She looked back at Jack and saw the pain and fury in his face before hurrying on. “I fought him, but he was too strong for me.”
“That’s how you got all the bruises.”
Josey nodded. “I must have passed out because when I woke up, RJ was in the car, the motor running and I was being dragged by my throat. Celeste had come to and she was screaming for him to stop. He kept going in the car until we were both hauled off our feet and were hanging from the tree limb. I remember gasping for breath. Then I heard this huge crack as the limb broke, and the next thing I knew I was falling. The moment my feet hit the ground, I tore the noose from my neck.
“I had seen where RJ had laid down the gun when he was hitting me. I ran for it. I grabbed the pistol and spun around. Celeste still had the noose around her neck, but she’d found RJ’s knife he’d used to cut the rope earlier. RJ saw her and hit the gas in the car. She sliced through the ropes before they went taut again.”
Josey closed the French doors and stepped back into the room, still hugging herself against the memory—and the cold fear. “RJ threw the car into Reverse and headed right for her. I had the gun in my hand. I fired, but missed him, hitting the car instead. I fired again. I heard him cry out. I’ll never forget the murderous look in his eye. Then he must have realized he was still in Reverse and headed for the river.
“It happened so fast. Celeste threw herself through the driver’s-side open window. They were struggling as the car crashed into the river. Celeste had RJ in a headlock. RJ was wounded and trying to fight her off. Neither seemed to notice or care that the car was sinking. I grabbed the backpack and ran, still holding the gun.
“When I finally did stop on a rise to look back, I didn’t see either of them. By then I’d realized that if I had any hope of getting my mother out of that awful place Ray Sr. had put her in, I couldn’t turn myself in. At least not before I wired the money to the facility I’d set up for her the night I met Ray Sr. to pick up the money. Now all I have to do is make sure my mother is safe, then go to the police and—”
“RJ is still out there,” Jack broke in. “It’s going to be your word against his, and as you said, your fingerprints are on the murder weapon. If you turn yourself in, you’ll go to prison—and what will happen to your mother?”
“I hid her. He won’t be able to find her.” But even as she said the words, she knew her mother wouldn’t be safe.
“And what happens when this money you have runs out?”
Josey raked a hand through her hair. “Don’t you think these are the things I’ve been trying to figure out?”
“I know,” he said, taking her in his arms. “That’s why we need to figure them out together. I can finish what I came to do tonight and we can get out of here.”
She pulled back to look into his face. “Jack—”
“We’re in this together now. I just need you to trust me and stay in this room,” he said. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning. I know of a place we can go until we can make sure your mother was moved and is safe. Then—”
“You’re planning on going after RJ,” she said. The thought of Jack being in danger terrified her more than RJ coming after her alone. “No. I can’t let you do that.”
He cupped her shoulders in his hands. “We can talk about this later. I need to go. There is something I have to do. It’s from a promise I made a long time ago. I feel I have to do this. Stay here. I’ll try not to be long. Keep the door locked.” He touched her cheek, a tenderness warming his blue eyes. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Get packed and wait for me. I’ll hurry.”
IT WAS DARK when McCall came around the corner in her patrol SUV, and her headlights flashed on the burned vehicle in the middle of the road. She pulled up, grabbed her flashlight and got out, half hoping to find RJ’s body in the car.
Instead, she found footprints and tracked them a short distance in her flashlight beam. They were headed southeast toward the Winchester Ranch.
RJ had a good walk ahead of him. As she climbed back into her SUV, she could only hope he stumbled across a rattlesnake or broke his leg in a prairie dog hole. Backing up, she turned around and returned to the main road. Unlike RJ, she knew another way to get to the ranch that would be faster than walking. She considered calling for backup, but changed her mind. From the single set of footprints, RJ was alone. McCall figured he was after Josey Vanderliner, also known as Mrs. Jack Winchester.
The only thing McCall didn’t know was how her cousin Jack fit into this.
RJ LET OUT a low whistle under his breath when the saw the Winchester Ranch. It looked like a
