Page 82 of The Cowboy’s Reckoning

She started forward. Jordan’s fingers slipped from her waistband as he followed. They both stopped when his phone rang.

Burke.

“I see I missed a bunch of calls. The service is spotty up here.”

“Did you find anything?”

There was something in Burke’s voice that was off.

“Yeah. About that …” Jordan could picture Burke closing his eyes the way he did before a big admission.

His heart rate began to ramp up. “You didn’t kill the guy or anything.”

“His truck, Jordan. I killed his truck. I think I need the sheriff.”

*

Dane, the deputy, told the Matthews brothers not to follow him to Kennedy Road, but he also mentioned that because it wasn’t an official call, he had no legal reason to stop him. Therefore, Hayes stayed behind to watch the remnants of the fire with Meg while Trev, Lil, and Jordan got into her truck, and she started down the driveway.

Lil glanced at Jordan’s profile as they followed the deputy’s SUV past the truck the Matthews brothers had parked in the aspens then onto the county road. In the back seat, Trev maintained a stony silence. Everyone was working through theories and probably wondering what they were going to find at the turn around at the top of Kennedy Road. And despite the turmoil, or maybe because of it, she let herself just be. She was with Jordan and she felt safe.

“I guess if Burke killed the guy’s truck, at least we’ll have the license number,” Jordan muttered.

No one answered.

The trip up the rarely maintained Kennedy Road was slow, but finally they reached the top and the SUV stopped. Dane got out and walked back to their rig.

“I see you followed me.”

“We were just going this way, deputy.”

Dane nodded. “Stay in your vehicle until I give you the sign to get out.”

“Yes, sir,” the three of them murmured in unison.

Lil followed the deputy’s rig another mile up the road and around a corner where two sets of headlights cut through the brush in odd angles, one set nearly blinding them as they rounded the corner. And in those headlights stood the lone figure of Burke Thurley, hands in the air at shoulder height to prove he was a danger to no one. Lil had a feeling the whoever was trapped in the truck smashed between a monstrous Ponderosa pine and the rear end of an old Dodge Power Wagon, would beg to disagree.

The deputy got out and approached Burke, who jerked his head toward the trapped truck. After a few words, the deputy made his way to the trucks, where he peered in through the window of the Ford.

A moment later he was on his way back. Lil rolled down the window and the deputy let out a mighty sigh. He’d clearly dealt with Burke before.

“We’re going to have to get a tow truck up here. The guy inside the Ford seems to be okay, but desperate to get out.”

“I don’t blame him,” Jordan said, leaning forward to see past Lil as he spoke to Dane. “I’m pretty damned certain he’s the guy who tried to burn down our barn. Is it Joe Whitney?”

Dane shook his head. “Never seen him before. As soon as we move the Power Wagon, I’ll get his identification.”

“Not Joe Whitney?” Jordan pushed open his door.

“Jordan …” Dane said.

“Just a quick look.”

Lil pushed open her door, forcing Dane to step back, then followed Jordan. They were a good ten feet from the smashed truck when Jordan stopped abruptly. Lil almost tripped as she tried to stop with him.

She took hold of Jordan’s arm. “You know him?”

“That is Jess Connery.”