by Barb Han
“Don’t be.” And then he removed his hand—leaving an immediate feeling of cold in its place—before getting out of the SUV.
“How do most murder investigations work?” Dalton asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Who do you usually start investigating first?” He stopped next to his vehicle.
“Those closest to the victim. Family. Friends.” She arched a brow. “Why?”
“Because we’ve done that. We talked to your sister, Clara’s boyfriend and her stepdad. What happens if all the family members check out?” He leaned an elbow against his SUV.
“We funnel out from there.” Leanne took in a deep breath. “We’d look at friends, known associations, places the victim frequented.”
“I keep going back to the tracks leading up to the tree. There was only one set, which means there was no resistance. If they were drugged, who has access?” His eyes sparked with possibilities.
“A pharmacist comes to mind first. Dentist or doctor.” She studied his face.
“The town pharmacist has a son who could be the right age. What about a bus driver? Someone they knew or had met.”
She rocked her head in agreement. “Not to put a damper on your ideas but both girls were upset and maybe a little naive. They were at a vulnerable age. A stranger could disarm them and lower their guard if he knew what he was doing.”
“Let’s think about on it some more,” he said.
She followed suit and with every step toward the main house, her tension increased. By the time she walked across the threshold and marched into the kitchen, her pulse blazed. Her sister sat at the table where Leanne had last seen Hampton. She was smiling and playing with her son.
When Bethany looked up, there was an empty expression in her eyes. Was it possible she didn’t know Gary had been released? Anger shot through Leanne at thinking he might be involved in her daughter’s attempted abduction. Why would he do that?
The answer came almost immediately. To punish her.
“How’s everything going in here?” Leanne asked, suddenly afraid to bring up the subject. Maybe she could work on her sister a little bit and convince her to stick around and get healthy.
“Good,” Bethany said.
Hampton looked up with a huge smile plastered on his face. “Lee-Lee.”
“Hello, buddy.” It was good to see him genuinely happy. Her heart squeezed, thinking how much she missed Mila. Her little girl was safe. She was on her way.
Leanne refocused on Hampton. She’d worried that taking him out of his environment would be stressful. Turns out, he was acting like he was on the best vacation ever. She could admit the ranch held a certain unexplainable magic that had her tension ratcheting down a few notches.
“He’s out,” Bethany said with those same dead eyes.
“I know.” Leanne was surprised by her sister’s reaction.
Tears welled and Bethany turned her head as though she didn’t want her son to see her cry.
“Can I play?” Dalton seemed to pick up on the tension. He pulled out a chair on the other side of Hampton. “I used to hide this truck so my brother wouldn’t get to play with it.”
“You did?” Hampton giggled like the two were conspiring.
Leanne moved to Bethany’s other side and took a seat. “I’m sorry I didn’t call. I wanted to tell you in person.”
“How do you know?” There was such hollowness to her voice that it made Leanne’s heart ache. She wished she could take her sister’s pain away.
Leanne held up her cell.
“He said if I didn’t come home now that I shouldn’t bother. There wouldn’t be one to come back to,” Bethany said quietly. She glanced toward Hampton who was invested in playing with Dalton.
“It’s an idle threat. You know that, right?” By no means did Leanne want her sister to go back to that creep, and she had yet to determine if he was also a criminal. Bethany needed to make a decision. Trying to force her would only push her toward him instead of away. Leanne also knew the pitfall of tying up her self-worth with a man who didn’t deserve it.
The first real relationship Leanne had been in after graduating high school had been with an older man who’d manipulated her into thinking she was special to him. He’d said all the right things—things she’d wanted to hear but didn’t have the experience to know whether or not they were sincere—and she’d taken the bait. Then the little insults had started.
He’d commented about her hairstyle not fitting her face and that he thought she’d enjoy it more if she cut it short. When she accepted that criticism, because she’d always been good at seeing her flaws, he added a few more. Her clothes were too tight. Her lipstick too bright. Later, she’d realized that he’d believed in breaking her down and by making her believe she was less than him so she would stay. It didn’t take long to see through him, but she’d allowed herself to fall for the guy—or at least that’s what she’d believed at eighteen—and he’d been a first-rate jerk. She’d picked up what was left of her self-esteem and moved on.
The only good thing about youthful relationships was that while emotions might run high, they didn’t run as deep.
Walking away from him had proven the easy part. Trying to regain confidence in herself and her judgment about people had been the tricky stuff. Leanne had always been too hard on herself.
Bethany seemed to be teetering on an emotional ledge. Leanne needed to know which way she was going to fall, because one of those choices would kill her ability to help her sister. In these situations, a straightforward approach was always best.
“Are you going back to him?” Leanne asked outright.
Bethany drew a sharp breath and the attention of Hampton, who locked on to her.
“Mommy?”
“It’s okay, sweetie. Mommy’s fine,” she reassured.
When Hampton went back to playing with the toys, she leaned toward Leanne and said, “How am I supposed to tell my little boy his sister is gone?”
“It’ll be hard but he needs to know.” Leanne realized that her sister had changed the subject.
“He wasn’t at the hunting lodge the other night. I called my friend and she said they didn’t go. He went drinking instead,” Bethany admitted.
Which was suspect but didn’t necessarily mean that Gary was a murderer or kidnapper.
“He and Clara didn’t get along too good and especially lately. Those two were oil and water,” she said.
Leanne further wanted to point out that they were like gasoline and fire, but she let her sister continue.
“What if he was invo—” Bethany released a sob and surprised Leanne by wrapping her arms around her. Bethany’s body trembled.
“Then we’ll nail the bastard,” Leanne said low and into her sister’s ear. “But right now you need to let Hampton know what’s going on.”
A look of resignation passed behind Bethany’s eyes. She walked over to her son and dropped down to his level. She said a few quiet words to him as she patted him on the back and both cried.
* * *
“GARY’S ALIBI IS blown and it’s only a matter of time before the sheriff finds out,” Leanne said to Dalton.
The two had walked outside for fresh air after Bethany had calmed down and decided to take a nap with Hampton.
“She told you that?” he asked, wide-eyed, and she fully understood his surprise at the admission. Bethany had been so adamant about protecting him. The woman was on an emotional roller coaster as her world crumbled around her. Without Mila there, Leanne could relate to the out-of-control feeling.
“Yes.”
“Did you advise her to tell Sawmill?” His dark brow arched in clear surprise that she might not have after looking at her.
“Of course.” But something had been nagging her from the start. They’d been focused on Gary. Too f
ocused. While he might explain Clara’s murder, it didn’t make sense that he would’ve known Alexandria. She needed to look at this from another perspective. “Can I see those pictures again?”
He pulled out his cell and thumbed the photo application open. “Which ones?”
“The tree.” She moved next to him and her arm grazed his, causing a little too much electricity to jolt through her.
He handed the phone to her to let her scroll through the photos until she stopped on one of the tree and examined it closer.
“How high is this branch?” she asked, knowing she was heading into dark territory with him because it was the one the girls had been hung from. It hit her, too, in a spot dark and deep. Maybe shared pain was the reason she felt so connected to a man she barely knew. Although, after spending two intense days with him, she felt like she’d known him her entire life.
Looking at the photo again made every beat of her heart hurt. Her brain scrambled from the onslaught of emotion bearing down. But she was on a mission, so she shoved those thoughts, those emotions to the side. She’d deal with them later, and she’d pay the price for bottling them up.
“About seven feet tall,” he said, looking closer.
“The rope probably hung a foot and a half from the branch to the victim’s neck.” She wouldn’t use the victims’ names anymore. She couldn’t. It would be too personal, and she had to keep a laser focus. “How tall was your friend?”
“She was around five feet five inches,” he supplied. “Why?”
“You said something about the knot that has been sticking with me,” she admitted. “He’s proving a point. With one pull in the right direction, the girls could’ve freed themselves.”
“Thinking about it takes me down a different path than Gary. I’m guessing it does the same for you.” He rubbed the two-day scruff on his chin, as he seemed to be catching on. Dark circles cradled his intense blue eyes.
“If my calculations are right, the victims’ feet would’ve been inches from the ground,” she added. “Meaning he might’ve been proving a point.”
“Or shoving it in our faces,” he added bitterly.
“And what is he ultimately saying?”
“That he’s smarter than everyone else,” he deduced.
“This guy thinks he’s better than us. Superior,” she said, and her shoulders deflated. “Gary doesn’t fit that profile, and I know for a fact he was never a Boy Scout.”
“I know.”
“This person knows the area well, which leads me to believe he’s local and not someone passing through,” she added. “I don’t think Gary’s ever been to Cattle Barge before.”
“Except that he was the one who chose this place to live, right?”
“True. I thought about that, too. He came here for work but then lost another job,” she said.
“Wouldn’t that shoot him up the suspect list? He’s frustrated. Wants to show the world his real power. That he’s better than everyone else,” he theorized.
“The arguments with my sister intensified as a result of him losing his job. And I think that might’ve been his outlet.” She paced in front of the house. “I keep going back to the fact that he’s a hothead. The timing of the killings might’ve been opportunistic but I believe the acts were premeditated.”
Dalton muttered a curse and something about the man responsible being right under his nose this whole time. “Why would he wait fourteen years to strike again?”
“My best guess is that he’s a serial killer. It’s not uncommon for them to have long cooling-off periods in between killings,” she confided. “Was anything missing from the victim in your case? Jewelry? Article of clothing?”
“I remember the sheriff asking where her other earring was. It struck me as odd at the time.” Dalton raked his hand through his hair as though trying to tame the out-of-control curls. The fact that his thoughts were heavy was written all over the tension in his face and body.
“He most likely kept it as a souvenir,” she said with disdain, and wondered what he’d kept of Clara’s and if the sheriff would even tell her if anything was missing. That familiar anger raged inside her and she knew it would cloud her judgment if she didn’t keep it in check. She couldn’t afford anything less than crystal clear focus.
What if she gave Bethany a list of questions to ask? Surely, the sheriff wouldn’t deny information from a mother who was curious about the investigation into her daughter’s death. Sawmill had seen her and Bethany react to each other. He wouldn’t assume the two were talking. This could work.
“I’m guessing by the spark in your eye that you’re thinking the same thing I am,” Dalton said. “Do you think Bethany’s up to asking the sheriff a few questions?”
Chapter Thirteen
“My sister wants to find out what happened to Clara. I can’t deny that it might be so she can find out if Gary’s in the clear or cheating on her. If he’s not involved, she might actually take him back,” Leanne said with disgust.
“Hampton’s a good kid,” Dalton said. “He deserves a better life than watching his father berate his mother.”
“My sister needs to tell him about Clara.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “My family must seem crazy to someone like you,” she said.
“Families are complicated and none of them are perfect,” he responded quickly and it made her wonder about his. She already knew he was close to his siblings, but he hadn’t said much about his parents. “Were your mother and father close?”
“I’m not sure. My mom took off when we were little. My father was Maverick Mike Butler. He didn’t exactly light a campfire every Friday night, rally the children and talk about his feelings.” There was no emotion in his voice.
“So you don’t know much about their story?” She wanted to know more about the handsome cowboy. More than she could read in a headline. And a part of her couldn’t deny that she wanted him to confide in her.
“Everything my father did made news. And yet, he managed to keep many of his personal exploits out of the public eye. Can’t say there was much between us other than him giving me and Dade orders,” he said.
“So the two of you weren’t close?” she asked.
“My brother and me, hell, yes. But Maverick Mike was a different story,” he admitted.
“Do you miss him?” She glanced around at all the holiday decorations. Christmas was the loneliest time of year for her since her mother died. She’d been looking forward to this year’s, as it would be Mila’s first. Clara would have been with them and the three of them together would have been the most family she’d had under one roof in as long as she could remember.
But then the desperate call from Clara had come.
“His presence? Yeah. The man? Not as much as I probably should.” His admission caught her off guard. He was opening up and telling her something very real about himself.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly for lack of anything better. She said it all the time in her work and meant it, but it had never felt so hollow until now. Was it because she suddenly realized how inadequate those words were after losing Clara? Her niece didn’t even have a name anymore. She would forever be referred to as a victim.
A tear surprised her, springing from her eye and spilling onto her cheek. She mumbled another apology, but Dalton responded by lifting her chin until her eyes came up to meet his. His complicated family relationship made him more relatable to her and the pull toward him even more intense.
“Don’t apologize for showing emotion.” He thumbed the tear from her cheek and there was so much tenderness in that one move.
“If it makes you feel any better, this is Mila’s first Christmas and I don’t even have one decoration up. No tree. Nothing. Looks like I won’t be up for mother of the year.”
“That doesn’t make you a bad mother.”
She flashed h
er eyes at him.
Leanne couldn’t think of one word to say against the tug she felt. She wanted to argue that her timing was awful—and it was—but she couldn’t deny the urge to kiss Dalton again.
So, she popped onto her tiptoes and did just that.
He groaned as she pressed her lips to his and then his tongue slicked across hers. This time, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against his hard, muscled wall of a chest.
She brought her hands up to brace herself, but instead found herself gripping his shoulders and digging her nails into him, pulling him closer. Desire rocketed through her and sensual shivers skittered across her exposed skin.
His mouth covered hers and both of their breathing intensified. Electricity hummed though her nerve endings, awakening every cell and she surrendered to the feelings engulfing her like wildfire in a dry forest.
The bucket of cold water came in the form of tires on gravel out front. Mila?
* * *
DALTON PULLED BACK, muttered a curse along with his frustration about timing before threading his fingers with Leanne’s. He led her toward a shortcut to get to the small parking lot.
Dalton had seen the serious side of Leanne. He’d seen the devastated side. But nothing prepared him for seeing her tender side. The look on her face when she saw her daughter had the effect of showering light into a black hole. Everything about Leanne relaxed when she looked at her little girl.
The way her daughter’s face lit up when she saw her mother was enough to melt a diamond in the icebox. The little girl was all round angelic face and big brown eyes, the color of honey just like her mother’s. She had a sprinkling of hair, her fist in her mouth and a bright smile.
His heart stirred and cracks in the veneer exploded at seeing the interaction between mother and daughter.
He needed to get his thoughts together, because he was thinking about the three of them as a family.
Dalton excused himself and walked away.
After refilling his coffee cup, he stepped onto the back porch in order to breathe in the fresh air and think about what they’d discussed.