She swiped the tears away as easily as her uncle had taken away that future.
In six weeks, she turned twenty-five, and if she didn’t put her uncle behind bars, and he succeeded in framing her for Lela’s murder, he’d take over the company and holdings her parents left to Ella and Lela. He’d get everything and have the power and money to get away with murder.
Never going to happen. Not as long as she still had a breath in her body.
“We’re here. What airline?”
Ella checked her sister’s ticket stub, the one breadcrumb she’d left. “United.”
The cab pulled up in front of the departures terminal. Ella didn’t hesitate. The sorrow filled her, but with her grief she felt a profound sense of purpose. She marched up to the ticket counter, handed over her fake ID, and booked a flight to Bozeman, using the cash she gathered between her bag and her sister’s, which left her with little more than five hundred dollars.
The flight didn’t leave for two more hours, but she’d get to Bozeman by three in the afternoon. She hoped to get to the ranch to begin her search for whatever her sister discovered before it got dark.
The monotony of the security line only gave her more time to think. She didn’t want to let her mind take her back to the penthouse library and her sister’s lifeless eyes, but the scene played out again and again in her head. She couldn’t stop it.
So many what-ifs came to mind. She second-guessed everything she did and didn’t do. What if she stepped in to help her sister? Why didn’t she call the police? What if she found the evidence her sister said she had and it still wasn’t enough to arrest him? What if he got away with killing her sister?
She passed through the security line in the automatic fashion everyone else did, following the person in front of her. She ignored the stares and whispers. If the grief felt this heavy to carry, surely it showed on her face, because she couldn’t even muster a fake smile to make others believe she was okay. She’d never be okay. Not ever again.
Shoes back on, cell phone and her laptop packed back in her bags, and free to roam the terminal and walk to her gate, she made one last stop at the ATM. Between her debit and credit cards, she managed to withdraw twenty-five hundred dollars. If her uncle tracked her to the airport with the withdrawals, he still wouldn’t know which flight she took, thanks to the fake license.
After ignoring the other passengers on the plane and crying herself to sleep, she awoke just as the plane touched down in Bozeman. She exited, ignoring the stewardess’s sympathetic look, and followed the other passengers to baggage claim, where she picked up her sister’s bag. Without the ability to use her credit card to rent a car, she hopped into a cab.
“Where you headed, miss?” The older man gave her a concerned glance in the rearview mirror. She caught her haunted reflection. She should have stopped at the restroom to clean the smeared makeup under her eyes from crying.
“Home.” The ranch had been her favorite place as a kid. Large, looming mountains stood as the backdrop to the stone and timber house with the huge windows. She’d loved the rustic, comfortable feel of the house compared to the elegant penthouse her parents kept in New York.
“What’s the address?”
“Uh, sorry. Forty-two Wolf Road.” Since her father bought the property and paid for all the utilities and the road they built out to the house, he used his favorite number for the address and named the road after the family.
“I’m not familiar with it,” the driver said, punching the address into his GPS. “That’s quite a drive. There’s a storm up past the town of Crystal Creek. I can get you there, but you’ll need to stay overnight in town, or find someone with four-wheel drive who can get you through the back roads.”
Resigned and at the mercy of the gathering storm clouds in the distance, she nodded her agreement.
She used the long drive out of Bozeman’s wide valley to clean herself up with the makeup wipes she found in her sister’s toiletries that she dug out of the small suitcase. Eyes puffy and red, she’d never win a beauty contest, but she looked and felt better.
The drive relaxed her, unlike the turbulent flight. She hadn’t eaten since last night, lost her appetite completely this morning seeing her sister murdered, but now her hollow stomach ached. Maybe if she took a minute, had some coffee and a snack, she could think straight, take the edge off her raging headache, and figure out what to do next.
How far would her uncle go to find her?
Easy, he’d hunt her down.
“Where can I drop you, miss? This rain’ll turn to snow up where you’re headed.”
Lost in her own dark thoughts, she hadn’t seen the rain pouring down in sheets, or heard the fierce wind whipping against the car. She checked out the small town around them and spotted a coffee shop next to a motel. If she couldn’t find someone to take her to the ranch tonight, she could at least get a cup of coffee, a meal, and a warm room.
“Please drop me at the coffee shop. I’ll find my way from there.”
“You got it.”
She paid him the sixty-two dollars for the ride, plus a tip, and collected all her belongings.
“I’ll help you out, miss.”
“No, don’t get wet on my account. I’ll manage.”
Grateful, he smiled at her in the rearview mirror. “Suit yourself.”
Lucky for her, he pulled up close to the front door, but even in that short distance, her hair and shoulders got drenched. Thanks to the deep puddle she stumbled in, her suede ankle boots were not only ruined, but soaked through. A gust of wind pushed her through the front door. She shoved it shut and turned to face the room; many of the patrons’ gazes found her. She felt like a bedraggled wet cat with her hair dripping down her face and neck. She wiggled her freezing toes inside her wet socks and took a deep breath and let it out. Nothing she could do about it now.
She took a seat at the nearly empty counter and dumped her tote and purse on the seat beside her. A waitress bustled over from the two older gentleman at the other end and asked, “What’ll it be, honey?”
“Coffee, please.”
“Special’s the meat loaf and mashed potatoes. We got a pot of broccoli cheddar soup and some nice warm bread if you’d like.”
“I’ll take the soup and bread. Thanks.”
“You okay, honey?”
“No. No, I’m not. But I will be,” she vowed, thinking of taking down her uncle. Better to think about that than her sister’s cold, dead body lying on the library floor.
The waitress, Bev according to her name tag, poured her a mug of coffee and set a bowl filled with creamer cups in front of her. “I’ll have your order in just a minute. You just sit there and get warm.”
Ella slumped in the chair and wrapped her frozen hands around the mug, hoping that one day soon her insides would warm again and she’d feel something other than frozen fear and cold hate for her uncle.
Bev set a steaming bowl of soup in front of her and a plate of warm bread rolls with a plastic cup of butter. Ella slit the side of the roll and slathered butter inside to melt. She did the same with the second roll. By the time she scooped up a spoonful of the soup, the smell had started to work on her. One bite of the sinfully thick and rich, creamy concoction and she nearly felt human again. Her insides warmed. She took a big bite of the roll. Melted butter dripped down her chin. She wiped it away with her paper napkin and quietly worked her way through her meal, the loss of her sister keeping her head in a mind-numbing daze.
Finished, she looked around for the first time. Besides the seats at the counter facing the cooking area, a row of tables draped in red-and-white-checked tablecloths with four chairs around each ran behind her down both sides of the diner. Past those and along the outside wall were booths with worn red vinyl seats. Overhead pot lights cast a soft glow over the room. Above her and along the rest of the counter were drop pendant lights with red glass shades. Nice. Country cute.
While she ate, customers trickled in, filling near
ly every table and booth. Only a handful of seats remained available at the counter. She needed to decide what to do for the night.
Bev dropped by and held up the coffeepot. “Refill, honey?”
“No thanks. I need to get home, but in this weather I’m not sure there’s a taxi or other means to get me there.”
“Where you headed, honey?”
“Wolf Road out off 191.”
“You’re going way out there?”
“Yes, but I don’t have a car. Do you know how I can get there?”
Bev looked over her head at a gentleman paying his bill at the small counter by the door. “Hey, Travis. You headed home?”
“It’ll be slow going in the snow, but yeah. Why?”
“This nice lady needs a ride out to Wolf Road. Can you take her on your way?”
“Well, now, it’s past my way, but I can certainly take the pretty lady where she needs to go.”
Ella eyed Bev with apprehension about leaving with a stranger. Especially one with unwashed hair, four days’ worth of beard stubble, and a rip down the front leg of his grease-stained Carhartts.
Bev patted her hand on the counter. “Don’t you worry none. He’s mostly harmless.”
“Come on now, Bev, you know I’ve been sweet-talking you for years.”
“It’s never worked with me, or any woman I know,” she shot back, laughing.
A few of the other customers barked out a laugh and a crude comment about Travis’s nonexistent love life. He smiled and took the good-natured ribbing in stride.
“Trust me, honey, he won’t bite. If you don’t go now, who knows how long it will take you to get there, what with the way the weather changes around here.”
Bev had a point. The rain had given way to a soft but steady snowfall. Pretty; Ella wished her sister was here to see it. They’d so loved the snow and coming to this part of the country. They’d sit in the huge living room window at the ranch and stare at it for hours, playing with their dolls or a game of chess. She’d loved to beat her sister at Chinese checkers. The memory made her eyes glass over. She blinked the tears away. Plenty of time to grieve later. Right now, she needed to get to the ranch and find out what her sister had been doing here.
“If you don’t mind, I’m happy to pay you for your trouble.”
“No trouble at all to drive a pretty lady wherever she wants to go.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate this.”
She gathered her belongings, paid her bill, leaving Bev a generous tip, and followed Travis out of the diner into the frosty weather. The sun had set and the snow fell against the backdrop of the dark night, highlighted by the diner and city lights. The snow quickly covered her hair and clothes. She shook as much off as she could before climbing into Travis’s truck cab. The smell of sweat, dirt, and manure, along with the stench of tobacco from the beer bottle in the cup holder filled with chewing tobacco spit, assaulted her nose. Her stomach lurched. She wrinkled her nose and cracked the window to let in some fresh air.
Travis slid behind the wheel and gave her a leering smile. She sat up straight and folded her hands in her lap, her bag and tote stuffed at her feet. She sighed out her relief when he pulled out of the parking lot onto the main road and headed out of town. Though the heater in the old truck worked, it barely took the edge off the crisp air coming in through the cracked-open window. She gave up the fresh air in favor of warmth, especially with her wet hair and feet.
She finger-combed the wet strands away from her face, trying to get the last of the ice out. Travis took his gaze from the road to roam it over her from head to foot.
“So, what brings you to these parts? You don’t look like you’re from around here. Where are you from?”
She wondered if he’d shut up and let her answer. Not that she wanted to, but if keeping him talking kept him from staring at her breasts and his eyes on the icy roads, she was all for chitchat.
“I flew in today from New York City.”
“I took you for a city girl.”
What gave her away? The suede boots. Her too thin slacks and sweater. The full-length coat more suited for a night out to dinner in the city than a snowstorm.
“Why are you headed out to Wolf Ranch? Wolfs haven’t been back since the plane crash. I heard they might sell the place. Is that why you’re here?”
The pain of her parents’ death felt as raw today as it did when she was fourteen. Today, though, that pain mixed with the loss of her sister and the dreams they’d had for their future together, finally taking the helm of all their parents left behind.
“Um, yes,” she choked out. “The company sent me to check on the house. For the family.”
“Are they thinking of selling?” he asked again.
No way would she ever sell the house. In her mind, it held all the memories of her and Lela with their parents. Those were the happy days when her father didn’t work and her mother didn’t rush off for luncheons with friends. At the ranch, it was just family.
God, how she missed those simpler times.
“No. The ranch will always belong to the Wolf family.” Well, to her. She was the only one left.
“That’s what I thought. So, how long are you staying? Did they ask you to check on anything else besides the Wolfs’ home?”
That sounded odd, but she didn’t know what else her family owned here besides the house. If memory served, they’d only ever come to spend vacations together, riding the horses in the spring and summer and skiing in the winter.
“Right now, my only concern is the house. Why?”
“No reason. Just making conversation.”
The tires rolled on over the road and she focused on the fluttering snow and hoped they didn’t hit a patch of ice and crash. That would make her uncle happy, and the last thing she wanted to do was please him in any way. No, she planned to destroy him one way or another. He thought she’d spent the last years of her life fooling around and playing the party girl. Well, he didn’t know who he was up against, and his ignorance and indifference to her would serve her well.
“I am so tired of the cold. Once the sun goes down, temperatures plummet this time of year.”
“I guess I should have packed my warmer coat,” she said lamely, turning to the side window and rolling her eyes. Nothing about this guy appealed to the senses. Unpleasant to look at, his gut hung over his waistband, and his overstretched shirt rode up on his hairy belly. His ruddy cheeks and nose made the rest of his face look pasty white. If that wasn’t enough, he needed a shower. Bad. But the way he kept looking at her made the creepy crawlies dance up her spine and over her skin. She hoped the roads stayed clear enough for them to make it to the ranch quickly. “How much farther is it?”
“Only about another twenty miles. Don’t worry. We’ll make it. I drive through thicker stuff than this all the time.”
“It’s just I’m cold and I can’t wait to be inside so I can warm up by a hot fire.” She only hoped the house still had the electricity turned on and wood for the fireplace. Either way, being at the house would be better than sitting next to Travis.
“If you’re cold, come on over here, darlin’. Ol’ Travis will keep you warm.” He reached over and traced his fingers over her shoulder and down her arm.
“Really, thank you, but I’m fine.”
“You’re all wet, ain’t ya?”
She didn’t like the suggestive way he said “wet.” It made her feel as dirty as the look in his eyes.
“Best way to get warm in weather like this is to use each other’s body heat. Lord knows this old truck’s heater can’t keep you as warm as I can.”
While she thought of a response, he reached over, grabbed her thigh, and pulled her leg closer to him. Too intimate and totally inappropriate. Fear washed through her chest, and she gasped, swatting his hand away. “Stop that.”
All he did was chuckle, but she didn’t find any comfort in the creepy sound.
“Come on, honey, scoot on over here and gi
ve ol’ Travis a little somethin’, somethin’.”
“Look, I’m not interested in anything but a ride.”
“I’ll give you the ride of your life.”
After the day she had, her trepidation turned to anger. “Really. This is how you think women want to be treated?”
“The way I see it, honey, you’ve got two options, me and this truck, or that there snowstorm.”
Trying to appeal to his sense of decency, if he had one, she said. “What will sweet Bev and all those other customers back at the coffee house say when they find out you dumped me on the road?”
“All they’ll know is what I tell them. That I fucked the hot chick in the front seat of my truck.”
“Not a single one of them will believe I gave into your charms, big guy.”
“Think you’re something special, do you?” He reached for her again, but she smacked his hand, stinging her fingers and hopefully his hand as well. He pulled back from her, but checked the mirrors and slammed on the brakes in the middle of the deserted road.
“If you haven’t noticed, bitch, we’re alone out here. No one will know if you and I did the nasty, so stop all this fussing. Come here and show me some appreciation.”
“All I want is a ride. I’m willing to pay you for it, but I am not sleeping with you to get it.”
“Just a little somethin’ for my trouble.” He reached for her again. This time his fingers dug into her thigh. He pulled her closer, leaning in to kiss her.
She leaned back, out of his reach, and pushed at his shoulders with her hands. The fear returned. Her heart thundered against her ribs. “Travis, stop. You don’t want to do this. You don’t even know me.”
“I know you’re probably the most beautiful woman who will ever come through here, and I want you.”
“Well, you can’t have me, you bastard. Let me go.” Her voice pitched high. Her nails dug into his hand, and his fingers clamped around her leg. Since he kept pulling at her, she unlatched her seat belt, turned her legs toward him, brought her feet up, and smashed them down into his lap, her heels digging into his groin. He bellowed in pain like a half-mad bull.
At Wolf Ranch Page 3