Murder and Mistletoe

by Barb Han

  But then again, the sickest animal in Cattle Barge seemed to be preying on teenage girls.

  This conversation was going to be tricky in his estimation because Leanne, who seemed like a fine detective, was too emotional with her half sister to keep a clear mind. Her presence seemed to upset Bethany and that was another strike. The fact that her husband could come home any minute also seemed to put Bethany further on edge. Sure, he was a jerk but was he a murderer?

  Dalton couldn’t ignore the possibility that the man might’ve read about Alexandria in the news—maybe even found a reference Dalton didn’t know about—and decided the time was right to get rid of the problem he had at home. Glancing at a picture on the fireplace of Gary with Bethany and Hampton said the guy had enough bulk to pull off carrying the teenager.

  “You want coffee?” Bethany asked. “I just put on a fresh pot in case Gary came home.”

  Dalton picked up on the fact that she’d said in case. The woman didn’t know when to expect her husband?

  “If it’s not too much trouble,” he said as Leanne issued another sharp breath.

  “None at all.” Bethany’s cheeks flushed. And then she looked at her half sister. “Leanne?”

  Luckily, although to be fair Dalton didn’t believe in luck, she’d kept quiet so far. She seemed to realize as much as he did that her talking would get them kicked to the curb quicker than she could find a penny at the bottom of her purse.

  Seeing the relationship between these two helped him appreciate how close his own family was. The four kids who’d grown up together—Ella, himself, Dade and Cadence—had learned to band together early in life growing up with a father like Maverick Mike.

  Their other two siblings who’d been kept secret until recently had been welcomed into the family and shown their rightful place as heirs. Not all of it had been easy, but he could see that it had been worth the extra effort on everyone’s part as he watched Leanne and Bethany’s relationship unravel under duress.

  No matter what else happened, Butlers could be counted on to stick together.

  “Yes, please,” was all Leanne said. Good. Maybe she realized the importance of keeping her sister on an even keel.

  The kitchen was where he thought it was, around the corner from the attached dining room. The walls in this place were most likely thin, so he didn’t speak. Instead, he moved to the fireplace mantel to get a better look at Gary. He was decent-sized, five feet eleven or so if Dalton had to guess. The guy had massive arms. He must lift weights and he had a tattoo running up one side that Dalton couldn’t make out. He stood in front of something that looked a lot like a fishing cabin and he was holding his kid upside down by the boy’s ankles. Gary didn’t strike Dalton as someone who was rocking an overload of IQ points but this guy wouldn’t care about quantum physics.

  He was a trophy hunter based on the other shots on the mantel and the fact that a deer head hung over the brick, no doubt a prize buck from a hunting trip.

  Leanne made eyes at him when he glanced at her.

  “Wasn’t sure how either of you took it,” Bethany said, returning to the room holding out two fists of mugs and looking at Dalton.

  “Black’s fine for me,” he said. Hadn’t Leanne added sugar and cream to hers in the coffee shop? The fact that her sister didn’t know said a lot about their lack of a relationship since reuniting. He didn’t know much more about Leanne’s past other than that she had a small child and no husband. That last part shouldn’t have made his heart skip a beat as fast as it had. She was giving up precious little about herself and anytime he asked a personal question, she dodged giving a straight answer. He didn’t think she was out to sabotage their working relationship, but she kept her vest buttoned all the way up. Which also made him not want to notice little things about her, like how she took her coffee.

  Instead, he focused on the room, trying to memorize as much as he could about the place in case Gary showed up and cut their visit short. There were toys scattered around that obviously belonged to a little boy. Several pictures of Hampton hung on one wall, the fireplace covered another, and in the corner sat a fairly large flat screen television. There were no pictures of Clara.

  “Sorry for the mess,” Bethany said, bending down to pick up a couple of small cars before setting them on top of the ottoman. “Hampton just went down for his nap and I haven’t had a chance to straighten up.”

  “That him?” Dalton pointed to the picture on the mantel.

  “Yes. This picture was taken over the summer. Gary thought it would be a good idea to take Clara, so she and her brother could spend more time together.”

  “Don’t you mean so she could watch him while Gary drank himself into a stupor?” Leanne said under her breath.

  Thankfully, Bethany didn’t seem to hear. She straightened up the magazines on the ottoman and lined the remotes next to each other until they looked like piano keys. An opened decorative box revealed a bottle of pills that he hadn’t noticed before.

  “I never did much decorating. Gary moved here first and sent for us once he was established,” Bethany offered, as she held her hands out toward the dead buck mounted above the fireplace.

  This must be her way of explaining why her home looked more like a hunting lodge than a place for a family. There were normally more feminine touches around when a woman lived in a house, in Dalton’s experience, which also led him to believe that Gary was the one in charge.

  “Sit down,” Bethany said.

  “Thanks for the coffee.” Leanne gripped her mug but didn’t take a sip.

  “My Gary likes to take care of us so I don’t have to worry,” she said by way of explanation.

  “Sounds like a decent man,” Dalton said mainly to check her reaction. He took a seat near her and, now that Bethany was close, he could see that she’d taken whatever was in the medicine bottle.

  He must’ve looked at the bottle a second too long because Bethany’s eyes flew to it.

  “Doctor likes me to keep these on hand to help me deal with...things,” she said by way of explanation.

  That gave him the impression the pills were some kind of antidepressant.

  “Where’s your husband?” he asked, figuring the question would come off better from him than Leanne. It was obvious to everyone, including Bethany, that her sister didn’t care much for her spouse.

  “He’s probably out at the deer lease,” she said with a shrug and awkward glance toward Leanne. “I couldn’t reach him, which isn’t unusual because cell coverage is spotty on a good day, and with the cold snaps we’ve had it gets even worse with all the wind.”

  If Gary was on the deer lease, someone would be able to corroborate his story.

  “Who’d he go with?” Leanne’s tone was sharp. She’d picked up on the same thing he had.

  Bethany gave a noncommittal shrug. “I’m not sure.”

  “How do you know that’s where he is?” Leanne asked outright. If he let her keep going, they’d be kicked out of there in a matter of minutes.

  “What smells so good?” Dalton asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

  Bethany’s gaze bounced from her sister to him. “Cookies. I decided to make some for Hampton.” She looked away when she said, “To soften the blow of what I have to tell him about his sister.”

  “Half sister,” Leanne pointed out and that elicited a glare from Bethany.

  He shot Leanne a severe look.

  “Are those chocolate-chip?” he asked, trying to pull the attention back to him.

  “Snickerdoodle,” she responded. And then it seemed like the air staled and she had nothing else to say.

  Dalton wasn’t sure how far they could push her. She seemed fragile, like she was hanging on by a thread but also a little too quick to sweep the whole incident under the rug. Her reactions sent up warning flares about Gary. Did she believe he was as
innocent as she said?

  “Did Gary say when he’d be home?” Leanne asked.

  “I’m not sure. I left messages. It’s not unlike him to show up without calling me back first,” she said, but something flashed behind her eyes. Fear? Dalton didn’t comment on how strange the relationship seemed to him. If or when he was ready to commit to someone, he’d have the decency to let them know where he was and be sure he could be contacted in case of an emergency. If she knew who her husband was with, although he had to consider the possibility that she was protecting Gary and his friends, she was covering pretty damn well. Out of loyalty or fear? Or both? “Did you say there was another case?”

  “Yes, I did,” Dalton said. “Can you tell us anything about your daughter that might help us figure out if this case is connected to mine? Who were her friends?”

  “She didn’t have a lot of them. Gary said he wanted us to move before the end of the school year last year so she could make friends but that didn’t happen,” Bethany said. “She missed her friends back home and didn’t even try to make new ones while she lived here. She kept threatening to leave, saying this friend or that had said their parents didn’t mind if she finished school there, but Gary wanted her here with us where she belonged.”

  “What did you think?” Dalton asked, leaning forward.

  Those bony shoulders of hers rose and fell again in another shrug.

  “Who was I to stand in the way?” Bethany asked. “He was making an effort with her.”

  “What about being her mother and doing what was right for her?” Leanne ground out.

  Dalton shot her another severe look but she seemed unfazed. She had a right to be angry. Hell, he’d wanted to fight the world after Alexandria’s murder. But her attitude was putting Bethany on the defensive. Based on the tight grip Leanne had on the coffee mug, she knew it, too. It seemed to be taking all the strength she had to contain her anger. Even so, it was boiling over like an active volcano spewing hot lava all over their case.

  He turned to Leanne and didn’t speak until they locked gazes.

  “Do you want to wait outside while I speak to your sister?”

  “Half sister,” Bethany clarified.

  * * *

  LEANNE GOT IT. She was blowing it. Dalton’s message rang loud and clear. Get a grip or leave so he could finish what they’d come here to do. She shot her best look of apology and mouthed the words in case he didn’t get the message. She really was sorry. Putting Bethany on edge—no matter how much she disliked Gary—would do nothing to help.

  She chalked her anger up to Bethany not protecting Clara the way she should have. Bethany might be in a difficult situation with her current husband, but that was no excuse to allow him to make Clara miserable.

  “Did she have any local friends that you knew of?” Dalton asked. “I grew up here so I might know the family.”

  “Other than Renee, I’m not sure. She was the only one who ever came over to the house,” Bethany said.

  “Why is that?” Leanne asked, using a much softer tone. In an interview, it was sometimes a good idea to throw a witness off by upsetting them. In this case, Leanne could see that her sister would just buckle and most likely kick them out.

  “Gary didn’t like strangers in the house,” she said, looking to Dalton as though another man would obviously see the logic.

  Dalton looked unmoved. “Renee Paltry?”

  Bethany nodded after shooting a surprised look at him. She must’ve realized he’d know most of the families.

  Leanne glanced at the medicine bottle and wondered if her sister was taking something on a regular basis. Clara had already said that Hampton was a handful when he was awake. A wild four-year-old was the least of her half sister’s problems now. Because the sheriff would come after Gary and, at the very least, bring him in for questioning. Her brother-in-law wouldn’t take kindly to having anyone poke around in his business.

  Leanne wanted to march into Clara’s room and gather evidence. Since she’d convinced the sheriff to look into the case, it would only be a matter of time before he sent a deputy to her niece’s room. If Leanne’s prints were all over the place, she’d be hauled in front of the Internal Affairs Division (IAD) to explain herself. Losing her job wasn’t an option with a child to support by herself. So, she’d play it by the book.

  “Did Clara have her cell phone on her?” The question was probably useless. Leanne had learned to ask them anyway. She never knew when an unexpected answer would break a case open.

  “I believe so,” Bethany said.

  Leanne made a mental note to ask the sheriff about it. Her personal belongings would be released to the family unless he collected them as evidence. She’d left his office so abruptly earlier that she’d forgotten to ask. “I know this is hard but have you been inside her room?”

  Bethany shook her head and tears welled. “The door’s closed and I didn’t have the heart to open it.” She released a dry sob. Bethany had loved her daughter in the best way she knew how.

  “What about her laptop? Is it normally in her room?” Leanne asked.

  Before Bethany could answer, the back door smacked open, causing everyone to jump to their feet.

  “What the hell’s going on in my house, Bethany?” Gary’s voice boomed from the other room as his boots smacked against the flooring. The floor groaned under his weight.

  “You’ll wake your son,” Bethany said in a hushed tone.

  “Whose SUV is parked out front?” Gary stalked around the corner and froze the second his gaze landed on Dalton. He must have known on instinct that he’d be no match for the cowboy whose head almost touched the ceiling.

  Dalton’s heft blocked Gary’s view of Leanne.

  “I’m afraid your wife has bad news.” Dalton immediately repositioned himself so that he’d be in between Bethany and Gary. Leanne moved to her sister’s side.

  “I tried to call but couldn’t reach you,” Bethany said.

  Gary looked the same as his photograph on the mantel, reasonably tall with a spare tire around his midsection and a ruddy face with pockmarks from too much acne as a teenager. Everything about him was big, from his big horse teeth to his big attitude. His mouth was big, too. Leanne sensed Dalton wasn’t the type to put up with too much lip.

  Bethany delivered the news about Clara.

  Gary got quiet, listened.

  “I’d like to speak to my wife in private,” Gary said after a pause.

  “Now, don’t get upset, Gary. My sister is here to pay her respects and this is her new boyfriend.” She glanced at Dalton, who supplied his name. “There’s nothing going on and they were on their way out.” Bethany stepped aside and pushed Leanne toward Gary. Leanne could feel her sister’s hands trembling against her skin, a stark contrast to contact with Dalton. Leanne didn’t correct her sister about Dalton being her boyfriend. Her sister had said it to calm Gary about another man being present.

  A sinking feeling pounded her chest. Was he abusing Bethany? Clara?

  Why would Clara cover that up when she spoke to her aunt?

  Her niece had said she wanted—no, needed—to talk to Leanne about something. Was this it? Leanne had dismissed it as Clara becoming desperate to get Leanne to pick her up. But physical abuse? Every time she’d asked Clara, her niece had denied it. But now the signs were obvious.

  “I’m sorry for your loss, Gary,” Leanne said, her tone laced with spite she hadn’t intended. She didn’t want her emotions to be transparent.

  Her comment seemed to get him going, as his ruddy complexion turned a few shades darker red. For a split second, she wondered if he knew what she was even talking about.

  “You have no idea. I loved that girl,” he said a little too defensively.

  “I’m sure you did.” She was goading him but getting a witness upset was an interview technique she’d employed m
any times in her career to catch someone in a slip. Besides, she could handle Gary.

  “If you’d learned your place, maybe none of this would be happening. Did you ever think of that?” He fired the words like buckshot. They penetrated because she had in fact thought that exact thing. Leanne would eat one of her own bullets before she’d let him know just how accurate he’d been.

  “I don’t know, Gary. Why should I be the one to learn my place when you never did?”

  Her brother-in-law’s face took on a cartoon-quality expression. So much anger. Was he trying to throw blame on her to release his own guilt? Guilt at what, though?

  Bethany jumped in front of Leanne, facing her, breaking her line of sight.

  “You’ve done enough already. Go home, Leanne.” Bethany’s words were more plea than fight, and it broke Leanne’s heart to hear the desperation in her sister’s voice.

  If Leanne had realized how bad the situation at home had become, not only would she have pulled Clara out sooner she would’ve gotten help for her sister, too. A little voice in the back of her head reminded her that she couldn’t force anyone to do anything they didn’t want to. It still stung and frustrated her to no end that she’d missed the signs.

  “Get out of my house,” Gary demanded, throwing his arms in the air and taking a threatening step toward Leanne and her sister.

  Dalton had Gary pinned against the nearest wall before Gary could finish his sentence. His head banged against the drywall so hard a picture of Hampton flew off. The frame broke and the glass shattered as soon as it made contact with the floor.

  “I’m going to tell you this once and you better remember it because if I have to come back, you’re not going to like what’s going to happen to you.” Dalton used his forearm to press Gary against the wall. “Man to man, if I hear of you so much as grabbing your wife’s arm too hard and leaving a mark, it’ll be the last thing you do on this earth. Do you understand me?”

  Gary’s ruddy cheeks flamed brighter and he seemed to need air.

  “I’m going to take a step back and you’re going to apologize to the ladies in the room.” Dalton leaned forward like he was about to whisper in Gary’s ear. Gary winced and Leanne could only guess that Dalton had increased pressure against his windpipe.