Page 14 of Engaging the Deputy (Silver Stars of Montana #3)

Emery was the last person Olivia had expected to hear from. They’d been friends but never close growing up. She’d hesitated before responding, wondering what he could want. Jaden had told her to stay close to home, and after the road race with Krystal Lee, she was inclined to do just that.

The problem was that, earlier, at the hospital, Jaden had asked for her help. Someone’s lying , he’d said.

She was curious why Emery wanted to meet. What was so important?

“I’m going to meet a friend,” she told her mother as she quickly left to avoid her questioning whether going into town tonight after what had happened was a bad idea. Olivia was already questioning it herself as she drove to the bar.

It was one of those pitch-black nights when the clouds hung low, blotting out the stars.

She could barely see the outline of the mountains that rimmed the valley against the dark sky.

Like her future, all she could see was the few feet her headlights illuminated ahead of her.

When she finally caught the lights of town, she relaxed a little and tried not to think about the ride home.

There were only a few cars in the bar parking lot because of the time of the year and the weekday night. She found Emery sitting in a corner booth at the back, alone. He was staring into his half-empty glass and didn’t look up until she slid into the booth, across from him.

He seemed startled to see her for a moment. She’d never seen him nervous, let alone on edge. Until tonight.

“Has something happened?” she whispered.

“Let me get you a drink,” he said, hurriedly getting to his feet. “What would you like?”

Thinking of her drive home, she said, “Just a cola.”

He hurried away to the bar and came back a few minutes later with her soda and another drink for himself. He took a gulp of his before he said, “You heard about the human bones that were found?”

“Cody and I discovered them after the tornado left them exposed down in the root cellar.”

“They’re Evangeline’s. I have a friend who works at the sheriff’s office.”

“I’m surprised they already have the DNA back,” she said.

Emery shook his head. “They don’t, but there was some clothing found buried deeper in the grave that matched what Evangeline was wearing the night she disappeared.”

Olivia shuddered, thinking of the dark figure she’d seen standing in the Rusk doorway. “It’s so creepy. Do they think she’s been there this whole time?”

Emery nodded and took another slug of his drink. “There was a man buried with her. Probably the father of her baby.” He raised an eyebrow. “You know he killed his daughter and the man who’d impregnated her.”

She didn’t know that for a fact, although it did seem likely, didn’t it? Was this why Emery had gotten her here tonight? He could have told her in the text.

“There’s something I didn’t tell anyone about that night,” Emery said as he ran his finger through the moisture on his glass without looking at her. “I saw him.”

“Saw who?” She realized she was whispering, although there was no one around who could hear. The only patrons were a handful at the bar. The bartender had the television on a loud ball game.

Emery looked up at her. “Elden Rusk.”

She didn’t know what to say, but she could understand why he hadn’t mentioned this to anyone, maybe especially Jaden. She certainly hadn’t told anyone what she thought she’d seen. “When was that?”

“When I was looking for Rob. The wind was so strong, it had knocked me down. I looked up and there he was, all dressed in black, his head covered by a big hat.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “You’re sure it was him?”

He nodded, not at all upset that she would question him. “It wasn’t the first time I’ve seen him. I’d know those eyes anywhere.”

“You’d seen him before?”

Emery took another gulp of his drink. His hand shook as he replaced the glass.

He seemed to be avoiding her eyes. “When I was a kid, I used to ride my bike out to Starling. The houses were all empty, everyone gone, but, like you said, creepy. It always bothered us that the people left so quickly, leaving a lot of their stuff behind.”

“Us?” she asked.

“Rob and me. We used to joke that a spaceship zapped them all up.” He toyed with his glass that was now almost empty.

“We used to talk all the time about what we would do when we found Rusk’s gold.

” He looked up then, his gaze connecting with hers.

“We saw him. He was loading something into the back of his old truck. We sneaked up on him, but he saw us.”

Emery turned then toward the bar. “Could use another drink over here,” he called before he finished what was in his glass and looked at her again.

Olivia realized she’d been holding her breath.

“Rusk picked up an old rusty shovel and came after us. Rob could always run faster than me. I’d never run so fast in my life, but it wasn’t fast enough. Rusk caught me, dragging me to the ground. He lifted that old shovel. I thought he was going to kill me. If Rob hadn’t come back when he had…”

The bartender dropped off his drink and took his empties. “How about you?” he said to Olivia, who could only shake her head. She hadn’t even touched her cola.

“Rob saved you?” she said when Emery didn’t continue.

“He grabbed the shovel and brought it down on the man’s head.

Knocked him out cold. My legs were so weak, I could barely stand.

I was shaking all over. I thought Rob had killed him, but we went back the next day.

Elden and his old truck were gone. But I’ll never forget the look on that man’s face when he raised that shovel.

He was going to kill me and would have if not for Rob.

” Emery picked up his drink and took a healthy gulp.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because,” he said as he put down his glass, “Rob saved my life. I would never have hurt him, let alone killed him. But I know who did. It had to be Rusk. I thought I saw him right as the tornado hit. I swear it was him, all dressed in black, his head covered. He looked right at me.”

“Why didn’t you tell the deputy this?” she asked.

He scoffed. “Come on. Who would believe me? How many times have people said they saw Elden Rusk out at Starling? I’d be the laughingstock, but worse, the deputy would think I was trying to save my own skin. Other than whoever killed him, I was one of the last people to see Rob alive.”

Olivia took a sip of her cola before she had to ask again, “Why are you telling me ?”

“I don’t know. I needed to tell someone who might believe me. Didn’t I hear that you once saw Rusk out at Starling?”

She suspected his motivation had more to do with having heard she’d been engaged to Deputy Sheriff Jaden Montgomery. “You think Rusk recognized Rob as the kid who’d coldcocked him and that’s why he killed him?”

“Why not? If you had seen the look in that man’s eyes when he had me down on the ground with that shovel in his hands…”

“You said he was loading something into his truck.”

Emery nodded. “Something heavy like…gold bars.”

“Then why would you and Rob still be looking for gold at Starling if Rusk had taken it?”

“Because we think he hid it all over the side of the mountain,” Emery said. “Maybe he didn’t get it all.”

“Are you really telling me that, after Rob knocked Rusk out, you didn’t go see what he’d loaded in the back of his truck?”

“We were terrified we’d killed him.”

“Even more reason to take the time to see what he had loaded in the truck.”

Emery looked away, seeming defeated. “It wasn’t gold. It was a bunch of old scrap iron he’d scavenged from the place.”

She let out a huff. “Did you and Rob start the rumor about the gold?” she demanded, pretty sure they had.

“I think I heard it before that,” he hedged. “The thing is, I didn’t kill Rob. I had no reason to.”

“You should tell the deputy. Coming from me wouldn’t carry any weight. I’m a suspect as well as you.”

Emery drained his drink and sighed. “Well, it was good to get it off my chest. I appreciate you listening.”

“Thanks for the cola.” She took another drink of it to be polite as she wondered if that was all Emery had wanted to tell her.

She couldn’t help feeling like there was a lot more.

“So, you and Rob have been good friends all these years.” He nodded, seeming a little distracted.

“I know the deputy asked, but did Dean get along with Rob?”

“He and Dean were tight. It wasn’t one of us.” He lowered his voice. “It was Rusk.”

She felt a chill and was about to ask Emery if he could follow her home when he got a call.

He excused himself and stepped away from the booth, leaving her to mull over what he’d told her.

That he was running scared didn’t surprise her.

His best friend had been murdered, and like her, he was a suspect.

“I’m sorry. I have to go,” he said when he returned. He looked even more nervous than he had earlier.

“Is everything all right?” she asked. Clearly, it wasn’t.

“Fine. It’s a friend who needs my help. Thanks so much for coming in and listening.

You believed me, didn’t you?” She nodded and he smiled.

“I hope things work out with you and Cody.” He grabbed up his jacket and headed for the door before she could tell him things weren’t going to work out between her and Cody—at least, not the way Emery probably hoped.

The bar was even more empty than it had been, the night even darker as she stepped outside. She couldn’t help feeling spooked after everything that had happened. She hurried across the nearly-empty parking lot, anxious to reach her car.

She was already opening the door and about to climb in when she realized she wasn’t going anywhere. In the glow of the neon bar sign, she saw that her driver’s-side front tire was flat. There was a screwdriver sticking out of the side of it.

* * *

It was late when Jaden got the call. He hadn’t expected to hear from Olivia again so soon and was immediately worried. “What’s wrong?”