Page 2 of Setup In Montana

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AFTER THAT, every time he came in, he tried to get her to go out with him, daring her to take a chance.

“Most of the men I’ve met don’t challenge me or themselves,” she’d told Sarah that day, thinking that her cowboy might be the exception. But she was leaving town, so she would never know.

“Oh, I imagine you’re a challenge for any man,” Sarah had joked. “I hate to think that you’re really leaving on your birthday. I’m going to miss you.”

Now, as Clancy pushed through the convenience store’s front door, she hated to think how much she was going to miss Sarah. They’d become friends so quickly. Clancy had never had a friend like her. Why did she have to make such a good friend now when she was going to leave and lose touch with her?

“You’re late,” Roger, the early shift clerk, snapped as he pushed past her, clearly anxious to get off work. “You were supposed to relieve me at four thirty. It’s almost five.”

“Sorry,” she said as he disappeared out the door. She glanced through the window at the gas pumps between her and the highway. Not a soul in sight. Another slow day with the summer tourists gone and fall hunting season over. She remembered how she used to think that nothing ever happened in Dry Gulch.

At least here an occasional vehicle blew past, headed somewhere, she told herself as she settled in for a long, boring day. She turned on the radio and prepared her till—not surprised when the weatherman predicted another thunderstorm this evening.

Looking out at the empty highway and the dark clouds gathering in the distance, she questioned if she could go through with her plan to leave on her birthday. She’d thought that by twenty-five, she’d have more figured out. As depressing as it was, maybe Sarah was right. Maybe she was deluding herself about the grass being greener down the road.

When her phone pinged with a text, she saw it was from Sarah, who must be working a double at the rest home.

Esther Mason was murdered last night! Sheriff on the way. Did she pay u? If not, UR out of luck.

Clancy stared at the words in disbelief and horror. She read them again, her stomach churning as her heart thumped wildly against her ribs. Her initial shock quickly turned to panic. Esther murdered? She felt her face heat at the memory of the argument she’d had with the elderly woman yesterday afternoon.

She quickly texted back. When last night?

B4 midnight. Everyone losing it here

Clancy’s legs threatened to give out under her at the realization that all the residents at the home had probably overheard her loud confrontation. Esther had refused to pay her for what she owed her. Clancy had been running errands for the woman since she’d gone to work there. Esther kept promising to pay her soon.

Yesterday Clancy had cornered her, demanding to be paid. She’d known Esther from growing up in Dry Gulch, so she knew how mean she could be. But she’d never thought the cranky, miserable old woman would cheat her out of money she was depending on.

Instead of cash, Esther had tried to push off some old costume jewelry on her, claiming it was worth more than she owed. Clancy had been so furious. There was no way she was taking the plastic bag of junk instead of cash. But she’d also suspected the jewelry had been stolen. Clancy had heard residents complain that small items had been disappearing from their apartments since Esther had moved in.

Given how nervous Esther had been acting yesterday, Clancy was glad that she’d refused the jewelry. Clearly, the woman had been trying to get rid of it before she was caught. But Sarah was right, now she would never get the money Esther owed her.

She immediately felt ashamed for the thought. Esther was dead. Feeling sick to her stomach, she replayed her own angry words when she’d left Esther yesterday. Clancy groaned as she remembered how she’d threatened to come back last night and get the money one way or another. What if everyone thought she’d killed Esther?

Sarah had said the sheriff was on his way. Clancy knew Sheriff Max Lander from Dry Gulch, which only made her more anxious. He was married to her cousin Goldie. Max would want to believe she was innocent, but once he knew everything, all the evidence would point to her.

Worse, she had gone back last night. She shuddered at the memory of sneaking into the rest home after lockdown, hiding in the storage room until Sarah took her break. She hadn’t wanted Sarah to know and have to lie for her if she got caught. But she’d been exhausted from working so much lately that the moment she’d sat down on the floor in the dark at the back of the storage room, she’d fallen asleep. When she’d awakened, it was so quiet she knew it must be really late.

She’d checked her phone and found it was almost midnight, too late to get her money. She’d been angry with herself for her harebrained plan and worried that she could get herself and Sarah fired if caught.

Carefully opening the door, she had looked out. The hallway was empty. She’d slipped into the hallway, planning to leave as quickly as she could. As she neared Esther’s apartment, she saw a light coming from under the door. Clancy hesitated. It made her angry that Esther was refusing to pay her. She was about to knock, thinking she would give it one more try, when she heard voices coming from inside the apartment. Female voices. Esther wasn’t alone.

Determined to get her money, she’d gone back to the storage room to wait for whoever was with Esther to leave. Ten minutes later, she stepped out into the hall again and headed for Esther’s apartment. But as she neared it, she saw that there was only a faint light under the door. She had realized that she wasn’t getting her money—at least not tonight. But before she could turn and leave, she saw one of the residents come down the hall, and froze. Jane Cooke, a sweet, tiny woman whom everyone loved, saw her and put a finger to her lips, as if signaling they were both to keep this a secret.

When Esther’s door opened a crack, Jane took off back the way she’d come.

Clancy had quickly made her way to the emergency exit, where she’d left a rock propping the door partially open so she wasn’t locked out.

Marveling at her good luck at not getting caught by anyone other than Jane, she had slipped out and let the door close behind her. Moving silently through the darkness, she’d made her way down the street, headed for where she’d left her car hidden in the trees. But as she’d walked away from the rest home, she’d made the mistake of looking back.

There had been a faint light shining in Esther’s apartment. With a start, she’d realized that someone was standing at the edge of the window. Her skin had crawled with the realization that the person had been looking right at her. Esther, she’d thought with a curse, and checked the time, thinking that maybe she could sneak back in and have it out with the horrible woman. But by then it had been half past midnight.

Half past midnight? She read Sarah’s text again, her fingers trembling. Esther had been killed before midnight. Her heart slammed against her ribs, making it impossible to breathe. Esther couldn’t have been the person standing at the window. She wasn’t the one who’d watched Clancy leave Shady Rest, because Esther Mason was already dead.

Who had been standing at Esther’s window last night after the murder? A red-hot wave of terror swept over her. There was only one person it could have been.