Heâd already gone through the outbuildings on the widowâs land. And he hadnât found a damn thing.
Still, he knew the money was there. Butch didnât have time to move it. But where? The way Richter figured, the widow had to know. Maybe sheâd been working with Butch. Or maybe she found the money and stashed it herself.
Either way, Pete needed to get his hands on Fiona Grant. Heâd make her talk.
Chapter Six
Sunset painted the December skies in streaks of pink and gold above distant, snowy peaks. For a moment, Jesse watched and marveled. Heâd almost died. This might count as the first sunset of the rest of his life. Inborn wisdom told him to take a moment to appreciate this miracle of light.
He sat on the one-step covered porch outside Fionaâs front door. Beside him was Sheriff Trainer from Delta. His deputies had removed the body and dusted for prints. They were still combing the areaâlooking for evidence and finding nothing of importance.
The sheriff took a drag on his cigarette. âIâve been around a long time. Never been tangled up in anything this complicated, but Iâve dealt with my share of lawbreakers. And it seems to me that when people get in trouble, theyâre usually asking for it.â
âNot in my line of work,â Jesse said. âMost of the people Iâm hired to protect are victims of circumstance. Like the Carlisles. Like Nicole.â
âMiss Nicole was in the wrong place at the wrong time,â the sheriff conceded. âThose boys from the SOF didnât set out to kidnap anybody. But youâve got to admit that theywouldnât have kept Nicole if she hadnât been Dylanâs wife. They knew heâd pay any price to get her back.â
âAre you saying that itâs Nicoleâs fault that she got kidnapped?â
âHell, no. Iâm not blaming her.â His long, narrow face grew even longer when he frowned. âI might be a rural county sheriff, but Iâm not an idiot.â
âDidnât say you were.â
But heâd thought it. Before the kidnapping and murder, Sheriff Trainer might have been a good-natured, easygoing guy. Now he was as nervous as a squirrel guarding his winter cache of pinecones.
âIâm trying to make a point,â Trainer said. âThereâs got to be a reason why the kidnappers are searching here.â
Jesse knew where the sheriffâs logic was headed. Theyâd all been asking the same question: why here? Logic pointed toward Fiona. She must have done something to bring trouble upon herself.
He also knew that those assumptions were dead wrong. His instincts told him that Fiona was completely, entirely innocent.
The sheriff looked down at the growing ash on his cigarette and asked, âHow well do you know Fiona Grant?â
âI met her for the first time today,â he said. âBut I knew her husband. A good man who died too young.â
The sheriff shot a glance toward Jesse. âDo you think sheâs got something to hide?â
âHell, no.â
Not Fiona. Not that sweet, gentle woman with the appealing gray eyes. When they found the opened boxes in her pottery studio, she was genuinely surprised. Until he mentioned the ransom, the thought hadnât occurred to her.When they discovered the body of Butch Thurgood, heâd seen her terror.
âIt doesnât make sense, Sheriff. If she knew where the ransom was stashed, why wouldnât she grab it and run?â
âCould be that Butch hid the ransom before she got her hands on it.â
âThink again,â Jesse said. âIf she knew the ransom was here, sheâd want to keep it a secret. She wouldnât call in a search party.â
âUnless she was scared. Pete Richter is still at large,â the sheriff reminded him. âMaybe she decided it was better to hand over the cash than to face Richterâs vengeance.â
Though he
Aj Harmon, Christopher Harmon