Chapter 15 - The Sheriff’s Choice
Claire stared at Pike.
"They said you were missing."
He shrugged. "I was busy."
Mason stepped in front of Claire.
Rusk lifted the shotgun. "Easy. Badge on the floor. Gun too."
Mason obeyed.
Noah's hand drifted near his coat.
Pike pointed a pistol at him. "Don't."
Caleb still held the metal case.
Rusk nodded toward it. "Put it down."
"You killed my brother," Caleb said.
"Technically, your brother is standing right there."
"Miguel Santos."
Rusk's smile disappeared.
"Collateral damage."
Claire felt rage rise through the fear.
"He had a name."
Rusk looked at her belly. "And you have something to lose, so let's keep this simple."
Scout growled.
Pike swung the pistol toward the dog.
"Control him."
Claire put a hand on Scout's neck. "Stay."
Rusk took the ledger and opened it.
His confidence returned page by page.
Then his expression changed.
"This is incomplete."
Noah said nothing.
Rusk looked up. "Where's the signature page?"
Claire remembered the burned glove box. The foil-wrapped drive. The key. Noah always split important things into pieces.
"Maybe Voss has it," she said.
Rusk laughed once. "Voss hasn't touched the ledger in nine years."
Mason's eyes shifted toward Claire.
A signal.
Keep him talking.
"Then why are you doing all this for him?" she asked.
Rusk's face tightened. "You think this is for Harlan?"
"Isn't it?"
"Harlan is a frightened old man with money. Money makes people useful, not powerful."
Noah stared at him. "You built the whole network."
Rusk smiled.
"Now you're catching up."
Outside, a horse trailer suddenly crashed through the side gate.
Everyone flinched.
Scout moved.
Not toward Pike.
Toward the loft rope above him.
Claire understood a split second before anyone else.
She shouted, "Scout, pull!"
The dog seized the hanging rope and yanked.
A stack of hay bales dropped between them.
May you like
Mason dove for his gun.
Then the barn exploded with shouting.
