Page 53 of Setup In Montana

What the hell was Vernon Vance from Shady Rest doing, standing out here holding what looked like a gas can?

* * *

THE SMELL OF gasoline grew stronger. “Wait!” Clancy cried as she leaped from her chair. Luther started toward her, but she waved him back. “Vernon!” she called. “I’m coming out.”

In the quiet that followed, she heard the sound of another vehicle. She shot a look at Luther. Like her, he thought it was probably Sarah. She saw the panic on his face. Sarah would have no idea what was going on until it was too late. She’d wouldn’t even be armed because she’d given her gun to Luther.

If what Luther had told her was true, Sarah had saved her life by bringing her out here and leaving her cousins to watch over her. She’d been a good friend while Clancy had been convinced Sarah was a killer.

All that aside, Clancy knew she had to do something—especially if that was Sarah coming up the road. She and Luther were trapped in the cabin with Abel bleeding to death on the porch. There was nowhere to run. Not to mention, she was tired of running. Running from her life, running just to keep moving, as if afraid what would happen if she stopped.

“I’m coming out!” she yelled again. Luther had stopped moving toward her. He stood looking unsure as to what to do. “Give me the gun,” she whispered. “Once I go out, rescue your brother and help him.” Luther started to argue. “If that’s Sarah coming up the road, we can’t let Vernon kill her—and he isn’t going to burn us alive if we aren’t in here.”

“Do you even know how to fire a gun?” he demanded, even as he handed over the weapon.

She glanced at the handgun and racked a live round into the chamber before looking up. “It was the one thing my father taught me before he left. Open the door. If Sarah is right and Vernon’s the killer, he won’t shoot me until he finds out who all I told about seeing him that night.”

Luther’s look seemed to offer her one more chance to change her mind. She shook her head and motioned to the front door as she pocketed the gun.

He hesitated, but only for a moment before he unlocked the door. Clancy stepped out of the cabin into the blinding sunlight to see Abel bleeding at the edge of the porch—and Vernon Vance, a gun in one hand and a gas can in the other, moving toward her.

Chapter Twenty-Three

As Clancy stepped out onto the small porch, she had a split second to take it all in before everything began to move too quickly. Vernon dropped the gas can and raised the gun. Past him, she saw not Sarah’s old car racing toward her, but a truck. Dub’s truck?

It distracted her for just long enough that Vernon closed the distance, grabbing her arm as he dragged her off the porch. As he did, she saw Luther rush to his brother, lifting him into his arms and carrying him inside the cabin.

When she looked up, she saw the truck, Dub’s face behind the windshield, coming directly at them. The roar of the engine made Vernon turn. As he did, he pulled her over in front of him, using her like a shield as he brought up the gun in his hand to aim at the truck, his other hand gripping her arm more tightly.

As he started to fire at the truck and Dub, Clancy dug in her pocket with her free hand for the gun. She couldn’t let Vernon kill Dub, but realized she didn’t have enough time to pull the weapon and stop him.

She threw her body against him, knocking him off-balance and shoving him to the side at the same time that he pulled the trigger. She heard the blast of the gun in his hand and an instant later the sound of the truck’s windshield shattering.

The truck veered off to the right, barely missing the back of the SUV before coming to a stop just inches from a stand of pines.

Vernon, still gripping her arm, threw her to the ground and raised his gun for a second shot as they both waited for Dub to get out of the truck.

* * *

DUB HAD PUT his driver’s-side window down, his gun in his hand, but Vernon gave him no chance to fire without risking Clancy’s life. He had tossed the handgun on the passenger seat.

Vernon’s first shot shattered the truck’s windshield, making it hard to see. He kept going, knowing that the man would fire again, only this next shot would be closer and probably more accurate. There was no way Vernon would miss at such close range.

But Clancy had pushed the man at the same time that Dub veered the truck away. The shot destroyed the rest of the windshield as he had hit the brakes before almost crashing into a stand of pines. Even before the truck had completely stopped, he’d grabbed the shotgun and was out of the truck, heading around the back of it for cover.

As he cleared the rear of the truck, he saw Clancy lying on the ground at Vernon’s feet. He couldn’t tell if she’d been hit. His sights were on the man standing over her, still holding a gun. Dub wasn’t about to pull the trigger until he was close enough that he knew Clancy wouldn’t be injured.

“Don’t come any closer,” Vernon yelled. The rest home manager started to raise his gun, then changed his mind. Instead of pointing it at Dub, he pointed the barrel at Clancy on the ground at his feet. “Take another step and I’ll kill her,” Vernon yelled. “You know I’ll do it.”

Dub stopped. There was no doubt that Vernon had killed before. He would do it again.

* * *

CLANCY COULD HEAR the sound of a siren in the distance, but she knew it would never reach them in time. Vernon was determined to kill them all and she had no doubt he would, given a chance.

She’d hit the ground hard when Vernon had thrown her down. Now, lying at his feet, she pulled the weapon Luther had given her. Dub had stopped moving toward them, but she could almost feel Vernon’s tension. He was like a wild animal ready to spring the moment he caught sight of his prey.

She knew she had to act. Dub had stopped, but she sensed not for long. As she looked up, she saw the look on Vernon’s face. He’d kill her, then Dub, if she didn’t try to stop him. Her only chance was to fire the bullet upward from where she lay. But if she missed, Vernon would kill them all.