Cardwell Christmas Crime Scene

by B. J Daniels

  Today she stood there staring up, her face expressionless, her manner reserved. After a few moments, she looked toward the front door, brightened, then rushed in that direction.

  Marietta knew then that Ester must have opened the door. Bianca loved the housekeeper. Maybe even more than she loved her grandmother.

  That thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. She turned away from the window. Out of stubbornness, she thought about staying where she was and letting Bianca come to her.

  But after a few minutes had passed, she couldn’t stand it any longer and headed downstairs.

  She found Ester and Bianca with their heads together, as she often did. The sight instantly annoyed her. But also worried her.

  “I thought you would come upstairs,” she said, unable to hide her displeasure.

  Both women turned toward her but said nothing. Marietta looked from Ester to Bianca and felt her heart drop.

  “What’s wrong?” she demanded. “Has something happened?”

  “I know, Grandmother. How could you?”

  Chapter Eleven

  DJ rode alongside Beau through the snow-covered pines until behind them the house could no longer be seen. The world became a wonderland of snow and evergreen below a sky so blue it hurt to look at it.

  She didn’t think she’d ever breathed such cold air. It felt good. It helped clear her head.

  The cowboy riding beside her seemed to be lost in the beauty of the country around them, as well. What was it about him? She felt drawn to him and his cowboy code of honor. Yet all her instincts told her to be careful. He was the kind of man a woman could fall for, and she would never be the same after.

  She’d spent her life never getting attached to anything. This man, this place, this Cardwell family all made her want to plant roots, and that terrified her. For so long she’d believed that was a life she could never have. But maybe, if the doll and photo were her mother’s family reaching out to her and not a threat...wasn’t it possible that she could finally live a normal life?

  They rode up a trail until the trees parted and they got their first good view of Lone Peak across the valley and river. This late morning it was breathtaking. The stark peak gleamed against the deep blue of the big sky. No wonder this area had been named Big Sky.

  “It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Beau said as he stopped to look.

  DJ reined in beside him to stare out at the view. The vastness of it made her feel inconsequential. It wasn’t a bad feeling. It certainly made her problems seem small.

  “Beautiful,” she said on a frosty breath.

  “Yes, beautiful.”

  She felt his gaze on her. Turning in the saddle, she looked into his handsome face. He looked so earnest... “Okay, you got me out here. Why?”

  “I thought you’d like the view.”

  She shook her head. “If you’re trying to find a way to tell me that you’re stepping away from this—”

  “I don’t break my promises.” He pushed back his Stetson and settled those wonderful blue eyes on her. His look was so intense, she felt a shudder in her chest. “We need to talk about what Zinnia told you. But first I’ve got some bad news. I called your father this morning.” She braced herself. “He was attacked at the prison. He’s in the hospital.”

  DJ wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting. Not this.

  The news was a blow. For years she’d told herself that she hated him, that she never wanted to see him. She blamed him for her childhood. She blamed him for keeping her family from her. She bit her lip to keep from crying. “Is he—”

  “It sounds serious.”

  DJ nodded, surprised how much her chest ached with unshed tears. “You think his attack...” She didn’t need to finish her sentence. She saw that he thought whatever she had to fear, he suspected it was connected to her father’s attack. “Why?”

  “I don’t know yet. But I will find out.”

  He sounded so sure of himself that she wanted to believe him capable of anything. Wasn’t that why her father had cashed in on the promise? He must have believed that if anyone could keep her safe, it would be Beau Tanner.

  “You think I’m in danger?”

  “I do. We need to find out what is going on. We need to find your mother’s family.”

  “But nothing’s happened. Yes, I was left a doll and photo of people I didn’t know at the time...”

  “They broke into your house to leave it.”

  “But what if it’s my mother’s family trying to let me know about them?”

  He shook his head. “DJ, if that was the case, then why wouldn’t they have simply picked up the phone or mailed the doll and the photo with a letter?”

  “You see the doll and photo as a threat?” Hadn’t she at first, too?

  “I agree, someone wants you to know. The question is, why? Given what we learned from Zinnia Jameson...”

  She saw where he was going with this. “It could explain a lot about my childhood. I always felt as if we were running from something. What if my father was trying to keep my mother’s family from finding us? You don’t think he might have...kidnapped me, do you?”

  * * *

  STACY WASN’T SURPRISED when Jimmy showed up at her part-time job at Needles and Pins, the shop that her sister’s best friend, Hilde, owned. He pushed open the door, stepped in and stopped dead.

  He was taking in all the bolts of fabric as if realizing he was completely out of his element. Stacy watched him, amused. James Ryan afraid of coming into a quilt shop. It endeared him to her more than she would have liked.

  “Jimmy?” she said as if surprised to see him. Actually she wasn’t. After she’d run into him yesterday, it had been clear he was hoping to see her again. That he had tracked her down... Well, it did make her heart beat a little faster. She’d always thought of him as the love of her life.

  He came in, moving to the counter where Stacy was cutting fabric for a kit she was putting together. “James.”

  “Right. Sorry. Old habits... Do you like the colors?” she asked as she finished cutting and folded the half yard neatly. “Tangerine, turquoise, yellow and brown.”

  “Beautiful,” James said without looking at the fabric. “So, this is where you work?”

  “Part-time. I help Dana with the kids and work some on the ranch.”

  “Busy lady,” James said. “I just wanted to make sure we were on for tonight.”

  She felt her heart do that little hop she’d missed for a long time. “Tonight. Right.” She hesitated, torn. Then heard herself say, “Sure, why not?” even though a few not so good memories had surfaced since his call last night.

  “Good. I can’t wait.” He sounded hopeful, and the look in his eyes transported her straight back to high school, when he used to look at her like that.

  Stacy felt a lump in her throat. Was it possible they were being given a second chance at love? It seemed too good to be true. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

  He grinned, that way too familiar grin that had made her lose her virginity to him all those years ago. “Neither did I. Life is just full of surprises. Great surprises. So, I’ll pick you up on the ranch. Which cabin did you say was yours?”

  “The one farthest to the right on the side of the mountain. You remember how to get to the ranch?”

  He laughed. “Like it was yesterday.”

  * * *

  MARIETTA HAD TO sit down. She moved to a chair and dropped into it. Her heart pounded in her ears and she feared it would give out on her. She’d feared something like this might happen and had told Roger as much.

  “Maybe the best thing would be to tell Bianca,” she’d said.

  “Have you lost your mind? Once you do that, you’re basically admitting that this...woman has a right to part of
your estate,” Roger had said. “No, there is a better way to handle this, and Bianca never has to know.”

  Why had she listened to that man?

  Bianca brushed back her long, dark hair and glared at her grandmother. “What have you done?”

  Marietta’s gaze shifted to Ester. She’d never seen such determination in the woman’s expression before. Her lips were clamped tightly together and her eyes were just as dark and angry as Bianca’s.

  “What have you done?” she wanted to demand of her housekeeper. Yes, Ester was nosy. And yes, she’d been acting odd lately. But Marietta had never dreamed that she would go to Bianca. She’d trusted the woman. A mistake, she saw now.

  Bianca crossed her arms over her chest. “Isn’t there something you want to tell me, Grandmama?”

  Use of that pet name was almost Marietta’s undoing. She lived only for Bianca. Everything she’d done was for this precious granddaughter.

  “Tell you?” she echoed, stalling for time.

  “Tell me the truth,” Bianca demanded, raising her voice. “Do I have a sister?”

  Marietta had known when her dying daughter had confessed she’d conceived a child with Walter that this day might come.

  Now she realized how foolish she’d been to think she could keep something like this a secret. Although her daughter and Walter had certainly managed. It was clear that Ester had known about the other child, probably from the beginning. That realization hurt more than she wanted to admit.

  It would be just like Carlotta to have shared this information all those years ago with the woman who’d practically raised her. Suddenly she recalled Ester at the sewing machine in her tiny room. She’d been startled and tried to hide what she was doing. Marietta had thought she was trying to disguise the fact that she wasn’t working like she was supposed to be.

  But now she remembered what the housekeeper had been working on. Dolls. There’d been two identical dolls! Two rag dolls, and yet Bianca had always had only the one.

  Betrayal left a nasty taste in her mouth. Her gaze darted to Ester. “I want you out of my house!”

  “No!” her granddaughter cried, stepping in front of the housekeeper as if to shield her. “Do not blame Ester for this. If you fire her, you’ll never see me again.” The ultimatum only made the betrayal more bitter. “If it wasn’t for Ester, I might never have known that I have a sister you’ve kept from me all these years.”

  “I wasn’t the one who kept it from you all these years. That was your mother—and Ester.” She could see now that Ester had been collaborating with Carlotta for years. Had she been stronger, she would have strangled the woman with her bare hands. “It’s Ester who has known for so long, not me. Your mother didn’t bother to tell me until she was near death. If you want to blame someone—”

  “I’m not here to place blame. My mother had her reasons for keeping it from me. I suspect those reasons had something to do with you. But I won’t blame you, either.” Bianca stepped toward her. “I just want to know about my sister.”

  “She isn’t your sister. She’s only half—”

  Her granddaughter waved a hand through the air. “She’s my blood.”

  That it could hurt even worse came as a surprise. “Your blood?” she demanded. “Watered down with the likes of a man...” She sputtered. Her contempt for Walter Justice knew no words.

  Bianca dropped to her knees before her grandmother and took both of Marietta’s hands in hers. “I want to know about her. I want to know all of it. No more secrets. Grandmama, if you have done something to hurt my sister...” She let go of Marietta’s hands. The gesture alone was like a stab in her old heart.

  “Get me the phone!” she ordered Ester. She called Roger’s number. It went directly to voice mail. She left a message. “Fix this or else.”

  * * *

  BEAU COULDN’T HELP but laugh. “Kidnapped you?” He shook his head as he and DJ dismounted and walked their horses to the edge of the mountainside to look out at the view. “I think anything’s possible. But I got the impression from your father that somehow your mother’s family didn’t know about you. And now they do.”

  “And that puts me in danger?”

  He turned to gaze into her big, beautiful brown eyes, wanting to take away the pain he saw there. He’d been trying to save this woman in his dreams for years. Now here she was, all grown up, and he still felt helpless.

  “DJ.” His hand cupped the back of her neck. He drew her closer, not sure what he planned to do. Hold her? Kiss her? Whatever it was, he didn’t get the chance.

  The sound of the bullet whizzing past just inches from her head made him freeze for an instant, and then he grabbed and threw her to the snowy ground as he tried to tell from which direction the shot had come.

  “Stay down! Don’t give the shooter a target,” he ordered as he drew his weapon from beneath his coat. Nothing moved in the dark woods behind them. Only silence filled the cold winter air for long moments.

  “The shooter?” she repeated, sounding breathless.

  In an explosion of wings, a hawk came flying out of the pines, startling him an instant before he heard the roar of a snowmobile.

  “Stay here!” he ordered DJ as he swung up into the saddle.

  “Wait. Don’t...”

  But he was already riding after the snowmobiler. He crested a ridge and drew up short. The smell of fuel permeated the air. Below him on the mountain, the snowmobile zoomed through the pines and disappeared over a rise. There was no way he could catch the man. Nor had he gotten a good look at him.

  He swore under his breath as he quickly reined his horse around and headed back to where he’d left DJ.

  She’d gotten to her feet but was smart enough to keep the horse between her and the mountainside.

  “Are you all right?” he asked. He’d been sure the bullet had missed her. But he’d thrown her down to the ground hard enough to knock the air out of her.

  Clearly she was shaken. She hadn’t wanted to believe she was in any kind of danger. Until now. “Did you see who it was?” she asked.

  “No, he got away. But I’ll find him or die trying.”

  * * *

  ANDREI COULDN’T BELIEVE he’d missed. It was the cowboy’s fault. If he hadn’t reached for her right at that moment... But he knew he had only himself to blame. He’d been watching the two through his rifle scope, mesmerized by what he saw. They were in love.

  He’d found something touching about that. He’d been in love once, so long ago now that he hardly remembered. But as he watched these two through the scope, he’d recognized it and felt an old pang he’d thought long forgotten.

  Fool! Andrei was shaking so hard he had trouble starting the snowmobile. He’d never really considered that he might get caught. As long as the coin toss came up heads, he’d known his luck would hold.

  Now, though, he feared his luck had run out. He ripped off his glove and tried the key again. The snowmobile engine sputtered. He should have stolen a new one instead of one that had some miles on it.

  He tried the key again. The engine turned over. He let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding and hit the throttle. He could outrun a horse.

  As he raced through the trees, he felt as if his whole life was passing before his eyes. All his instincts told him to run, put this one behind him, forget about Dee Anna Justice.

  But even as he thought it, he knew it couldn’t end this way. It would ruin his luck, ruin everything. He would make this right because his entire future depended on it.

  He was almost back where he’d started a few miles from the main house on Cardwell Ranch when he lost control of the snowmobile and crashed into a tree.

  Chapter Twelve

  DJ couldn’t quit trembling. It had happened so fast that at first she’d bee
n calm. She’d gotten up from the ground, staying behind her horse as she watched the woods for Beau. Had someone really taken a shot at them? Not them. Her.

  She’d never been so relieved to see anyone as Beau came riding out of the pines toward her and dismounted. He’d given chase but must have realized there was no way he could catch the man. She’d heard the snowmobile engine start up, the sound fading off into the mountains.

  Still, she didn’t feel safe. “You’re sure he’s gone?” she asked now as she looked toward those dark woods.

  “He’s gone. We need to get back to the ranch and call the marshal. I can’t get any cell phone coverage up here.”

  Her legs felt like water. “If you hadn’t tried to kiss me again...”

  He grinned. “Maybe next time... That’s right. I told you there wouldn’t be a next time. I’m usually a man of my word.”

  She could tell he was trying to take her mind off what had just happened. “I guess you have a kiss coming.”

  “Glad you see it that way.” He looked worried, as if what had almost happened hadn’t really hit her yet. Did he expect her to fall apart? She was determined not to—especially in front of him.

  She could tell he was shaken, as well—and worried. His gaze was on the trees—just as it had been earlier.

  “Why would someone try to kill me?” she demanded. This made no sense. Nor could the same person who’d sent her the doll and the photograph be behind it. That had to be from someone in her family who’d wanted her to know about them.

  But she remembered her father’s fear when he’d seen the photo. Who was he so afraid of?

  “All this can’t be about something my father did over thirty years ago,” she said, and yet it always had something to do with him. She thought about what Zinnia had told them. “Apparently this person really carries a grudge.” She could see that Beau wasn’t amused.

  “We’re going to have to find your grandmother.”