Cold Case at Cardwell Ranch

by B. J Daniels

  “I’m sorry. He might have said Missoula, but I honestly can’t remember. Ella...” she said, slicing the last strawberry. She then put down the knife and rinsed the sticky juice off her hands before drying them on her apron. “I’m sure your mother’s fine. She’s done this many times before and has always come back after a few days.”

  Her niece didn’t look any more convinced than Dana herself was.

  * * *

  ELLA TRIED TO reassure her aunt that it wasn’t her fault. No one could predict anything Stacy might do.

  “I would say wait until your mother contacts us,” Dana said, “but I can see that you’re too anxious for that.” As her aunt lowered herself into one of the kitchen chairs, Ella began calling around the state, trying to find cold-case homicide detective Waco Johnson. The kitchen was warm with the scent of strawberries and heavy with a worried tension.

  As she placed one call after another without results, Ella looked around the kitchen. Some of her favorite memories had been made here, surrounded by family and friends over the years. This room had often echoed with laughter. Tears had also been shed here and wiped away with the corner of an apron, followed by hugs and reassurances.

  Ella pulled out a chair and joined her aunt, knowing that major decisions had been made at this table and that she was about to make one. She’d tried her mother’s number again and again; it had gone straight to voice mail. She’d given her mother the morning to contact them, hoping she was wrong.

  Her mother had left her no choice.

  She’d started with the Missoula Police Department, then the county sheriff’s office, then worked her way through the state, starting with the larger cities. She was beginning to think that maybe the man who’d called wasn’t even a homicide detective. That there’d been some sort of mistake. That Waco Johnson didn’t exist. With a name like that...

  She hit pay dirt in Butte.

  “Waco?” the woman who answered at the sheriff’s department said with a laugh. “He’s on cold cases now and hardly ever in the office. If you leave your number—”

  “I’m returning his call, but I’ve misplaced his cell phone number. He said it was important and to call him as soon as possible.”

  Silence. Then, “I’ll tell you what. Give me your name and number. I’ll call him to see if he still is interested in talking with you.”

  “Stacy Cardwell,” she said automatically and gave the woman her cell phone number. If the call had been important, then Waco Johnson would get right back to her.

  As she hung up, she glanced at her aunt. “If it was nothing, he won’t call.”

  Ella was trying to sell herself on that point—and the idea that her mother had just needed a break from the ranch and wasn’t in trouble—when her phone rang.

  For a moment, she hoped it was Stacy. But, of course, it wasn’t. It was cold-case homicide detective Waco Johnson calling her back. The moment she heard his low, deep voice, she knew he was as anxious to talk to her mother as Ella was. And that meant only one thing.

  Whatever trouble her mother was in, it was serious.

  Chapter Four

  “Stacy Cardwell?” Waco asked, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice. The woman who answered his call wasn’t the same one he’d talked to yesterday who’d promised to call him this morning—when she wasn’t so busy. She’d given him her cell phone number. But when he’d tried it, it had gone straight to voice mail.

  No, the voice on the other end of the line was much too young to be Stacy Cardwell.

  “I’m her daughter, Ella.”

  That made more sense, for sure. “May I speak to Stacy?”

  “I thought you spoke with her yesterday,” Ella said.

  He chuckled softly. “She must have accidentally disconnected after she gave me her cell phone number and promised to call me back this morning.”

  “So you haven’t heard from her?”

  “No, but if she’s there, please tell her it is very important that I speak with her.”

  He heard the hesitation in the young woman’s voice before she spoke. “I need to know why you’re interested in talking to her.”

  He groaned inwardly. Nothing like a protective daughter. “I’m sorry, but that’s between your mother and me.”

  “It’s personal?” His slight hesitation didn’t go unnoticed. “It’s official police business?”

  “Look, if you put your mother on the line—”

  “I can’t do that. She isn’t here.”

  “When do you expect her back?” he asked, unable to shake the feeling that had his nerves on edge.

  “I’m not sure.”

  He was wondering how Cardwell’s daughter even knew about his call. “Did she tell you I had called?”

  “No, I haven’t seen her. My aunt Dana told me and I tracked you down.”

  He felt a small thrill ripple through his blood. “Are you at Cardwell Ranch now? I’d love to talk to you. And your aunt, Dana Cardwell Savage, if she’s around. I can be there in thirty minutes.”

  “I doubt we could be of much help to you,” Ella said. “Maybe if you could tell me what this is about...”

  “It’s about one of your mother’s former husbands, Marvin Hanover. Your mother reported him missing thirty-one years ago. His remains have been found. I’ll see you in thirty minutes at Cardwell Ranch.”

  There was a long moment of silence before the young woman said, “We’ll be waiting for you.”

  * * *

  ELLA COULDN’T BREATHE for a moment. Remains had been found. A cold-case homicide detective wanted to talk to her mother and her mother had taken off. This wasn’t one of her mother’s short escapes. She’d taken all of her clothes. Ella had known that this time was different. Stacy was on the run. Wherever she’d gone, she wouldn’t be coming back. Except in handcuffs.

  She’d heard whispered stories about what a wild woman her mother had been in her younger days. Not just quickie marriages and divorces, but missing money and devious plots. Ella had even heard that Stacy had been responsible for Dana and Hud breaking up all those years ago—before they’d gotten back together.

  Everyone liked to say that Stacy had changed, that she’d put all of that behind her. Ella had hoped that was true, and maybe it was. But now she feared that her mother’s past had just come back to haunt her.

  “What did he say?” Aunt Dana asked, looking as worried as Ella felt.

  “He said Mom’s wanted for questioning in the murder of her husband Marvin Hanover.” That wasn’t exactly what he’d said. But she knew it was the case. “Did you know him?”

  Dana shook her head. “It was her shortest marriage, I believe. Just months. She and I weren’t really talking around that time.”

  “Evidently, he’d gone missing, but his remains have turned up,” Ella said, feeling sick to her stomach. “What do you know about him?”

  Dana sighed. “Marvin was a lot older than Stacy. He had grown children, two or three, I believe. One of them stopped by looking for her after Marvin went missing. I just remember that the woman was really rude. Apparently she thought that Stacy had gotten away with some of her deceased mother’s jewelry and some money.”

  Dana lowered her head to her hands. “I had really hoped her younger, wild days were over. She’d seemed so changed when she brought you here. All these years, she’s helped me here on the ranch.” She raised her head. “Stacy’s done a lot of things she shouldn’t have, but she could never kill anyone.”

  Ella nodded, even though she feared there was a side to her mother that none of them wanted to acknowledge—but might be forced to face soon.

  * * *

  IT HAD BEEN years since Waco had been through the Gallatin Canyon. His family had taken a trip to Yellowstone Park when he was a boy and gone this way. He’d forgotten how beautiful the canyon was with the Gallatin River ca
rving its way through the cliffs and pines, and mountains soaring up around it.

  He used the patrol SUV’s navigation system for directions to the Cardwell Ranch. Not that he couldn’t have asked just about anyone how to get there. Everyone around here knew the Cardwells and Savages, especially with Hudson Savage still being marshal. Waco had made a point of learning everything he could after talking to Ella Cardwell.

  Hud’s son Brick was now a deputy, and Brick’s fiancée, Maureen, had been hired on as a deputy. Rumor had it, she was a shoo-in for marshal when Hud retired. After Hud’s recent heart attack, it probably wouldn’t be long.

  Waco figured it was just a matter of time before Hud got wind of the cold-case investigation—if he hadn’t already heard. In the meantime, Waco hoped to learn as much as he could without any interference. He knew how protective families could be. As marshal, and Stacy Cardwell’s brother-in-law, Hud Savage could be a problem. Hitch had told him how fierce and protective Dana Cardwell Savage could be when it came to her family. The family would quickly close ranks to protect Stacy. He’d already gathered as much from the tone of Stacy’s daughter’s voice on the phone.

  He knew he was walking into a grizzly den. The thought made him smile. If there was one thing he loved, it was a challenge. He couldn’t wait to meet this formidable family, especially the daughter, Ella. What was it he’d detected in her voice that had him intrigued? He had no doubt that she would do whatever it took to protect her mother. While he admired that, it wouldn’t stop him from finding Stacy.

  At the turnoff to the ranch, he slowed and pulled off onto the ranch road. He caught a glimpse of the roof of the house, and a large red barn behind it, as he crossed the bridge over the river. A dozen horses raced along the pasture fence line, the wind blowing back their manes. He put down his window and let the summer air with its scents of green grasses and pine trees rush in.

  As he pulled into the yard in front of the two-story ranch house, two women stepped out. He knew at once he was looking at Dana Cardwell Savage and Ella Cardwell. Dana, in her sixties, had grayed, but there was strength in her slim body and life-etched face that he’d seen in other ranch women. She was a woman to be reckoned with.

  Waco took in the younger woman and smiled to himself as he cut the engine and exited his SUV. Ella Cardwell was a surprise. Her long blond hair was plaited to one side of her beautifully carved face. She was no more than five-five, yet she had a presence that made her seem just as strong and self-assured as her aunt.

  As he approached the porch steps, he felt the young woman’s emerald green gaze on him and knew that he’d just met his match. He would need to tread carefully with her. If he hoped to get any help from Ella Cardwell, it was going to be a battle.

  But then again, he did love a good fight.

  * * *

  ELLA WATCHED THE man slowly remove his Stetson and look up at her. His blue eyes seemed to nail her to the porch floor. He was much younger than she’d expected—and handsome in a way that caught her off guard. She tried not to show her surprise or react to the intensity of his gaze. When he spoke, his voice had a low, deep rumble to it that quickened her pulse at the same time it put her on alert.

  “Afternoon, ladies,” he said, tilting his dark head slightly as he nodded first to her aunt and then to her. His hair was longer than most lawmen she knew. He also didn’t wear any kind of uniform. He was dressed in jeans and a green-checked shirt, the sleeves rolled up to expose muscled and tanned forearms.

  Having always been able to pick up a sense of a person immediately, Ella found herself struggling to get a feel for this man other than the obvious. He was too handsome for his own good. His hips slim, his legs long, his shoulders broad and just as muscular as the rest of his body. There was determination in his stance and those blue eyes seemed to see clear to her soul.

  “You have some kind of identification?” she asked, not letting her voice betray how off balance the man threw her.

  He gave her a slow smile before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a badge. His long legs closed the distance between them until he was standing on the lower porch step in front of her, eye to eye.

  She took the badge. As she looked at it, she could feel him watching her with a concentration that would have made her nervous if she had let it. “Detective Johnson,” she said and handed back the badge.

  His warm, dry fingers brushed hers, making her gaze leap to his as she felt the jolt. She saw amusement and challenge in all that blue and warned herself to watch this man very carefully.

  “Would you like some lemonade, Detective?” Dana asked. “I just made a fresh batch.”

  “I’d love some. But, please, call me Waco.”

  * * *

  “IF YOU’D LIKE to have a seat,” Dana said after she and Ella escorted the detective into the house. “I’ll get the lemonade.” She started toward the kitchen, but he insisted on coming with her.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer talking in here,” he said. “You have a wonderful kitchen. It reminds me of my grandmother’s.”

  When Dana offered him a chair, he sat at the table and stretched out his long legs, reminding her of a young Hud Savage. Ella took a seat across from him, leaving the head of the table free for her. She could feel how wary her niece was of the man.

  Dana poured the three of them a tall, frosty glass of lemonade each and tried to remain calm. She kept telling herself that there was nothing to worry about even as concern bloomed in her mind.

  The detective looked around the kitchen, she noticed, taking it all in while also taking the measure of not just her but Ella, as well. She wondered if she should talk to him or if she should call Hud to join them.

  “Can you tell us what this is about?” she asked after taking her seat at the table. Ella had filled her in earlier, but Dana wanted to hear it straight from the detective.

  Waco cleared his throat. “Are you aware that one of your sister’s husbands disappeared some years ago? Maybe you knew him. Marvin Hanover?”

  Dana shook her head. “I know that my sister was married a couple of times. She’s two years older than me. But I don’t recall her ever mentioning that name.”

  “This marriage didn’t last long. In fact, it was only for a few months. Your sister got the marriage annulled, saying that her husband had abandoned her,” the detective said.

  Dana glanced at Ella, wondering what she thought of the information and the detective. She’d always trusted Ella’s instincts when it came to people. But nothing in her niece’s expression gave her any indication of how she was feeling about the man.

  “Why are you asking about this now?” Ella inquired, getting to the heart of it.

  That was so like Ella, Dana thought.

  “As I told you on the phone, Marvin Hanover has turned up.” The detective seemed to hesitate, his gaze going from Ella to Dana and back again. “His remains have been found. The coroner has evidence suggesting that he was murdered.”

  “And you think this might interest my mother? As you said, it was years ago that my mother was married to him—”

  “Almost thirty-one.”

  “—for only a few months.”

  Waco smiled and Dana felt her heart skip before he said to Ella, “Marvin never abandoned your mother. He never left town. His remains were recently discovered on some property once owned by his family—at the bottom of an old well—and we believe they’d been there for more than thirty years.”

  Dana couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her lips. She felt the detective’s gaze shift to her and her heart fell. Not again. Not another body in a well. She fought to keep her expression from showing the emotions suddenly roiling inside her. She’d been here before.

  “I believe some remains were found in one of the old wells here at the ranch years ago,” Waco said, his gaze never straying from her face. “It was back when your sib
lings were trying to take the ranch away from you, isn’t that right?”

  Dana had no doubt that he knew exactly when it was. Back when her mother, Mary Cardwell, had died and they hadn’t been able to find her most recent will, leaving the ranch to Dana. Back when Hud had just returned to Big Sky to take the marshal job and steal her heart again. Back when she’d been at war with Stacy and her brothers, Jordan and Clay. They’d been determined to force her to sell Cardwell Ranch and give up the family legacy—all for money. Her siblings had only been interested in splitting up the profits. If she hadn’t found her mother’s will when she had...

  “As it turned out, the death of the young woman in the well had nothing to do with our family,” Dana said, surprised how calm she sounded.

  “No,” Waco said, nodding. “But the timing is interesting. Your sister, Stacy, was thirty-three. She’d married Marvin right before the remains turned up in your well here on the ranch.” He hesitated for a moment. “Marvin allegedly disappeared after that—after the discovery of the body in your well. Not long after, your sister got an annulment on the grounds of abandonment.”

  Dana could have heard a pin drop in the kitchen. She didn’t dare look at Ella, let alone speak.

  “You have to admit, the timing is interesting. Now your sister’s former husband’s remains have been found in a similar abandoned homestead well,” the detective continued. “I’m afraid, this time, it is connected to your family.”

  Chapter Five

  Waco studied the two women. They both hid their reactions well. It would seem that these two didn’t know where Stacy had gone or when she’d be back. He didn’t think either of them would lie outright to an officer of the law—not when one of them was married to a marshal.

  “You can see why I want to talk to Stacy. When did you say you expect her back?”

  “We didn’t. I believe we already told you that we don’t know,” Ella said.