B.J. Daniels the Cardwell Ranch Collection by B. J. Daniels Read Free Book Online Page B

thinking, Hud reached over to steady the glass, steady her. His fingers brushed hers. She jerked her hand back as if he’d sliced her fingers with a knife.
    He pulled back his hand and picked up his wineglass, wishing now that he’d asked for something stronger.
    Dana was sitting back in the chair, her arms crossed, feet on the floor. She looked shaken. He wondered how much of it was from what he’d told her about the bones in the well and how much from his touch. Did she ever wonder what their lives might have been like if she hadn’t broken off the engagement? They would be husband and wife now. Something he always thought about. It never failed to bring a wave of regret with it.
    He didn’t tell Dana that the woman had still been alive, maybe even calling to her attacker for help as he left her down there.
    “I’m going to have to question your family and anyone else who had access to the property or who might have known about the dry well,” he said.
    She didn’t seem to hear him. Her gaze went to the large window. Outside, the snow fell in huge feathery flakes, obscuring the mountains. “What was she shot with?”
    He hesitated, thensaid, “Rupert thinks it was a .38.” He waited a beat before he added, “Does your father still have that .38 of his?”
    She seemed startled by the question, her gaze flying back to him. “I have no idea. Why—” Her look turned to stone. “You can’t really believe—”
    “Do you have any guns in the house?” he asked in his official tone.
    Her eyes narrowed in reaction. “Just the double-barreled shotgun by the door. But you’re welcome to search the house if you don’t believe me.”
    He remembered the shotgun. Mary Justice Cardwell had kept it by the door, loaded with buckshot, to chase away bears from her chicken coop.
    “You have any idea who this woman in the well might have been?” he asked.
    “Fifteen years ago I was sixteen.” She met his gaze. Something hot flashed there as if she, too, remembered her sixteenth birthday and their first kiss.
    “You recall a woman going missing about that time?” he asked, his voice sounding strange to his ears.
    She shook her head, her gaze never leaving his face. “Won’t there be a missing person’s report?”
    “The law and justice center fire in Bozeman destroyed all the records twelve years ago,” he said.
    “So we might never know who she was?” Dana asked.
    “Maybe not. But if she was local, someone might remember her.” He pulled his notebook and pen from his pocket. “I’m going to need Jordan’s phone number so I can contact him.”
    “He’s flying intomorrow. He’ll probably stay with Angus, but I’m sure he’ll be contacting you.”
    He thought it strange she referred to her father as Angus. He wondered what had been going on in the years he’d been gone.
    “You know where to find them,” she continued. “Angus on the nearest bar stool. Clay at his studio in the old Emerson in Bozeman. And Stacy—” Her voice broke. “Well, she’s where you left her.”
    Hud surprised himself by taking the jab without flinching.
    “I was really sorry to hear about your mom’s accident.” He’d heard that Mary had been bucked off a horse and suffered severe brain damage. She’d lived for a short while, but never regained consciousness.
    Dana locked eyes with him. “She always liked you.” She said it as if it was the one mistake her mother ever made.
    “Is that why you’re selling the ranch?”
    She got up from the table. “Is there anything else?”
    He could see that he shouldn’t have mentioned the sale. Not only was it none of his business, but he also got the feeling today really wasn’t the day to ask.
    He finished his wine and pushed himself up from the chair. Picking up his Stetson, he settled it on his head. “I see you forgot your ring again.”
    D ANA CURSED HERSELF for ever lying about the engagement let alone the ring. “The stone was loose,” she said, compounding the