Murderous Secrets: A Shandra Higheagle Mystery #4

by Paty Jager

  “Why did you make sure Father rode Loco?” Shandra asked.

  His body stiffened, and his face wrinkled into the glower he gave her more times than not while she’d lived here. “Are you insinuating I manipulated that ride?”

  “Yes. We talked with Melody Dean. She says that day both you and your father were drawing the animals for the day. Which was unusual. Why were you in there?” Shandra asked.

  “My dad wanted me to start stepping up and taking over his roles at the rodeos. I was there to learn how the process worked.” Adam stared at her, his blue eyes never flinching.

  “Ms. Dean said after the president, your father, and you left the room, there was one of the horse’s names on a slip of paper on the floor. Like it had been tossed and another name put in its place.” Ryan remained at her back.

  His statement made her mother’s eyebrows raise and Adam’s lower, forming a scowl on his face.

  “All I can add is, I didn’t think Loco was to be used for that round. It was the final round. We usually used the rankest stock for the last day when the money was on the line.” His gaze touched on Shandra’s face. “You’re correct. He wasn’t a good bucker. That’s why I was surprised his name had come up.”

  “Who picked the horse for Shandra’s father? You or your father?” Ryan asked.

  Shandra felt every nerve in her body tighten.

  Adam didn’t even hesitate. “My dad. After he picked it, he made the comment, ‘Let’s see that Injun make money with that horse.’” Adam patted her mother’s hand resting on his shoulder. “I didn’t think too much of it at the time. My father didn’t think Native Americans should compete in rodeos.”

  “And you took a similar view, didn’t you?” Shandra said, not keeping her disgust out of her comment. “Only you felt we shouldn’t be allowed to do anything that a Whiteman did.”

  Adam’s face reddened.

  She couldn’t stop the years of hurt and anger that poured forth the words. “How did it make you feel when you realized your princess had slept with an Indian? And had become pregnant? Did you plan out the best way to get rid of him? A way that kept your hands clean?” Shandra started shaking.

  Her mother gasped, and Adam’s face turned scarlet as his cheeks puffed out in fury.

  Ryan placed his hands on her shoulders. “Calm down,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Mr. Malcolm, I’d like to know why, if your father is the one who switched the horses on Edward Higheagle, that the M Ranch Rough Stock Company is paying for Melody Dean’s nursing home and why a semi-truck ran us off the road after visiting with her earlier in the week?”

  Ryan’s calm questions and his hands on her shoulders, calmed Shandra. She knew an outburst would get her nowhere, but it felt good to get the anger out.

  Adam ran a hand over his face.

  Her mother backed away from Adam.

  “Did you have something to do with Edward’s death? You knew I was in the process of getting a divorce. You didn’t have to…” her voice faded as Adam stood and walked toward her.

  “I swear I had nothing to do with Edward’s death. But Melody’s niece came to me six months ago with the story that Melody said the ride that killed Edward Higheagle was fixed. The niece said if I didn’t pay for the nursing home, she’d tell the rodeo association we’d fixed a ride where a rider was killed. That would ruin everything my family has built. I couldn’t let her do that, so I figured it was an investment. When she told me the story, I realized what my dad had done. But I swear—” he faced Ryan and stared him straight in the eye, “—I know nothing about the painkillers. But that would make sense of why the best bronc rider fell off the worst bucking horse.”

  Shandra watched her stepfather closely. She’d learned to read when he was telling a lie from hearing what he’d tell her mother after he’d told someone what they wanted to hear but wasn’t the truth. He wasn’t tapping his fingers on his left thigh. He was telling the truth. His dad was the one who switched the horses. But what about the painkillers and the man who tried to run them off the road?

  “Do you think your father would have gone as far as to pay someone to drug my father? Did Melody’s niece call you after we left the nursing home?” Shandra needed more answers.

  Adam shook his head. “I don’t think my dad wanted Edward hurt, just knock him down a peg in the standings. And if you think I sent someone to run you off the road, you are wrong. I didn’t receive any calls from Melody’s niece.” He put an arm around her mother and peered into her face. “I’ll admit, I’ve not treated you as fair as I should and did feel jealous every time I looked at you. I wanted to have children with your mother, but she had such a rough delivery with you, it wasn’t a chance I could take.”

  Shandra knew to be the bigger of the two or three she should accept his apology. But at the moment she wasn’t ready.

  Ryan must have sensed it. “We’ll be going now. Thank you for your answers.” He grasped her hand and led her out of the room.

  “Shandra, wait!” her mother called.

  She was torn. It was her mother, but she’d sided every day of Shandra’s life with Adam. A man who had just admitted he’d been unkind and jealous of her.

  “I’m not coming back for your dinner.” Shandra glanced at Ryan. “I won’t be back until I know the truth and I can accept the way you’ve treated me.” She squeezed Ryan’s hand. “I have found the place I wish to live, surrounded by people who care about me. Good-bye, Mother.” Shandra walked out the door and her heart felt lighter than it had in twenty-nine years.

  Ryan opened the door of the Jeep. Once she was seated, he leaned in. “Are you sure this is how you want to leave things? The way you said good-bye it sounded like you won’t be back or talk to them.”

  “I’m not sure how I feel about the two of them right now. But saying good-bye after hearing all that, I feel free.” She put a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry you were dragged into my dysfunctional family life.”

  “I’m not. I wondered how you had become such a strong woman. Now I know.” He kissed her cheek and closed the door.

  A premonition this was the start of a new life for her, made her giddy inside. But there were still so many unanswered questions.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Ryan pulled out of the Malcolm Ranch with his mind spinning. The dead Walter Malcolm was the one who switched up the horses. But not to hurt Edward Higheagle, to discredit him. And he believed Adam when he said he didn’t do it or know of the painkillers. Shandra’s mother had looked stunned.

  “Did your aunt say anything about your mother picking you up the day your father died?” There was something missing. A piece that he couldn’t quite wrap his mind around.

  “No. Do you want me to ask her?” Shandra twisted in the seat.

  He liked when she did this, giving him her full attention as he drove. “Yes. We need to see if your mother’s story stands, and then we need to figure out who hated your father enough to slip him the painkillers.”

  “Why is it important to discover what my mother did?”

  “We have to establish who said your father took painkillers. If it wasn’t your mother we need to know who. I’m going to request all the records on the case, including the coroner’s report. There has to be a note somewhere that states who gave that false information to the coroner or the police.”

  “And that person would be the one who gave him the pills.” Shandra nodded her head.

  Ryan liked her quick mind. “Yes. Only the person who was covering up for their part in the murder would have given the false information.”

  “What about what Melody said about Dicky hitting her for saying they should tell someone about the improper procedure that day?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that. You said Edward beat up Dicky for knocking your mother

  around. Was Dicky working that rodeo?” Ryan asked.

  Shandra shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I have all the information about all the participants, even
the volunteers. I can look it up when we get home.”

  “Call your aunt and ask about your mother. When you’re done, I’ll pull over at the next wide spot. You can drive while I make phone calls to get the process in motion to get all the records we need.”

  Shandra dug in her purse for her phone. She punched a number and held it to her ear. “Aunt Jo? This is Shandra.” She listened. “Yes, I’m fine. I need to know when Mother picked me up the day Father died.”

  Ryan glanced over. Her brows were furrowed, and she tapped her chin with her left pointer finger.

  “I see. So she didn’t arrive at your house until after the police had called and told you about Father.” She listened. “And Mother didn’t even know he was dead? If she had been at the rodeo she would have known.” Shandra nodded. “Thank you.”

  She glanced over at Ryan. “Yes, it’s a big help.”

  “No,” she shook her head, “we don’t know anything yet.”

  “Yes, I’ll let you know what I discover. Bye.” Shandra tapped the off button on her phone and peered at him.

  Ryan caught a glimpse of what looked like revulsion on Shandra’s face before she faced him.

  “My mother wasn’t even at the rodeo when my father died.” She paused, inhaled, and then exhaled. “There is only one place she could have been and that was in someone else’s bed.”

  “Don’t jump to conclusions—” Ryan tried to slow down her accusations of her mother.

  “I’m not jumping. Once Adam put in his appearance to match the riders and the stock, he wouldn’t have to be there the rest of the day. I bet that’s why they didn’t know all the facts about the ‘accident.’” Shandra wiped her coat sleeve across her eyes. “She was sleeping with Adam while my father was…” She snapped her head toward the window and peered out.

  Ryan passed two wide spots waiting for Shandra to pull herself together. She was jumping to conclusions, but he had to admit with all they knew, there was a pretty good chance her conclusion was accurate.

  When she turned her attention to the road in front of the Jeep, Ryan found a wide spot and pulled over. “Ready to take the wheel?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  The roads from here to Missoula were snowy enough that he didn’t want to be distracted while he drove. Talking to his family, even in an official capacity would still be distracting. He stepped out of the Jeep and walked around to the passenger side. Shandra was already out and passing him. Ryan reached out, grasping her arm, and pulling her to him. “You are your father’s daughter. You’re strong, determined, and talented. Don’t let your mother’s actions take any of that away from you.”

  She kept her gaze trained on his hand on her arm. “Once this is over, I’ll have a talk with my mother. But I’m pretty sure, what she’ll tell me and what I’ll say to her.”

  Ryan raised an eyebrow. “What will you say to her?”

  “You chose your life, and now I’ll choose mine.” She stared up into his eyes.

  He saw strength and determination. “That’s what I like to see.”

  Ryan leaned over and kissed her lips. He knew he had to take things slow with her, but this was a moment that screamed in his head to kiss her.

  “What was that for?” Shandra asked, her eyes finally looking sharp and alive.

  Since the realization her mother could have been unfaithful the day her father died, there had been a veil of sadness in them.

  “For being a strong, independent woman that makes me happy to know.” He released her and climbed into the passenger side.

  Shandra smiled, shook her head, and rounded the front of the Jeep. Once she was behind the wheel and they were back on the road, Ryan pulled out his phone and started calling in favors.

  The first call went to his sister Cathleen at the dispatch desk of the Wieppe County Sheriff’s Office.

  “Hey, little brother. I heard you’ve been spending time with Shandra,” Cathleen said upon answering his call.

  “I still am. I need you to help me get copies of a rodeo accident that happened…” he glanced over at Shandra. “What date did the accident happen?”

  “June fifteenth, nineteen eighty-one at two-forty-two p.m. at the Western Stampede Rodeo in Dayton County, Washington.”

  Ryan knew Shandra had been obsessed with her father’s death but knowing all the information off the top of her head, confirmed her obsession. He repeated the information to Cathleen.

  “That’s a long time ago. Was this a homicide?” Cathleen asked.

  “It was recorded as an accident, but we have reason to believe it was murder.”

  “We? As in another officer?”

  He cringed. He was asking Cathleen to put her neck on the line to get him information he should be going through the proper channels to get. “Shandra has reason to believe, and I also have reason to believe, after speaking to people involved, that her father’s death wasn’t an accident.”

  “You’re supposed to pass cold crimes over—”

  “When I investigated the skeleton she dug up that was a cold crime, no one made me pass it off.” He sighed. “Sis, a crime is a crime, whether it happened today or thirty years ago. I have knowledge that someone else wouldn’t call relevant. But putting it together with what we do know, it is looking more and more like someone murdered Edward Higheagle.”

  “Okay. You sure you shouldn’t have become a lawyer?” She chuckled.

  “No way. I don’t like wearing a suit. Thanks. Send me the copies when you get them. I’m especially interested in who was interviewed and gave the statement Edward was taking painkillers.”

  “It may take a couple days. Hey! You could bring Shandra to Christmas Eve dinner and Mass,” Cathleen suggested.

  “We’ll talk about that later. Thanks.” Ryan hung up on his sister and turned his attention to Shandra.

  She glanced over at him. “Were you able to convince her to help us?” Her gaze went back to the road.

  “Yes. But it could take a couple days to get the information.”

  “I know. We’re asking a lot of your sister. Will she get in trouble?”

  “Only if the Sheriff finds out.” Since he was hired as the Weippe County Detective, Cathleen had dug up information for him many times. Most of the time it was per protocol, but there had been many times that he’d asked her to dig up something based on his gut. The lawyers didn’t like gut instinct to try and win cases on. They wanted facts and all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed in the reports. They tended to not like to work with police who didn’t make them a clean case.

  Shandra rolled her head and shook out her shoulders as she drove into Missoula. Ryan had made three more calls and appeared to have made all he’d planned. She hadn’t slept well the night before dreading this trip. Now that it was over, she was having trouble staying awake. Even with the anger simmering in her stomach about her mother.

  “You’ll need to take over if you’ve finished your calls.” She pulled the Jeep into a coffee shop on the outskirts of the city.

  “I’m done. Why didn’t you tell me you were tired? I could have waited to call until we stopped here.” Ryan exited the Jeep and met her at the driver’s side.

  “I thought I could do it.” She accepted his hand as he led her into the coffee shop.

  They sat in a booth and ordered a late lunch.

  “What I don’t understand,” Shandra said, “is if Adam didn’t send someone to run us off the road after we talked to Melody, who did?”

  “Maybe the person with the most to lose if this is all brought out in the open.”

  Shandra peered into Ryan’s eyes. “The niece? Because Melody most likely doesn’t know that M Ranch Rough Stock Company is paying for her nursing home.”

  “I had Cathleen look her up right after we met. I had a feeling she was being too defensive.” Ryan pulled out his phone. “Cathleen forwarded the files to my phone.” He skimmed through messages. “Marsha isn’t Melody’s niece. She was a Harmond before she married.
She is Dicky’s illegitimate daughter. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dicky told her to use Melody to get some money out of M Ranch Rough Stock Company.”

  “But if Adam is paying the nursing home, how could the niece get the money?” Shandra asked.

  Ryan scrolled some more, read, and looked up. “The niece works in the billing department of the nursing home. She is charging Adam twice the room rate. I’m not sure how she’s getting the rest. I’ll send a request to the D.A. in that county to look into the nursing home’s records.”

  Shandra took a sip of her hot tea and peered over the cup at Ryan. “She could have sent someone to run us off the road.”

  Ryan nodded. “I have a feeling she has more of her daddy’s genes in her than Melody knows about.”

  Worry shot through Shandra. “Do you think she’ll harm Melody?”

  “No. The longer she stays alive the more money Marsha will get. I think Melody is safe. Unless Adam tells her to go fly a kite now that we know about his father’s part in the horse selection that day.”

  Shandra’s heart thudded in her chest. Melody had been hurt enough by the Harmonds. She didn’t want her actions to bring her more harm. “I should call Adam and tell him not to say or do anything until we discover who gave Father the painkillers.”

  “That’s a good idea.” Ryan leaned back as the waitress placed their orders in front of them.

  Shandra pulled out her phone but had to steel herself to actually make the call. She’d been cold to her mother when they left, but now that she knew her mother wasn’t even at the rodeo that day... She wasn’t certain she could be civil to the woman who gave her life.

  But an innocent woman’s life depended on this call. She inhaled, released the air, and pushed her mother’s number. She’d be nice for now. After this was over—her mother would have a lot of explaining to do.

  “Shandra, I’m so glad you—”

  “I’m not calling to recant what I said,” she interrupted. “You have to make sure Adam doesn’t call Marsha Smith and tell her he’s no longer paying for Melody Dean’s nursing home. I’m afraid if he does, she’d hurt Melody. He needs to wait until we discover who drugged Father before he can stop paying. Please make sure he waits.”