But with the latest threat Amber had received, Evan had needed to get her away from here. Now he wanted to do a sweep around the ranch, make sure no one was obviously hanging out watching…or worse. With Bear, of course, using his well-trained dog senses to search for anything, or anyone, who shouldn’t be here.
The people living here, and dogs, too, could be vulnerable to all sorts of attacks, as threatened. And no matter what he said or did, Evan felt sure Amber would continue to insist on returning here soon.
Was he acting foolishly by not staying with her, glued to her side all evening? He kept wondering that, but he also had a gut feeling that some of the answers he sought were right here on the ranch. This might not be the best time to seek them, but maybe it was, considering the latest threat.
Though he didn’t like the idea of Amber and her mom staying in Nathan’s private quarters, at least they wouldn’t be here. And Nathan, and the women, would all be under the scrutiny of Jack and his security guys, and hopefully more cops would be around, too. Evan didn’t trust Nathan any more than he trusted anyone else, but figured the guy was smart enough not to do anything he didn’t want the world to know about while being watched so closely.
Even so, concern for Amber and her mother made Evan want to run back there immediately.
Well, he’d do it soon. And the fact that sweet, smart Amber would also follow up with Jack to keep an eye on things…well, it gave him another reason to want to take her into his arms and kiss her. And more. As if he needed a reason…
“Okay, gang.” He rose from where he’d been sitting on the kitchen floor petting the dogs. He’d already fed them, taken them outside to do what they needed while he stayed fully alert and brought them back in.
He now enclosed the youngsters in their den, promising to spend more time with them as soon as possible. Lola was left loose in the rest of the house. She might be an asset on this kind of walk someday, if he worked with her more. Not now.
Then he called Orrin with the excuse of letting him know that Amber and Sonya were spending the night elsewhere. Orrin said he was home and would keep an eye on the place. He sounded his usual grumpy, indifferent self, though his indifference could have been an act. Just in case, Evan mentioned that he happened to be there right now, and Bear and he were taking a walk around the ranch. He hinted that something was wrong without elaborating. If Orrin knew what he was talking about, he should feel disturbed.
Finally, Evan was ready to go.
He circled the houses and, with extreme caution, Evan decided to take Bear on a quick hike in an area of the ranch they hadn’t yet covered—the side of the property closest to the Chance Resort, where Amber and her mother were at the moment. He and Bear would check for intruders in both places, including anyone visibly hanging out where no one should be on the resort grounds.
It was late enough in the chilly evening that he first hurried to his house and got his black hoodie, which he donned along with comfortable hiking boots. He also put the vest on Bear that told the K-9 he was officially on duty. Then Evan grabbed a flashlight, since he didn’t know how long they’d be hiking, and they went out once more.
He knew Orrin wasn’t outside since Bear didn’t alert about him when Evan commanded, “Search.”
Instead, Bear’s nose went up in the air as he walked with Evan past the employee houses and back toward the main house, then beyond it.
Bear seemed to enjoy his work, sniffing and turning his pointed ears to listen for anything out of the ordinary. But Bear always enjoyed his work—and had found nothing so far.
Was this a mistake? No, because Evan at least felt confident that no one was hanging out here waiting to hurt Amber or her mother, or the dogs. Unless, of course, it actually was Orrin, who was inside his house. Still, he apparently wasn’t sweating in fear after Evan’s call or Bear would have smelled it and alerted as they passed that building.
Daylight was waning but it was still too early for a flashlight. They walked along the paved area connected to the driveway and beyond, onto the grounds that were mostly bare except for blown leaves and branches from the woods above.
Evan directed Bear up the hillside first, where the roofs of the resort buildings were visible in the distance. Bear continued his search for all he’d been trained to find—bad guys, IEDs and weaponry while in the military, and since Evan had also worked with him to diversify his training after their return to the States, he would also alert on drugs.
Evan figured the only thing Bear was likely to find now, though, if anything, was whoever had been threatening Amber.
Was that person actually hanging around here, after murdering Corbin Belott? Unlikely. But whoever it was knew too much to be very far away, or so it appeared from the threats.
They walked back downward, then crossed to be closer to the open wooden fence between the two properties. Bear didn’t alert to any people on the ranch side, and the few folks Evan saw at the front and side of the main resort building were too far for Bear to pay much attention to.
This outing was quickly drawing to a close. A good thing, because it was starting to get dark, and, more important, Evan was determined to hurry back to Amber.
The last part was at the top of the hillside. They reached the base of the wooded area, and Evan encouraged Bear to enter it. His smart, well-trained dog would behave as he should while scenting rodents and other wildlife in the area, but remaining on duty.
Evan was therefore highly surprised when his unleashed dog ran through the underbrush in the direction of the resort.
He was even more surprised when Bear sat down just up the hill, but right beside the fence—it was a signal that he had found something and was now alerting to it.
Evan looked around. They were beneath a couple of trees, and the ground cover of dead leaves looked the same as when they’d entered the forested area.
He looked in the direction Bear faced and then noticed that some of the ground cover on the far side of the fence appeared…well, different. As if it had been moved at some time and returned, or at least smoothed a bit beneath the dead leaves.
As if something had been buried there?
“Good boy,” he said, praising his dog, then he carefully maneuvered over the low fence. If anyone was watching and didn’t want whatever had happened to be discovered, he was probably toast. But he immediately squatted and used his hands to move the ground cover aside and discovered a metal box buried there.
Carefully, he pulled off the top.
And saw that it contained a Smith & Wesson plus some ammunition.
He knew the kind of firearm used to kill Corbin had been some model of a Smith & Wesson. He now felt certain it was this one.
Did the location point to the suspect? Did it mean the person whose property it had been buried on was the murderer?
Not necessarily.
But Evan was ready to find out. And he finally had something he could tell K-9 Officer Maisie.
*
Nathan’s house was as posh and attractive as his main resort building, and Amber felt certain that the other structures—convention areas and a gym and such—were equally classy. She had no interest in seeing them, though. At least not now.
Nathan had already provided a tour, and the house seemed quite nice, with a couple of guest rooms at the end of a long hallway, complete with their own bathrooms.
Now they sat on some clearly expensive furniture in his living room, snacking on food items a couple of his employees had brought over. Amber figured this would be their dinner. She certainly wouldn’t need any more.
“This is so kind of you, Nathan,” her mother said again between sips of wine from a long-stemmed crystal glass she had lifted from the coffee table in front of them. She sat on the antique blue velvet sofa beside Amber. “And your home—it’s gorgeous.”
“Thank you.” The silver-haired man sounded humble, and his gaze remained on Sonya. He had excused himself as soon as he’d given his tour, and now wore a p
laid shirt and jeans, appearing more like a regular guy than a resort mogul. Amber and her mother had thrown on equally casual clothing before, so they all appeared to be on the same wavelength. Maybe.
But for a moment, Amber wondered where Jack, the security guy, happened to be. She also wondered why she was so concerned. Everything seemed fine.
Except for those texts… And Evan’s warnings.
“You know,” Nathan said, still watching Sonya as he, too, sipped some wine, “I’ve been worried about you two on that ranch. I know you have some employees living there, but since your poor husband…well, it’s not a good situation for a couple of wonderful women to be so far from town and all, especially under the circumstances.”
“Oh, we’re doing okay,” Amber asserted. She was holding off on the wine for the moment, watching the others, but she did eat some sharp cheddar on a flaky cracker.
“I appreciated the demonstration of your employee’s dog-training skills the other day.” Nathan was now looking at her. “But…how many classes has he given? And how many more are planned? I don’t know anything about dog lessons, but are you making enough money from them?”
“We will,” Amber said, “once we’ve gotten more lined up. My father did fine with his dog training, especially the K-9s for the police, and we’ll work our way back up to his success soon.”
“Really?” Nathan leaned forward in his leather recliner chair. “Well…you may not know it, Sonya, but Corbin and I had a couple of conversations in which he hinted that things weren’t working as well as he’d hoped. That’s when I first suggested that I buy your ranch. And now…well, it seems like it would be a lot better for you not to have to worry about your dog lessons or what else might happen to you while you’re there and all. I suggested it before, and now I’m asking again.”
His tone sounded concerned and caring, as if he gave a damn about what happened to them. And maybe he did care that way about her mother. Yet…Amber couldn’t believe he’d had the kind of conversation he had described with her father. Not without her mother knowing about it, at least.
But he might have an ulterior motive for lying about it.
Amber had learned over time to trust her instincts—and now they told her to get out of there. She’d briefly considered Nathan as a possible suspect in what had happened to her father, but he’d seemed so kind to her mother. Too kind. She’d been more concerned that Sonya was getting too emotionally involved too fast.
But there might be multiple reasons for Nathan to be encouraging that…
It could all be about his wanting to buy the ranch.
“You know,” she said brightly as she stood, “this wonderful snack is whetting my appetite. Let’s go back to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner, and—”
“Oh, I can feed you more here,” Nathan said. His expression and tone had morphed from kindly to cold.
“That’s okay. Mom, just you and I can go. That’ll be fine.” She stepped closer to her mother and put out her hand.
“I’m not hungry, dear,” Sonya said, “but I could keep you company.”
“No, you two are staying right here.” Nathan’s voice had turned to ice. “We’re finally getting everything resolved. Period.”
He was staring at Amber, and she knew her life was in danger. So was her mother’s.
Where was that security guy now? Or the cops who’d promised to drop in at the resort?
And why hadn’t she insisted on both her mother and her returning to the ranch with Evan?
“What do you mean, Nathan?” Sonya was standing now, puzzlement written in the wrinkles on her forehead and set of her mouth. “What are we resolving?”
“He wants to buy the ranch, Mom,” Amber said, glaring at him. What could she do now to protect them? Was there a way to reach into her pocket and call Evan?
“That’s right,” Nathan said almost pleasantly. “If you two agree to sell me your ranch right now, sign some papers I’ve already had drawn up, you can stay here tonight and move out as soon as possible. If not—”
“If not, he’ll kill us the way he killed Dad.”
“What?” Her mother, now pale, stumbled and fell back onto the sofa. “Nathan, Amber didn’t mean that.”
“Oh, she did, and she’s right,” Nathan said. “Not that I left any evidence that the police can link to me. I know how to avoid fingerprints and to hide things well. If you claim I admitted the killing, of course I’ll deny it. And you can be sure I’ve been keeping my eyes on you so I can make good on those texts if necessary.” Amber nearly leaped to scratch those horrible eyes out as he continued, “But you can both stay nice and healthy if you just sell me the ranch. And the amount I’m willing to pay for it is actually fairly generous.”
“It’s time to leave,” Amber said coldly.
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Nathan reached into a drawer of the coffee table and pulled out a gun, aiming it at Amber. “I’ll be quite happy to kill you. Your return here nearly ruined everything.”
“And that’s why you sent those damn threatening texts,” Amber growled, wanting to jump on him but knowing better.
“Exactly.” He almost purred the word, making her even angrier. “I meant every word. You should have kept everything to yourself. Good thing I was watching you.”
“But…but if you kill us,” Sonya whispered, “they’ll know you killed my poor Corbin, too. You can’t get away with it.”
“Your own security staff knows we’re here and is looking out for us,” Amber reminded him.
“Oh, they’re my staff, like you said, and they know the rules around here, like staying out of my way. They’ll soon hear from me that Amber brought the gun here, that she thought I’d killed your husband and intended to shoot me in retaliation. I fortunately got the gun away from her, which is why my prints are on this one. It’s not the same gun or make that killed Corbin, by the way. No one will ever be able to prove I harmed him. Oh, and once you’re dead I’ll make sure your prints are on it, too.” He now sounded so smug that Amber wanted to slug him with that damn gun, or something worse.
But, of course, she stayed still, her mind shrieking silently for something to do to save them.
*
Evan heard everything Nathan said. Although the doors to this place, fortunately the only single home on the property, were locked when Bear and he arrived, he’d managed to open a window into a back bedroom, then lifted his dog inside, too.
Too bad he hadn’t brought the gun and ammo he had found buried so he could use it on Nathan.
Instead, he quietly walked Bear to the door to the living room and gave the appropriate command. “Attack!”
Bear leaped into the room, running toward Nathan.
“What the—” The guy jerked so the gun was pointing toward Bear. Fortunately, the dog was fast, but Evan still feared he would get shot.
That was when Amber catapulted over the coffee table and shoved Nathan, who crumpled to the floor even as Bear grabbed his wrist in his mouth and bit it ferociously.
Nathan dropped the gun.
Only then did Evan allow himself to breathe deeply again.
With Bear guarding, Evan called 911, and almost as soon as he’d related what had happened to the police dispatcher, there was a knock on the door to the house.
After a nod from him, Amber went to open it, and two cops and Jack burst in. It apparently hadn’t hurt that Assistant Chief Kara had made good on her promise to make sure that officers showed up often at the resort that night, or that Jack must have figured he had to follow them around, even to his boss’s house.
Evan commanded Bear to release Nathan but to guard him, and the killer was wise enough to remain on the ground so he’d suffer no more bites.
Amber explained what had happened, that a now-protesting Nathan had confessed to her father’s murder. A tearful Sonya confirmed what she said.
But after being helped to his feet by the cops and getting his arms cuffed behind him, Nathan started a tir
ade about how Amber had done it all, brought the gun, aimed it at him, insisted that he confess to her father’s murder until he got the weapon away and aimed it at her.
Those protests got nowhere. Not when Evan, smiling ironically, removed his phone from his pocket and began replaying the threats that Nathan made just before Bear and he jumped in.
“I’ll also be able to show you where the murder weapon is buried, Officer,” Evan told one of the cops. “Although from what Mr. Treggory indicated, there might not be prints on it. But based on what he said, and the fact it’s buried on his property…well, it may not be conclusive evidence but it might help.”
The taller cop with the deeper skin tone walked away and spoke on his radio while his colleague watched over Nathan, who was bleeding slightly from his neck. In a moment, he told everyone, “We’ve got EMTs on the way to see to this guy’s wounds, and a crime-scene team’ll also be here in a few minutes. Oh, and I gather that Assistant Chief Province is on her way, too, as well as our K-9 unit.” Good. Evan’s calling Officer Maisie on his way here had undoubtedly helped. The cop who was here looked down at Bear. “Do we need to restrain that dog?”
Evan made himself smile into the officer’s face before he looked down again at Bear, who stood beside him. “Bear, sit,” he said, and of course the good dog obeyed. “Now, shake.”
Bear’s front paw went up in the direction of the cop, who grinned. “Guess not,” the officer said, kneeling to shake Bear’s paw.
Amber, too, stooped to hug Bear. “Good dog,” she said lovingly.
“He certainly is,” Sonya said, still sounding hoarse. She looked at the dog, then at Nathan. “He’s definitely a lot better than you, you terrible, terrible man.”
She burst into tears, and Amber stood to embrace her mother. Evan wished she was hugging him instead of Bear or even Sonya—not in thanks, but because he wanted her in his arms.
This wasn’t the best time. He knew that. But maybe soon…
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