by June Faver
Cade could hear the doubt in Breck’s voice, which made him doubt the wisdom of this line of reasoning…but Jennifer looked so sad. Might as well just check things out. At least they could learn more about the airstrip. Perhaps she was right.
They spent the next half hour inspecting the contents of Jason’s desk. They found a roster of clients who rented space to store their aircraft, mostly outside but some inside the hangars. There were a couple of individuals who provided maintenance on the various aircraft. And they found the names and contact information of everyone who was employed by or contracted to the airstrip.
Just as they were winding up the tour and had walked through the hangars to inspect equipment whose function neither Cade nor Jennifer could identify, Cade saw an official Sheriff’s Department vehicle pulling up in front of the office.
“Is he supposed to be here?” Jennifer asked.
“Not that I was aware,” Breck said, but he strode across the tarmac to investigate with Cade and Jennifer trailing behind.
By the time the three of them reached the patrol car, Sheriff Derrick Shelton had climbed out and was waiting for them. He wasn’t smiling.
“Miss LaChance, Cade Garrett, and Breck Ryan. Just the people I wanted to see.”
Breck stuck his hand out to shake with Derrick. “I wasn’t aware that we were to meet today.”
“No, sir. I went by your office and Misty told me where you would be. Glad I could catch the three of you together.”
Breck’s brows drew together. “Let’s go inside and you can tell us what this is all about.”
“Sure.” Derrick, always the gentleman, gestured for Jennifer to precede him. “Go ahead, folks.” When they were all inside the office, he stood looking very grim, with his thumbs hooked through his belt loops. “I have to talk to you about the supposed accident that took the lives of Jason and Sara LaChance.”
Jennifer let out a little gasp and Cade found himself clenching his jaw to the point of pain.
“What are you talking about?” Breck asked.
“The feds got done with inspecting the plane and gave us the news that there was a fuel line that had been tampered with. They have their own investigation going on, so I’m sure they will be poking around here, but I have to follow up. Can you tell me who was working here up to the time of the crash?”
Jennifer’s color had drained right out of her face. She sat down heavily on one of the wooden folding chairs, her hand over her mouth.
Breck motioned to Derrick. “I’m not for sure. We found a roster of employees, but I have no idea how current it is.” Breck rummaged around in the files, opening one drawer, rifling through it and slamming it shut. He opened another drawer and blew out a breath. “I think these are employee files.” He swept his hand over the contents.
“I—I thought you said there were only a couple of employees.” Jennifer’s voice sounded small.
“I think this is the entire history of everyone who has ever worked here.” Breck had poked through a few of the files. “Looks like this goes back to the first day Jason opened the doors here.”
Derrick nodded. “I’m going to look through all the employee files.” He cast a dark gaze at Jennifer and then Cade. “You two are the only heirs?”
Jennifer nodded, looking miserable.
Cade placed his hand on her shoulder. “I want you to do whatever it takes to find out who tampered with the fuel line, and when you do…” He swallowed hard. “I want you to bring them to justice.” He gazed steadily at the sheriff, knowing in his heart he wanted the perpetrator to die.
Chapter 12
Jenn sat quietly on the drive back to the house. She felt she had been assaulted, at least emotionally. It would never have occurred to her that Jason had been murdered. She had thought it was just a terrible accident. Who would have wanted to kill the kindest man on the planet?
Cade must have been dealing with his emotions as well, because he didn’t appear to be in the mood for conversation either. When he pulled into the driveway of the house she had inherited, he turned off the motor and sat, staring straight ahead for some time. “I’m sorry.”
Jenn turned to gaze at his profile sorrowfully.
“I’m sorry that our family members were murdered by some monster.” He smacked the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. “They were so happy together. They had worked so hard to achieve their dream: two beautiful children, a home, and a business to support the dream.”
Jenn couldn’t respond. There were no words she could possibly say. How was it that her wonderful brother, who had done everything right, married his sweetheart, produced two perfect babies, and succeeded in business…how could he be gone while Jenn remained?
She put her hand on the door handle, but Cade sputtered something and jumped out of his truck. She watched him hustle around the front of the vehicle to open the passenger-side door and offer Jenn a hand.
She accepted Cade’s hand, and when their skin connected, she felt a spark of electricity. Cade’s eyes reached into her, sharing the pain he was feeling—the only other person really mourning the passing of their siblings. The only other person who was trying to pick up the pieces.
He must have been able to read her misery as well. His intense blue eyes offered a place she could go for comfort.
Jenn slid off the seat and into his arms. Cade clasped her to his very hard chest as she clung to him, finally letting the tears flow. His arms were the only safe place she could recall in recent times.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” she gasped out between sobs.
Cade’s lips pressed a kiss against her temple. “Jennifer, you have nothing to be sorry for. You’ve done nothing wrong.” He wiped her tears with his thumb.
“I was so stupid. I thought my brother and his family would always be here for me, while I kept my nose in books.” She shook her head. “I neglected them and now they’re all gone…except for the children. Oh no! The children will grow up without knowing their parents at all.” That realization hit her like a physical slap.
When she drew back, he kissed her cheek, wet with tears. And when she lifted her chin, he kissed her lips. It was a good kiss—not in passion, but with comfort and companionship. This misery was what they shared…and two very adorable children.
Jenn rested her head against his chest, taking comfort in the strong arms that held her close. “I can’t believe anyone would hate Jason and Sara enough to want them dead.”
“I agree.” His voice rumbled deep in his chest. “But there must have been a reason. What did their deaths mean to someone?”
She gazed into the depths of his remarkable blue eyes. “I don’t understand.”
He exhaled a deep breath. “I mean, what does someone stand to gain from the deaths of Sara and Jason LaChance? What did the killer profit from their deaths?”
Jenn felt as though the life was being squeezed out of her. What did someone have to gain if Jason and Sara were murdered?
* * *
Cade drove Mrs. Reynolds home and headed for his ranch. He’d tried to keep up an appearance of being confident in front of Jennifer, but he was anything but confident.
He was torn by the news that someone had deliberately sabotaged the plane in which his baby sister had died…had been murdered.
He pulled up close to the fence where Leroy stood, gazing at him with his wide-set brown eyes. If everything could be as simple as Leroy’s life…
Cade’s life was a total mess. First, he’d lost his sister. Then, he had jumped into his role of caretaker to Leo and Lissy. He heaved a sigh. And then, just as he thought he’d gotten things figured out, this crazy, beautiful woman barged into his life in her slinky dresses and high heels. Oh, and her perfume. She smelled better than Mrs. R’s fresh apple pie. Better than new-cut hay and freshly tilled soil, two of his favorites.
Now, he k
new the taste of her lips and the feel of her sweet body pressed up against him. He stroked his hand over Leroy’s wide nose. “Face it, boy. I’m hooked on that little lady.”
Leroy gazed at him, his wise brown eyes seemingly filled with compassion.
“Trouble is, I don’t think Miss Jennifer feels the same way about me.” He leaned up against the fence and let his mind travel over the small amount of information he had about Miss Jennifer LaChance. He had probably met Jennifer at the wedding, but he had been the one to give Sara away, since their father had passed, and he had been focused on being there for her. But Jennifer had totally knocked him out the moment he first laid eyes on her when she showed up at the funeral…late, of course. She had seemed so fidgety and flighty then, but now he understood that her emotions were strong and that her brother was the last link she had to her family.
Now, she had been left the house, which Cade reasoned was the right thing to do. And he supposed that was one of the reasons she had been named as the children’s guardian. Sara and Jason had wanted their children to grow up in a familiar environment, and they felt that Jennifer was the best person to raise them.
Cade tried not to feel slighted about them choosing Jennifer over him. She for sure was doing a bang-up job of caring for them. And she seemed to be warming to the idea of him sharing parenting duties.
But he wanted more. He wanted Jennifer. He wanted her kisses, and he wanted her sweet body in his arms again.
* * *
Jenn had been dropped off at her home. She had accepted that the place was hers now. This was the home the children’s parents had built for their family. Now, she sat in the big leather recliner. It was in remarkably good shape, the burgundy leather a bit worn, but treated well.
She could envision her big brother lovingly caring for the chair he enjoyed. Now, it was hers. The chair. The house. The kids. She hoped she was up to the job. The load had seemed heavy enough when she thought her brother’s death was an accident, but now that she knew he had been murdered, the weight was crushing.
How could anyone take the life of such a loving man? His generous spirit reached out to everyone in the community.
She stirred as a whisper of fear coiled down her spine. A murderer was out there in the relative darkness. Someone who had killed two people, maybe more. Was it over? Or would more people die?
* * *
Derrick Shelton sat across the table from Breckenridge. They were in the back of Breck’s office where a long folding table acted as a sorting surface.
Misty Garrett looked anxious. She sat at her desk in the front of the office, which had once been a storefront. Large glass show windows fronted the office and lent a lot of light to an otherwise dark interior. “Are you sure I can’t help you?” she asked.
Breck shook his head, his brows drawn together. “We’re not sure what we’re looking for, Misty. So there’s no way we can tell you about it.”
Derrick felt sorry for her and tried to soften Breck’s terse response. “We may not know what we’re looking for, but I sure do hope it will jump right up and smack us in the face.”
“Amen!” Breck thundered, slamming one file folder closed and reaching for another. “I’m not seeing anything suspicious so far.”
“Me neither,” Derrick growled. “And I’ve known most of these people all my life. Even the old-timers.”
“Watch it, kid.”
“No, sir.” Derrick had to laugh at Breck’s fierce expression, although the young lawyer was somewhere in his late thirties. “Don’t people around here call you ‘that young lawyer feller’?”
Breck let out a hearty and derisive snort. “Everything’s relative.”
“I’m not finding anything in these files of the earlier employees,” Derrick said. “What about the current workers? Anything promising?”
“There are only three people currently on the payroll. There was a part-time bookkeeper and two part-time mechanics.” He spread his hands. “What do you think?”
“Well, the mechanics, of course. They had opportunity. The bookkeeper, not so much.” Derrick heaved a sigh. “Anyone else? Someone fired recently?”
Breck scowled. “Digging back in.” He pulled another file toward him.
* * *
Jenn awoke with her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest. Her limbs were tangled in damp bedding, and she seemed to be moist in every place a woman could be moist. She opened her eyes and heaved a sigh, trying to snatch on to shreds of the dream that had put her through a strenuous workout.
And Cade Garrett had been the star.
She had tried so hard to ignore the tenuous moments when he’d held her and kissed her. When she had been so weak after learning that Jason’s death had been murder, she had drawn strength from Cade’s hard body and strong arms.
Cade’s were the first lips to touch hers in a long time.
She was almost virginal…except that her hormones were raging and the source of all that raging was a most inappropriate cowboy.
She swallowed hard and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.
A big, strong cowboy with dark hair and devastating blue eyes.
He would be perfect if she were some sweet schoolgirl who had grown up here in Langston. Indeed, a relationship with a well-off rancher, who happened to be scrumptious to look at, would have been a grand coup.
But not for the forever college student. Nerd… Loser… Laughingstock… No man could love me now.
A tremor shook her from the inside. How could this country bumpkin shake her to the core? He’s never been to an art museum or a Broadway show.
Jenn took a deep breath and blew it out forcefully. Maybe not a bumpkin. He did seem to be capable of expressing himself adequately, although at first his verbiage had been in the form of short, terse linguistic jabs.
Now, he seemed to have changed his opinion of her, defrosting quite a bit. Maybe it was the fact that she was caring for his niece and nephew. And yet he had held her and kissed her as though he truly had feelings for her.
She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. No point in even dwelling on what happened between them. It was just a dream. But what a dream!
Jenn untangled herself sufficiently to throw the covers back and struggle to her feet. It was early, and she hadn’t heard anything from the children’s room, but she shrugged into her robe and peeked in on them just to be sure.
The little ones were fast asleep, Lissy clutching her favorite toy, and Leo had rolled onto his back, breathing with his mouth open.
Jenn felt a tingle of tears as she gazed at the sweet and innocent children who had come to mean so much to her. Now if she could just live up to the title of Mom.
Resolutely she opened the fridge and took out some of the ingredients for a hearty breakfast: milk, butter, eggs. She set them on the counter next to the stove. Oatmeal—kids liked oatmeal. She pawed through the pantry and lined the box of cereal up next to the cold items.
“What else?” She cast about for any other items needed for breakfast. Toast? Yeah, they need toast…and jelly.
When she had assembled all the components for a breakfast feast, she felt a bit more confident.
Jennifer LaChance had blown off her credentials as an artist in academia. Now she would build a new persona. She would be Super Mom to two adorable children. She would become a den mother for Leo and take Lissy to ballet lessons. She would make sure they got their homework done. Whatever they needed, she would help them achieve it. She would set her artistic talents free by painting landscapes and sketching the children.
Most of all, she would squeeze the big, beautiful cowboy out of her thoughts. No more steamy dreams of Cade Garrett.
Chapter 13
When Breckenridge T. Ryan pulled up in front of his storefront office in the old redbrick building, he was surprised to recognize Cade G
arrett’s truck parked right in front. He’d hoped Cade had made his peace with Jennifer LaChance and wasn’t here to make any further complaints.
Breck climbed out of his own vehicle and stomped up onto the sidewalk with a determined set to his jaw. He didn’t want to hear any more babble about the young lady. Unfortunately, he took his irritation out on the front door, slamming it so hard the beveled glass inset shook and setting off the little bell over the door.
Breck’s secretary, Misty Garrett, stared at him, wide-eyed.
For his part, Cade had been sitting in one of the chairs by Misty’s desk. He jumped to his feet, clutching his Stetson to his chest. “Good morning, Breck. I thought I would catch you early.”
“You got me,” Breck snapped, then softened his tone. “Anything else I need to tend to, Misty?” He removed his own Stetson and placed it on a peg near the front door.
“Quiet so far,” she said. “Here are a couple of phone messages for you.”
Breck accepted the papers and nodded his head toward Cade. “This fellow giving you a hard time?”
Misty laughed at that. “Just catching up with my hubby’s favorite cousin.”
Cade snorted. “All the Garrett cousins were a fearsome gang of renegades.”
Breck waved him into his private office. “I never had to arrange bail for any of you, so your gang must not have been too bad.”
“I’ll never tell,” Cade murmured as he entered the office.
Breck closed the door and took a seat behind his massive antique desk. He didn’t consider it antique but acknowledged that it was old. “Make yourself comfortable.” He gestured to the chairs on the other side of the desk.
Cade sat and crossed one of his long legs over his knee at his ankle. He appeared to be having trouble sharing what was on his mind.
