Page 49 of Setup In Montana

She groaned at how naive she was. Dub had thought he could handle her messy life, but when all was said and done, he couldn’t. At least he’d left before the two of them had gotten more involved than they had.

Still, she had trouble convincing her aching heart that whoever was approaching wasn’t coming to save her. Maybe it was Max, although she couldn’t imagine how he had found her either.

“Who is it?” Abel asked his brother as he too looked out at the approaching vehicle.

Whoever it was, Clancy saw her chance and started to ease up off the chair, thinking she would make a run for the back door. But Luther must have seen her out of the corner of his eye.

“Sit down.” He sent her a warning look as he raised the gun and pointed it at her. She sat. “Keep your trap shut. You holler and you’ll wish you hadn’t.”

“Who is it?” Abel asked again and Luther shook his head before looking at her. It had to be someone coming to save her.

She wanted to cry with joy. Instead, she made a break for the front door, but Abel stopped her, slapping a hand over her mouth before she could scream for help.

“I think we’re going to have to tie her up, gag her and take her out back,” Luther said. “See if you can find some rope and duct tape.”

* * *

ON THE DRIVE BACK, Sarah was insistent that she was telling the truth. “For the record, I’m willing to hear you out, but you’re still under arrest,” the sheriff told her. He was headed for Grass Range and, ultimately, her cabin to the north. “Maybe you didn’t kill Esther given what you’ve told me, but you’re not off the hook for Jane’s murder.”

“That’s big of you, Sheriff, but you’re wrong,” she said from the back seat of his patrol SUV.

He glanced at her in his rearview mirror. “What is your blood type?”

She rolled her eyes. “Type O negative.”

“I rest my case.”

“No,” she said, sitting forward. “I wasn’t the only one with type O negative blood. I knew there had to be someone else who was connected to Shady Rest because I didn’t kill anyone, let alone Jane.”

“Diana is type O positive, so pretending to faint and switching your vial with hers didn’t work.”

“First off, I didn’t pretend to faint, and I didn’t switch my blood with hers,” Sarah said. “I faint at the sight of other people’s blood, all right? I didn’t know the vials were switched until you just told me, but if true, then I know who switched them.” She sounded excited. “There were four of us in that room. Dr. Frazer—”

“His blood type is O positive,” Max said.

“Diana.”

“Also O positive.”

“Me and Vernon Vance. I’m O negative, but I didn’t switch the vials. So, what does that tell you?”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Clancy bit Abel’s hand. The moment he jerked it back, she cried, “Don’t do it!” her eyes burning with tears as she looked from Luther to Abel and back. “If it’s Dub coming down the road, please don’t hurt him.”

“It’s not Dub,” Luther snapped.

“The sheriff? He’s my cousin’s husband. Goldie’s pregnant,” she said, a tear escaping at the thought that all this was her fault.

“It’s not the sheriff either,” he said. “It’s your boss from Shady Rest.”

Vernon? Clancy’s mind raced. What was he doing here? Was it possible he’d come to save her?

“Look,” Luther said, “I don’t want to have to gag you and tie you up, but I will if you force me to, okay? Let us handle this.” He pulled out the gun. “You keep quiet and you get to live and so does your boss, fair enough?”

“You want me to get rid of him?” Abel asked and brandished a large knife from inside his boot.

“Put that away,” Luther said. “He’s probably looking for Sarah. Just go out and find out what he wants. If he’s looking for Sarah, tell him she’s not here and we don’t know where she’s gone. Tell him we came out here looking for her.”