The Marshal's Hostage - By Delores Fossen Page 0,49

this time. He was too tired and too aggravated to curse, but if it was Owen, Dallas intended to find him and beat some sense into him.

But it was Clayton again.

“I hope this is good news,” Dallas said when he took the call.

“Sorry.” And with just that one word, Dallas heard the concern in his brother’s voice.

“What’s wrong?” Joelle asked before Dallas could.

“We’ve got a problem. A big one. You need to get out here to Rocky Creek. Fast.”

Chapter Fourteen

Joelle tried to focus on the phone conversation that Dallas was having with Clayton. It was his third call since the one on the porch back at the ranch. They’d left immediately after that, but Dallas had stayed in contact with Clayton, who was on the scene at Rocky Creek.

Where heaven knows what was happening.

Joelle still wasn’t sure what was going on, and Dallas still seemed to be gathering all the details. That’s why this call was no doubt important, but Dallas hadn’t put this one on speaker, so she could only hear his side of the conversation.

Which wasn’t telling her much.

Of course, she was partly to blame since she was having zero luck concentrating on anything other than what Dallas had learned about their baby.

Even now, all these years later, the pain felt fresh and raw. Like a huge wound that would never heal. She’d tried to bury that pain with work, but she hadn’t managed to do that. It was always there, just below the surface.

Now it was right on top again.

Dallas had said often he wasn’t the forgive-and-forget type. He wasn’t. And this was much more than he’d ever had to face.

He would never forgive her.

That broke what little of her heart wasn’t already broken. Sixteen years ago she’d resigned herself to the fact that she could never have Dallas, but it hurt to know that he would hate her for the rest of his life.

Dallas ended the call, and Joelle waited for news of why Clayton had insisted they come out to Rocky Creek. He didn’t volunteer anything, and his jaw muscles were set in iron again. Joelle wasn’t sure if that was because of the baby news or what Clayton had told him. Either way, it wasn’t going to be a pleasant evening.

“What’s going on at Rocky Creek?” she finally asked.

Dallas took his time answering and pulled in a weary breath. “In addition to the secret floor safe, the CSIs found blood on the wooden banister. They decided to photograph it and then remove pieces of it so they could swab underneath. Rudy burst in and told them to stop, that he wouldn’t let them destroy the place.”

“Oh, mercy.” Joelle added a groan.

“It gets worse. Rudy pulled a gun on the CSIs and ordered them out of the building. Now he’s holed up in there, threatening to burn the place down if he doesn’t talk to me.”

She shook her head. “Why you?”

“Who knows. He won’t say. Won’t talk to Clayton, either. He just keeps pointing the gun and demanding to talk to me.”

Joelle tried to come up with a logical reason for that demand, but she couldn’t think of one.

Unless Rudy thought that the evidence would incriminate him.

“Maybe the standoff is a ruse so Rudy can destroy any evidence that might be in the secret safe,” Joelle offered. “And he’s adding to that ruse by demanding to see you.”

Dallas paused as if considering that. “The safe is still locked. The CSIs couldn’t get it open, and there’s no indication that it’s been opened or tampered with in years. Besides, Clayton has Rudy in his sights.”

Since she’d read the background reports on all of Dallas’s foster brothers, she knew that Clayton had sniper training. “Clayton’s armed with a rifle?”

“Yeah. And if necessary, he’ll take Rudy out.”

Oh, God. Not another death. Joelle wasn’t especially fond of Rudy, but he was a human being and besides, he might be able to clear up who killed Webb.

Rudy might even confess to doing the deed himself.

That would solve some of their problems and would stop Dallas or Kirby from going to jail. Not her, though. She would still have to face charges of suppressing information about the knife. But a confession would be a huge start.

And then maybe Dallas and she could deal with everything else.

“I’m sorry,” Joelle whispered.

At first she wasn’t sure Dallas had even heard her, but when he tossed her a glance, she realized he had. Joelle figured that meant he wasn’t ready to talk about it. Maybe