by B. J Daniels
“Brittany threw a fit, but she throws a fit when we’re out of cereal,” Caroline continued. “Patrick? Who knows? Shallow, dark waters, you know?” She chuckled at her joke.
Lillie felt a shiver roll up her spine at the memory of him in the stables. Both Brittany and Patrick had been so young at the time of their father’s death. She couldn’t help but wonder what finding her father murdered might have done to Brittany, let alone Patrick losing his father at such a young age.
“What about his partners in the construction company? I talked to them and got the impression they had something to hide.”
Caroline sat up a little straighter as if becoming wary now. “I never knew anything about Gordon’s other business ventures.”
“But surely you would know, since you were divorcing him and would get a percentage of everything, right?”
“Smart girl.” The woman eyed her with amusement and perhaps admiration. “The construction company was in trouble. Someone had been dipping too heavily into the pot. Gordon wanted out.”
She thought of the file folders Trask had found. Gordon had already been testing the waters with his own projects. She wondered how his two business partners, J.T. Burrows and Skip Fairchild, had taken that. “Who was stealing the money?” she asked, thinking about what Trask had told her about Johnny.
Caroline looked as if she’d already said too much. She shrugged.
Skip Fairchild, Lillie thought. “You were close to one of the partners. Not that I think you would resort to blackmail, but you could have had the leverage to get him to do anything you wanted. Including kill your husband.”
Caroline carefully put down her glass. “It’s late. While this has been...entertaining, I think it’s time for you to go.”
“I’m going to find out who killed your husband.” The threat hung in the air as the woman showed her to the door.
* * *
FLINT SAT ON Maggie’s couch, hat in hand dangling between his knees, the weight of the world pressing down on his shoulders. She might have felt sorry for him if she wasn’t so angry. She had a theory and if she was right...
Maggie said nothing for a long time after he apologized for ruining their date again, but he couldn’t tell her about sheriff’s business.
“Just tell me one thing,” she said, surprised how calm she sounded given how angry she was. “The reason you had to cancel our date again... Was it because of another of Celeste’s stunts?”
He groaned. “Maggie—”
She held up a hand as she got to her feet. He thought she was simply jealous of Celeste. “Just tell me. You don’t have to tell me any specifics. One simple question. Was it because of Celeste?”
“It isn’t what you think.”
“Really? What is it you think I think? That Celeste ruined another of our dates on purpose? That whenever she calls, you go running? That you’re not over her?”
He said nothing, just hung his head.
Maggie let out a laugh that felt closer to a sob. “So it was her, just as I thought.” She shook her head. She couldn’t believe this—not that Celeste had done it again, but that Flint didn’t see through the woman. “Can’t you see that she will do anything for your attention?”
“I told you, it wasn’t like that.” He looked up, pain in his eyes. For a moment she almost weakened.
“I don’t want to do this anymore.” The words were out before she could stop them. It hurt too bad. She would have put up a fight for Flint if the playing field had been even. But Celeste had a hold on the man that Maggie feared he’d never be able to shake off.
“Maggie, you may not like her, but—”
“Flint, don’t you dare defend her to me.”
“I’m not. It’s just that you can’t believe she’s so manipulative that...”
“She’s more than manipulative. The call the other night about the ladder leaning against her shed. Yes, she told me about it when I ran into her at the grocery store.”
“I’m sure she told you she felt foolish.”
“See, that’s the problem, Flint. You still don’t see through her and because of that you will go running whenever she crooks her little finger.”
“That’s not true.”
“Did I mention that I saw Celeste earlier at the dress shop? She knew about our date, Flint.” Maggie scowled at him. “Two dates, both ruined by your ex. I can’t even imagine what she’ll pull next time. Except there isn’t going to be a next time.”
He looked up, his gray eyes filled with hurt. “What are you saying?”
“That if we tried to date again, I would be waiting for your phone to ring and of course it would be Celeste with something that required your help.”
“Maggie, you’re talking nonsense. Look at all the other dates we went on that Celeste didn’t interrupt.”
She smiled and nodded. “But once she saw you getting a little serious, look what happened. Oh, she’ll tell you she feels terrible that she spoiled what you and I had, but, Flint, get a clue. The woman is never going to let you go.”
With that, she walked to the door. “As long as Celeste is in your life, I can’t be. I’m sorry.” She opened the door.
He slowly got to his feet. “You have no reason to be jealous—”
“Tell yourself that’s all it is. Just me being jealous. Just me overreacting. Me being irrational.” Maggie shook her head. “Your ex is dangerous. Maybe one day you’ll see that before it’s too late.” He said nothing as he walked out.
* * *
“I WENT OUT to the Lazy G Bar Q and talked to Caroline.”
Trask couldn’t believe what he was hearing on the other end of the phone. He’d turned off his cell earlier and had just turned it back on to call Lillie to check on her and tell her what he’d learned from Johnny. Earlier, he’d told her not to do any more investigating. She knew how dangerous it was. What had she been thinking?
“Lillie, are you crazy? After what happened earlier at the cabin, don’t you realize how dangerous this is? If Caroline killed her husband—”
“She isn’t going to risk killing me. Everyone believes you killed Gordon. A murder now would look rather suspicious, don’t you think?”
He let out an exasperated breath. “Where are you now?”
“I’m headed back home.” The winding road followed the spring creek, a famous trout stream. A sliver of moon high over the pines peeked in and out of the clouds. “I have a new theory I wanted to share with you. Caroline told me that someone had been stealing money from the construction company. If it was Skip Fairchild, she could have used that information to blackmail him into killing Gordon.”
“It wasn’t Skip. Johnny just confessed to me that it was his father.”
“So Caroline either didn’t know or she wasn’t telling,” Lillie said. “Still, I think I hit a nerve.”
“Yes, accusing someone of first having an affair, then blackmailing her lover into killing her husband could hit a nerve. Lillie, I told you—”
“Also, I found out who Flint’s eyewitness is. I hope you’re sitting down. It was Brittany.”
Trask cursed under his breath. “I know who Brittany really saw. Johnny. He swears Gordon was alive when he left.”
Lillie let out a surprised sound. “But soon after, Brittany found her father murdered.”
“I know. I think J.T. might have been involved, but still there is no proof.”
“And from what I was able to find out, there was little forensic evidence. According to Caroline, Gordon was hit from behind with a shovel, then, when he was down, stabbed with a pitchfork. But there were no fingerprints on either weapon. But once Johnny tells Flint what he told you...”
Trask didn’t have the heart to tell her that he didn’t expect that to happen. “Lillie, I don’t want you
doing this. I told you. It’s too dangerous.” Lillie didn’t answer. “Did I lose you?” Cell phone coverage was sketchy across most of Montana except right in town.
“I’m still here. There’s a vehicle with its high beams on coming up behind me. The idiot is driving way too fast for this road.”
His stomach dropped. “Lillie, pull over and let him pass. Lillie, did you hear me?”
“It’s a pickup. I hit my brakes, but the fool driver didn’t get the hint to dim his headlights. He’s right on my butt.”
Trask’s throat went dry. “Lillie, listen to me. Pull over, let him pass, maybe that’s all he wants.” But he had a bad feeling that wasn’t the case at all.
He heard the crunch of metal. Then Lillie’s gasp. “He just ran into the back of my truck!” There was more crunching metal and Lillie’s scream. The phone went dead.
Hurriedly, he dialed 9-1-1. Even after he’d reported the accident, not leaving his name, even as he raced toward the canyon where Lillie had been driving, he knew the sheriff would get there before he could.
Lillie. What had he gotten her into? He prayed that she was all right as he raced out of the mountains.
Mentally, he kicked himself for coming back. None of this would be happening if he’d stayed away. But even as he thought it, he knew that he’d had no choice but to come back.
* * *
FLINT WALKED AWAY from the best thing that had happened to him in a very long time. He desperately wanted to go back, to hold Maggie, to convince her that she was wrong. Yes, Celeste had spoiled two of their dates, but that was no reason to call off their relationship.
He started to go back to try to reason with her, but he was exhausted. Maybe tomorrow when Maggie was thinking more clearly. When he had some sleep.
Did he believe that his ex had hurt herself to keep him from making love to Maggie? That would make her a psychopath. Just as her new husband had accused her.
Celeste was...demanding, spoiled rotten and, yes, manipulative, but to hurt herself?
And if she had done exactly what Maggie suspected? Then dating Maggie would put her in danger.
That thought had come out of left field. It made his blood turn to slush. If Celeste was capable of doing such a thing, then hurting someone else would come too easy to her.
Fear paralyzed him as he drove away. At the same time, his heart ached. He’d found someone he could love. Someone who could love him back. Was he going to let a woman unhappy with her own life keep him from finding happiness?
He felt as if he’d been in a three-ring bout and had lost. He was about to head home to his empty house when he checked his phone. With a curse, he realized he’d turned it off during his visit with Maggie. He had a call from the sheriff’s department dispatcher marked urgent.
“The caller wouldn’t leave his name, but he said that your sister, Lillie, had been run off the road by someone driving a pickup.” The dispatcher gave him the directions on where the caller had thought the accident had happened. “He said he’d been on the phone with her when it happened. I just talked to Harp, who took the call. He said the EMTs have taken her to the hospital.”
Flint hurriedly called the hospital. Lillie had just been admitted. She was scratched and bruised but had no other apparent injuries. The doctor was keeping her overnight for observation, though.
Being closer to where Lillie had been allegedly forced off the road by the driver of a pickup, he headed in that direction first.
As he came around a bend in the road, he spotted Lillie’s pickup upside down in the creek, its headlights shooting a beam back up at the road. Harp was still there taking photos and measurements in the headlights of his patrol SUV.
Flint could see the skid marks on the highway. Several bushes had been wiped out as Lillie’s pickup had left the road and rolled, only to come to rest in the middle of the stream.
“Does it appear she was forced off the road?” Flint asked his deputy.
“Sure looks that way to me,” Harp agreed. “There are other skid marks up the highway and broken glass from her taillights as well as another vehicle’s headlights.”
“Get photos of all of it, then have her pickup taken to the evidence garage. I want to know about any paint or damages that might show up from the truck that ran her off the road.”
When the doctor finally let him go into her hospital room, Flint found Lillie sitting up in bed.
“Brittany? Brittany Quinn is your eyewitness?” his sister demanded.
It took him a moment to figure out what she was talking about. He’d thought this was about her accident. But no, it was about Trask and the murder.
“Who told you that?” he asked as he pulled up a chair next to her bed.
“Caroline.”
“So that’s what you were doing on that road tonight.” Flint sighed. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Trying to find out who really murdered Gordon Quinn. And the fact that someone ran me off the road proves that I’m onto something.”
He groaned. “Or that the person behind the wheel of the pickup that hit you was drunk.” He didn’t believe this any more than she did. He wished it had been a drunk. Instead, it was probably a killer.
“The driver wasn’t drunk. He or she crashed into the back of my truck and then forced me off the road and into the creek. When you find that truck and driver, you’ll have your killer.”
If only it was that simple. “The 9-1-1 dispatcher said that a man called in the accident. You probably wouldn’t know anything about that.”
“I was upside down in the creek, so no, I don’t. Probably just some driver who came by and saw me hanging there.”
“Right, except that the dispatcher said the mysterious caller told her that he was on the phone with you when you were forced off the road.”
She said nothing.
“Isn’t it time you tell me the truth?”
His sister crossed her arms over her chest. “The person Brittany saw leaving the stables—if she saw anyone—was Johnny Burrows. His father, J.T., had been embezzling money from the construction company and Gordon had found out and was going to come to you with the information. Gordon pulling out of the company would have bankrupted it. And it can’t be a coincidence that after I talked to Caroline Quinn, I was run off the road and almost killed.”
Flint stared at Lillie. He shouldn’t have been surprised that her stirring all this up again had turned up evidence he hadn’t gotten nine years ago.
What surprised him was that he’d been so sure Trask Beaumont had killed Gordon, that he hadn’t done as thorough a job as he should have, he realized now. He’d been blinded by fear that his sister was involved with a dangerous man from the wrong side of the tracks. He’d wanted Trask Beaumont out of her life. So it had been easy to believe the man guilty after he’d run.
“That’s pretty impressive,” Flint said, realizing something else. “How long have you been in contact with Trask?”
She turned her gaze toward the window, her face closing over with Cahill stubbornness.
“Lillie,” he said with a groan. “Isn’t it possible that you’re blinded by your feelings for this man, who ran away nine years ago and ran out on you, as well?”
“You don’t understand,” Lillie cried. “He ran because he was scared—and rightly so, given the way you felt about him.”
“You might be right about that.”
“You couldn’t possibly understand how I feel about him. He’s the only man I have ever loved. The only man I will ever love.”
“You think I’m incapable of loving someone like that?”
“Please, don’t compare how I feel about Trask to how you felt about Celeste. Or is it feel? Are you trying to tell me that you’re still in love with her?” She sounded horrified.
“No. I wasn’t thinking of her.”
She rubbed her temples as if her head hurt. “Wait, did you just admit that maybe you were wrong about Trask?”
Flint nodded. “I might have rushed to judgment on him, yes. But he’s still a suspect, Lillie. If he killed Gordon, he’s going to prison.”
“He didn’t.”
Her faith in the man she loved made him wince. Lillie would do anything for Trask. She’d been ready to leave with him nine years ago, leave everything behind.
He thought of Maggie. He’d let Celeste come between them. He didn’t blame Maggie for not trusting him. No woman wanted a man who dropped everything and ran to his ex whenever she called. He’d told himself that he was the sheriff, he had to go when he got calls from the office like he had the other night.
But he could have let his undersheriff handle it, although he now suspected that Celeste would have escalated the situation until he came down there.
“You’re lucky,” he said to his sister.
“Lucky?” She looked ready to fight, as if she thought he was mocking her.
“Yes, lucky. There is no question about what you want and what you will do to get it.”
She waited as if expecting a but.
“I’ve made a mess of my love life.” He saw his sister’s surprise. “You actually inspire me.”
She laughed nervously at that. He’d never opened up to her like that and he could tell it made her uncomfortable. “What would you do if Trask came back?” she asked without looking at him.
He felt his heartbeat jump. So that was what all of this was about. “I would take him in for questioning, along with a lot of others. If he’s innocent—”
“He is.”
Flint nodded. “Then he would go free.”
“Then you have to find the pickup that ran me off the road and you’ll have the killer.”
“I have deputies looking for it as we speak.”
“Can’t you track down paint chips or something?”
“Or something.” Flint got to his feet. “I’d ask if you were all right, but the way you’re giving orders, I’d say you’re fine.”