“Wait!” Myles tried to catch him before he could hang up. There was no response, but he didn’t hear a click so he barreled on. “Tell me this. Why would these men come to Montana?”
“Sheriff, I didn’t even know they were in Montana until you told me. But it’s as good a place to hide as anywhere else, I suppose.”
The California authorities knew nothing, just as Myles had suspected. Laurel Hodges had left WitSec, so she didn’t even have that conduit to people who might know where she was and inform her of this escape. That tempted Myles to open their eyes, despite Rex’s warning. “You need to check out the shooting incident that damaged Ryder’s spine,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because maybe these two cons aren’t looking for freedom. Maybe they’re looking for revenge.”
“Against whom?”
“Whoever was involved in that shooting!”
The way the warden cleared his throat and deepened his voice reminded Myles of his father. “Do you know something you’re not telling me, Sheriff?”
Was he going to tell what he knew? All of it?
Myles tapped his fingers on the desk while he tried to decide. He wasn’t sure he believed what Rex said about The Crew being able to find out everything the authorities knew. That would require too much corruption, or too many girlfriends working in too many government offices. But…Los Angeles, where he’d been told this gang was largely based, wasn’t Pineview. Maybe he was being too naive. “I know they’re not out for a joyride. That’s what I know.”
Long after he hung up, Myles sat staring at the phone. Should he have explained that Vivian was Laurel Hodges and her life was at stake? That she was a mother of two children? That she’d already been through far too much and deserved to feel safe for a change?
He could’ve tried to enlist their support, offered to collaborate. Most sheriffs would’ve done so; he’d certainly considered it.
But he couldn’t ignore what Rex had said. Apparently he trusted Vivian’s ex-boyfriend more than he wanted to admit. Or maybe he just didn’t want to see what might happen if he disregarded that advice. Either way, he’d told the warden that Ryder and Beachum were here. Let them come look for their escapees without knowing any more about Laurel and her whereabouts than they did now. He’d make sure she was safe.
Speaking of safe… Myles glanced at the clock. He needed to head back to Pineview. He didn’t want Vivian returning from the airport in Kalispell to an empty house.
He’d just scooped up his keys and started for the door when one of his deputies—Ben Jones, his most recent hire—intercepted him.
“Ned Blackburn’s on the phone for you,” Jones announced.
Ned was an insurance salesman who was also on Myles’s softball team. At their last practice, Myles had mentioned that he’d like to increase his life insurance. But now was not the time. “Tell him I’m busy. I’ll have to call him back when things slow down around here.” He tried to circumvent Jones, but Jones caught his arm.
“I think you’re going to want to talk to him, Sheriff.”
Myles hesitated. “Why’s that?”
“He says he saw those two men you’re looking for. Gave ’em a ride yesterday.”
At last. Maybe Ned was the person who’d picked up Ryder and Beachum after Harvey left them on the side of the road. Or he’d given them a ride since. The way word spread in a place like Pineview, he knew it couldn’t be long before he heard something.
“Where is he?” Myles asked, suddenly far more interested than he’d been before.
“Line one.”
“Can he show us exactly where he dropped them off?”
“Says he can. Told me he’d drive you there right now if you’d like to go.”
He did want to go. But he wanted to make sure Vivian was okay first. “Tell him to hang on, that I’ll be with him in a second.”
Myles returned to his desk and called Vivian’s house. No answer. He hated to leave her at risk for even a minute, but he had no guarantee she was coming right back. For all he knew, she was spending the day in Kalispell shopping. It wasn’t as if they’d talked before she left.
“Sheriff? Ned’s waiting,” Jones called out.
“I know, I know,” he muttered, and glanced at his watch again. It was only eleven. If he hurried, he could take that drive with Ned and get back to Pineview by noon.
Pressing the button with the flashing light, he brought the handset to his ear. “Ned? Where can you meet me?”
19
Vivian had made a commitment to this place. After moving around for most of her life, searching for her niche in the world, she’d finally found what she wanted, and she was determined not to abandon it. She’d painted and repaired this house herself. She’d spent hours looking for the right cast-off furnishings—unique and eclectic pictures, rugs, window coverings and furniture. She’d planted her garden. Tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, watermelon, strawberries. Pumpkins for fall. If she left now she’d never see any of it come to fruition.
But sending her children away hadn’t been easy. She didn’t know if or when she’d see them again. And that caused all kinds of doubts. Was she making a mistake? Taking an unnecessary risk? Being too stubborn for her own good?
So many times she’d almost turned the car around and gone back to Kalispell to board a plane for New York. But it was the fact that she had no guarantee that they’d be able to stay there, either, that stopped her. A life on the run was no life at all.
Virgil and Peyton would raise Mia and Jake if anything happened to her. But that was small consolation, because her kids meant everything to her. She just couldn’t envision finding another town or city where they’d be as happy as they were here. It wasn’t the beauty of Pine view that convinced her, or her house, much as she prided herself on being a homeowner at last. It was the promise of what the future here might hold. It was Nana Vera. The women in her Thursday-night book group. Herb Scarborough at the bank. Mia’s ballet instructor. Claire and all the other people she’d tried so hard not to love. They’d worked their way into her affections despite her resistance, and she wanted to stay and embrace them fully. To truly become who they thought she was and let go of the fear that had been driving her for so long.
She’d survived the abuse she’d suffered at Tom’s hands, become a designer, even without a formal education, gotten over Rex when it would’ve been so much easier to continue wallowing in the mess they were together, and built a company to support her family. And she’d done it all on her own. She was established and successful and she wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from her.