Read Online Montana Midwife by Cassie Miles - Free Book Online Page A

let you in on a little secret, kid. I’m a man with a gun. That means I ask the questions and you give the answers.”
    Chuck lifted his chin. “I only know one thing for sure. David loved Misty, and she broke his heart.”
    “What did the note say?”
    Chuck mumbled, “It’s your fault, Misty. You killed him. His death is on your hands.”
    Aiden heard the deputy’s sirens getting closer. He’d be glad to turn these two over to the law, not that he thought any of the charges would stick. Woody and Chuck represented the tip of the iceberg. Lots of townspeople would be quick to blame Misty, whether or not she was guilty.

Chapter Seven
    From the copilot seat, Tab looked down at the road. The chopper hovered high enough that the wind from the rotors didn’t churn up the dirt and dead leaves on the ground. She watched the deputies slap the cuffs on Chuck and Woody. While one of them kept an eye on the boys, the other gathered the guns from Woody’s truck, moved their vehicle to the side of the road and slapped a police sticker on the door.
    Beside her, Aiden said nothing. She had the impression that he was annoyed with her but didn’t know why. The more she got to know him, the harder he was to understand. Life had been a lot simpler when she’d simply admired him from afar. Ten years ago, she’d thought he was perfect. Now? Not so much.
    Reality had no place in idealized love. What did the poets call it? Unrequited love—a gut-churning passion, an obsession that was totally one-sided, like the feelings David must have had for Misty. From what Tab knew, poor David Welling didn’t really know the object of his affection. He hadn’t spent enough time with Misty to be irritated by her giggle or to see her when she didn’t look her best.
    People did crazy things in the throes of unrequited love. When Tab had her teenage crush, she’d pined away her entire summer at the Gabriel ranch without dating, not that there had been a lot of guys asking. Only two, and she had turned both down. She’d been saving her heart for the man of her dreams, the twenty-one-year-old Aiden who barely knew she existed in spite of the way she continually arranged to accidentally on purpose run into him. When he mentioned that green was his favorite color, she’d worn her one green T-shirt for three days in a row. Plus green eyeshadow. And green ribbons in her hair. Crazy.
    What kinds of things had David done?
    The possibilities made her shudder.
    One thing seemed certain. His unrequited love for Misty made his murder less random. He was watching her. The fact that he’d turned up in the middle of nowhere to help Misty when the Jeep got stuck wasn’t a coincidence.
    Tab glanced at Aiden and spoke into the microphone on her headset. “Do you think David was following Misty and Clinton?”
    “I do,” he said tersely.
    “Because he was in love.”
    “Or stalking her.”
    Below, she saw the deputies load the two lawbreakers into the back of their car and drive toward Henley. The boys would spend the night in the local jail, which would give them time to think. Would they change their minds about Misty? She doubted it.
    As the chopper swept into motion, she spoke again, hoping to melt the glacier that had formed between her and Aiden. “I guess the whole town knows about David’s murder.”
    “And they’ve already decided that Misty is guilty.”
    “A hasty conclusion.”
    “People are like that. They want answers.”
    “But there hasn’t been an investigation. The sheriff hasn’t even taken my statement, and I’m the closest thing he has to an eye witness.”
    “There’s evidence,” he reminded her. “Unfortunate evidence. Ballistics will show that Misty’s rifle fired the shot that killed David. Her fingerprints are on the gun, and she admitted firing it. That might be all the proof the sheriff needs to arrest her.”
    That was the most talking he’d done since she got into the chopper with him. “Evidence might be