Read Online B.J. Daniels the Cardwell Ranch Collection by B. J. Daniels - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: B. J. Daniels
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after which the car rolled several times before coming to stop upside down in the middle of the Gallatin River.
Both the driver and the passenger were killed.
Marshal Brick Savage called for an ambulance, wrecker and the coroner before returning to the Randolph house where he discovered signs of a break-in and the judge lying dead in the foyer.
According to Brick’s account, evidence was later found in the suspects’ car that connected the two to the robbery-murder. The suspects were Ty and Mason Kirk, two local brothers who had been in trouble pretty much all of their lives.
The case seemed cut-and-dried. Except now the murder weapon appeared to have been used in the murder of a woman in a well a good decade before.
Tired and discouraged, he photocopied the file and drove back up the canyon. Still, he couldn’t face the small cabin he’d rented. Not yet.
He drove to his office in the deepening snow. His headlights shone on the evergreens along each side of the road, their branches bent under the weight of the snowfall. A white silence had filled the night. The streets were so quiet, he felt as if there wasn’t another soul within miles as he neared his office.
Had he made aterrible mistake coming back here, taking the job as marshal even temporarily? It had been instantaneous. When he’d gotten the offer, he’d said yes without a moment’s hesitation, thinking it was fate. After the note he’d received, he was coming back anyway. But to have a job. Not just a job, but the job he’d always said he wanted….
He pulled up to the office, turned off the engine and lights, and sat for a moment in the snowy darkness, trying to put his finger on what was bothering him.
Something about the Judge Raymond Randolph murder case. Something was wrong. He could feel it deep in his bones, like a sliver buried under the skin.
As he picked up the copied file from the seat next to him, he had that same sick feeling he’d had when he looked down into the dry well and seen human bones.
I T WASN’T UNTIL Dana returned home from the bar that she noticed the tracks on the porch. She stopped and turned to look back out through the falling snow.
Someone had been here. The tire tracks had filled with snow and were barely visible. That’s why she hadn’t noticed them on her way in. Plus she’d had other things on her mind.
But now, standing on the porch, she saw the boot tracks where someone had come to the door. She checked her watch. Too early for it to have been Lanny.
Her breath caughtin her throat as she realized the tracks went right into the house. She’d never locked the front door in her life. Just as she hadn’t tonight. This was rural Montana. No one locked their doors.
Carefully she touched the knob. It was cold even through her gloves. The door swung open.
The living room looked just as she’d left it. Except for a few puddles of melted snow where someone had gone inside. Her heart rate tripled as she trailed the wet footprints across the floor to the kitchen.
That’s when she saw it. A small wrapped package on the kitchen table.
A birthday present. Her relief was quickly replaced by anger. She had a pretty good idea who’d left it. Hud. He’d come back and, knowing the door would be unlocked, come in and left it.
Damn him. Why did he have to come back? Tears burned her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. She…would…not…cry.
Her heart was still pounding too hard, the tears too close after the day she’d had. She turned on the lights, shrugged out of her coat to hang it on the hook by the door and wiped angrily at her eyes. Damn you, Hud.
She had to get ready for her date. Stumbling up the stairs, she went to the bathroom, stripped down and stepped into the shower. She turned her face up to the water for a moment. The memory of the Hud she’d loved filled her with a pain that almost doubled her over. A sob broke loose, opening the dam. Leaning against the shower stall she couldn’t hold back the pain
Both the driver and the passenger were killed.
Marshal Brick Savage called for an ambulance, wrecker and the coroner before returning to the Randolph house where he discovered signs of a break-in and the judge lying dead in the foyer.
According to Brick’s account, evidence was later found in the suspects’ car that connected the two to the robbery-murder. The suspects were Ty and Mason Kirk, two local brothers who had been in trouble pretty much all of their lives.
The case seemed cut-and-dried. Except now the murder weapon appeared to have been used in the murder of a woman in a well a good decade before.
Tired and discouraged, he photocopied the file and drove back up the canyon. Still, he couldn’t face the small cabin he’d rented. Not yet.
He drove to his office in the deepening snow. His headlights shone on the evergreens along each side of the road, their branches bent under the weight of the snowfall. A white silence had filled the night. The streets were so quiet, he felt as if there wasn’t another soul within miles as he neared his office.
Had he made aterrible mistake coming back here, taking the job as marshal even temporarily? It had been instantaneous. When he’d gotten the offer, he’d said yes without a moment’s hesitation, thinking it was fate. After the note he’d received, he was coming back anyway. But to have a job. Not just a job, but the job he’d always said he wanted….
He pulled up to the office, turned off the engine and lights, and sat for a moment in the snowy darkness, trying to put his finger on what was bothering him.
Something about the Judge Raymond Randolph murder case. Something was wrong. He could feel it deep in his bones, like a sliver buried under the skin.
As he picked up the copied file from the seat next to him, he had that same sick feeling he’d had when he looked down into the dry well and seen human bones.
I T WASN’T UNTIL Dana returned home from the bar that she noticed the tracks on the porch. She stopped and turned to look back out through the falling snow.
Someone had been here. The tire tracks had filled with snow and were barely visible. That’s why she hadn’t noticed them on her way in. Plus she’d had other things on her mind.
But now, standing on the porch, she saw the boot tracks where someone had come to the door. She checked her watch. Too early for it to have been Lanny.
Her breath caughtin her throat as she realized the tracks went right into the house. She’d never locked the front door in her life. Just as she hadn’t tonight. This was rural Montana. No one locked their doors.
Carefully she touched the knob. It was cold even through her gloves. The door swung open.
The living room looked just as she’d left it. Except for a few puddles of melted snow where someone had gone inside. Her heart rate tripled as she trailed the wet footprints across the floor to the kitchen.
That’s when she saw it. A small wrapped package on the kitchen table.
A birthday present. Her relief was quickly replaced by anger. She had a pretty good idea who’d left it. Hud. He’d come back and, knowing the door would be unlocked, come in and left it.
Damn him. Why did he have to come back? Tears burned her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. She…would…not…cry.
Her heart was still pounding too hard, the tears too close after the day she’d had. She turned on the lights, shrugged out of her coat to hang it on the hook by the door and wiped angrily at her eyes. Damn you, Hud.
She had to get ready for her date. Stumbling up the stairs, she went to the bathroom, stripped down and stepped into the shower. She turned her face up to the water for a moment. The memory of the Hud she’d loved filled her with a pain that almost doubled her over. A sob broke loose, opening the dam. Leaning against the shower stall she couldn’t hold back the pain
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