“Dee Anna Justice definitely isn’t on the flight? You checked all the passengers?”
“No one matching her description is on the flight, and everyone is accounted for,” he assured Colt.
Colt had been so sure she would make her flight. As gutsy as the woman was and as bulletproof as she’d been, she would think she had nothing to fear.
She’d already gone through security, so she’d been here. But that didn’t mean she didn’t change her mind and leave.
Maybe she was running scared, though he highly doubted it. Camilla had an arrogance born of getting away with murder.
“What other flights have left in the last hour?” he asked.
“Only one, but it’s to Seattle. The plane is taxiing down the runway right now.”
“Stop that plane.”
“I’m not sure—”
“This woman just tried to kill six people, four of them children, by burning them alive. Stop the plane. Now.”
* * *
CAMILLA WAS SIPPING her drink, smiling at her companion, when the pilot announced they would be returning to the terminal because of an instrument malfunction.
She looked past the man next to her out his window. Sunlight ricocheted off the windows of the terminal, reminding her of the day she’d flown in here. If she’d gone fishing on the Yellowstone River with Lance...
Still, even though she knew there was nothing wrong with the instruments, she wasn’t worried. The barn had been burning so quickly, the boards locking the doors would be ashes—all evidence gone.
Even the spilled fuel oil she’d used to get the barn burning fast would look like nothing more than an accident—at first. She’d started the fire with several candles she’d found in the back of Hilde’s sewing shop, complete with the cute little quilted mats that went with them.
Everyone knew that Hilde had been losing her mind lately. But to do something this horrible because Dana turned against her? It was almost unthinkable—unless her behavior had been so out of character lately that everyone feared she was having a nervous breakdown. But taking her own life and her friend’s along with Dana’s four children? This story would make headlines across the country.
The plane taxied back to the small terminal. It wasn’t but a few minutes after she’d heard the door being opened that Deputy Colt Dawson appeared.
She turned to the man next to her and asked him a question. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Colt start to move through the plane. He was almost past her when he stopped and took a step back until he was right at her elbow. “Camilla,” he said.
She looked up at him, frowned and said, “I’m sorry. You’re mistaken. My name is Amy Matthews.”
“Miss...Matthews. I’d like you to come with me. Now,” he said when she hesitated. “You won’t be taking this flight today.”
She sighed and, picking up her bag, got to her feet. “We’ll have to celebrate another time,” she told the businessman. Colt took her bag from her and quickly frisked her, which made her smile as if she was amused.
“I never noticed how cute you are,” she said, as he escorted her off the plane to four waiting security guards. He insisted on cuffing her once she was out of sight of the passengers.
“Is that really necessary?” she asked. “What is this about, anyway? So I didn’t use my real name. I have an old boyfriend who I don’t want to find me. So sue me.”
“This is about the attempted murder of six individuals, four of them children.” Colt appeared to be fighting to keep his emotions in check.
Camilla was silent for a moment, then she frowned and said, “Attempted?”
“That’s right. They’re all alive. Hilde and Dana will be testifying against you in court.”
Camilla let out a little laugh. “I suppose you’re the one I should thank for this?”
“Be my guest,” Colt said, as he led her up the ramp. They were almost to the boarding area when Marshal Hud Savage appeared.
Colt felt Camilla tense. They all did at the look in the marshal’s eyes. Colt knew exactly how he felt. In the old West she would have been strung up from the nearest tree.
But this wasn’t the old West, and he and Hud didn’t mete out justice. All they could do was hope and pray that this woman never saw the outside of a cell for the rest of her life.
* * *
ONCE AT THE law enforcement center, Camilla Northland’s story was that she’d left the ranch right after Hilde arrived. Dana was with the kids on the front porch as she drove away and had asked Hilde if she wanted to go on a walk with them. That was the last she said that she saw of them.
She’d seemed surprised that Dana and Hilde had told another story. “I don’t know why they would lie, except that Hilde has been telling lies about me ever since I came to Montana, and Dana must be confused.”
“It’s over, Camilla,” Colt said, as they all sat in the interrogation room. He tossed the photo of her as a teenager on the table. “Your aunt told me everything. She said she would fly up here if need be.”
She stared at the photo of herself and her brother. When she looked up, she suddenly looked tired—and almost relieved.
“It would appear I’m going to need a lawyer,” she said.
“Just tell me this. How was it that you ended up here pretending to be Dee Anna Justice?”
For a moment, she didn’t look as if she would answer. “Dee Anna was my roommate in New York City for a while,” she said with a shrug. “The letter came after she’d moved out.”
“And you decided to take her identity?”
“I’d never been to Montana,” she said. “I liked the idea of having a cousin I’d never met.” She looked unapologetic as her gaze locked with Hud’s. “And I’d never met a real cowboy.”
“Where is Dee Anna Justice?” Hud demanded, clearly not amused by her flirting with him.
She looked away for a moment, and Colt felt his heart drop. He now knew what extremes this woman would go to and feared for the real Dee Anna Justice.
“She’s in Spain visiting some friend of hers. Her mother, Marietta, probably knows how to contact her.”
“Marietta’s family is from Spain?”
“Italy.” Camilla smiled. “No one told you that Dee Anna is half-Italian?” She laughed. “Dana asked me why her grandparents disinherited their son. He married a foreigner. Apparently a woman who spoke Italian and wanted to live in the big city wasn’t what they wanted for their son. But you’d have to ask Dee Anna if that is really why they disinherited him.” She shrugged. “Dee Anna and I were never close. She was a lot like Hilde. For some reason, she didn’t like me.” Camilla laughed at that. “I’ll take that lawyer now.”
Epilogue
Hilde held it all together until a few weeks after Camilla’s arrest. Suddenly she was bombarded with so many emotions that she finally let herself cry as the ramifications of what had happened—and what had almost happened—finally hit her.
Over it all was a prevailing sadness. She and Dana were trying to repair their relationship, but Hilde knew it would take time—and never be the same. She felt as if someone had died and that made her all the sadder.
“Hilde, can you ever forgive me?” Dana had cried that day, as they’d watched the rest of the barn burn from the back of the ambulance. “I should have listened to you. I’m so sorry. I’m just so sorry.”
“There is nothing to forgive,” she’d told Dana, as they’d hugged. But in her heart, she knew that something was broken. Only time would tell if it could be fixed.
Hud was going through something even worse, Colt had told her. He blamed himself for not seeing what was right in front of his eyes.
“I was just so happy that Dana was enjoying her cousin, I made excuses for Dee’s behavior just like Dana did. I didn’t want to see it,” he kept saying. “I almost lost my family because of it. And what I did to Hilde—”
She’d told him and Dana both that she understood. Camilla had been too good at hiding her tr
ue self. Hilde didn’t blame them. But a part of her was disappointed in them that they hadn’t believed her—the friend they’d both known for years. That was going to be the hard part to repair in the friendship.
Colt was wonderful throughout it all. He’d saved her life and Dana’s. Neither of them would ever forget that.
Hilde, who’d always thought of herself as strong, had leaned on him, needing his quiet strength to see her through. Both she and Dana had recovered from the smoke inhalation. It was the trauma of being trapped in a burning barn with a psychopath trying to kill them that had residual effects.
Jordan and Liza had a housewarming a few months after everything settled down. Their new home was beautiful, and Hilde could see the pride they shared with all the work they’d done themselves. Hilde gave them a quilt as a housewarming present.
“I’d like to take your beginner quilting class,” Liza said, making both Hilde and Dana look at her in surprise. She was a tomboy like Dana and had never sewn a thing in her life.
Liza grinned and looked over at Jordan, who nodded. “We’re going to have a baby! I want to make her a baby quilt.”
Cheers went up all around, and Hilde said she would be delighted to teach her to quilt, and she also had some adorable baby quilt patterns for girls.
“Stop by the shop and I’ll show you,” she said.
* * *
AT THE PARTY, Dana told Hilde that she’d called Marietta Justice, only to receive a return call from the woman’s assistant confirming that the real Dee Anna Justice was alive and well in Spain traveling with friends.
Hilde could tell that Dana had been disappointed the woman hadn’t even bothered to talk to her herself. But fortunately, Dana hadn’t taken it any further. Whatever was going on in that part of the Justice family, it would remain a mystery.
At least for now, since Hilde knew her friend too well. Dana had a cousin she’d never met. Maybe more than one. She wouldn’t forget about the very real and mysterious Dee Anna Justice and family. One of these days, Dana wouldn’t be able to help herself and she would contact her cousin.
Hilde hated to think what might happen—but then again, she wasn’t as trusting as Dana, was she?
The party was fun, even though things were still awkward between all of them.
* * *
“THEY’LL GET BETTER,” Colt promised her. “You and the Savages were too good of friends before this happened. Right now everyone is a little bruised and battered, especially you. I can see how badly they both feel when they’re around you.”
That was what was making things so awkward. They wore their regrets on their sleeves.
“Are you still worried about Hud?” she asked him on their way back to her house.
“He’s really beating himself up. I think he’s questioning whether he should remain marshal. He’s afraid he can’t trust his judgment.”
“That’s crazy. He’s a great marshal.”
“He let a psychopath not only live with them, but also take his children for a walk the morning of the fire.”
“He didn’t know she was a psychopath.”
“Yeah. I think that’s the point. He overlooked so much because he wanted Dana to have a good time with her cousin. You told me how excited she was about finding a cousin she’d never met.”
Hilde nodded. “They both tried to make the woman he thought was Dee Anna Justice fit into their family. Dana was at odds with her siblings for years, so I understand her need for family.”
Colt looked over at her. “What about you?”
“Me?”
“How do you feel about a large family?”
She laughed. “As an only child, I’ve always yearned for one.”
“Good,” he said with a smile. “Because I have a large family up north, and they’re all anxious to meet you.”
She looked at him. “You want me to meet your family?”
He slowed the truck, stopping on a small rise. In the distance, Lone Mountain was silhouetted against Montana’s Big Sky. Stars glittered over it. A cool breeze came in through his open window, smelling of the river and the dense pines. The summer night was perfect.
Colt cut the engine and turned toward her. “I can’t wait for my family to meet you. I’m just hoping I can introduce you as my fiancée.”
Hilde caught her breath as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black jewelry box.
“Hilde Jacobson? Will you marry me?” He opened the box, and the perfect emerald-cut diamond caught in the starlight.
For a moment she couldn’t speak. So much had happened, and yet they’d all come out of the ashes alive with their futures ahead of them.
“I know this is sudden, but we can have a long engagement if that’s what you want,” Colt added when she didn’t answer him.
She shook her head. She’d always been a woman who never acted impulsively. Until recently. She believed in taking her time on any decision she made. Especially the huge ones.
But if she’d learned anything from all this, it was that she had to follow her instincts—and her heart. “I would love to marry you, Colt Dawson. I can’t wait to be your bride.”
He let out a relieved laugh and slipped the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. As he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, Lone Mountain glowed in the starlight.
“I was so hoping you would say that,” he whispered.
Wrapped in his arms, she knew whatever the future held, they would face it together. Time and love were powerful healers. With Colt by her side, she could do anything, she thought, as her heart filled to overflowing.
* * * * *
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Chapter One
“This special news report just in—an amber alert has been issued for six-year-old Hank Forte. Hank was last seen at the county fair in Amarillo.”
Brody Bloodworth’s heart clenched as a photo of the boy appeared on screen. The little boy had blond hair, was wearing a black T-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. He could be one of the kids on the BBL, the Bucking Bronc Lodge he had started for needy children.
But he reminded him more of his own little brother, Will, and launched him back seven years ago to the day Will had gone missing.
Not from a county fair but from the rodeo where he was supposed to be watching him.
Self-loathing and guilt suffused him, once again robbing his lungs of air. He understood what the family of that little boy was going through now. The panic. The fear.
The guilt.
If only they’d kept a better eye on him. If only they hadn’t turned their head for a minute.
What was happening to him? Had he just wandered off? Would they find him hiding out or playing somewhere at the fair? Maybe he had fallen asleep in a stall housing one of the animals...
Or had someone taken him? Maybe a desperate woman who’d lost a child and was out of her mind? A child predator who’d do God knows what?
A killer?
The reporter turned the microphone to Hank’s parents, a couple who were huddled together, teary-eyed and frightened. A second later, they began to plead for their son’s return, and the mother broke down into sobs.
Brody hit the remote, silencing the heart-wre
nching scene, but it played over and over in his head. But it wasn’t the Forte family’s cries he heard; it was his own family’s.
His father who’d blamed him from the get-go.
Because it was his fault.
He glanced through the window at the sprawling acres and acres of land he’d bought, to the horse stables and pens and the boys that he’d taken in. All kids who had troubles, boys who needed homes and love and guidance.
But no matter how much he did for them, it wouldn’t make up for losing his little brother.
The clock in the hall struck 6:00 p.m., and he stood, pulled on his duster jacket and headed outside. One of his best men, Mason Blackpaw, and his fiancée, Cara Winchester, were getting married on the ranch in a few minutes. He’d promised he’d be there, and he was happy for his friend, but weddings always made him uncomfortable.
And he’d attended a hell of a lot of them lately. In fact, all of his original investors had tied the knot. First Johnny Long, then Brandon Woodstock, Carter Flagstone, then Miles McGregor, and now Mason.
Yanking at his tie to loosen the choking knot, he glanced at the field to the right where Mason had built a gazebo. Cara had rented tables and chairs and had decorated them with white linens, bows and fresh day lilies.
Half wishing he could skip the ceremony, he started to turn and go back inside, but Mason strode up to the steps of the gazebo then glanced his way with a smile.
Brody forced one in return. He couldn’t let his foul mood ruin his friend’s day.
Still, it was all he could do to put on a congenial face as he took a seat in the back row. Weddings made him think of Julie Whitehead, the only girl he’d ever loved.
The girl he’d snuck off to make out with at the rodeo, leaving his brother alone and unprotected.
In the panicked and horrible days after Will had disappeared, he’d lashed out at Julie. He’d blamed her.
But it was really himself he hated.
Dammit, that news report had stirred it all up again, all the haunting memories. He needed to check the database for missing and exploited children, make sure Will’s information was still there.
Cardwell Ranch Trespasser Page 17