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“You’re full of excuses, Cutter. I’ll take it from here.”
“The address for the motel is on the website,” Cutter said. “I’ll send you the link. There’s a Maxine at the front desk who?—”
Underwood hung up before Cutter got the rest of the sentence out.
We all looked at one another for a few seconds until Sammie spoke. “I want to call the local sheriff and tell him everything. As much faith as I have in you guys, I think we need help from the cops.”
“I agree,” Finley said. “From all accounts, these are very bad guys. We need backup.”
“It’s safer to get help,” Sammie said. “But still it scares me to get the sheriff involved.”
“We’ll call him,” I said. “Sheriff Winthrop’s a good friend of Mama’s, so he’ll want to help.”
“Plus, it’s his job,” Soren said drily.
We agreed that Sammie and I would call him after everyone left.
“Make sure and tell him our plan,” Soren said. “He might have a better idea, but I’d be surprised if he did.”
“I think we should all head to bed and get a good night’s sleep,” Finley said. “Who knows what tomorrow will bring.”
“Yeah, good idea,” Soren said. “Cutter, we appreciate the help.”
“It’s the least I could do, considering,” Cutter said. “Thanks for the whiskey. I’ll see myself out.”
Finley and Soren also rose to their feet. Finley leaned down to give Sammie a quick hug. “Don’t worry. We’ve got your back. This is almost over.”
“I hope you’re right,” Sammie said.
Everyone but Sammie and I emptied from the living room.
“You ready to call?” I asked.
She nodded as she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. For the second time that night she said, “Do it.”
10
SAMMIE
“He won’t mind us calling him this late,” Thad reassured me as he pulled up Winthrop’s number, pushing the Speaker button so that I could hear everything.
The sheriff answered after the second ring, sounding alert for it being after nine in the evening. “Thad Moon, everything okay?”
“Yeah, fine.”
“Good. You scared me. Thought maybe you were having some kind of trouble out at the ranch.”
“We are in trouble, actually, but nothing immediate,” Thad said. “I’ve got Sammie Scott with me. We need your help.”
“Good evening, Miss Scott,” Winthrop said. “What can I do for you two? Do I need to take notes? Or do you want me to drive out there?”
“No, you don’t need to come out now,” Thad said. “But yes, please take notes.”
I hadn’t met Sheriff Winthrop in person, but I’d seen him around. However, I’d avoided him as much as possible, worried he might have seen my photograph somewhere and put the pieces together. Now, I wished I’d gone to him sooner. But hindsight is twenty-twenty and all that.
Winthrop listened carefully as Thad and I told him everything we knew, including the fact that I thought I’d killed my husband and run for my life. As embarrassing as it was to admit that I’d been lying to everyone since I’d been here, the sheriff didn’t chastise me or question my decision. When it was clear I was finished, he was quiet for a moment. Then he told me about his mother. “My dad beat her up on the regular. When I was fourteen, it was bad enough that she ended up in the hospital.” He hesitated for a moment. “She didn’t make it, unfortunately. My father went to jail for the rest of his life. It’s one of the reasons I became a cop.”
I gasped and said how sorry I was, all the while filling with dread. Would this be my fate as well?
