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He stopped beside a small tree growing out of the side of the hill and looped Rucker’s reins loosely over a branch. The horse wouldn’t attempt to pull free. Rucker knew to hold fast. A loud noise might scare him into bolting for the barn. Otherwise, he’d stay put until James returned.
Pulling his handgun from the holster, James started up the incline toward the cave, his focus on the entrance and the overhang of snow on the slope above the cave. With the recent melting and the added layer of fresh snow, the snow above the cave could easily become unstable. Anything, including a gust of wind, could trigger an avalanche, sending snow and rocks crashing down the hillside.
James hoped he’d left Rucker well out of the path of the potential avalanche. If the snow started down the side of the hill, James would be forced to run for the cave and take shelter there. Possibly with a killer.
More reason to get up to the cave, check it out and get back down to Rucker as soon as possible. He should have turned back when the snow got so thick he could barely see the trail. If one of his sons or daughter had continued on, he would have reamed them for their irresponsible behavior. And here he was doing what he would expect them to avoid.
However, since he was there, he would check the cave. Then he’d head straight back to the highway and home. The search for the fugitive could continue the next day, after the snowstorm ended. Reed wouldn’t make much headway in the current weather, anyway.
With his plan in mind, James trudged up the hill to the cave. He had camped in this particular grotto one fall when he’d been caught in a storm while out hunting elk. It went back far enough into the mountain to protect him from the wind and rain and was open enough to allow him to build a fire. He’d even staged additional firewood in case he ever got caught in a storm again. Then at least, he’d have dry wood to build a warming fire.
If Reed was up in this canyon, this cave would be the perfect shelter from the current storm. The next one in line was harder to find and had a narrower entrance.
As he neared the mouth of the cavern, he drew on his Delta Force training, treading lightly and keeping as much of his body out of direct line of fire as possible as he edged around the corner and peered into the shadows.
The sound of voices echoed softly from the darkness near the back of the cave. He smelled wood smoke before he spotted the yellow glow of a fire, shedding light on two figures standing nearby.
“Where is it?” one voice was saying, the tone urgent, strained.
“I’m not telling you. If I tell you, you have no reason to keep me alive.”
James stiffened. He remembered having a conversation with Reed outside the hardware store in Eagle Rock several years ago. That husky, deep voice wasn’t something a person forgot.
His pulse quickening, James knew he had to get back down the mountain to the sheriff and let him know what he’d found. They weren’t supposed to engage, just report.
But he hadn’t expected to find Reed with someone else. If he left and reported to the sheriff without identifying the other man and the two men managed to get out of the canyon before they were captured by the authorities, no one would know who was helping Reed.
“I got you out of there, the least you can do is share your secret.”
“I put it somewhere no one will find it. If I die, it goes to the grave with me,” Reed said. “I did that on purpose. I can’t trust anyone. If you want to know where it is, you’ll have to get me out of Montana alive.”
“I told you I would. You have my word. But you can’t leave Montana without it.”
“No, but I can leave Montana without you. If I’ve learned one thing in prison,” Reed’s voice grew deeper, “the only person you can trust is yourself.”
“Damn it, Reed, we don’t have time to dick around. Sheriff Barron has a posse combing the mountains. The only thing keeping them from finding you is the storm moving in. Get the money, and let’s get the hell out of here.”
James strained to see into the darkness, but the man with Reed had his back to the cave entrance and appeared to be wearing a knit ski hat. The voice was familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on who it was. He leaned into the cave a little more, waiting for the man to shift into a position where the fire would light up his face.
“You know, there’s a bounty on your head,” the man told Reed, in a threatening tone. “Maybe I don’t want your bag of money. It’s probably marked anyway. I could turn you in and collect the reward. I’d have the money and be a hero for saving the world from a killer.”
Reed lunged toward the other man, knocking him back, his face even deeper in the shadows, or was it covered in a ski mask? “You dare threaten me?” He lifted the man off his feet and shoved him against the wall. “Do you know the hell I’ve lived in for the past thirteen years? I’ve seen men like you who’ve had their tongues carved out with a spoon. I didn’t get out of prison to put up with the likes of you.”
The man being held against the wall gagged, his feet scraping against the hard rock surface behind him.
James couldn’t let Reed kill the other man, even if the other man happened to be the one who’d helped him escape from prison. Taking a deep breath, he called out, “Drop him, Reed, or I’ll shoot.”
The convict froze with his hand still gripping the other man’s throat. “Guess you’re gonna have to shoot.” Then he spun, dragging his captive with him, and using his body as a shield.
Since his back was still to James, James couldn’t see who it was.
“Go ahead,” Reed taunted. “Shoot. This piece of shit deserves to die.”
The man he held fumbled in his jacket pocket, pulled out something long and shiny and then shoved it toward Reed.
Reed gasped, his eyes widening. “Bastard,” he said, his voice more of a wheeze. His grip loosened on his captive.
The man slumped to his knees and bent over.
