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His warm breath is on my ear, his lips brushing my skin. “You have to make it to the car, Rosie. Make it to the car, and we’ll figure this out. Lean against me.”
His arm cradles my shoulder, tucking me into his chest as we walk through the crowd of travelers. His cowboy hat draws attention, considering this is the northwestern United States and most of the men around here wear skinny jeans and loafers without socks. Holden’s strut is confident, and the stares seem to mostly be from women who haven’t seen a real cowboy their entire lives unless it was in a movie.
If they’re looking at him, hopefully they’re not looking at the TV right now …
We finally get to the rental car place and check in. My head swims, my thoughts swirling in a hazy scramble before we finally get the keys. Holden’s Southern drawl makes the desk clerk giggle. I’m grateful that he seems to have it all together, or I truly would collapse on the scuffed linoleum floor.
He guides me out to our car, which is a Chevy Malibu. Apparently, it’s the last vehicle available that’s not run on electric at Portland International Airport.
He opens my door for me before storing the bags in the trunk and climbing into the driver’s side.
“Thank fuck for tinted windows.” He starts the car and peels out of the parking space.
He pulls the phone out of the bag, handing it to me. “Can you put the SIM card in?”
My fingers are trembling, but I slowly attempt to complete the task.
“Why are they saying you kidnapped me? Who found my mother? What the fuck is going on?” I attempt to roll the window down to get some fresh air, but the child lock is on.
Holden does it for me from his side. Immediate relief floods through me when the clean air reaches my lungs. After a few seconds, rain starts to sprinkle in with the cold air.
“I have to get Jed’s phone to the man who can go through the deleted files to prove that I had nothing to do with yours or your mother’s disappearances. Once you have the SIM card in that one, we’ll call Cash and see if he’s heard anything.”
I release a shaking breath as I power on the phone and hand it over to him. He dials the number and puts it on speakerphone.
“Hello?” Cash says.
“I just saw my mugshot on an airport bar TV in Portland.” Holden glances in the rearview mirror before merging onto the highway.
“Yeah, I told you I’m not interested in selling it. That bike is one of a kind.”
Judging by his casual tone and his words, Cash isn’t alone. I look over at Holden, who clenches his teeth.
Who’s there? The sheriff? Why can’t we just tell them I was found and Holden rescued me?
“We’re going to meet Warner’s contact as planned. I’m gonna need you to get away and call me on this number. If you get arrested, give it to Warner and have him call me.”
“Yeah, man, if I hear of anything similar for sale, I’ll be sure to let you know. I gotta go. Bye.” Cash hangs up.
“Fuck!” Holden slams his hand against the steering wheel.
I jump, my body tensing. “I don’t understand. Why can’t I just go home and tell them I’m safe? You didn’t do this.”
He shakes his head, jaw clenching. “You don’t get it. They’re framing me. They’re setting me up for it, just like they did with Cain. What you say won’t matter. I’ll still go back to prison.”
A thousand possibilities and unanswered questions fly through my mind. “But … you did kill Cain? You were doing it in self-defense to protect Dolly, but the gun was …” I trail off.
He waits for me to continue, only speaking after a minute of tense silence.
“The gun I used was legal. Cain raised his to shoot me. When he started to point it at Dolly was when I fired and killed him with a shot to the head. I could have gotten off because it was self-defense. The bullet that was supposedly in his skull was actually planted in the evidence room by someone. It wasn’t mine. When they came to collect his body, your father had my bullet removed somehow and replaced it with one from an illegal, unregistered gun. He had someone falsify the evidence and plant a stolen weapon on my ranch, which is why the judge ruled that I had to serve time for it. I killed him with an illegal weapon, according to the evidence. False evidence.”
This can’t be true. Why? Why would my father … or anyone want to do that?
Holden’s voice is calm. “My killing Cain and getting away with it wasn’t on the table for your father. If I’d known how far he was going to take planting evidence, I could’ve prevented it. By the time we realized what he’d done, it was too late. There was no way to prove myself innocent.”
Is he lying to me? Would my father really do something like this? Plant evidence?
My chin starts to quiver as I stare out the window. Dark clouds have begun gathering in the sky. Thunder rolls in the distance, and steady raindrops pelt the windshield. My window is still open, but I don’t roll it up. I release a shaky exhale.
