Chapter Twenty-One
As she was leaving the sheriff’s department, Josie almost collided with Cordell.
“Hey!” he said, grabbing her shoulders to keep her from falling. “I was just thinking about you.” She was in no mood, still bristling after their so-called dinner date. “I’m guessing you’ve met my new employee, Shane.”
“I really wish you hadn’t hired him,” she cried.
He held up both hands. “He’s a good worker. What’s the problem?”
She sighed and brushed a lock of hair back from her face as she fought tears. “Have a few hours?” She’d been joking, but he immediately took her up on it.
“I have all night. Why don’t you come over to the hotel with me. We can talk there. I’ll order us something to eat. I bought a bottle of wine with you in mind already.”
He’d bought her wine? She eyed him suspiciously. How far was he going to take this game he was playing with her? Right now, she was in no mood for games. But she really needed to talk, and he was offering. “You’re on.”
They walked the few blocks to the hotel, and he led her inside. She could see that he’d done more work. Once he had rooms available, it appeared he could open. “It looks really good in here.”
“Don’t sound so surprised. Sit. I’ll get the wine.”
She took a seat in one of the deep leather chairs he’d added in front of the fireplace. He returned with the wine and two glasses and took a chair across from her.
“Tell me,” he said as he poured her a glass and then one for himself.
Josie closed her eyes for a moment as she recalled the moment she came face-to-face with her sister’s beau and would-be killer. He was handsome and cocky and so sure of himself that she wanted to scratch his eyes out.
“He’s done a number on Amy Sue,” she said. “He knows it and I know it, and worse, we both know there is no way to stop him.”
“Stop him from what?” Cordell asked.
She looked up at him, took a sip of her wine and put down the glass on the small table next to her chair. “I just talked to your brother. Shane has a long rap sheet. He went to prison for years for manslaughter after running down a pedestrian while driving drunk.”
He nodded. “Shane told me.”
That surprised her, but it shouldn’t have. She let out a laugh. “Of course he did. He seems so transparent. He just wants to put the past behind him and make a new life here with my sister.”
“I know that feeling,” Cordell said quietly. “It’s what my brother and I tried to do.”
Josie groaned. “You think I’m judging him too harshly.”
“What do you really have against him?”
She met his gaze. “I have this feeling.”
“Your second sight.” He nodded. “I remember you telling me about it.”
“Did I?” It must have been in a weak moment. She didn’t tell people because it made them uncomfortable, as if they thought she could read their minds. Or maybe worse, see their futures. Most people didn’t want to know what was coming. Josie didn’t, either, she thought with a grimace.
“I have this awful feeling that my sister is in danger from this man.” She told him how the two had met, about the letters she’d found in her sister’s room, how Shane was in the same prison as Roger Grimes and how scared she was that she wasn’t going to be able to stop what she feared was going to happen.
“This is one hell of a gift your grandmother gave you, isn’t it?” Cordell said when she finished. “What are you going to do?”
Josie shook her head. “I don’t know what to do. Amy Sue won’t listen to me, and Shane… Anything I say only makes it worse.”
“Maybe you could kill him with kindness. Anything else will end up with you in prison.”
They shared the wine and Josie stayed as dinner was delivered from the café.
“I have a thought,” Cordell said in the middle of their meal. “What do you think he wants from your sister?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“He could get that somewhere else. If he targeted her as you say, there is something specific he wants that only Amy Sue can provide.”
Josie blinked. “The only thing we have of value is the farm. But my grandmother left me in charge of it because she knew I would never part with the place. So it’s in a trust. Amy Sue has no claim to it.”
“But does Shane know that? I hate to even mention this, but what happens to the farm after you’re gone?”
Her blood turned to ice water as she stared at him. “It would go to Amy Sue unless I had an heir.”
“Too bad we can’t make one quickly enough,” Cordell joked. “Josie, in all seriousness, if this vision of yours is true, you’re in more danger right now than even your sister.”
* * *
When Josie returned to the farmhouse, she didn’t see either Amy Sue or Shane. Cordell was right. Shane wanted something—something more than her sister.
She thought of earlier in town with Cordell. “I was hoping we could go to a movie in Billings some weekend,” he had said as he walked her to her car. “Might be just what you need to get your mind off this for at least a night. Also, you’d be completely safe with me.”
He’d leaned in then and kissed her. She’d lost herself in that kiss, wanting more, needing more. “A movie?” he asked as he pulled back.
She’d nodded because she’d missed him and the thought of spending time away from Shane and her sister was maybe exactly what she needed. So far, she’d handled it all badly.
“Maybe we could make a weekend of it,” Cordell had suggested.
There was nothing she would have loved more. They’d agreed to go the coming weekend, leaving Friday afternoon. She had wondered on the drive to the farmhouse if he was trying to protect her by getting her out of town.
She’d never worried about what the farm was worth since she’d never planned to sell it. But with the changes that had been happening across Montana, the large farm and the buildings would be worth at least a couple of million in today’s market.
Too much of an opportunity for a man like Shane Wagner. But first he would have to get rid of Josie. Which she hoped meant her sister was safe until then.
Josie had come back to get her overnight bag and more of her clothing.
She was wondering where the two had gotten off to when she heard voices.
A few minutes later, the screen door slammed as they entered the house.
She tried to still her pounding heart. Now that she had a pretty good idea of what Shane was after, she had to find a way to stop him without him realizing what she was up to.
“There you are,” she said as she went downstairs to greet them. Her sister’s face was flushed, Shane was holding her hand and both of them looked deliriously happy. For just an instant, Josie wanted to believe that was all that was going on. “What have you two been up to?”
“Shane wanted to see the farm,” Amy Sue said. “I was just giving him a tour.”
“This is an amazing place you two have here,” he said, grinning. “I can see why you love it so much. I can’t imagine owning so much land. It must be worth a fortune.”
Amy Sue pulled her hand from his and playfully hit him. “He’s kidding. We’ve been talking about farming it and what we would grow.”
Josie looked at Shane, not surprised to see a grin on his face, his dark eyes telling her to be afraid.
* * *
“I’m worried about Josie,” Cordell told his brother later that night. He’d stopped by Max’s house to check on him, knowing that he wasn’t himself and hadn’t been for months now.
He’d brought over a six-pack of his brother’s favorite beer, opened one each and told Max what Josie had told him. “I think Shane Wagner’s after the farm, but to get it, he’ll have to go through Josie.”
“You’re saying he’s going to kill Josie, then Amy Sue, then sell the farm and abscond with the proceeds. Isn’t he employed by you? Is he a good worker?”
Cordell admitted that he was.
“Has he done anything to make you believe this is his plan to murder two people?” Max held up his hands. “I know about Josie’s second sight,” he said with a sigh. “But like I told her, there is nothing I can do until he breaks the law.”
“I feel like we’re in the same spot we were with Grimes,” Cordell said. “What if the two prisoners did know each other? Is there any way to find out?”
“What would it matter?” his brother asked. “If Shane wanted to know anything about Dry Gulch or everyone else in town, he could have just asked Amy Sue.”
“Still, could you call the prison and ask? Maybe they didn’t know each other and it’s just a coincidence they were both in the same prison.”
“Grimes is dead. Can’t we just let it go?” Max sighed. “Fine. I’ll check. Anything else?”
“I’m worried about you, too,” Cordell said. “You’re not yourself. What’s it going to take to get the old Max back? You know Goldie is miserable without you and you’re obviously miserable, too.”
“Thanks for the beer,” his brother said. “I have an early morning tomorrow.”
“Subtle,” Cordell said as he got to his feet. “Let me know what you find out.”
* * *
After another argument about Shane with her sister, Josie had taken what she’d come to the farmhouse for and gone back into town to stay at her office. She couldn’t bear seeing the two of them together, knowing that there was nothing she could do.
She and Amy Sue had always been so close. Now they could barely be civil to each other. She couldn’t stand recalling their argument before she’d stormed out.
“You’re jealous!” Amy Sue had cried. “This is about Cordell. You’re not getting what you want from him, and you can’t stand that I have a man and I’m happy.”
Josie had groaned. “You do realize how ridiculous that sounds, don’t you? I’ve always wanted you to find someone special and be happy.”
“I have, so what is the problem?” her sister demanded.
“The fact that you kept this relationship a secret tells me that you know something isn’t quite right.”
Amy Sue had shaken her head. “Shane deserves a second chance—just like the one you’re giving Cordell—don’t you think?”
“It isn’t the same and you know it. Sis…” She had reached for her hand, but Amy Sue had pulled back out of her reach. “I’ve seen things.”