McCullen's Secret Son (The Heroes Of Horseshoe Creek Book 2) (14 page)

Except they’d do it out here in the middle of nowhere where no one would ever find her.

Chapter Nineteen

Brett’s life flashed behind his eyes as he watched the men digging up Leo Howard’s body.

A month ago,
hell
, two weeks ago, he’d been grinning for the cameras, at the height of his career, with his future bright in front of him. His agent had even suggested him for a part in a Western movie.

Now he’d not only discovered he had a son but he’d become an accessory to a murder and might be facing charges of tampering with evidence and covering up a crime.

Instead of riding for a living or starring in a movie, he might soon be sitting in a cell.

The plastic he’d wrapped around Leo came into view as the diggers dumped wet soil beside the grave. One of them paused when his shovel hit something. “He’s here.”

Brett breathed out in relief. For a fraction of a second, he’d actually been afraid that someone might have discovered Howard’s body and moved him.

Maddox angled his head toward him. “You wrapped him in plastic?”

“And a rug.” Brett grimaced. “I tried to preserve him as best I could.”

Maddox motioned for the men to continue while he stepped aside. “Tell me exactly how you found him.”

Brett inhaled sharply. “I can do better. I took a picture,” Brett said. “I was planning to tell you everything once Sam was safe.”

Maddox muttered a low sound. “All right. Let’s see.”

Brett pulled his phone from his pocket and accessed the picture. “Willow said Howard picked Sam up from a neighbor’s then brought him home. We think the men must have been following him or watching the house, and confronted him about the money. When he refused to give it up, they shot him in the chest and took Sam.”

Maddox studied the picture. “I’ll have forensics process his body and compare evidence from the house to corroborate her story.” His brows furrowed. “Did Howard have visitation with Sam?”

“I don’t think so. Willow said he didn’t want to be a father.” Maybe because he’d known Sam wasn’t his. Had Howard resented that fact? Had he taken his temper out on Sam?

“Then why did Leo pick Sam up and take him back to the house?”

Brett stewed over that. “Maybe he knew his partners were after him, and he intended to use Sam as leverage.”

The breeze picked up dead leaves and dirt, scattering them at his feet. Brett rubbed his hands together against the chilly wind.

“What did Sam tell you about that night?” Maddox asked.

Brett swallowed hard. “Nothing. I...didn’t ask him about it. I figured he’d been through enough.”

The diggers had uncovered the length of Howard’s body along with the bag of bedding. Two of the men climbed in the grave to hoist him from the hole where they’d laid him in the ground.

“I understand why you don’t want to upset Sam, but he might have seen where Howard stashed that cash.”

Brett’s pulse pounded. He hated to make Sam relive that horrible day.

But if he’d seen where Leo hid the cash, he had to talk to him.

Willow’s life depended on it.

* * *

C
LAUSTROPHOBIA
THREATENED
TO
completely panic Willow. She was suffocating in the trunk of this car.

The constant rumbling and bumping over rocky roads intensified her headache and made her nauseous.

She reminded herself to breathe in and out and remain calm. Brett would bring the money and rescue her. And if he didn’t...he’d take care of Sam.

The car finally jerked to a stop, brakes squealing. The sudden change in movement propelled her across the car trunk, and she rolled into the side. Doors slammed.

The men were getting out.

Terrified they’d carried her someplace in the wilderness to kill her and leave her body, she frantically ran her bound hands across the interior of the trunk. It was so dark, she couldn’t see, but there had to be a release lever inside.

Although with her hands and feet tied, how in the world would she escape?

A noise sounded, then voices. “What are we going to do with her?”

“Get rid of her.”

The female again. And she sounded so coldhearted.

“We need the money first.”

“All right. Then do it. And kill that cowboy, too.”

Willow’s stomach knotted. Who was that woman?

Doris, Leo’s former girlfriend? Or Eleanor, his grandmother’s nurse? Maybe she’d lied and she had been involved with Leo.

“What should we do with the bodies?” one of the men asked.

“There’s an old mine near here,” the woman said. “Dump their bodies in there, then close up the opening so no one will ever find them.”

Tears blurred Willow’s eyes. If they killed her and Brett, what would happen to Sam?

* * *

B
RETT
WATCHED
AS
the medical examiner, a young woman named Dr. Lail, knelt beside Howard’s body. One of the crime workers photographed the way he was wrapped in plastic and the rug, then folded those back so she could examine the body.

Brett ignored the pinch of guilt he felt over burying the man in the cold ground. Howard hadn’t deserved any better.

“I’ll do an autopsy,” Dr. Lail said. “But judging from the gunshots, he probably bled out.”

Maddox thanked her and supervised while they carried Howard’s body to the ME’s van to be transported to the morgue.

“We have to notify next of kin. Did he have relatives?” Maddox asked Brett.

“Father and grandmother.” Brett gave him their names and addresses.

“I’ll ask Deputy Whitefeather to make the notification.”

“I need to go to the bank,” Brett said. “Then I’ll have a talk with Sam.” A talk he dreaded, but one that needed to happen.

Maddox gave a clipped nod. “Call me when you hear from the kidnappers. You aren’t meeting them alone.”

Worry nagged at Brett. “Maddox, if you come with me, they’ll kill her.”

Maddox stepped closer to him. “You can’t afford not to have my help.” Maddox lowered his voice. “Trust me for once, little brother. They won’t know I’m there. But you could be walking into a trap. What would happen to Sam if you and Willow both got killed?”

A sick knot thickened Brett’s throat. But his answer was immediate. “I’d want you and Rose to raise Sam.”

Maddox’s gaze met his, a sea of emotions in his eyes. “Of course I would raise him, he’s a McCullen, but we aren’t going to let anything happen, Brett. Not if we work together.”

It had been a long time since they’d worked together on anything. But Sam and Willow were more important than any petty problem they’d had between them.

So he followed Maddox to the SUV, and they drove into town. Brett went in the bank while Maddox walked across the street to the jail to talk to his deputy about making the death notification.

Brett spotted his business manager, Frank Cotton, waiting in a chair outside the bank president’s office. Cotton stood and greeted him with a worried expression, one hand clutching a leather bag.

“Are you going to tell me what this is about now?” Cotton asked worriedly.

Brett motioned for him to keep quiet and they moved against the wall. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

Cotton tugged at his tie. “Listen, if you’re in trouble with one of those rodeo groupies, just tell me and I’ll make it go away.”

Brett jerked his head back. “What are you suggesting?”

“I’m here to do whatever you need, Brett. If you want a girl run off, I’m your man. If you need a lawyer to, say...draw up a confidentiality agreement or adoption papers for a kid, or pay for an abortion, I’ll handle it. We won’t let anything stand in the way of your career.”

Brett stared at him, disturbed by the offer. At one time, his career had been all that mattered. But now he didn’t give a damn about it.

All that mattered was Willow and Sam.

And he’d just reconnected with Maddox. Granted they still had things to work out—whether or not Maddox would arrest him—but he wanted to be part of Maddox’s life.

And part of Horseshoe Creek.

“Thanks,” he told Cotton. “But I’m not paying off a girl. If I need a lawyer, I’ll let you know.”

He took the leather bag, then glimpsed inside. Cash, just as he’d requested. “Just keep this between us, Cotton.”

“Of course.”

Brett turned to leave. “Your agent’s been calling,” Cotton said. “She wants to talk about your schedule this spring.”

“I’ll get in touch with her,” Brett said.

He stepped outside the bank and started to cross the street, but a truck whizzed by and he jumped back as a bullet flew toward him.

Chapter Twenty

Brett ducked behind a pole, just as another bullet whizzed by his head. Who was shooting at him?

He tried to get a look at the driver, but the truck roared down the road in a cloud of exhaust. Then someone slammed something hard against the back of his head, and he stumbled and went down. He tried to hold on to the bag of cash, but someone snatched it from his hands and raced away.

“Everyone get down!” Maddox yelled as he jogged from across the street, his gun drawn, his gaze sweeping the area for the shooter.

A few locals on the street screamed and darted in different directions. Brett pushed to his hands and stood, cursing as he hunted for the person who’d just stolen the cash. But he’d come out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly.

Maddox was breathing hard, his gaze still surveying the street as he approached Brett. “Are you hit?”

“No. The shooter drove off, but another guy punched me and stole the money.”

Maddox pivoted again. “The shooter was a decoy meant to distract you so the other man could sneak up behind.”

“Yeah, and he succeeded.”

“Did you get a look at either one of them?”

“No, not really. The license plate on the truck was missing. The one who took the money was big and wore a hoodie.”

Brett’s manager stepped from the bank, looking terrified. “Brett, man, are you all right?”

“Yeah, but he stole the money.” Brett scraped his hand through his hair, frustrated. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Maddox narrowed his eyes at the manager. “Did you see anything?”

The tall man fiddled with his bolo tie. “No, I heard the gunshot, and like everyone in the bank, we dropped to the floor and hid. We thought someone was coming in to rob the bank.”

“It had to be the bastards who have Willow,” Brett said. “They must have followed me here, and decided to take the cash and run.”

His heart stuttered. Which meant that they might have given up on the other money and killed Willow.

* * *

A
N
HOUR
LATER
, Brett entered the farmhouse. Anxiety churned in his gut. Maddox had canvassed everyone in the bank, the street and business owners, but no one had seen anything.

Once the first shot had rent the air, panic had set in. It was a small town. The locals weren’t used to high crime or random attacks...or murder.

But they would know soon enough that a kidnapping had occurred and that a man had been shot to death right here in their safe little town.

Rose greeted Maddox with a big hug and kiss. If Brett hadn’t been so fraught with fear for Willow, he would have laughed at the mushy look on his big brother’s face as he locked lips with her.

Sam raced in from the kitchen. “Did you get Mommy back?”

Brett’s lungs squeezed for air. He’d never look at life the same way now that he had a little boy.

Maddox, Rose and Mama Mary gave him sympathetic looks.

“We were making cookies to surprise her when she comes home,” Mama Mary said, wiping flour from Sam’s cheek with a gentle hand.

“And Sam made her a card,” Rose added with a smile.

Brett stooped down to Sam’s level. “She’s not with me now, but we’re going to find her, little man. And she’s going to love the cookies and card.”

Sam’s face fell into a pout. “We’re making peanut butter. That’s Mommy’s favorite.”

Emotions nearly choked Brett. He remembered that about Willow. One time she’d eaten half a dozen of Mama Mary’s famous peanut butter cookies. He clasped Sam’s hand in his. “Come in here with me a minute, bud. I need to talk to you.”

Sam clamped his teeth over his lip, but followed him to the den. Brett wanted to wrap his arms around his son and swear to him that everything would be all right.

But he had to find Sam’s mother first or he would be making empty promises.

“Sam, I’m trying to figure out where those bad men are keeping your mommy. Do you remember anything else about the place?”

“No. Just that it was dark, and it smelled bad.” The little boy dropped his head and picked at the button on Brett’s shirt.

“How about your daddy? What can you tell me about him?”

Sam turned his face up toward Brett. “He was mean to Mommy and he didn’t want me.”

The breath left Brett’s lungs in a rush. He lifted Sam’s chin with his thumb. He wanted to assure him that he wanted him, but that would take an explanation he didn’t have time for right now. But it would happen. “You know, that’s not your fault. You are a wonderful kid.”

Sam simply stared at him with big frightened eyes. “Daddy didn’t think so. He said I was a baby, and I was in the way.”

Brett wrapped his arm around his son. He wished Leo was alive so he could kill him. “That’s not true, Sam. You’re very special and your mommy loves you with all her heart.”
And so do I
. “I care about you, too.”

Sam looked up at him. “I see why my mommy liked you when she was in school. You’re nicer than Daddy. He yelled at Mommy all the time.”

“That’s because he was a bad man.”

Sam looked down again. “But if he was bad and the other men killed him, why did they take me and Mommy?”

“Because your daddy stole money from them, and they’re greedy and want it back.”

“There was lots of it?” Sam said.

“Yes.” Brett rubbed Sam’s back. “Did you see your daddy with any money?”

He shook his head.

Brett hesitated, trying to word his questions carefully. “Daddy picked you up at your mommy’s friend’s house that day?”

“Yeah. I didn’t wanna go with him, but Miss Gina said I should.”

Brett chewed the inside of his cheek. “What happened when you and Leo got back to your house?”

Sam kept tugging at Brett’s button, his little body trembling slightly. Brett rubbed Sam’s back. “I know it’s hard to think about, but buddy, it might help.”

A long moment lapsed between them, then Sam’s breath wheezed out. “We went inside, and he tolded me to hide in my room.”

“What? Why?”

“He said some men followed him.”

So Leo had tried to protect Sam. That was something.

“Did he have anything with him?”

Sam scrunched his nose. “Like what?”

“Maybe a briefcase or suitcase.”

Sam’s eyes lit up. “He gots a big gym bag and brought it in the house. Then he pushed me in the closet and shut the door and told me not to come out.”

“You stayed in the closet?”

Sam nodded. “I was scared. I just wanted Daddy to go away. But he said he had to get some stuff he left with Mommy.”

“Did she say what stuff?”

“No, and Mommy said she throwed the stuff he left away. But he said he hid it there. I was scared he’d get mad about that, so I didn’t tell him.”

Smart boy
.

“After you got in the closet, what did your father do?”

Sam’s finger twisted the button harder. “He took my toys out of my toy box and throwed them on the floor.”

Brett imagined the scene, questions ticking in his head. He and Willow had searched the house, but what if Leo had stowed the money in that toy chest?

“Then someone busted in. I heard the door cracking, then those awful men shouting and Daddy gots up and tried to talk to them.”

Brett cradled Sam in his arms, holding him tight.

“They yelled and said ugly words, then Daddy jumped on one of them and...the gun went off.”

His heart ached for his little boy. To witness a murder at such a young age was bound to affect him, maybe give him nightmares. Possibly for years to come.

He needed his mother to help him through the trauma.

He also needed a father.

“I’m sorry you had to see that, Sam, but you’re very brave to tell me about it.” Sam shivered, and Brett hugged him with all the love in his heart.

Then he cupped Sam’s face in his hands. “I need you to be strong just a little while longer, okay?”

Sam nodded, the trust in his son’s look nearly bringing Brett to his knees.

* * *

W
ILLOW
’
S
BODY
ACHED
from being tied up and bound in the trunk of the car. She was suffocating.

But they didn’t seem to be in a hurry to let her out. In fact, it had gotten quiet for a while and she thought they might have left her.

The sound of another engine roaring rent the air. Tires screeched. Then more doors slammed.

“Where have you two been?” the woman asked.

“We got that money McCullen promised.”

“He found Leo’s stash?” the woman asked.

“No, the money McCullen withdrew from his own funds. With that and Leo’s money, we’ll all be set for a long time.”

“You idiot,” the woman said. “He’s liable to call the cops.”

“And tell them what?” the man barked. “That someone stole ransom money? That he buried Leo’s body? I doubt that rodeo star wants that in the papers.”

“It’s time for us to make the meet,” the other man said. “If McCullen doesn’t bring the cash Leo stole this time, let’s get rid of the woman and get out of town before things heat up.

The trunk opened, and Willow clenched her teeth as the bigger guy hauled her to the ground. She stumbled, then gasped when she saw the woman.

Gina, her neighbor. The woman she’d thought was her friend.

Dear God...
“Why?”

Gina gave her a nasty grin. “Because Leo was supposed to be mine. And so was this money. And with you out of the way, now it will be.”

The big guy, Norman she’d heard him called, punched a number on his cell phone. It must be Wally Norman. A minute later, she heard Brett’s voice.

“Hello. This is Brett McCullen.”

“I’m texting you an address. If you want to see the woman again, bring the cash and come alone.”

“Let me speak to Willow first,” Brett said.

Willow shuddered as the big guy pressed a gun to her temple. “Say hello, honey.”

“Brett, I’m okay, just take care of Sam!”

The man jerked the phone away, then whacked her on the back of the head again and shoved her back in the trunk.

Tears caught in her throat. The drop-off was a trap.