Cold Case at Cardwell Ranch

by B. J Daniels

  He shot her a look and shrugged. “It could be a trap, but I think Helen definitely wanted us to follow her.” Now that they had, he was having his own concerns about where they were being led. He shouldn’t have taken Ella. But the alternative would have meant she’d have raced out here in her pickup—alone. She was safer with him. At least, he hoped that was true.

  The road left behind the sagebrush to climb into the mountains. The black skeletal shapes of pine trees on each side of the road made it easier to stay in the tracks of what was now little more than a Jeep trail. But Waco didn’t dare take his eyes off the narrow dirt road for long.

  Wherever they were headed, his gut told him they would find Stacy Cardwell, dead or alive.

  * * *

  ELLA STARED AFTER the taillights down the road. The low clouds parted for a moment. Ahead, she could barely make out the contours of the mountains, black silhouettes against a midnight blue sky.

  Where were they headed? To her mother? She wondered why all the secrecy, why her mother was hiding out—possibly in the mountains ahead—and why here with these people instead of at home on the ranch.

  Ella had to believe it wasn’t a trap. Helen was taking her to Stacy. She was putting an end to this. For the first time, Ella wondered what she would say when she saw her mother. She had so many questions. The biggest one was why she had run after the call from the homicide detective and what a dead ex-husband had to do with any of this. But then there was the anger about her mother’s secret life.

  She sat back and tried not to think about it as they continued toward the mountains. Would whatever was up ahead explain why her mother had been acting strangely long before Marvin Hanover’s body had turned up at the bottom of a well? If it was a man, had he been pressuring her to run away with him until her mom finally had?

  The road narrowed further. The dark shape of the mountains loomed over them as Waco turned up another path through dense pines. She saw pine trees and rocky bluffs as the patrol SUV bucked and groaned its way up the narrow rough road.

  Ella’s pulse pounded in her ears. Was Helen leading her to Stacy? Or did the bar owner know she was being followed and was leading them up into the mountains to finish this yet another way? Hadn’t her mother always said that some secrets were better left buried?

  * * *

  WACO HAD BEEN forced to back way off once the Jeep began to climb up into the mountain. He caught only glimpses of the taillights through the pines as the road switchbacked upward. It was much darker in the pines, the dirt road becoming precarious.

  He feared he might lose the Jeep, except he had no choice but to hang back. He had to gear down and drive slowly or use his brakes, turning on his brake lights, which he feared would alert them that they were still being followed. Unless they already knew he and Ella were behind them—as per their plan.

  As the road surface worsened, his nerves grew even more taut. He finally pulled off onto one of the old logging roads and parked, killing his engine. “Stay here,” he said as he heard her pop her door open. He turned to her. “Ella, don’t make me lock you in the back.”

  She climbed out as if she hadn’t heard him and started up the road. Since he wasn’t going to arrest her, he grabbed what he needed and followed her up the mountain.

  He hadn’t gone far when he realized he could no longer hear the sound of the Jeep’s engine. The driver had stopped.

  Waco hoped he wouldn’t need backup. Not that it could reach him in time even if he called for it. Not that it stopped him as he headed up the mountain. Ella kept pace, her expression determined. Like her, he suspected Stacy Cardwell was up here.

  What worried him, though, was who might be with her and what they would do. As the two of them came around a bend in the road, he spotted the Jeep parked in front of a small rustic cabin set back in the trees. Light glowed from the front window. He caught sight of shadows inside.

  But he also caught sight of a figure moving along the edge of the cabin—on the outside.

  * * *

  ELLA’S BREATH CAUGHT at the sight of the cabin in the woods. Her mother was in there. She felt it. She shivered in anticipation, but also from the chill. It was July in Montana, but cold up here in the mountains.

  She stared at the cabin and the glow of the lamp burning inside, and took a breath as she tried to still her anger. She took a step toward it, but Waco grabbed her arm and tugged her back, out of sight of the cabin.

  “Listen,” he whispered as he pulled her close. “We can’t just go walking in there. You understand that, right?”

  She hadn’t thought of anything but confronting her mother about all her lies and secrets. Every step up the mountain had made her more angry at Stacy’s deception all these years. And for what? Some man?

  “You have to let me handle this my way,” he said, holding her gaze in the darkness. They were so close, she could smell chocolate shake on his breath. His grip on her arm tightened. “The other option is me handcuffing you to one of these trees. We do this my way.”

  Ella nodded, realizing that he meant it. She’d come so far to find her mother, and now that she was sure that she had, she didn’t want to spend another minute handcuffed with her arms around a tree.

  “There’s someone outside the cabin,” Waco whispered. “I need to take care of him first. Then we enter. I go in first, so you don’t get shot. That means you stay behind me the whole way. Agreed?”

  Ella had no choice. If she even hesitated... “Agreed.” He studied her for a few more moments. “I swear,” she said and got a grudging ghost of a smile out of him. “I’m behind you all the way.”

  They started again toward the cabin. She saw movement. A man with an ax standing next to a woodpile. The man froze for an instant as if sensing them.

  But before he could raise the ax, let alone swing it, Waco had taken him down and cuffed him. When the man had tried to yell a warning to whomever was inside, Waco stuffed the man’s bandanna into his mouth.

  She watched him pull the man to his feet and steer him toward the steps into the cabin.

  “I’d like to see my mother alone,” she said behind him.

  “Fat chance,” he said as they ascended the steps. Reaching around the man, Waco opened the door, throwing it wide and shoving the man inside. The man stumbled and fell to the floor.

  Ella was right behind the detective when she saw her mother sitting in a chair at the table. Stacy looked up. Then their gazes met and her mother’s eyes quickly filled with tears.

  * * *

  THEY’D BARELY GOTTEN in the door when Waco barked, “Everyone stay where you are and don’t move. I’m Detective Waco Johnson. So everyone just settle down.”

  The man sprawled on the floor was struggling to get up, but he stopped as Stacy, who’d been sitting at the table, got up, rushed to the man on the floor and dropped to her knees beside him.

  Ella was so shocked that she couldn’t move, couldn’t speak.

  As Helen came into the room, holding what appeared to be a glass of water, and stopped in the small kitchen doorway, Waco asked, “Is anyone else here?” Helen shook her head and pushed open the door to the only other room not in view—the bathroom. It was empty.

  “Take off his handcuffs,” Stacy demanded from the floor where she was next to the cuffed man. When the detective didn’t move, she shot him a narrowed look. “Unless Jeremiah is under arrest, take off his handcuffs.”

  “Only if he doesn’t cause any trouble,” Waco said. “Otherwise, I will arrest him.”

  “He won’t cause any trouble,” Stacy said.

  Ella stared at her mother, who seemed to have aged since the last time she’d seen her. She watched her comfort the man she’d called Jeremiah as Waco removed the handcuffs. Jeremiah glared at Waco as he rubbed his wrists. Ella got the impression it wasn’t the first time he’d been cuffed, but her gaze quickly shifted to her moth
er.

  She stared at her mother as if looking at a stranger. All this concern for this man? Where was Stacy’s concern for her family that she was putting through all this worry?

  Her mother rose and started to take a step in her direction, but Ella shook her head and Stacy froze, looking uncertain.

  “What is going on?” Ella said as she found her voice. “No more lies. No more secrets. What are you doing here with these people?”

  Her mother wrung her hands for a moment, tears filling her eyes again. “I’m so sorry, Ellie. It’s...complicated.”

  She could barely look at her mother. “Sorry doesn’t cut it. Not anymore. And I’m sure it’s complicated or you wouldn’t be here.”

  Stacy seemed to cringe at the look Ella was giving her.

  “Don’t talk to her like that,” Jeremiah said, his voice sharp-edged as he stood and put an arm around Stacy’s shoulders.

  Ella swung her gaze to him, surprised, now that she got a good look at him, that he wasn’t much older than she was. When she met his pale blue eyes, she felt a jolt. There was something strangely familiar about him. Even stronger was the feeling that she’d met him before. Had her mother brought her here when she was younger?

  He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties, with a head of curly sandy-blond hair and blue eyes. His expression was surly. Clearly, he resented Ella’s being there.

  “Who are you?” she demanded. “You can’t be my mother’s boyfriend. She always goes for rich men twice her age.” The poisoned arrow hit its mark. Stacy winced as if in pain and stumbled to the chair to sit again.

  “Please, Ella,” she said. “Don’t take your anger out on Jeremiah. It’s me you’re upset with, not him.”

  Helen cleared her throat. “Maybe Jeremiah and I should step outside and let you—”

  “No one is leaving,” Waco said.

  Ella felt Jeremiah’s hard gaze. “Why are you here with a cop?” he demanded.

  Ella spun on him, flipping her long blond braid over her shoulder as she tried to keep her temper in check. “I’m here to see my mother. The question is, who are you and why is this your business?”

  Jeremiah glared at her as a tense silence filled the room. “She’s my mother, too.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Waco turned to Ella. She looked as if the floor had dropped out from under her. Jeremiah was her brother? He thought about what he’d learned from his visit to the Hanovers. Marvin Hanover had wanted a son. His daughter Mercy believed that Stacy had lied about being pregnant. What if she hadn’t?

  His mind was whirling. He could well imagine how Ella’s was spinning. She hadn’t moved. Hadn’t even looked as if she had taken a breath. Her green eyes had darkened as all the color had drained from her face. The room had gone deathly silent.

  He watched her slowly turn to look at her mother. Stacy was crying softly as she pleaded silently with her daughter. She seemed to be begging for Ella’s understanding.

  Helen went to Stacy, shooing Jeremiah away. He moved to stand with his back against the wall, scowling at Ella in defiance.

  “Is it true?” Waco asked Stacy.

  She nodded distractedly, her gaze refusing to leave Ella’s face.

  “I’m so sorry,” Stacy said. “I can explain, if you just give me a chance.”

  “What is there to explain?” Jeremiah demanded. “She knows it’s true, and pretty soon the rest of the family will, too.”

  “It should have been done a long time ago—just as I’ve said so many times before,” Helen said.

  Stacy could only cry and nod.

  * * *

  ELLA HAD TAKEN the initial shock like a blow. But she recovered quickly, because the moment Jeremiah had said he was Stacy’s son, she’d known it was true. The eyes. The feeling that she knew this stranger. Still, she hadn’t been able to speak for a moment as her thoughts went wild. She didn’t want to believe it. It would mean that her mother hadn’t just kept her son a secret. She’d hidden him from the rest of the family. She’d hidden a brother from Ella.

  She realized that Jeremiah had spoken and was now staring at her.

  “You know it’s true, don’t you?” he said.

  Ella dragged her eyes from him to look again at her mother. “I don’t understand.”

  “What’s there to understand?” Helen snapped. “Your mother had a son before you were born. She had her reasons for leaving him with me.”

  “Her reasons?” Ella echoed. “What mother has her reasons for leaving her son with a stranger and never telling her family—including her daughter—about him?”

  “I wasn’t a stranger,” Helen said. “I was a good friend.”

  Ella shook her head. “Such a good friend that my mother kept you a secret all these years, as well?”

  Helen’s cheeks flamed, anger glinting in her eyes for a moment before she lowered her regard. “Like I said, your mother had her reasons.”

  “It was the only way I could have him in my life,” Stacy said.

  “You could have brought him to the ranch,” Ella declared, her voice breaking. “You didn’t have to keep him a secret along with all your other secret friends. You could have let me grow up with a brother.”

  “I couldn’t do that. You don’t understand,” Stacy said.

  “I think I do,” Waco said.

  Ella had almost forgotten that he was in the room. She turned to look at him, as did everyone else.

  “It was because of his father,” the detective said. “You didn’t want Marvin to know about his son because he planned to take him away from you once he was born.”

  “Not just Marvin,” Stacy conceded, her voice stronger now. “His entire family. You don’t know what they are capable of, but I do. When I heard about your call, I knew I had to get to Jeremiah.”

  Ella hated how much it hurt that her mother hadn’t reached out to her after Waco’s call. Instead, she’d gone running to her secret son.

  “I figured Marvin was dead or you wouldn’t be calling,” her mother was saying. “That meant an investigation.” She looked at Waco. “That’s why I had to come here. I had to warn everyone, especially my son.”

  Jeremiah cursed under his breath. “She was just protecting me,” he said, as if it needed to be said. “Now you come here with your cop friend—”

  “He isn’t my friend,” Ella said automatically. She was still trying to make sense out of this. “So Marvin Hanover is his father?” she asked her mother.

  Stacy nodded. “I’m not sure how much you know about him.”

  “According to the family, he paid you ten thousand dollars when you proved to him you were having a son,” Waco said.

  Jeremiah’s jaw tightened, lips clamped.

  Ella’s gaze shifted to her mother.

  “I’m not proud of that.” Stacy looked down at her hands in her lap. “I thought I could go through with it, being married to him. But after seeing what kind of man he really was, once I found myself pregnant, I knew I couldn’t turn a child over to him. Yes, he was demanding that I walk away after I gave birth. I’d done my duty, he’d said. He was kicking me out and taking my son. So...yes, I took the money. I needed it to get out of there before my son was born. I would have done anything to keep Marvin from getting his hands on my child.”

  “Does that anything include killing your son’s father?” Waco asked and motioned Jeremiah back as he started to launch himself off the wall in defense of his mother.

  “I didn’t kill Marvin,” Stacy said. “I swear it.” She looked pleadingly at Ella and then turned to smile at her son. “I just wanted Jeremiah to be safe.”

  Ella followed her gaze. She’d always been the only child—at least, where her mother was concerned, she’d thought. Being raised around her cousins, she hadn’t felt that way. But she’d thought there had always b
een a bond between her mother and herself.

  Now she wondered if she would ever come to grips with this secret of her mother’s—and having a brother, let alone this one. He seemed as wild and untamed as this place where he’d grown up. Even as she thought it, she saw some of herself in him. She, too, wanted to defend her mother.

  “I’m sorry, Jeremiah,” she said to him, realizing that while she’d been raised on the ranch, he’d been raised here with strangers.

  Her half brother shot her a withering look. “Don’t feel sorry for me. I’m fine. We’re not doing any brotherly-sisterly bonding, all right? You brought a cop here.”

  “She didn’t bring me.” Waco ground the words out. “I’ve been tailing her, knowing eventually she would lead me to Stacy, because she’s one determined, strong young woman who cares about her mother.”

  Jeremiah actually looked chastised by the detective’s words. Ella was surprised by them herself and grudgingly grateful.

  Stacy said, “Please. I’ll tell you everything.”

  Ella doubted that and wondered if Waco did, too, but she said nothing. Her body had burned hot with anger and fear, then icy cold with shock and hurt, and finally with relief that her mother was all right. At least for the moment. The day had been long, and exhaustion tugged at her.

  “You’re going to have to come back with me to Bozeman for questioning,” Waco said to Stacy. “Jeremiah, as well.”

  “You don’t understand,” Stacy cried. “If Marvin’s family finds out about my son, they will kill him.”

  “Why would they do that?” Waco demanded.

  “Because Marvin knew I was pregnant. He told me he was changing his will and leaving everything to our son.”

  “If he really is Marvin’s son.”

  Stacy grimaced. “So the family told you that he wanted a DNA test done even before my son was born? I’m sure they told you that’s why I killed him, so it would never come out that I’d lied. Jeremiah is Marvin’s son. At any time, he could have come forward and claimed what is rightfully his. But I couldn’t let him. If they knew about him, they would never let him live. They already killed his father for the money. You have no idea what that family is like.”