by Alice Sharpe
He dumped his own things into his suitcase. Within five minutes, they were back in the truck, driving out of Woodwind. Cassie’s gaze flickered between the windows and the mirrors. Her renewed nervousness electrified the interior of the cab.
“Tell me what’s going on,” he said.
“Is that blue van following us?”
He found the van in question by looking in his side mirror. It turned a block later and didn’t reappear. “No,” he said. “Cassie, what was in the paper?”
She turned wide eyes to him. “Let me start at the beginning, okay? Let me start with a rainy night.”
She hugged herself as she spoke. Cody listened without interrupting as she related hurrying to Vera Priestly’s bedside in the middle of the night to find the old woman seated in front of her window, where she claimed to have witnessed a murder down in her garden. He could easily envision the confusing shadows swirling in the stormy dark and the two women trying to make sense of them.
By the time they sped by the university, Cassie had recounted meeting up with Victoria Banner out by the river gate, and then Robert Banner dressed in robe and slippers, dripping wet, within minutes. When the search proved fruitless, their decision to talk to Mrs. Priestly rather than tell the older Banners what was going on seemed reasonable to him. Cody would have done the same thing, given what he’d seen of Emerson Banner.
“That night, when Robert and I spoke with her, she agreed it was either her imagination or a dream,” Cassie continued. “I thought that was the end of it, but the next morning she was agitated again. She made me help her into her wheelchair and we took a stroll in the garden. The weather was miserable, and I knew she shouldn’t be out in it, but she insisted. Then she sat by that window forever, staring down at the fountain until she asked me to once again take her outside. It was raining, but I did as she requested.”
Cody rubbed his face as he thought. “Do you know what Mrs. Priestly was looking for?”
“I’m not sure,” Cassie said. “She seemed real interested in the fountain and had me show her a broken paver. Then we went back inside, and she once again took up her post by her window.
“Of course, by then Victoria had noticed her mother was preoccupied and asked about it. Then while I cringed, Mrs. Priestly told Victoria what she thought she’d seen. Mrs. Banner couldn’t wait to get to the phone and call her husband. But Mrs. Priestly had a glint in her eye, and I got the feeling she’d purposely told her daughter, like it was a challenge of some kind.”
“Where was Banner?”
“He took off early that morning looking like the hounds of hell were after him. I heard Victoria tell Bridget, that’s Mrs. Banner’s maid, that Mr. Banner had gone into the office. I think he was trying to find a way to forestall an audit.”
Cody shook his head.
“Now this is where it all gets even stranger.” She paused for a moment, as though organizing her thoughts, forgetting to check the windows every few seconds. “Sometime in the late afternoon Mrs. Priestly was still sitting at that blasted window when she let out an audible gasp. I was reading nearby. When I looked up, I saw she’d drawn back from the glass as though she was afraid of being seen. I went to her side to make sure she was okay and looked down in the garden below. Robert was out there, but so were Emerson and Victoria Banner. And they were talking with Judge Taylor and Bert Gibbons.”
“And who are Judge Taylor and Bert Gibbons?”
“Oh, sorry. Taylor is a neighbor. Retired judge. He and his wife play golf with the Banners. Gibbons is Mrs. Priestly’s attorney. A while later, the judge and the lawyer came upstairs and asked Mrs. Priestly about what she’d seen. It was pretty obvious to me that the Banners had asked the judge to talk to her, that they were starting a campaign to have Mrs. Priestly ruled incompetent.”
“And that night she was killed?”
“No. The next day Mrs. Priestly had me call the attorney’s office, except I was supposed to ask for a different man than Gibbons. The lawyer who showed up was a lot younger. He talked with Mrs. Priestly alone in her room and then he left. Mrs. Priestly told me not to tell anyone else in the family about the visit. She was trembling by then and pale, and I was afraid for her. And that night, she was killed by an intruder who climbed into her bedroom.”
“Did the intruder take anything?”
“No. The police consensus is the killer didn’t expect to find anyone in that room and panicked. She was killed with her pillow. I read in the paper that it appeared to be an impromptu killing because the weapon wasn’t brought to the scene.”
“But you said Mrs. Priestly kept her valuables nearby.”
“Yeah, but out of sight, in a wall safe she often didn’t lock.”
“So, after her death, did anyone tell the investigating police about what Mrs. Priestly thought she witnessed?”
Obviously agitated, Cassie sat forward, hands waving as she spoke. “Yes, of course. They tore the backyard apart, but it had been raining for two or three days by then and they found nothing. If there was anything to find in the first place. That’s what we don’t know.”
“And you don’t think there was,” he said.
“I didn’t until I saw that article in the paper this morning.”
He thought about the page he’d scanned. “You mean the drowning victim pulled out of the river?”
“It’s been almost a week. It could be the man Mrs. Priestly said she saw killed.”
“Or it could be someone else.”
“I know, I know. It spooked me to see it. I guess I overreacted.”
“Well, when we speak to Sheriff Inkwell, we’ll tell him and let him do the follow-up—”
“No,” she interrupted. “I don’t want to talk to him.”
He heard the resolve in her voice. “Cassie, I thought we agreed we’d tell the sheriff everything.”
“And risk getting hauled back to Idaho? No thank you. No one followed us, no one knows who we are or where we live.”
“What about your landlord? He probably thinks you were blown to bits.”
“They won’t find any part of me in that rubble.”
“I don’t think we want him worrying about you. He may have already talked to the police or—”
“Cody, I called and left him a message, okay?”
“When did you call him?”
“This morning. From a pay phone.”
“You left the room?”
“Yes.”
“But I told you—”
“Let’s get something straight,” she said firmly, and the look she cast him stopped him dead. “I’m your wife. I don’t take orders. Just drop it, okay?”
He clamped his jaw shut but his mind was spinning at the realization that Cassie—who was ten years younger than he was and had always listened to and weighed his opinions—had apparently undergone some elemental changes.
Well, duh.
He was the one stuck in the past, trying to repeat old habits, relying on old feelings. If he wanted to stay married, he’d better figure out a way to win her trust back.
They passed a Jeep coming out of the gate as they drove under the Open Sky Ranch sign. A woman was behind the wheel and Cody exchanged a wave. “That’s Doctor Wilcox from the university,” he said, glad to have something less personal to talk about. “She’s in charge of recovering the Native American remains at the cave. There’s a big push now to get it done before the snow flies. I don’t think they’re going to make it.”
“Isn’t this kind of a roundabout way to get to the cave?”
“Very. They’d planned on using a different access but it didn’t work out, so they park up here in one of the pastures and take ATVs out to the site.”
They fell silent again as the road began the long descent into the valley where the ranch lay. He heard Cassie’s sharp intake of breath as they crested the hill and the panoramic sight of the valley below presented itself.
The rolling fields, dotted with cattle—many were still i
n the high pastures and would need to be brought to lower elevations before bad weather set in. The spreading buildings with their brick-red roofs, including the log house he’d remodeled before bringing his bride home. The river that bisected the land, the glistening lake beyond, Adam’s tall house sitting on the point near the lake, the fire damage of a few weeks before invisible from a distance. You couldn’t see it from here, but Pierce had started construction on a home for himself and Princess Analise, situated on the other side of the lake.
Then there were the airfield and hangar, plus the numerous barns and outbuildings, the equipment used for harvesting and hauling, the trucks and tractors that kept the place up and running.
All familiar and loved.
And as always, to him, welcoming.
“It looks wonderful,” Cassie said, her voice soft, the way he remembered. “I didn’t allow myself to miss it before, but oh, Cody, it all looks like home.” She reached over and put her hand on his leg. He glanced at her as he drove and saw her eyes were moist. It was her home. He was her home. Things would be okay now. The land would remind her of their life; the land would remind them both of their beginning.
But she wouldn’t be here now if someone hadn’t tried to kill her.
Still, she was here. That was what mattered.
He was glad the ranch would be bustling with activity and family. The sheer number of people would help them bridge the uncomfortable moments of being back where they started.
A few minutes later, he drove into the yard. He’d never seen it so empty.
“Where is everyone?” Cassie asked. Her voice sounded half disappointed and half relieved.
“I’m not sure.” Across the yard he saw Sassy Sally emerge from the barn carrying a bucket, Bonnie tagging along behind her, the stable hand, Mike, laughing by her side. Every time Cody saw Sally he shook his head at the incongruity of a statuesque Vegas showgirl giving up sequins and feathers for boots and jeans. She’d returned from vacation this year with an engagement ring and a fiancé who had moved to Woodwind to be closer to her, and she would soon be leaving the Open Sky for good.
The yellow Lab looked up first, saw Cody’s truck and shot toward them like a greased pig.
“Bonnie!” Cassie called, as she slid out of the truck. The dog immediately veered toward her. Cassie did her best to kneel and the dog wiggled into her arms.
“She’s shaking,” Cassie said, looking up at Cody.
“She’s just glad to see you.”
Sally squealed as she approached. “Oh, my goodness, Cassie, look at you! You’re going to have a baby any minute!”
Both women were tall blondes, although Cassie’s hair was natural and Sally’s came out of a bottle. Both were beautiful in their own way.
“Not any minute but soon,” Cassie said, as Cody held out a hand to help her straighten up.
Mike, a big, friendly guy with a bushel of curly black hair and a penchant for working out, took the bucket from Sally. “I’ll deliver the mash to Adam’s horse. You stay and visit,” he said, and loped off.
“Mike and I just got back from working on the gate over at Brandywine Gulch,” she said. “It’s a ghost town around here today with everyone at the Garvey trial.”
“Isn’t there a man named Garvey working here?” Cassie asked. “Lucas Garvey, right?”
“Lucas was killed last winter when he got mixed up in a kidnapping plot,” Cody said. “This trial is for the oldest Garvey son, Hank. He went off the deep end a few months ago and tried to kill Adam.”
“Wow,” Cassie said, blinking.
Cody thought about all the things that had happened in the past few months, things she knew nothing about, things he would have to tell her.
But not all at once.
“Is Pierce home yet?” Cassie asked Sally. “And the princess?”
“Nope. They’re still in Chatioux, but Adam mentioned they’re returning next week. Everyone else went to the trial today, except Jamie and your uncle Pete are out working on the pump.”
Cody was kind of glad no one else was home. This would give Cassie a chance to settle in. He grabbed his duffel out of the truck as Sally went back to work. Together, he and Cassie walked up the long walkway to the big front door. Bonnie stuck close to Cassie’s side.
Cassie veered off the walk, her hand trailing along the railing as she moved toward the pond at the far end of the porch. He’d built it himself as a wedding present, and watching her stare into the quiet depths made him smile. Everything would work out. She was home now. The worst was over.
A few minutes later, they were upstairs. She emitted an audible gasp when she opened the door of what had always been their bedroom.
“You didn’t change a thing,” she said, walking around the green-and-yellow room, pausing to glance at their wedding photo on the wall: the two of them astride Cody’s favorite gelding, Bandido, Cassie’s white dress and veil billowing behind them in the breeze.
She touched it briefly, then turned to face him. “It feels like a time warp in here. I’ll be honest—I’m surprised you kept it this way. I would have thought you’d have packed all my stuff away after a while.”
“I never gave up hope I’d find you,” he said, his voice gravelly.
“How could you stand to look at my things for all these months?”
“I couldn’t,” he admitted. “I slept down the hall.”
Did that sound as pathetic to her as it did to him? He waited for her to add something—anything—but the silence between them was deafening and he didn’t know how to break it.
She turned away and he took a steadying breath. When she glanced into the mirror over the vanity, their gazes met in the reflection, and for a second he hardly recognized her.
Suddenly he knew he couldn’t stand another moment of being so close to her and yet so far away. Mumbling something about chores, he left in a hurry. Bonnie trotted out after him.
THE ROOM CLOSED IN ON Cassie after Cody left, and for one long moment she wished he’d never found her. She kept seeing his eyes in the reflection—if ever a man had looked trapped, he had.
Trapped. The very thing she’d been afraid of. The very reason she hadn’t come home when she found out she was pregnant. It was all happening exactly as she’d anticipated.
Oh, yes, she knew he was glad she was here. There was a part of him that was obviously desperate to make things right, to rebuild the past. There wasn’t a doubt in Cassie’s mind that Cody had spent months reliving their last argument and blaming not only her but himself.
So he’d struggled to find her, and now the reality of what he’d found was hitting him in the middle of the face like a great big snow shovel.
And hitting her, too.
Because he was an honorable man, he would stand by her and their child forever. But if he retreated into himself the way his father had, what kind of life could they possibly have together? A wave of hopelessness drove her to sit on the edge of the bed, clutching her knees, head bowed, breathing deeply.
The baby delivered a few internal kicks, as though to put in his or her two cents. Something small and bony pressed back at her hands as she rubbed her skin, and she smiled and caught a sob at the same instant.
She had to get out of this room, away from this house.
A quick search of the closet revealed a green jumper she hadn’t worn in a couple of years. She found a turtle neck that stretched over her midsection, then put on the jumper. It was a little snug but at least it was clean. She also found a pair of brown boots and tugged them on over kneesocks. A hasty search of the bottom drawer produced a big sweater, which she pulled on as she descended the stairs.
Once outside, she found the keys to the blue truck where they usually were—in the ignition. It was one of the ranch trucks and normally would be pressed into service toting fencing wire and tools hither and yon. With everyone at the Garvey trial or otherwise occupied, the truck was free for the taking and she took advantage of it, squeezing behind t
he wheel with some difficulty.
She chose the road to the airstrip with no goal in mind other than to be alone. She passed the hangar that housed the ranch Cessna, traveling toward the hills until she couldn’t go any further. Then she parked the truck and got out. A path led uphill. The weather had deteriorated since she left the house, the clouds overhead darker and more dense. She wished she’d stopped to find a coat but knew the uphill climb would warm her up in a hurry. She tugged her blue scarf around her head and took off, wishing Bonnie was with her.
She’d given the dog to Cody for Christmas two years before. The ranch had always had dogs in the past, though there were none here now besides Bonnie, leastways, not as far as she knew. A Lab wasn’t a herding dog, so it wasn’t a work dog in this venue, and she knew Cody had been skeptical about her. But Bonnie had wormed her way into everyone’s hearts, especially Cassie’s. By the time Cassie left, she and Bonnie had become inseparable.
Who knew? Maybe she’d used the puppy as a surrogate child, pouring her love and nurturing into a dog because there was no baby.
Then. This was now. And Cassie could see Bonnie had transferred her loyalty to Cody. Just one more thing that had changed.
The path became increasingly steep and wooded, and she took a deep breath. As she walked, it was soothing to hear the crunch of the pine needles that covered a layer of last season’s aspen leaves. There was a sense of homecoming out here the time-warp bedroom hadn’t afforded. Soon there would be snow, and the world would become white and crisp.
Lots of distractions were in the offing. The holidays were coming, both Pierce and Adam were getting married, she was going to give birth.
And Cody, ready or not, was going to be a father.
Oh, and don’t forget the possibility you’ll wind up in jail.
There was a clearing up ahead, a spot on the edge of the hill that overlooked the lake. Farther up from that, a dirt road crisscrossed the land and provided access to a summer pasture.
The way was getting steep, but she’d spent most of her pregnancy pushing Mrs. Priestly’s wheelchair on daily treks through the neighborhood, so she had no trouble with the paths. She walked beside a seasonal stream for a while, then veered off toward the clearing and the big rock upon which she would rest before starting the return trip.