From the Shadows (Buckhorn, Montana #2) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,40

back here. This was where it had to end.

* * *

THE BIGGER THEY ARE, the harder they fall. The words came out in singsong bursts on hot, hurried breaths as, deep under the hotel, the explosives were placed in the boreholes along the structural outer walls for maximum effect.

Dynamite was the explosive of choice. Simply absorbent stuffing soaked in a highly combustible chemical, once the chemical was ignited, it would burn quickly, producing a large volume of hot gas that would expand and apply immense outward pressure.

The powerful shock wave would bust through the columns at supersonic speed, shatter the concrete into tiny chunks. The secret was spreading the explosive devices throughout. Then setting them off like knocking over dominoes. Boom...boom...boom as the explosions raced around the hotel’s footprint, and the building imploded.

It had taken some calculation. A person had to be smart when working with this much firepower. One wrong move and it could blow up too soon. But if done correctly, the explosions would accomplish what had to be done.

The hotel wouldn’t just be brought down; it would be turned to dust—including anyone in it. Ultimately every secret would be erased. Nothing could come back to haunt the guilty or destroy the innocent. The Crenshaw Hotel would be gone and eventually forgotten.

Just like misdeeds.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Soon. Very soon.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Saturday

WHEN FINN WALKED into the hotel kitchen the next morning, he overheard Jen telling Shirley about Megan’s car wreck that Jason had related to her the night before. The story shouldn’t have shocked him, given what he now knew about Megan.

The two women left as he entered. But he’d heard enough that when Jason came in right behind him, he demanded, “Is it true? Megan killed someone?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “I knew I shouldn’t say anything to Jen, of all people.”

“How do you know Megan was driving the car?” Finn demanded.

Jason sighed. “Because she admitted it to me. She was really drunk and scared, and she told me about the car wreck. Some of her friends were hurt, and one of them was killed.”

“Megan swore she wasn’t driving. That’s what she told the cops. She said her friend had taken the keys from her. The one who died was driving.”

Shaking his head, Jason helped himself to a cup of coffee and took a seat at the table. “Megan lied. She was really upset because she’d lied to everyone, including the police, and had gotten away with it, except now she believed that someone was stalking her, determined to make her pay for what she’d done.”

Finn stared at him, feeling the truth at gut level. “She was driving.”

He nodded. “She was apparently upset and driving too fast after a party. Two girls were in the back, passed out. The girl who died was in the front and trying to get her to slow down. Holly, right? Holly had unsnapped her seat belt and was trying to get out when she thought Megan was going to stop at an intersection. Instead, Megan sped through it and then missed a curve in the road. Megan was upset over some boy she’d wanted to hook up with at the party, but he was with some girl who’d gotten to him first.”

Finn took a breath and let it out slowly. He poured himself a cup of coffee, his hands shaking. Megan had lied. Not just to him, but the cops, her parents, everyone. “Surely, if that’s true, the cops would have realized who was driving.”

Jason shook his head. “None of them were wearing seat belts. After the car rolled and some of them were thrown clear, it was hard to tell who was driving. Holly was dead and couldn’t deny the story. The two in the back couldn’t, either. Megan said she was lucky she hadn’t been killed herself. I guess they all sued the dead girl’s family.”

Only because they believed Megan’s story. Finn shook his head, wondering why Megan had confessed to Jason, of all people, instead of him. He hadn’t wanted to believe it, but he could practically hear Megan saying the words. It sounded just like her. She hadn’t been sorry that she’d framed her dead friend. She was sorry that someone knew and was after her.

“She thought one of the staff was, what, a hit man?” he asked.

Jason shook his head. “More like a friend of a friend who wanted justice for Holly and her family. Someone was definitely messing with Megan, from what she