Slay Bells

by Hildie McQueen

  However, he wouldn’t. Mainly because she’d tell everyone from his parents to the naked guy they were going out to dinner. Also, she’d call and ask Mila to call her at ten to check and ensure she was back in her cabin, safe and sound.

  Satisfied and excited at the dinner date, she hummed as she entered the cabin only to freeze and scream. A man stared at her through the kitchen window.

  It took several seconds to register it was Henry. He waved and smiled.

  He then turned and walked away in the direction of the family house. That window needed blinds.

  Maybe Henry was the killer.

  “Why do they consider Jeremy a suspect and not Henry?” Gabriela asked Natalie over a cup of coffee later that day. The women were alone in the house since everyone was still out working on organizing all the stuff for the festival.

  Natalie huffed. “Henry has an alibi. We have an alarm system and cameras at the bunkhouse. The video shows where he was during the day. And that he slept all night at the bunkhouse.”

  Gabriela didn’t push the subject of Jeremy being a suspect. Instead she waited to see if Natalie would volunteer the information.

  “On the other hand, Jeremy and Kevin Maloney have never gotten along. Mostly silly stuff, football rivals in high school, who never let it go. Silly boy stuff.”

  “But Jeremy was also around people the entire time, wasn’t he?” Gabriela felt the need to point it out.

  Natalie’s gaze moved to the window. “Not the entire time.”

  Somehow, he had to figure out a way to carve out some time alone with Gabriela before dinner. The one kiss had not been enough, and it was all he could think about besides a second one and maybe a third.

  Work for the festival was proceeding well. Except for his Dad arguing with Henry over the placement of light boxes, it was a smooth operation. Then again, it wouldn’t be the same without those two going at it.

  He mounted the snowmobile intent on finding Gabriela. Hopefully Cassandra wouldn’t show up again and mess things up. The woman was relentless. Had actually called that morning to invite him over for breakfast. Who did that? Invite someone for breakfast when they lived an hour away.

  The air was cold, but not unbearable as he guided the snowmobile toward the family home. Just then out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Gabriela walking toward the cabins. Her curls flew this way and that, creating some sort of strange effect around her head as she half-jogged.

  Her erotic coloring and beautiful face were what had attracted him to her when he’d spotted Gabriela at the airport. With dark olive skin, untamed light brown hair paired with the prettiest green eyes he’d ever seen, she was definitely a head turner. That she was clumsy and accident-prone brought her down from what he’d considered way out of his league. Now as he watched her trek through the snow, he could only wonder what mishap she’d run into next.

  The woman called to every sense of his being, from the sensual pull to the protector needing to ensure she was safe. It was unavoidable that he wanted to get to know her more, to spend time finding out what made Gabriela so delightful.

  She stumbled and looked down as if trying to figure out what caused it. Without looking around, she continued on.

  Where was she going?

  He decided to drive a short distance away and then dismounted to follow her. She looked around seeming to have heard the snowmobile’s engine, but also didn’t see it since he’d pulled it behind the edge of the first cabin.

  Other than what looked to be a camera case, she was unimpeded to continue on faster. When she reached the cabin where the murder had taken place, she rushed to one of the windows and standing on tiptoes, peeked in.

  Then she proceeded to go to the front steps and looked around once again. Reaching through the yellow crime scene tape, she tried the door. It was locked. Gabriela backed up, pulled out a camera and proceeded to take pictures.

  While watching her continue to take shots both from the porch and then backing up, Jeremy pondered how to approach her. They’d go out to dinner later, so it would be a good excuse to talk to her about her food preferences. Then maybe find a way to kiss her.

  A strange muffled sound brought him out of his musings. Gabriela was nowhere to be seen. At movement in the woods just behind the cabin, Jeremy took off at a sprint.

  On the ground just a few feet away, Gabriela was scrambling to get up and took off running. Jeremy caught up with her.

  “What happened?”

  “Some creep took my camera.” She continued running. “It has all my pictures since arriving.” She raced after the assailant at a surprising speed.

  Several minutes later, a man came into view. He ran toward a blue truck parked on the road that led away from the ranch and on through to the highway. With the camera bag in hand, he seemed to be losing steam. So was Jeremy, but he wasn’t about to let Gabriela beat him to the assailant.

  Gathering a second wind, he ran past Gabriela and tackled the man to the ground.

  Too winded to do more than hold the man down, Jeremy tried to tell Gabriela to call the police. It came out more like “Ca-ca-ca po-o-l”.

  “On it,” she replied holding up a thumb and glaring at the man who was also too out of breath to do more than just lay on the ground.

  Thankfully Williams was headed to the ranch, so it was only a matter of minutes before he along with another set of police officers showed up.

  Jeremy had known better than to ask the assailant any questions. He was not part of the investigation any longer. His Captain decided it was best for Jeremy to step back since the murder was on his property. He stood by listening as Williams questioned the man.

  Mark Rutledge was from nearby Missoula. Seemed there was bad blood between him and Kevin. Not only had Kevin supposedly stolen his seat on the city council, but also seduced Mark’s wife to gather intel on him.

  Jeremy and Gabriela exchanged confused looks. She voiced his thoughts. “Why would someone kill over a city council seat?”

  A veteran police officer, Murray lifted an eyebrow. “I bet it has more to do with the new business Rutledge’s family is building. Their permits got turned down and he’s lost a bunch of money.”

  Gabriela let out a huff. “Money. That will make some people murderous.”

  Rutledge babbled incoherently as they handcuffed and shoved him into the back of the patrol car.

  “Bless his heart,” Gabriela said.

  “What does that mean?” Jeremy asked.

  “I feel bad for him,” Gabriela replied.

  “Here’s your bag,” Williams told her holding the bag out. “We’ll need to see the pictures on the card.”

  “Of course.” Gabriela turned to Jeremy. “I guess I’ll go with him to the station.”

  “I’ll take her,” Jeremy said giving Williams a look.

  Williams shrugged. “See you at the station.”

  They walked back toward the snowmobile. They’d run quite a distance, which was probably the reason his thighs were so tight. “You’re a fast runner,” Jeremy said to Gabriela.

  She seemed deep in thought. “I used to run all the time, but I’ve recently moved, I don’t run as much. It’s a bit dangerous since I live in downtown San Diego.”

  “I don’t think I could ever live in the city.”

  She eyed him. “I don’t suspect you’d like it at all. It has its good and bad like anywhere else. It’s noisy, but vibrant. There are lots of crowds, which means it’s rich in culture. Traffic is horrible. Not sure what I can say positive about that.” Gabriela smiled at him and he wanted to yank her against his chest.

  Jeremy touched her arm. “What do you think about this?” He motioned with his other arm. “Country living?”

  “You mean besides finding a dead body and being attacked by a man who wants my camera?”

  “Yeah,” he murmured.

  Stopping in her tracks, Gabriela looked first up to the sky and then around. “It gives one time to appreciate life. It
’s like I can breathe deeper here. The landscape is breathtaking, I can’t imagine how beautiful it must be in the spring.” Her lips curved. “However, I am not sure I could live without Starbucks, Korean food and a Nordstrom’s nearby.”

  “Our backgrounds are so different, aren’t they?” He met her gaze. “It would be difficult to find a common ground.”

  Her brows lowered. “Common ground? What do you mean?”

  “If let’s say I wanted to get to know you better. Spend time with you and pursue a relationship.”

  When her eyes widened and mouth fell open, Jeremy seized the opportunity to kiss her. Unlike the night before, she immediately clung to him, dragging her fingers through his hair and pressing against him.

  She was amazing. The chemistry between them was definitely off the charts by the way his heart threatened to burst out of his chest. He took her shoulders and pushed her away, but only a bit. He didn’t break the kiss, needing to move slowly…ever so slowly.

  “You are a great kisser,” Gabriela informed him with half-closed eyes. “Damn.”

  “What?”

  “I hate that we live so far from each other.”

  Jeremy shrugged. “Yeah, it makes it hard to ask you to a movie.”

  Gabriela laughed and they continued on to find the snowmobile.

  Chapter Eight

  The police station was tiny, at least compared to the ones she’d seen in San Diego. Gabriela had dated a police officer once, and she’d enjoyed stopping by the station every once in a while. Something about all those men in uniform made her girlfriends go ga-ga always insisting they stop by and see what “the guys” were doing. She had to admit, it had been a fun season of her life. Too bad the guy had turned out to be a bit too friendly with other women.

  She’d hoped to have time to doll up a bit for the dinner date with Jeremy, but at the rate they were going, they’d be lucky to grab something at an all-night diner.

  Once again both Williams and now Jeremy asked her questions about the day she’d found the body.

  It was unexpected to find she remembered more details. Although admittedly, the fact she’d observed some sort of furry creature scurrying away wasn’t exactly useful to the investigation.

  “There must be a reason, Rutledge wanted your camera. Maybe something that incriminates him,” Williams said.

  Gabriela studied the man and handed over the memory card. “Did he confess to killing the other man?”

  “Nope, just to attacking you because he feared for his life.”

  Her mouth fell open. “That makes no sense.”

  Williams shrugged. “People say strange things when they can’t come up with something that makes sense.”

  “Let’s take a look at your pictures. Will you please help by describing locations and where you stood when taking them?”

  There was a rough map of the ranch sketched on a white board and she sat across from it with Jeremy next to her. Williams manned a laptop computer.

  A picture of Jeremy on a horse. Neither asked her anything, so she remained quiet.

  A picture of Jeremy on the front porch.

  A picture of Jeremy on the snowmobile. Williams cleared his throat.

  A picture of Jeremy standing next to the festival building. Williams coughed and Gabriela groaned.

  Finally, there were pictures of the festival building, the groups gathered to work and the family going on about their business. When a picture of Henry flashing a goofy grin popped up, the men chuckled.

  “You can skip to the last twenty or so. That’s when I took pictures the day I found the body.”

  Finally, a picture of the tire tracks popped up. It was followed by several of the cabins and surroundings and finally, one of a slightly opened door.

  “Go back,” Jeremy said.

  They went back and forth through the pictures until he leaned across in front of her to get a better look. He smelled good. “There. Can you blow it up?”

  It was a shot of the side of the cabin. Just past the trees were the outlines of two people. It was clear that one was male, but the other was definitely female.

  “Well I’ll be damned. He wasn’t alone that day.”

  Gabriela leaned forward and squinted. “Who are they?”

  The men exchanged looks but stayed quiet.

  “Oh for goodness sakes. It’s not like I’d know who you were talking about anyway.”

  “No idea,” Williams said. “Wonder if it could be Kevin’s wife. You know payback for the alleged affair.”

  Her stomach grumbled and Gabriela turned to Jeremy. “Sorry, I’m starving.”

  Williams let out a breath. “I suppose I can call you if I need to ask more questions. How long are you staying in town?”

  “Just until after the first couple days of the festival,” Gabriela replied standing up and pulling her purse strap onto her shoulder.

  “By the way, did you notice a vehicle while walking to the cabins?” Williams said.

  Gabriela groaned and sat back down. “Not that I can remember.”

  “Sounds of vehicles? You’ll definitely have to come back for the trial, if there is one,” Williams informed her.

  “Of course,” Gabriela said, excited at the excuse to return and see Jeremy.

  By the time all the pictures were looked at and dissected, it was late. Her stomach had given up on grumbling and was now collapsing. At this point Gabriela didn’t care if she and Jeremy ate at a gas station or the snack machine, she’d caught sight of.

  It must be in the cop DNA that they didn’t seem to notice the hours passing as they went over scenarios and who the woman in the picture was. Whoever it was, she was a big blur with one hand on a hip and another pointing in the camera’s direction.

  When her stomach growled loudly, it got Jeremy’s attention. He looked to a lopsided plastic clock on the wall. “We should go get you fed.”

  Ya think?

  “I’ve downloaded all the pictures, so you can have the card back.” Williams stood and stretched. When he looked at the clock his eyebrows shot up. “Damn, I better get home.”

  As they walked out of the room, Gabriela noticed the police station was still not very busy. “Where does one eat around here at this time?”

  Jeremy shrugged. “It’s not that late.”

  “It’s almost nine.”

  “Seems like the town’s closed up for the night,” Gabriela commented as they walked out.

  Jeremy looked up and down the street as if a restaurant would miraculously appear. “The Iron Horse is still open.”

  The drive was less than a couple minutes, just up the block and around the corner to Higgins Avenue.

  It was a modern trendy restaurant with an industrial look, while still maintaining the Montana charm. Wide windows gave street views from the tables and there was a generous outside eating area for the warmer months.

  A server, who seemed to know Jeremy, seated them. By the way she kept looking from him to Gabriela and frowning, she wasn’t happy about something. As soon as the server handed them menus, she scurried away without a word.

  “You know her?”

  “A friend of a friend. I don’t think we ever had a conversation before.”

  “Definitely didn’t have one now.”

  Before he could reply, a different server, this time a guy, came to take their drink orders. Water for Jeremy and Gabriela ordered ginger ale. It was too late for caffeine.

  “I can’t imagine any woman wanting to be part of what happened.”

  Instead of replying, he took her hand and pulled it up to his lips. When he pressed a kiss to her knuckles, Gabriela slid down in the chair just a bit. “How about we don’t talk about the investigation and instead get to know each other?”

  Where the night would lead was anyone’s guess. If it were up to Gabriela, they’d go straight to bed. A fling would be amazing. Except for the fact, she’d face his parents the next day. That put a big crimp in any notions of naked time.
/>   “I am a Gemini, five feet five inches, not sure what I weigh and I love root beer floats.”

  Jeremy laughed. “Okay, I’ll play along. Libra, six three, about one eighty and I also like root beer floats.” He chuckled. “Can I assume you’re single?”

  “Yes. My last relationship ended about six months ago. I moved to the city, have a nice apartment, which is where I spend most of my time. The online magazine I work for has a small office space where we meet twice a week for meetings and if I want, I can work from there. And you? The lady that showed up the other day seemed a bit possessive of you.”

  The server returned and both ordered hamburgers. Jeremy asked for an additional order of chicken wings for them to share. He was definitely boyfriend material.

  “I’ve dated Cassandra on and off for a couple years. Earlier this year, we parted ways. We’re still friends.”

  “With benefits?”

  He let out a sigh. “What about your family? Any siblings?”

  So yes, he and the woman hooked up at times. Interesting. He was good at answering a question by not answering. Gabriela smiled to let him know she got the message. “I have a brother. He’s a great guy. Older than me. He’s a thirty-something year old man-child who spends his free time golfing, sailing, hiking, anything that’s outdoorsy.”

  “Sounds like someone I’d like to hang out with,” Jeremy replied.

  They continued talking and asking each other questions. Gabriela had to admit, this was her best first date ever. Once the food arrived, neither bothered to play coy and dug in with gusto.

  “Well this is interesting?” Cassandra had appeared at the table without either of them noticing she’d walked in. With one hand on her imaginary hip, she glared at Jeremy. “It would have been nice to be informed that my boyfriend is out to dinner and, oh, I don’t know perhaps invited along.”

  “Could you give us a minute?” The woman finally looked to Gabriela.