by Alice Sharpe
Using the tissues, he opened the two latches.
A large velvet drawstring bag lay inside the box. Cody picked up the bag, again using the tissue, and shook the contents on to the grill.
A dazzling explosion of white light met their gazes. Diamonds galore.
Cody separated the pieces with one of his keys. When he was finished, there were six diamond necklaces and one ring. But the ring was a sparkler with a green sizzle—an emerald the size of a blueberry, set in a floral diamond setting. A ring that Cassie had last seen when she wrapped it in a washcloth and sent it to the Banners.
“That jerk!” Cassie said, her hands balled into fists. “He had it the whole time. And the necklaces, too. Is there anything else in that box?”
“The stub of a pencil and a razor blade,” Cody said. “Oh, and a couple of rubber bands, a scrap of paper with nothing on it and another shard of that glass. But we don’t know that Emerson put this stuff out here. Any of them could have. It has to be some insurance scam.”
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Cassie said, glancing at her watch. They’d lingered in the garden for too long and suddenly the windows facing the fountain all seemed like watchful eyes. It was getting late and the autumn light was fading quickly. “We need to leave.”
Cody replaced the jewelry in the plastic box, still careful not to touch anything. While he did that, Cassie used more tissues to wipe down the smooth surfaces of the grillwork that they’d touched. “Hurry,” she said, looking around fretfully.
“Why? Do you hear something?”
“No.” But the word had barely left her lips when her ears picked up the faint, distinctive sound of a tired old motor followed by a banging sound. She’d heard that sound many, many times before.
“That’s the garage door opener,” she said. “Mrs. Banner must be home.”
“Didn’t you want to talk to her and Donna?”
“Not like this and not after what we’ve found. No thanks. I’ll think of another way to help Robert.”
“Does either woman come outside this time of day?”
“Not often, but Mrs. Banner does tend to go to her room and change clothes before dinner. Her window is that one right there,” Cassie added, pointing at a glass rectangle one floor up and two down from Mrs. Priestly’s. “We have to leave.”
Cody started to replace the box.
“Wait, what are you doing?”
“I’m putting everything back the way it was.”
“No, no, no,” she said quickly. “Cody, that box is the only proof we have I didn’t mess with the jewelry.”
“I know it is. We’ll call the police—”
“No. If Mrs. Banner sees us out here when we leave and if she’s the one who hid this stuff it’ll be gone by the time the police get here.”
“We’ll stand right here and guard it until they come. We can call Deputy what’s-his-name. Tucker.” He took out his cell phone.
“Get serious,” she said, then jerked as she realized the downstairs lights had switched on. “Tucker thinks I blew up an apartment. He probably thinks I framed Mr. Banner, too, and there’s no getting around the fact we’re trespassing. I do not want to spend the night in the Cherrydell jail. Let’s think of something else.”
The garden lights flashed on, catching them both off guard, and they flinched. Many of the shadowed corners were suddenly illuminated, though their area stayed relatively obscure.
“Cody! Please, don’t replace that box.”
“I won’t.” He dashed across the diamond to the fountain and grabbed the loose paver. A moment later he knelt down and jabbed it in the hole in the pillar. It wasn’t a perfect fit, and if anyone looked, they’d see right away that it had been tampered with.
A new light flickering on in the house caught Cassie’s attention. This time what she saw momentarily stopped her heart beating in her chest. Emerson Banner stood framed in the third-story window, and it looked as if he was staring right at her.
She gasped.
Cody must have sensed her panic. He turned to look where her gaze was directed. “Damn,” he muttered, and immediately tucked the box and the brick attached to it under his arm and grabbed Cassie’s hand. They didn’t exchange a word, just made for the river gate. A moment later, they’d unlatched it and exited the property.
Cassie caught sight of a walker coming along the bank from the East. There were seldom people out here on a cold afternoon, and she was surprised. She couldn’t make out who it was; hopefully, if she couldn’t see his face, he couldn’t see hers. She tugged on Cody’s hand, pointed at the walker and they took off.
“This way,” she whispered, and they headed down toward the river, angling west, moving along the path as quickly as they dared. But they didn’t make it far until Cassie, who was in front, tripped over something and started to fall.
Cody caught her.
“What is it?” he said, but at the same instant, they both realized exactly what “it” was.
A body lay across the path.
At the realization of what had tripped her Cassie wasn’t sure if she was going to throw up or faint. She sank abruptly to the top of a large rock as Cody knelt to check.
“Is he—”
“Dead? Very. Maybe a day or so. Looks like half his head is caved in.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“Never seen him.
Cassie steeled herself for a glance.
What was left of the man’s face belonged to a stranger. He had dark hair and was wearing jeans, running shoes and a jacket.
One arm extended toward the river which was about ten feet away. The other lay palm upward, above his head. The jacket sleeve had ridden up his arm, revealing his wrist. In the fading light, Cassie could just make out a tattoo of a heart filled with the letters D C.
She took a shallow breath, very aware of the smell of death. “I think it’s Kevin Cooke, Donna’s husband.”
“What’s that bulge under his jacket?” Cody asked.
“Where?”
He picked up a stick and lifted the hem to reveal a gun jammed in the waistband of the dead man’s jeans. Just about all that showed of it was the ivory white grip. “What do you want to bet that belongs to Emerson Banner?” Cody said, letting the jacket fall back into place. “We have to call the cops.”
She shook her head. “No.”
“There’s no choice—”
“We’re standing here with stolen property,” she reminded him, nodding at the box still tucked under his arm, “next to a man who it appears has been trying to kill me. Look at those shoes—Sally saw shoes just like them. This is the gunman. Let’s call the murder in anonymously. No one knows we’re here.”
“Are you forgetting Banner?”
“If he’d seen us he would have come after us. No one knows…?.”
They looked at each other as her voice trailed off. Suddenly, they were both standing. Cassie had just flashed on the walker they’d seen a few minutes before and judging by the way Cody’s gaze darted up the hazy trail, so had he.
“Time to leave,” he said, throwing the stick into the river.
He got no argument from her.
Chapter Fifteen
They stopped briefly at a pay phone to leave an anonymous call about their grisly find, then drove as fast as they dared, making straight for the Wyoming border.
“I wonder how many laws we broke today,” Cassie said through chattering teeth. The chills had started the second they reached the relative safety of the truck, and though she’d turned the heater on full blast, she was still freezing.
Plus, she was crampy and uncomfortable. Great.
“Better not to think about it. You know what this means, right? If Kevin Cooke was the one shooting at you, and it appears he must have been, then it’s over.”
“He must have been in cahoots with Donna. Who knows how much more she stole from her grandmother that’s still undiscovered? She and her husband must have assumed I was
aware of a lot more than I actually was. He may even have killed Mrs. Priestly to try to cover their tracks.”
“It’s funny that you never met him, isn’t it? If she was over at the Priestly house so often, it seems you would have at least seen him.”
“Not really. Donna visited during the day while her husband worked. Mrs. Priestly folded up camp pretty early in the evening. And more than that, Donna’s parents didn’t really like Kevin.”
“I wonder where he’s been since her death.”
“Running around shooting at me and my friends,” she said dryly. “Messing with lug nuts. Making my life hell. What I wonder is who killed him and why. Banner is out on bail—maybe he did the dirty deed.”
“That guy was dead before Banner made bail. My money is on Donna. And I think Robert knew something was going on with his sister and that’s why he’s been falling apart. She must have rigged his railing, hoping to get rid of him, and he probably knows that, too, even if he doesn’t want to think about it.”
Cassie rubbed her side and tried to relax. “Right now, I don’t care who did what to who as long as no one is coming after me,” she said, and she meant it.
“Are you okay?”
“Just a twinge. The last week or so is catching up with me.”
“Tomorrow I’m supposed to help with the cattle,” he said. “I can’t imagine leaving you.”
“It won’t take you more than a few hours, and I’ll have Mike and Echo and Pauline to help me. You have to go. Pierce isn’t here and Mike is injured. I plan on laying real low.”
“We’ll see,” he said.
“We still have that box to deal with.”
“I’m calling our attorney, like I should have done a week ago, and asking him to come out to the house tomorrow night. For now, I’ll lock it in our safe. We’re going to let him figure out how to get it to the right authorities. There’s going to be a lot to deal with in the coming weeks and we need guidance. Time to stop hiding. That okay with you?”
“Not really, but there’s no choice, I know that.” She smothered a yawn and laid her head back against the rest.
“The twinges gone?”
“Mostly.”
He was quiet for a second, trying to figure out how to broach what he wanted to say. As usual, it subtly evaded him—might just as well say it. “I know making love doesn’t solve everything,” he began.
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” she said.
He hadn’t been finished. He’d been about to add a but. Now he said, “Why?”
“Well, you know, we’ve always been attracted to each other. I bet we could be apart fifty years and still get the hots for each other.”
“That’s probably true, but I don’t want us to be apart fifty years, do you?”
“No,” she said, but she didn’t sound very convincing.
He was incredulous, like a man is when he struggles to reach a mountain peak only to get knocked down by an avalanche a foot from the summit.
“We made a deal back on day one,” she added, sparing him a glance. “We would get our baby safely into the world and then decide about our future because no matter what happened last night, the fact remains you are in this unwillingly. There’s no way to change that. Can’t we just stick with our original plan?”
“Even if we outgrow it?”
“Let’s just see what happens. Nothing is written in stone, not for me, and not for you. Contrary to what you said, a baby doesn’t take away your options. Only you can do that.”
She was giving him a ticket out of their marriage. And she thought she was doing him a favor.
THEY ARRIVED HOME to find the ranch covered in an inch of snow, with no signs of the snowfall letting up. The outbuildings were all brightly lit.
Adam greeted them as he crossed the yard. “We’re headed out bright and early,” he called. He carried a saddle on one shoulder while snowflakes swirled around his head. “Pierce phoned. He and Analise are in New York. They’ll be home tomorrow.”
“Why aren’t we waiting for him?” Cody asked.
“You know Dad,” Adam said. “Claims we’ve waited long enough as it is. Dennis Garvey signed on to go with us. We’ll be fine.”
“Okay. I’m going inside with Cass to take care of something. I’ll come help in a few minutes.”
“Sounds good,” Adam said, and walked off.
They had agreed not to mention Kevin Cooke’s body or their role in finding it. Things would come out in the end, but right now neither one of them wanted to involve their family in their complicity.
Pauline and Echo looked up as they walked through the kitchen. The two women were in the process of baking pasties, handheld savory pies that were Birch’s favorites when he hit the trail. The smell of simmering meat and vegetables perfumed the air. Even Bonnie couldn’t be bothered with more than a cursory wag-of-the-tail greeting as she quietly begged from her blanket.
Once again, Cody locked the office door behind them and moved directly to the safe. He set the brick and the brown box on the desktop, then turned to the painting of the old hunting lodge and swung it away from the wall.
Cassie watched as he opened the safe. For a few seconds, he just stood there staring into it, and then he reached in and took something before turning back to her.
His expression was impossible to read, but his gaze seemed to drill right into her head. He walked back to stand in front of her, then invited her to sit. She chose the same chair she had the night before.
“I have something for you,” he said softly.
Oh, dear Lord, she suddenly knew what was coming.
He stood over her, staring down at her, his dark eyes tender and hard at the same time.
“Let me tell you something,” he began, his right hand in a fist. “A few days after you left I went to Woodwind and checked every hotel. I finally found the one you stayed at. It was part of a chain. The woman there told me you’d come into the office and taken maps for Idaho and that you’d made a reservation in Boise and then you’d driven off.
“That’s when I knew you’d really left me. I drove to Boise, but you weren’t there. I hired a detective.”
“I know most of this,” she said gently. It was terrible to witness his pain. She didn’t tell him she’d made that reservation as a ruse, as she’d been pretty sure he’d do exactly as he’d done. She didn’t tell him she’d actually driven to Washington state before making her way back to Idaho. She’d needed time to think…?.
“So, now I’ll tell you something you don’t know. When I got back to Woodwind, I went into the best jewelry store in town and told them what I wanted. A week later, they called and I went to pick it up. My plan was to put it on your finger the minute I found you.”
He sat on the chair next to hers and opened his hand, revealing the ring box she’d last seen in his duffel bag.
“Why didn’t you do it the way you planned?” she whispered. Her throat was choked with raw emotion as his dark eyes searched her face.
“Because there were other factors.”
“The baby.”
“Yes, the baby. But there was also you and me.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “I hadn’t thought things through. I hadn’t realized I’d be angry with you when I found you or that you’d be angry with me. And every day that passed made giving this to you harder because of our deal.”
“Why now?” she murmured.
He opened the box and the sparkle of the diamonds and emeralds glowed in its velvet cradle.
“Tonight I realized I’ve been looking at this all wrong,” he said. “That we’ve been looking at it wrong. People are either committed to one another or they’re not. You can’t play games with that kind of thing. And no matter what you decide in the end, my mind is already made up. I’m a one-woman man, Cassie, and you’re my woman. I bought this as a symbol of forever. I know it doesn’t look like much next to that whopper in the box over there, but this one is yours.”
He took the rin
g out of the box and offered it to her. “You said nothing is written in stone,” he mumbled. “I guess that’s true. But I know how I feel. I just wish I was better with words.”
He’d taken her hand as he spoke and now slid the ring on her finger where it nestled against her wedding band. It looked as though it had been there from day one.
She looked from it to Cody as tears slid down her cheeks. “For a man not good with words, you’re doing a pretty good job,” she said. Her breath caught as he gathered her in his arms and kissed her.
THEY RODE OUT BEFORE daylight. There were five of them: Birch, Adam, Cody, Jamie and Uncle Pete. Because of his sore back, Mike had had to stay behind, and Dennis Garvey hadn’t shown up as promised. Cody knew Dennis’s no-show was a big disappointment to Adam, who appeared determined to help the kid whether he wanted it or not.
And wasn’t that just the way it was? Here was Adam all ready to assume responsibility for a sixteen-year-old boy while most of the time, Cody couldn’t even manage to think about a six-or seven-pound newborn baby.
A few inches of snow had accumulated during the night, and it continued snowing as they rode across Open Sky land. Cody was torn about leaving Cassie’s side, though his honesty made him admit it felt great to be astride Bandido, off to round up a part of the herd and drive them home. It seemed forever since he’d worked at being what he really was—a cowboy.
This role came easier than husband and potential father, but was that so terrible? Didn’t everybody wear several hats in their lives, and weren’t some bound to be more comfortable?
He’d given Mike strict orders to stay close to the house. It seemed unlikely any of the Banners would show up. They were undoubtedly swamped with police and questions and death today. Just the same, Mike had his orders.
It took a couple of hours for the five men to get up to the Hayfork pasture, and that was using the quickest trail, one which was too steep and narrow to drive the cattle along for the return trip. For that, they would need to take the easier route, which meant they had to cross the highway about two miles from the ranch. That was the major reason they needed a good contingency of men and horses to manage the situation.