Montana Connection
Page 37
Roz and Ford went over to her house later that day. Roz stared at the place. Funny, it looked different now that it was empty. Ford had seen that everything had been cleaned out that would even remind her of her former stepfamily. The house looked a little sad to her. Like a house just crying out for a family that could love it.
Ford took her around to the back. The widow’s walk was gone. He’d hired some carpenters with her father’s approval to remove it. And the garden was being plowed up. The state investigation lab had been forced to dig up most of it just in case any more bodies were buried there.
Fortunately there weren’t.
“I’m thinking a swimming pool,” Ford said looking at the torn-up ground.
Roz nodded. She liked that idea. She turned to look back at the house. She knew she would grieve her mother’s death wherever she lived, but here, she could hold on to all those years of wonderful memories. Here she could make new memories with her own family, her own children. And Charity’s, she thought with a smile. Her mother and father had always thought Roz’s and Charity’s children would play here just as their mothers had.
Yes, Roz could see that happening—and maybe sooner than anyone thought.
“The first thing is paint, inside and out, bright colors,” she said. “And big pots of flowers for the front porch. And we should throw a party. Yes,” she said warming to the idea. “This town needs a party after everything that has happened.”
Ford smiled over at her. “That’s my girl.”
She took his hand and they walked back toward the house. She could already hear the animated voices echoing through the old place, and almost hear hers and Ford’s children running through the long hallways, laughing and calling to each other. Yes, this house would again ring with laughter. She and Ford would see to it.
It was strange but as Roz entered the house, she felt a warm breeze touch her cheek. She stopped and in that instant, she felt her mother’s hand on her shoulder and heard her mother whisper in her ear, “Welcome home, dear.”
* * * * *
Garrett Sterling has a second chance at love with the woman he could never forget.
Can he keep both of them alive long enough to see if their relationship has a future?
Read on for a sneak preview of LUCK OF THE DRAW, the second book in the Sterling’s Montana series by New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author B.J. Daniels.
CHAPTER ONE
GARRETT STERLING BROUGHT his horse up short as something across the deep ravine caught his eye. A fierce wind swayed the towering pines against the mountainside as he dug out his binoculars. He could smell the rain in the air. Dark clouds had gathered over the top of Whitefish Mountain. If he didn’t turn back soon, he would get caught in the summer thunderstorm. Not that he minded it all that much, except the construction crew working at the guest ranch would be anxious for the weekend and their paychecks. Most in these parts didn’t buy into auto deposit.
Even as the wind threatened to send his Stetson flying and he felt the first few drops of rain dampen his long-sleeved Western shirt, he couldn’t help being curious about what he’d glimpsed. He’d seen something moving through the trees on the other side of the ravine.
He raised the binoculars to his eyes, waiting for them to focus. “What the hell?” When he’d caught movement, he’d been expecting elk or maybe a deer. If he was lucky, a bear. He hadn’t seen a grizzly in this area in a long time, but it was always a good idea to know if one was around.
But what had caught his eye was human. He was too startled to breathe for a moment. A large man moved through the pines. He wasn’t alone. He had hold of a woman’s wrist in what appeared to be a death grip and was dragging her behind him. She seemed to be struggling to stay on her feet. It was what he saw in the man’s other hand that had stolen his breath. A gun.
Garrett couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Surely, he was wrong. Through the binoculars, he tried to keep track of the two. But he kept losing them as they moved through the thick pines. His pulse pounded as he considered what to do.
His options were limited. He was too far away to intervene and he had a steep ravine between him and the man with the gun. Nor could he call for help—as if help could arrive in time. There was no cell phone coverage this far back in the mountains outside of Whitefish, Montana.
Through the binoculars, he saw the woman burst out of the trees and realized that she’d managed to break away from the man. For a moment, Garrett thought she was going to get away. But the man was larger and faster and was on her quickly, catching her and jerking her around to face him. He hit her with the gun, then put the barrel to her head as he jerked her to him.
“No!” Garrett cried, the sound lost in the wind and crackle of thunder in the distance. Dropping the binoculars onto his saddle, he drew his sidearm from the holster at his hip and fired a shot into the air. It echoed across the wide ravine, startling his horse.
As he struggled to holster the pistol again and grab the binoculars, a shot from across the ravine filled the air, echoing back at him. And then another and another and another. Four shots, all in quick succession. He winced at each one as he hurriedly grabbed up the binoculars again and lifted them to his eyes. His hands shook as he tried to locate the spot on the mountainside across the ravine where he’d last seen the two people.
With dread, he saw what appeared to be a leg on the ground, sticking out of the tall grass, where the two had been only moments ago. He quickly looked around for the man. In the dense trees, he caught the blur of someone running back in the direction where he’d originally spotted the two.
He focused again on what he could see of the body on the ground. The leg hadn’t moved.
In the distance, he heard the faint sound of a car engine roaring to life. He swung the binoculars to the end of the ridgeline and saw a dark blue SUV speeding away. It was too far away to get more than that. It quickly disappeared in the trees.
Garrett swore. At moments like this, he wished he had cell phone coverage on the mountain. But his father had always argued that being off the grid was the appeal of Sterling’s Montana Guest Ranch. No cell phones, no TV, no internet. Nothing but remote, wild country.
Reining his horse around, he took off down the trail back to the guest ranch lodge. It had begun to rain by the time he leaped off his horse and hurried inside.
He used the landline to call Sheriff Sid Anderson.
“I just witnessed a murder,” he said when the sheriff came on the line. He quickly told him what he’d witnessed, including giving him what information he could about the SUV that he’d seen roaring away.
“You fired a shot into the air?” the sheriff asked. “So the killer saw you?”
He hadn’t thought of that. “From across the ravine. I don’t think the killer is concerned about me.”
“Let’s hope not,” Sid said. “You think you can take me to the body?”
“Meet me where Red Meadow Road connects with the forest service property and I’ll take you to the spot.”
“Twenty minutes. I’ll be there. But be careful,” the sheriff warned. “The killer might not have gone far. Or he might be on the way to your guest ranch.”
Don’t miss
LUCK OF THE DRAW by B.J. Daniels,
available June 2019 wherever
Harlequin® books and ebooks are sold.
www.Harlequin.com
Copyright © 2019 by Barbara Heinlein
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author
B.J. DANIELS
returns to Cardwell Ranch in the new series
CARDWELL RANCH: MONTANA LEGACY!
When Mary Cardwell Savage makes the mistake of contacting her first love, Chase Steel, little does she know that her decision will set off a domino effect that will bring a psychotic killer into their lives.
Coming July 2019
www.Harlequin.com
ISBN-13: 9781488053283
Montana Connection © 2019 by Harleq
uin Books S.A
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
Mountain Sheriff © 2003 by Barbara Heinlein
Day of Reckoning © 2004 by Barbara Heinlein
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