Outlaw Mountain

“I’m sure you are,” Joa

“Yes, I’m Dena.” The woman’s answer was chilly and wary at the same time. “What do you want?”

Joa

“I’m curious where you both were last Saturday night,” she said quietly. “Where you were after Alice Walker left Sierra Vista to drive back home to Tombstone?”

Glances might not be admissible in a court of law, but the dagger-filled look Dena Hogan shot across the top of the car toward Ross Jenkins spoke volumes.

“We were together,” Ross said with a dismissive shrug, as though the fact that he was sleeping around behind his wife’s back was an unimportant detail too insignificant to bother denying. “Right here. I came over after di

“With no witnesses, of course,” Joa

Ross smiled. “I should hope not. I don’t think Susie would like it much if she found out. She’s been through so much lately. I wanted to spare her feelings.”

“We both did,” Dena said.

“How very thoughtful of you,” Joa

There was no way for Joa

Dena looked at her watch. “Come on, Ross. It’s getting late. Let’s go. She’s got no reason to hold us. If you have to drive across the grass to get around her, do it.”

Ross Jenkins made no effort to comply, and when he didn’t get in the Concorde, neither did Dena Hogan.

“Look, Sheriff Brady,” he said, turning on a gratingly wheedling tone, the persuasive one that could have been dubbed straight into one of his auto dealership’s radio commercials. “You may not be able to understand this or believe it, but Dena and I are in love. Neither one of us pla

Angered by his phony-baloney excuses, Joa

Dena jaw dropped. A dumbfounded expression flitted across her face. The look caught Joa

The force of the blow knocked her to the ground and drove the wind from her lungs. Before a gasping Joa

“For God’s sake, Ross, what are you doing?” Dena demanded. “Are you crazy?”

“I’m not crazy. I’m saving our lives. Do you have any duct tape in the garage?”

“Yes.”

“Go get it then. Hurry. No, on second thought. I’ll bring her into the garage. There’s not much time.”

Wrenched to her feet, Joa

When he hauled her to her feet, Joa

“Dena’s right, you know,” Joa

Still slightly dazed, Joa

“Don’t listen to her, Dena,” Ross admonished as the woman reappeared with what looked like a brand-new roll of duct tape. “And don’t worry. We’ll be gone momentarily. Here. Wrap the tape around her wrists. When you finish that, tape her ankles together as well.”

With a rip, a length of tape tore loose from the roll. Behind her back, Joa

“You can’t kill her, Ross,” Dena was saying. “Aren’t we in enough trouble already?”

“Shut up and tape. Ankles first and then her mouth. I’ll go outside and juggle cars.”

“What are you going to do with her, Ross?”

“You’d be surprised. Right now I’m going to move the luggage from my car to hers. Then we’ll load her into my trunk. If she isn’t bluffing and if cops are on their way, we sure as hell can’t leave her here. All we have to do is make sure that by the time reinforcements show up, we’re long gone.”

With that, Ross let go of Joa

Joa

At the far end of the garage was a door that opened into the house. Lining the front of the garage were recycling baskets, a refrigerator/freezer, and a workbench. The right-hand wall of the garage, from workbench to corner, was lined with a collection of garden tools and equipment-rakes, hedge trimmers, grass shears-hanging on a series of wall-mounted hooks.