Murder at Granite Falls (2 page)

The scene brought back happy memories of the river guiding job Carrie had held through college. It all seemed so normal. So safe.

The woman in charge studied her for a split second, then hiked her thumb toward the building. “Logan’s inside,” she shouted.

Carrie nodded, hit the lock button on her key chain out of habit, and picked her way across the river rock.

At the corner of the building she abruptly came face-to-chest with a man in a faded Denver Broncos T-shirt and khaki cargo shorts.

He caught her upper arms with his strong hands, steadied her, then released his grip. “Kayak rental?”

At his touch, an expected sense of awareness warmed her heart, and she quelled a sudden flash of panic. Her immediate instinct was to run.

After a heartbeat, she managed a smile and looked up into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen this side of Paul Newman on the silver screen.
Oh, my.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, catching her breath.

“My fault.”

“I—I’m Carrie Randall. I’m here about the apartment.”

His face registered a flash of surprise, and from his quick, searching look, she knew he was probably thinking she was some harebrained city gal, way out of her element.

“Well, then,” he drawled as he tipped his head toward an open staircase on the side of the building. “Let’s do the tour. I’m Logan Bradley, by the way.”

His face was lean and tan, with a strong jaw and a shock of near-black hair tumbling over his forehead that made him look
as though he belonged on some back lot in Hollywood, not here in the middle of nowhere.

He offered his hand for a brief shake, the warmth of his fingers settling in the vicinity of her heart and setting off alarm bells that she would not ignore.
Charmer…charmer…

She blinked and abruptly jerked her hand back.

This instant, blinding reaction was exactly what had drawn her to Billy, and the emotional wreckage from their divorce was still too painful to bear.

Though fortunately, her concerns about that dark sedan appeared to be unfounded. Deputy Munson had probably been right about it belonging to some vacationer following the same long, long highway on the way to Granite Falls. No one had been lying in wait when she left town. No one had followed her here.
Thank You, Lord.

Logan frowned at her. By now, he had to figure she was not only a city slicker, but a fruitcake to boot, if she could barely shake his hand. He was probably even having serious second thoughts about accepting his new lodger.

Not a good thing.

If he changed his mind, the newest teacher in Granite Falls would be sleeping in her Tahoe during summer term, because there was literally nowhere else in the area that wasn’t priced for the affluent tourist trade. Isolated or not, this was her one shot for a roof over her head this summer, and she had no other choice.

“The apartment?” she prodded, pinning on her brightest smile.

He seemed to shake off his thoughts, and with a long sigh he led the way up a rustic outside stairway to a balcony that ran the length of the building.

Two doors, one at either end, stood open to the warm afternoon sun reflecting off the river. Between them, six double-hung windows were raised to catch the soft, pine-scented breeze.

He tipped his head toward the woman now shepherding the flock of older women into the raft. “My sister, Penny, is the assistant manager here. She lives in town, but she’s out here almost every day.” He cracked a lopsided smile. “She came up and aired your place out this morning and checked for spiders and mice, just so you wouldn’t have any surprises.”

Given the intent gleam in his eyes, she wondered if he was hoping she’d just head straight back to town. He couldn’t know that a few little guests were the least of her worries.

She lifted a shoulder. “Not a problem. I’ve got Harley with me.”

His thick, dark lashes—it was so unfair, when a guy was blessed with what she couldn’t even manage with mascara—lowered as he gave her a narrowed look.
“Harley?”

She waved an airy hand at him as she passed and stepped into the apartment. “He’ll dispatch anything that moves, believe me.”

At least it was true for small vermin. If her raggedy old tomcat could handle the two-legged kind, she’d feel a whole lot safer.

Logan ushered her into the apartment and she caught her breath in delight as she stepped inside.

The photos on the internet realty listing hadn’t done justice to the feeling of being up in the treetops, with the pine paneled walls and abundance of sunshine pouring in the windows.

A bright crazy quilt hung on the wall above a ruby plush sofa and two matching upholstered chairs perfect for curling up with a good book. The L-shaped kitchen offered ample counter space with gleaming stainless-steel appliances that looked almost new. A gold, ruby and forest-green area rug warmed the hardwood floors.

“This is absolutely lovely. I wasn’t expecting it to be so nice.”

A half smile briefly touched Logan’s mouth. “Penny probably
had a little too much fun with this. You have it for the summer, then a group of skiers has reserved it for over the winter. After that, she plans to live here during the tourist season every summer.”

Again, that little frisson of worry started to tie Carrie’s stomach into a knot. “So you don’t live on the property, either?”

“Penny stays with our great-aunt in town and I have an old cabin a quarter mile upriver. At least one of us is here from sunrise until dark…most days. Though I’m on the road at times, as well.”

“Sounds like a busy schedule.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Penny and I are just getting the raft business going again after a few…setbacks last year. Eventually, she’ll manage it and I’ll start adding an outfitting business for trips up into the mountains.”

She nodded, hiding her dismay at his words. She
would
be alone here.

Though no one knew exactly where she’d moved, except for her brother and his fiancée, and she’d carefully kept his ranch as her cell phone and credit card billing address since she could pay her bills online. With that and no home ownership records to trace, it would be hard for Billy or anyone else from her past to find her.

Surely everything would be fine.

But still, as she followed Logan down the stairs to go after her luggage, she started to pray.

“So what do you think?” Penny’s mouth twitched as she looked up at the top floor of the building, where their new tenant was busily sweeping off the balcony. “Will the new teacher last out here?”

Logan snorted. “My guess? Not even as long as the past two tenants.”

“I don’t know…she sounded pretty desperate for a place to rent over the summer.”

“That’s what the others said. A little problem with bears in the trash cans at night and a few wolf howls sent them both packing in a hurry. I gave her our cell phone numbers to call, in case she gets spooked about something.”

His gaze strayed to the petite woman wielding the broom. She had to be a good six inches shorter than Penny’s five foot eight, and with that gleaming cap of short mahogany hair and those sparkling hazel eyes, she looked like an energetic pixie. When she’d mentioned that she had some guy named Harley with her, he’d even felt a flash of serious disappointment that she was committed to someone…

Until he’d discovered that Harley was probably the most battered, disreputable cat he’d ever seen.

“I’m not a betting man, but I’ll give her two days, tops. When we ran into each other at the corner of the building she was as skittish as a week-old filly.”

“Must have been all of your charisma,” Penny teased.

“Or maybe she heard the rumors and believes them. I hope not—we’ll need her rent money if we have a slow summer like the last one.”

Penny’s smile faded. “That won’t happen. Things have died down around here, haven’t they?”

“We can hope.” He lifted a shoulder. “I just want everything in place for you here so I can get back on the road as soon as possible.”

She paled. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Your doctor said—”

“I won’t take chances.” He ruffled the top of her wavy russet mane, which had long since escaped her attempts at a ponytail, just as he had when they were kids growing up on a ranch.

She batted his hand away. “And you think riding saddle broncs isn’t taking a chance?”

“If I don’t pay off those short-term loans from last year, we could lose this place. I’ve got to go.”

“We’ll figure out something. It isn’t worth it, Logan.”

“But you own a quarter of this business and you’ll go down if I do. I can’t let that happen.”

She nudged him in the ribs and made a face. “I think it’s an excuse to leave town and not enjoy that lovely cabin any longer.”

He laughed at that. “I’m getting to know the mice on a first-name basis. You can move into the spare room any time you want—they’d love to meet you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Great offer. I’ll think about it awhile longer, though.”

“At least you’re staying with Aunt Betty. I think she actually has a
furnace
there, if I’m not mistaken. And plumbing that works. All the time.”

“She already asked you to move in, too. There’s plenty of room.”

At the thought of all the lace and frills in Betty’s house, Logan shuddered. The second guest room was done in lilac and pink, with an explosion of flowers on the wallpaper, and though Betty was a sweetheart, she loved to hover and fuss.

“I’m fine with where I’m at for now. All I need is to get back on the circuit for the rest of this season and then the next, draw good broncs at every rodeo, and not part ways with any of them until the eight-second buzzer. Then I promise I’ll quit for good.”

They both fell silent for a moment, and he knew they were thinking about the same thing—the accusations and ensuing trial that had nearly ruined Logan’s reputation and the beginnings of their rafting company last year.

The legal costs had taken his savings, but at least he’d had good representation. Without it, he would’ve been behind bars…maybe for the rest of his life.

“I’m going to hold you to that promise,” she murmured. “If it means throwing you in the boathouse and tossing away the key.”

“I’d sure be a lot of use in there.”

“Speaking of that, I had a really good group today. Those Red Hat ladies are the best.” Penny blew a stray wisp of hair out of her eyes. “And we’ve already got some reservations booked well into June, so we’ve got a good start on the season. I think the new website has helped a lot.”

“Agreed.”

“We’ll be fine, Logan.” She rested a hand on his forearm. “People will forget about what happened. They’ll realize you couldn’t possibly be capable of hurting anyone.”

“Maybe.” He steeled himself, waiting for one of her platitudes about turning his burdens over to God, but she’d probably given up on trying to convince him. He hoped so.

Up on the outside balcony, Carrie stood at the door to her apartment. “Thanks again for helping move my things in,” she called out.

Logan lifted a hand in reply, and she waved as she turned to go back inside.

There were good reasons for getting back on the road, and now a new one had just moved into the apartment above the rafting office.

Sweet, perky, with an infectious smile and an endearing hint of vulnerability, Carrie reminded him of Janie, the love of his life through high school and college, and he could almost envy the kids who were going to be in Carrie’s classroom every day.

Penny followed his glance at the balcony, then angled an amused smile at him. “This is sure going to be an interesting summer.”

He leveled an impatient look at her. “Don’t you have something important to do?”

“Nope. Seriously, it’s time you got on with your life. Just because things didn’t work out with Lorena shouldn’t be reason to end up a hermit.”

“A hermit,” he retorted.

“Well, nearly.” Penny’s eyes danced. “You’re already thirty-three, so old age is just around the corner. It’s time to move on.”

Even after two years, Penny wanted to comfort him over the failed relationship with his longtime girlfriend, but long before that—when Penny had been too young to fully understand what was going on—he’d had a far bigger loss. Part of him had died with Janie the day a semi T-boned her car, and he’d never been the same.

Maybe Lorena was right.

Maybe his past had turned him into just another emotionless, thoughtless guy who wasn’t capable of commitment. But at least that way, he didn’t ever risk breaking the remnants of his heart.

The last rays of sunshine were slicing through the mountains to the west when Carrie finally finished putting away her clothes and arranging her possessions. Logan and his sister had left an hour ago, after stopping in to make sure she was settling in, and they’d also made sure that she had their cell numbers and the home number of their aunt Betty who lived in town.

Nice people, both of them. At least on the surface.
Or were they?

Her stomach tensed into a tight ball of anxiety once again, because she still could not set aside that brief conversation with the deputy in town. There had been
distaste
in his expression when she’d announced her destination—far more than she might have expected if he just felt concern about a woman alone coming to this isolated place.

She shook off her doubts with a heavenward glance.

She’d prayed long and hard about the decision to come to this town. It was time to reestablish her independence and her career. She’d done the right thing, and worrying was a waste of time. But still…

Harley, curled up on the back of the sofa, opened one eye and looked at her, then went back to sleep, clearly unconcerned. “A
dog
would care,” she said drily, stroking his soft fur. “He’d come and sit by me and offer moral support.”

A deep rumble vibrated through the old cat’s body—more junkyard engine than purr—letting her know that at least the most important creature in the room was content. Smiling to herself, she stepped out onto the balcony and braced her hands on the railing to lean out into the fresh, sweet pine-scented mountain air.