. You two are on thin ice. Let me spell it out for you. Garrett, you’re facing prison for kidnapping—since you’ve crossed state lines we’re talking federal. Joslyn, your family wants you locked up and will be sending armed guards this time.”
“So what are we going to do about that? You send her back and you know what will happen,” Garrett argued. “They’ll kill her. Make it look like a suicide or a drug overdose or—”
Sid held up his hand. “We don’t know that, but I’m not sending her back unless I’m forced to.”
“And you can’t lock up Garrett. He saved my life and you know it,” Joslyn said.
“Your birthday is only two days away,” Sid said, his voice more calm and understanding. “Let’s assume you won’t be safe until it’s over. Maybe putting the two of you behind bars is the safest place for you both.”
She shook her head. “I won’t be safe until I get rid of that money. I have set up an automatic payout to numerous charities for the entire amount of my inheritance the moment that money goes into my account at midnight the night before my actual birthday—so the day after tomorrow.”
“All of it? I’m assuming they’ve tried to talk you out of doing that,” Sid said.
Her grunt tasted as bitter as it sounded. “You could say that. It’s another reason Alistair doesn’t think I’m in my right mind. But I’ve learned a lot about how my father made that money. I don’t want any of it. I’ve been doing fine without it the past two years. What we have to do is draw the killer out before my birthday.”
Both men erupted in disagreement.
“What if I invite them to Montana for my birthday and see who shows up?” she said as an idea took shape.
“We’re not using you as bait,” Garrett said. “We’ll hide you away somewhere until—”
“No,” she said firmly. “I’m through hiding.”
“I’ll go with you somewhere until your birthday,” he said. “After that—”
She groaned. “I’m sick of running, Garrett. Anyway, if I don’t do this, then I will never know which of them wants me dead enough to pay ten thousand dollars to Frank Rutledge. Or who knows how much for the other times I was nearly run down in the street or had a near accident in my car.”
“You might find out just before they kill you,” Sid interjected.
“We’ll invite them out here to Montana to show them I’m fine,” she said as if the sheriff hadn’t spoken. “I know Alistair. He’s worried about me. I’ll tell him I want to prove that I’ve never been better. I suspect the rest will come. If we’re right, one of them will show his or her hand before midnight when I turn thirty.”
“I can’t let you do that,” Sid said, even though she knew he couldn’t stop her. Only her family could with another court order. She couldn’t let that happen. “I’ll call a lawyer to deal with any order they try to get, but I don’t think they’ll try. I’ll tell Alistair that if he isn’t convinced that I’m fine, I will commit myself, after my birthday.”
“What makes you that sure they will even come?” Garrett asked.
She turned to him and smiled sadly. “They’ll come. It will be their last chance to talk me out of my plan for my inheritance—or to kill me.”
He shook his head. “Do you have any idea what you’re suggesting?”
“No matter what we do, they aren’t going to give up,” she argued. “If I’m right and all this has been about my inheritance, then one of them doesn’t want me to see midnight on the day before my birthday. They will send someone after me or get another court order so they can get to me back home. Won’t I be safer with me calling the shots?”
“Not necessarily,” the sheriff said. “You’re using yourself as bait. With the birthday deadline looming, one of them just might be crazy enough to try to kill you themselves.”
“That person won’t get much of a chance since the others will be there,” Joslyn said. “They don’t all want me dead.”
“Let’s hope not,” Sid said.
“But if they try, I’ll be ready. And come midnight before my birthday, the threat is over. The money will be gone to charities and I will finally be safe.”
“We’ll be ready,” Garrett corrected. “She has a point,” he said to the sheriff, with obvious reluctance. “She’ll be safer on home court with me. We’ll do it at the guest ranch. With it closed for the summer, it’s the safest place.”
Joslyn looked at him. “The guest ranch? Garrett—”
“Joslyn, I will be with you. It’s the safest place if you’re determined to do this.”
“Safest? You’re talking about inviting a murderer to your family guest ranch,” the sheriff argued. “This person was desperate enough to hire a hit man. You think he or she won’t do it again?”
“No, I don’t. Not at the guest ranch,” Joslyn said. “A hit man would stand out there. No, the person who wants me dead so badly will have to do the killing himself or herself.”
“And that is supposed to make any of us feel better about this?” Sid demanded.
“You can lock me up and send Joslyn back, but you would be signing her death warrant if you do,” Garrett said.
Sid rubbed his neck for a moment. “Your brothers aren’t going to like this.”
“I’ll worry about my brothers. Just give us until her birthday. After that—”
“I’m not the one you have to worry about. Alistair could have you arrested and Joslyn committed. Or you could both be killed,” the sheriff argued.
“He’s right,” Joslyn said turning to Garrett. “I’ve already risked your life and put you in danger. I can’t ask you to—”
“The guest ranch was my idea,” he said, meeting her gaze and holding it. She looked into his blue eyes and felt heat rush through her. “We’re in this together.”
She smiled and touched his stubbled jaw, wanting desperately to kiss him. When the desire became too much, she leaned into him and did just that. She heard Sid groan and say, “You two are going to be the death of me.”
Laughing, she pulled back from the kiss. “I’ll deal with Alistair. You’re sure about this?”
Garrett’s smile was sad and tender, but he nodded.
“Why didn’t I retire last year?” Sid was saying to himself. “What was I thinking? I could end up behind bars for helping the two of you.”
Joslyn came over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. If you go to jail, I’ll come visit you.”
He laughed at that and blushed a little as Garrett handed her his phone to make the call.
“I just hope that Rutledge makes his deal and we find out who hired him in time,” the sheriff said. “Otherwise, I want you both to know, I’m going to be at that guest ranch if you need me.”
“Alistair,” Joslyn said into the phone. “I’m so glad I caught you.”
* * *
AFTER SHE HUNG UP, she realized how late it was. Garrett looked at his watch. “No way are we driving back tonight. We’ll go in the morning. Your family isn’t coming in until tomorrow late, right?”
She nodded, too exhausted after the day she’d had to think about tomorrow. The day had been one of emotional upheaval punctuated with moments of terror and she was feeling drained. She could see that it had taken its toll on Garrett as well.
“I’m going back to Whitefish now,” Sid said. “Are you sure the two of you will be all right?”
“I’m not sure of anything right now,” Garrett said. “But I’ll get us rooms. With a good night’s sleep, we’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Joslyn caught the word rooms, not that she was up to anything other than sleep. True to his word, Garrett got them adjoining rooms. The moment she hit the bed, she was out.
* * *
“WHAT WAS IT you would have had me do?” Alistair asked the usual group gathered in his living room late that evening, drinking his expensive liquor and demanding he handle Monica. He’d called them after her phone call, asking them to come over. He’d had the chef make a few appetizers and broke out more of the good stuff for the bar, knowing they wouldn’t take this latest request from Monica well.
“Have this man arrested,” Amethyst cried after hearing that a cowboy named Garrett Sterling had abducted Monica from the ambulance that was bringing her back for observation. “Who is he, anyway?” she demanded as she took one of the large prawns wrapped in bacon.
“Apparently someone she knows since she went willingly with him to his guest ranch before all of this.”
“Which shows that she isn’t in her right mind,” Neal pointed out as he rattled the ice cubes in his glass nervously.
“I agree with Amethyst,” Rance chimed in, as if that was a surprise. He’d filled up his plate with appetizers and was lounging with his drink in one of the large leather chairs. “I’m amazed you’ve waited this long to call the authorities.”
He’d been as shocked as anyone when Monica had called. He’d immediately contacted the sheriff, who’d confirmed that he knew about her plan and while he hadn’t exactly approved it, he would be around if there was any trouble. He relayed this information to the group.
“Some backwoods sheriff?” Benjamin had scoffed. “That makes me feel so much better,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He got up to help himself to the appetizers before Amethyst ate all the shrimp ones. Alistair knew this bunch so well. The only one who ever surprised him was Monica.
Since Monica was a teen, he’d been getting calls that surprised him, none more than this latest one. “She wants us all to come to this guest ranch in the mountains for her birthday.”
“Ridiculous,” Benjamin said.
“She’s acting out because of her early trauma,” Neal pointed out, not for the first time. “She needs more therapy.”
But Monica had had enough “couch time,” as she called it with “that snake-oil salesman.” Alistair had found her take on the doctor amusing, though he’d never told her that. She reminded him so much of her father. He missed Horace and wished his friend were raising Monica. The thought filled him with regret.
“I don’t care what she wants,” Amethyst said as she popped another prawn into her mouth.
Alistair had questioned every decision he made involving Monica. He wasn’t cut out to be a father let alone a guardian. He felt the weight of his job bending him into shapes he didn’t recognize.
The sheriff had assured him that she was fine. That Garrett was a reliable protector. That having him arrested for kidnapping wasn’t necessary.
He could admit now that the commitment order had been a mistake. He should have handled it differently. But Neal had been convincing and ultimately, Alistair’s first responsibility was to Monica’s well-being.
“I don’t believe we handled this well,” he told the psychiatrist. “So you can’t blame Garrett Sterling for feeling as if he needed to save her. The sheriff tells me the man cares for her.”
Neal groaned. “He cares for one of her personalities, not Monica Wilmington. I’m betting he’s never met Monica and would be shocked if he did.”
Alistair couldn’t argue that, since apparently she’d gone by the name Joslyn Charles when she’d had a brief affair with Sterling two years ago—and was using it again now.
“I agree. What she’s suggesting is ridiculous.” Peter finally spoke up from his corner of the room where he’d been lounging against the wall. “I, for one, am not playing along. I’m not going.”
“It’s only for a couple of days,” Rance said, surprising him. “We could all fly out tomorrow, celebrate her birthday at midnight and all fly back the next day. What would it hurt to indulge her for basically a day and then if you still think she’s off her rocker, have her locked up and the man arrested for kidnapping.”
Neal made a rude sound and started to argue, but Alistair cut him off. “Rance is right.” He knew that had to be the first time he’d ever uttered those words. “We haven’t handled this well with all the drama of having her sedated and taken against her will by ambulance. She’s said that after her birthday, she will check herself into the hospital if we still think she needs it.”
“After her birthday, she will be legally beyond your control,” Benjamin pointed out. “Your power of attorney will be null and void.”
“He’s never had her under his control,” Amethyst quipped. “Monica has always done whatever she’s wanted and none of you have been able to do a thing about it. This is no different.”
Alistair ignored her taunts. They were true, so what could he say anyway?
What it came down to was that Monica was about to be filthy rich very soon. She’d threatened to give every dime of the money away. But would she? It was one thing to threaten to do such a thing and another to actually do it.
But unless she did need treatment, his job would be done. That thought should have relieved him. He’d lived up to his promise to Horace. He’d taken care of Monica, the apple of her father’s eye.
“We could take my company’s private jet,” Alistair said and glanced at Peter. “At least the ones who want to go. She asked for all of us though.” He knew what Benjamin was saying about the power of attorney and while he wouldn’t admit it to this bunch, he was ready to let Monica go. He’d done what her father had asked. He was ready for this to end.
He thought about never seeing these people again and smiled. “So who wants to go with me in the jet?”
“I hate to fly and you know it,” Amethyst snapped. He wanted to tell her that this wasn’t about her, but that had been the case since she was thirteen. He didn’t doubt that it was part of the reason that she felt like the abused stepchild even though she’d been far from abused.
Eight years ago when she’d turned thirty, she’d gotten a small fortune. Nowhere near as large as Monica’s though. No, Amethyst had just never been the focus and still wasn’t.
“I’m going to take the train,” she announced. Rance groaned, since with no backbone to stand up to her, he would be forced to take the train as well.
“I’ll call to see if we can at least get a room,” he said. “I’m not going coach.”
Peter pushed himself off the wall. “Have a nice time at the dude ranch. Don’t forget to take your Stetsons and your boots, but I’m tired of all of this. I really don’t give a damn what Monica or Joslyn or whoever she wants to be does.” He started for the door. “Did Alistair mention that there is no cell service or internet at this...ranch? I just checked it out on my phone.” He chuckled at Amethyst’s horrified look.
“Yes, Sterling’s Montana Guest Ranch is off the grid,” Alistair said. “I guess I forgot to mention that.”
Peter hesitated at the door before he turned. “You’re getting forgetful, Al. Maybe you should have the doc here look you over.” He opened the door and walked out.
“He was joking, right?” Amethyst demanded as she got to her feet. Alistair shook his head. She let out a curse and stomped her foot. “This is the last time for me. I will never be at Monica’s beck and call ever again. Ever! I’ll go just to put an end to this.” She motioned to Rance that they were leaving.
Alistair turned to Benjamin and Neal. “What about the two of you?”
“As her doctor, I feel I have to be there.” He looked to the lawyer.
Benjamin sighed. “I suspect I’ll be needed for the legalities of signing over her inheritance when this is over. But I think I’ll drive out early in the morning.”
They rose to leave. Alistair thought it had gone well, all things considered. Sighing, he reached for his phone to arrange the flight to Whitefish. Did he think Monica was crazy for doing this? Maybe. Or maybe it was the only way for this odd-shaped family of hers to be together for her birthday. They’d missed so many other ones.
