Read Online Hard Evidence by Roxanne Rustand - Free Book Online Page B

voice even further. “Your sisters cried when we asked them and said you’d gone away to school but they didn’t know where. We figured something awful happened to you.”
    It had. That terrible last fight with her mother, after years of friction, had been the last straw. Even now, remembering the fear and uncertainty of driving off into the night in one of the ranch trucks, not knowing if Aunt Sarah would take her in, had the power to twist Janna’s stomach into a painful knot.
    But it touched her deeply that these old school friends had cared enough to try to find her, because with all the bitterness she’d felt, she’d totally cut her ties back home. “I…did go straight to college. I was already registered at Wyoming U for the fall, so my aunt helped me register early for summer school and helped me move.”
    Though if it hadn’t been for a full-ride scholarship, Janna would’ve been back to square one, because Claire never would’ve paid college fees for a daughter she’d essentially disowned.
    For years she’d even refused to speak to Janna on the phone.
    “We heard more later on,” Ivy said. “So we knew you were okay. But then we were soon off to college, too, and we all lost track of each other for a while.” She smiled. “Now I’m a rancher’s wife—I married Marty, one of the Jacobson boys. Maria works at her father’s bank, and Betsy’s managing her dad’s cow-calf operation. Funny, isn’t it? That we all ended up back here?”
    “Funny,” Janna echoed faintly. For years, she’d managed to lock away most of the troubling memories from her teen years and concentrate on just the happier times, but now everything came flooding back. “I…I hope we’ll have a chance to visit sometime soon.”
    Betsy leaned forward for a quick hug. “Absolutely.”
    Michael moved to her side when the trio of women walked away. “Best friends?”
    “Once upon a time, though I haven’t seen them since high school. Friends,” she added quietly after a moment’s thought, “whose families have lived in the area for generations. I wonder—do you suppose any of their older relatives might remember talk about someone who went missing in the area, long ago?”
    Michael’s gaze sharpened. “I’ve had my officers talking to people in the area, but they’ve come up dry so far. Any reason why these people would be of interest?”
    “Maria’s family has owned the local bank for generations. Maybe one of them might remember someone in trouble and desperate. Betsy’s in-laws have owned land bordering my mother’s place to the east for just as long. And Ivy—” Janna hesitated. “Well, her dad is a straight-up guy, but if you’re the law around here for long, you’re sure to run into her uncles, and it won’t just be to say ‘hello.’ Seems like someone in one of these families might know something, if anyone would.”
    Michael glanced at Ian and tipped his head toward their truck, then threaded his arm through the crook of Janna’s elbow. “Can I walk you ladies to your car?”
    She nodded, but waited until they’d reached her Snow Canyon Ranch pickup and Rylie had climbed in before continuing her thought. “I’ve tried to talk to my mother about the…situation…out at the lodge.”
    The laugh lines at the corners of Michael’s eyes deepened. “I hope you’ve had better luck than I have.”
    “Hardly. Each time, she brushes me off and then gets irritable if I persist. I got the same sort of reaction from Fred at the grocery store.”
    “Fred?”
    “The owner. He’s pushing seventy, but he stopped me one day to ask about the rumors. I told him I didn’t know anything, then asked him some questions about the past. He suddenly got busy and had no time to answer. It made me think about a magazine article I once read. What if this is one of those situations where everyone knows the truth, but no one dares reveal it?”

     
    “Well,” Janna said, dusting off her hands. “What do you