Justice at Cardwell Ranch (6 page)

“Unless that person leaves a note, you never know. Tanner didn’t leave a note, as I recall.”

Jordan shook his head.

“Did you talk to Alex before he was shot?”

“As I told your deputy, I heard the shot, he stumbled toward me, there was another shot and he went down. All he said was the word
Shelby.
At least that’s what I thought he said.” Jordan shrugged. “That was it.”

Hud studied him openly for a moment. “Maybe the bullets were meant for you and the killer missed.”

Jordan sighed. “What are you insinuating?”

“That maybe Tanner didn’t commit suicide. Weren’t you the one who found his body?”

Anger fired Jordan’s gaze. “He was my
best
friend. I would have taken a bullet
for
him.”

“Instead, another friend of yours took the bullet tonight,” Hud said. “You’re telling me you came all this way, hiked into the falls in the dark, just for answers?”

“Why is that so hard for you to understand?”

“What about Alex Winslow? Don’t I remember some falling-out the two of you had before you graduated?”

“It was high school. Who remembers?”

Hud nodded. “Is Stacy in the canyon for the same reason?” Stacy had been in the grade between the two of them.

“Stacy?”
Jordan looked genuinely surprised. “I haven’t seen or talked to her in years.”

“Then you didn’t know that not only is she back in the canyon, she also has a baby.”

Jordan laughed. “Stacy has a
baby?
That’s got to be good. Look, if that’s all, I need to get some sleep.”

“Once Liza allows you to, I’m sure you’ll be leaving. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t upset Dana before then. She’s pregnant with twins and having a rough go of it.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jordan said, sounding as if he meant it. “Don’t worry, I won’t be bothering my sister. Either of my sisters,” he added.

“Then I guess we’re done here.”

* * *

A
WHILE LATER,
D
ANA HEARD
H
UD
come in. She heard him go upstairs to check on the kids, before coming back down to her room. He smiled when he saw her still awake and came over to her side of the bed to give her a kiss.

“So everything’s all right?” he asked.

“I’m the one who should be asking you that. You said there’d been a shooting?”

He nodded. “Liza’s got everything under control. The crime techs are on their way from Missoula.” He sounded tired.

“Stacy kept a plate of dinner for you. She made chicken, baked potatoes and corn,” Dana said. “Then she and kids baked chocolate chip cookies.” She motioned to the cookies on the tray next to the bed.

Hud gave her a who-knew-she-could-cook look and took one of the cookies.

Who knew indeed? Dana couldn’t believe the change in her sister. She felt horribly guilty for not trusting it. But even Stacy was capable of changing, right? Having a baby did that to a person. But Stacy?

Unfortunately, the jury was still out—given her sister’s past.

“Did she mention how long she’s staying?” Hud asked, not meeting her gaze.

“She was planning to leave earlier, but I asked her to stay. I’m sure she’ll be leaving in the morning.”

Hud nodded. She could tell he would be glad when Stacy was gone. Dana couldn’t blame him. Her sister had hurt them both. But she desperately wanted to believe Stacy had changed. For Ella’s sake.

Unfortunately, like her husband, Dana had a niggling feeling that Stacy wasn’t being completely honest about the real reason she’d come to the ranch.

* * *

E
XHAUSTED,
J
ORDAN WENT BACK TO
his cabin, locked the door and fell into bed with the intention of sleeping the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, Deputy Marshal Liza Turner had other plans for him.

“What do you want?” he said when he opened the cabin door a little after eleven o’clock that morning to find her standing outside. He leaned a hip into the doorjamb and crossed his arms as he took her in.

“What do I want? Sleep, more money, better hours, breakfast.”

“I can’t help you with most of that, but I could use food. I’ll buy.”

She smiled. “I know a place that serves breakfast all day. We can eat and talk.”

“No murder talk until I’ve had coffee.”

“Agreed.”

Liza drove them to the upper mountain. The huge unpaved parking lots sat empty. None of the lifts moved on the mountain except for the gondolas that rocked gently in the breeze.

“It’s like a ghost town up here,” he commented as they got out of her patrol SUV.

“I like the quiet. Good place to talk. Most everything is closed still. Fortunately, there are enough locals that a few places stay open.”

The café was small and nearly empty. Liza led him outside to a table under an umbrella. The sun was low to the south, but still warm enough it was comfortable outside. A waitress brought them coffee while they looked at the menu.

Jordan ordered ham and eggs, hashbrowns and whole wheat toast.

“I’ll have the same,” Liza said and handed back the menu. As soon as the waitress was out of earshot, she said, “You didn’t mention last night that you and the victim were no longer friends at the end of your high school years.”

“So you spoke with Hud.” He looked toward the mountains where snow dusted the peaks, making them gleam blinding bright. “It was a stupid disagreement over a woman, all right? Just high school stuff.”

She nodded, not buying it. “What girl?”

“I don’t even remember.”

Liza’s look called him a liar, but she let it go. “I’m still confused why he contacted
you.
He must have had other friends locally he would have talked to.”

“Obviously he must have talked to someone locally. One of them knew where he was going last night and killed him.” Jordan said nothing as the waitress served their breakfasts. He picked up his fork. “Look, do we have to talk about this while we eat? I feel like I got him killed.”

“You can’t blame yourself, or worse, try to take the law into your own hands.” She eyed him for a long moment. “Why would I suspect that’s what you’re planning to do?”

He chuckled. “If you talked to my brother-in-law he would have told you that I’m not that ambitious. Anyway, you’re the deputy marshal. I’m sure you’ll find his killer.”

She took a bite of toast, chewed and swallowed before she said, “You contacted Tanner’s girlfriend from his senior year in high school.”

Jordan took her measure. “Why, Liza, you’ve been checking up on me. I contacted Shelby before I went up to the falls last night. She said she had nothing to say to me about Tanner. That was high school and so far back, she barely remembers.”

“You didn’t believe her?” Liza asked between bites.

Jordan laughed. “High school was Shelby’s glory days. Just check out our yearbook. She is on every page either as president or queen of something. Not to mention she was dating Tanner Cole, the most popular guy in school. She was in her element. I’d bet those were the best days of her life and that nothing she has done since will ever compare.”

Liza considered that for a long moment before she asked, “So you talked to Shelby before last night. Before the only word Alex got out after he was shot was her name?”

“Like I said, she and Tanner dated.”

“When you talked to Shelby, did you mention Alex or where you were meeting him?”

He gave her an exasperated look. “Do you really think I’m that stupid? Alex was acting terrified. I wasn’t about to say anything until I talked to him.”

“And yet you called Shelby.”

“Yeah. I just told her I was in the area as if I was here for the twenty-year reunion and worked Tanner into the conversation. I didn’t realize then that anything I might do could put anyone in danger, including her.”

“That’s so noble. But I thought you didn’t like her. In fact, I thought you were instrumental in breaking up her and Tanner.”

He shook his head and took a bite of his breakfast. “You’re determined to ruin my appetite, aren’t you?”

“Is it true?”

“I couldn’t stand Shelby and that bunch she ran with. But you’re wrong. I had nothing to do with breaking her and Tanner up, no matter what Hud thinks, as I’m sure that’s where you got your information.”

Liza lifted a brow. “You weren’t the one who snitched on her?”

“Wasn’t me.” He met her gaze. “Why keep questioning me if you aren’t going to believe anything I say?”

“I don’t want you involved in my investigation,” she said. “That includes asking about Tanner among your old friends—and enemies.”

He smiled. “What makes you think I have enemies?”

She smiled in answer as she smeared huckleberry jam on a piece of her toast.

He watched her eat for a few moments. He liked a woman who ate well and said as much.

“Does that line work on women?” she asked.

He laughed. “Every time.”

They finished their breakfast in the quiet of the upper mountain. She was right about it being peaceful up here. He liked it. But once winter came, all that would change. The parking lots would be packed, all the lifts would be running as well as the gondola. The mountain would be dotted with skiers and boarders, the restaurants and resorts full. He recalled the sounds of people, the clank of machinery, the array of bright-colored skiwear like a rainbow across Lone Mountain.

Tanner had loved it when Big Sky took on its winter wonderland persona. He’d loved to ski, had started at the age of three like a lot of the kids who grew up in the shadow of Lone Mountain.

With a start, Jordan found himself looking high up on the peak, remembering one of the last days he and Tanner had skied the winter of their senior year. Tanner had always been gutsy, but that day he’d talked Alex and him into going into an out-of-bounds area.

They hadn’t gone far when Tanner had gone off a cornice. The cornice had collapsed, causing a small avalanche that had almost killed him.

“Hey, man. You have a death wish?” Alex had asked Tanner when they’d skied down to find him half-buried in the snow.

Tanner had laughed it off. “Takes more than that to kill me.”

* * *

“
I
THOUGHT YOU’D BE HAPPIER
down here,” Hud said as he opened the curtains in the sunroom. “You can leave the door open so you can see everything that is going on.”

Dana shot him a look. Seeing everything that was going on was his not-so-subtle way of saying he wanted her to keep an eye on her sister.

They’d all gathered around her bed after breakfast. Stacy hadn’t made any attempt to leave. Just the opposite, she seemed to be finding more things she wanted to do before she and Ella packed for the rest of their trip.

“Is there any chance you could stay another day or so?” Dana asked her now as Stacy picked up her breakfast tray to take to the kitchen.

Her sister stopped and looked up in surprise. Her face softened as if she was touched by Dana’s offer. “I’d love to. I can cook and help with the kids. Hud has this murder investigation—”

“My deputy marshal is handling all of that,” Hud interrupted, shooting Dana a what-could-you-be-thinking? look. “Plus the crime techs are down from Missoula. I am more than capable of taking care of Dana and the kids and—”

Dana had been holding Ella since finishing her breakfast. She quickly interrupted him. “Stacy, that would be great if you can. I know Hud won’t mind the help and I love having you and Ella here.”

Her husband sent her a withering look. She ignored it and looked instead into Ella’s adorable face.

“Is Auntie Stacy going to stay, Mommy?” Mary asked excitedly.

“Yes, for a few more days. Would you like that?” Both children cheered.

“Auntie Stacy is going to show us how to make clay,” Hank said. “You have to put it in the oven and then paint it.”

Stacy shrugged when Dana looked at her. “I found a recipe on the internet. I thought they’d like that.”

“That was very thoughtful,” she said and shot her husband a see?-everything-is-fine look. “I know Hud will want to check in with the murder investigation, and there are animals to feed.”

He tried to stare her down, but Dana had grown up with three siblings. Having to fight for what she wanted had made her a strong, determined woman.

“Fine,” Hud said as he left the room. “Stacy, if you need me, Dana has my number. I have animals to feed.”

“He’ll check in with Liza,” Dana said. “He can pretend otherwise, but he won’t be able to stay away from this case.”

“Are you sure it’s all right if I stay?” Stacy asked. “Hud doesn’t seem—”

“He’s just being territorial,” she said. “He can’t stand the idea that anyone might think he can’t take care of his family.” Dana reached for her sister’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m glad you and Ella are here.”

* * *

L
IZA FIGURED
J
ORDAN
C
ARDWELL
had lied to her at least twice during breakfast.

“I need to know everything you can remember that led up to Tanner’s death,” she said when they’d finished their breakfast and the waitress had cleared away their plates and refilled their coffee cups.

The scent of pine blew down on the breeze from the mountain peaks. She breathed in the fall day and pulled out her notebook. They still had the café deck to themselves and the sun felt heavenly after so little sleep last night.

“We were seniors.” Jordan shrugged. “Not much was going on.”

“Who did Tanner date after his breakup with Shelby?”

“A couple of different girls.”

“Who was he dating in the weeks or days before he died?” she asked.

“Brittany Cooke.” The way he said it gave him away.

“You liked her?” she asked with interest.

His shrug didn’t fool her.

“You used to date her?”

He laughed, meeting her gaze. “You got all that out of a shrug?”

“Who were
you
dating at the time?” she asked.

“I don’t see what—”

“Humor me.”

“I can’t remember.”

She laughed and leaned back in her chair to eye him. “You don’t remember who you were dating the spring of your senior year? Give me a break.”