Max was getting too old for this. She knew that he wouldn’t quit as long as she needed him. She thought about calling the hospital again, but knew she’d get the same report. She needed rest. If she could escape for even a little while in sleep...
Her cell phone rang, making her jump. She saw it was the sheriff and quickly picked up.
“Angus was found,” he said quickly. “He’s going to be fine. He was admitted to the hospital and no, you can’t see him tonight. He has a concussion. Was hit in the head, but as I said, Doc assured me that he will be fine.”
She felt a flood of relief that brought tears to her eyes. “And T.D.?”
Harvey was silent for a moment. “He got away. That’s why I’m sending a deputy out to your place as soon as the shifts change. Most everyone has been up on the mountain looking for him.”
“You don’t need to send a deputy out here.”
“Don’t tell me how to do my job, young lady. I’m worried about you. The deputy will just sit outside your house. He won’t bother you.”
“You sound tired,” she said, touched by Harvey’s concern for her.
“I am. You sound tired yourself. I thought the doctor said you could go home but only if you rested.”
She smiled to herself. “I was just heading to bed. Thank you for letting me know.”
“Sleep well.”
“You, too.” She hung up and headed for her bedroom. Now that she knew Angus was all right, she might be able to get some sleep, she thought as she turned out the lights as she went.
She’d reached her bedroom door and fumbled in the pitch-black room to flip the light switch. Nothing happened. The overhead lightbulb must have gone out, she thought. She was working toward her nightstand next to the bed to turn on that lamp when she heard a sound that stopped her cold.
Someone was in the room. In the room waiting for her in the dark. Her blood turned to slush as she said, “Who’s there?” fearing she already knew.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jinx let her hand drop to the nightstand drawer. “I know you’re there,” she said as she eased it open and felt around for the pistol.
It was gone.
The lamp on the nightstand across the bed snapped on, illuminating Patty Conroe sitting in the chair beside the bed. She was holding the pistol from Jinx’s bedside table.
“Patty?” She felt confused to see the woman for a moment. She’d been expecting T.D. But as she looked at her husband’s lover, she knew she should have been anticipating this visit for some time. “What do you want?”
“What you’ve taken from me,” Patty said.
“What I’ve taken from you?”
Patty’s once pretty face showed the road map her life had taken since the two of them were in high school together. “T.D. was mine first.”
“You can have him.” She noticed the way the woman was holding the gun. Patty knew how to use it.
“How’s your head?” Patty asked offhandedly.
“Not fatal.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Patty, where did you leave your car? I didn’t see it when I came home.”
“I left it behind that old barn on the way in so you wouldn’t see it. I wanted to be here waiting for you the moment I heard you were being released from the hospital. The nurse was so helpful when I called.”
“How did you get in here? I know the door was locked.”
“I used T.D.’s key. You need to know the truth,” the woman snapped. “T.D. came to me when he wasn’t getting what he needed from you. I didn’t lure him away from you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Jinx said with a sigh. “I’m divorcing him. He’s going to be all yours.”
“If he’s not dead because of you.” Patty sniffed, the pistol wavering in her hand.
Jinx smelled alcohol. She should have known that Patty wouldn’t have come out here unless she had been intoxicated. In that way, she was a lot like T.D. And that made her more dangerous. “He’s not dead.”
“You can’t know that,” she cried.
She heard such heartbreak in the woman’s voice. Had she ever cared that much about T.D.? Not even when she’d married him. She hadn’t known then what it felt like to really be in love with anyone, she realized. Her own heart was breaking at the thought of Angus injured and at the hospital because of her.
“Patty, put the gun down and go home. Your fight isn’t with me.”
The woman let out a bark of a laugh. “Are you serious? T.D. wouldn’t be wounded and up on that mountain, possibly dead, if it wasn’t for you,” she said, her voice hoarse with emotion.
Jinx thought at least that might be true. “He’s the one who followed me up there. You blame me for that?”
“You made him crazy. You have his blood on your hands.”
“Enough. Go home, Patty. This is getting us nowhere.”
Patty pointed the pistol at her heart. “You ruined my life and T.D.’s. You have to pay for that, Jinx.”
“I TOLD YOU going to Wyoming was a bad idea,” Brick said weakly as he gave Ella a lopsided smile.
Ella started on her cot next to his hospital bed. Tears instantly flooded her eyes as she shot to her feet to take his hand. “You had me so scared,” she said, never so happy to see that grin of his.
“Angus?” he asked, his voice hoarse with emotion and no doubt pain as he looked around the hospital room. Of course he would know that Angus would be right here beside his bed, as well—if he could. “Ella?” There was a worried edge to her cousin’s voice.
“He’s going to be fine. He went after T.D., got hit in the head, but the doctor said other than a concussion and a few scrapes and bruises, he’ll be fine. He’s here in the hospital. You’ll get to see him soon.”
Brick seemed to relax. “I knew something had happened. I had this dream...” He seemed to shudder. He met her gaze. “I
