The Last Goodnight

by Kat Martin

  “You can use the conference room,” Conn said, rising.

  Ellie walked ahead of Kade out of Conn’s office, and she led him into the glass-enclosed room next door. She wondered what sort of cover job he planned to dredge up for her and reminded herself she didn’t have to take the case.

  As she studied Logan’s solid jaw, the gleam in his world-weary eyes, and his hard, sexy mouth, it occurred to her she would be making a far safer decision if she turned him down.

  * * *

  Kade stretched his long legs out beneath an oak conference table surrounded by ten brown-leather captain’s chairs and studied Ellie Bowman. When he’d called Conn Delaney and asked about hiring a detective, it never occurred to him Conn would suggest a woman.

  And a damn pretty woman at that. A little shorter than average, she had a small waist, slender hips, and shapely legs. Dark copper hair, clipped neatly at the nape of her neck, curled softly down her back, gleaming in the sunlight streaming in through the window.

  He’d felt a jolt the moment he had walked into the office and seen her sitting at her desk. He was a man of strong sexual appetites, and he’d been single for the past eight years. He noticed women, and Ellie Bowman definitely was one.

  “I can bunk in with the hands,” she said. “This time of year, you’re probably still looking for strays and moving them down to the lower pastures.”

  Kade inwardly groaned. The bunkhouse? Not likely. A good-looking woman would be nothing but a distraction to the hands.

  “I don’t suppose you can cook,” he said. “Mrs. Stenson is leaving for a month-long visit with her son and his family in Phoenix. Be a place you could easily fit in.”

  One of those smooth reddish eyebrows slid up. “Why am I not surprised the only job you think I can handle is in the kitchen?”

  Irritation trickled through him. He wasn’t being disrespectful. His mother had taught him better than that. With an opening in the kitchen, hiring her would be believable. Simple as that.

  “Cooking won’t be a problem,” she answered before he had time to respond. “My mother cooked for our ranch hands. I pitched in whenever she needed me.”

  He managed to nod. “Mabel has a helper, so you won’t be left to do all the work yourself. In fact, Maria usually does most of the heavy lifting now that Mabel is in her seventies.”

  “If that’s what you think works best, that’s what I’ll do. It’s your money. I’m sure you’d like to get the best results for the dollars you spend.”

  “True enough.” She was pragmatic. Heather had been exactly the opposite, spending ridiculous sums of money on herself. “Taking over the kitchen will give you an excuse to be in town. You’ll be feeding a six-man crew plus my foreman and me, a few part-time hands, a stable boy, and anyone else who happens to be around. Mabel went in for supplies a couple of times a week. That should give you a chance to get to know some of the locals.”

  Ellie’s full lips curved in the first real smile he had seen. He wondered what she’d taste like. Damn.

  “Actually, standing in for your cook is a good idea,” Ellie said, surprising him with the admission. Kade reassessed some of the assumptions he’d made.

  “I haven’t cooked for a while,” she said. “But it’s kind of like riding a horse. Once you’re back in the saddle, you remember how to do it.”

  He clamped down on the heat those words generated and the stirring in his loins beneath the table. He’d like to give Ms. Ellie Bowman a ride—the kind neither of them would soon forget.

  Kade scrubbed a hand over his face. This was a bad idea on every level. Except that if the lady was as good as Conn said, it might actually work.

  Kade straightened in his chair. “Anything else you need to know?”

  “Where will I be staying?”

  “Mabel moved into a cabin behind the ranch house a couple years back. Her old room is down the hall from the kitchen, off the mudroom.”

  “That’ll do.”

  He nodded and rose from his seat. “If you think of anything else, you can call me on my cell phone.”

  “All right.” Ellie put his number in her contacts, and he put hers in his. There was something intimate about it Kade didn’t like.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “I’ll be there no later than three.”

  He frowned. “We get up early on the ranch. Cook’s the first one up.”

  She smiled, and he caught a glint of humor in her eyes. “Maybe I should charge you a little extra for ruining my beauty sleep.”

  Kade actually laughed. Looked like Ms. Bowman had a sense of humor. Good thing to have on a ranch. “You find my wife’s killer, and I’ll give you a ten percent bonus. That pay for your beauty sleep?”

  Ellie stuck out a hand. “You’re on.”

  Kade accepted the handshake, his big palm wrapping around her smaller one. Surprised at the strength he felt there, he settled his hat on his head and tugged the brim down low. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ms. Bowman.”

  “Ellie,” she said in a voice that made him think of clean sheets and his big, four-poster bed.

  That was the moment Kade knew he was in trouble.

  CHAPTER THREE

  ELLIE DROVE THROUGH THE BIG TIMBER GATE THAT MARKED THE entrance to Kade Logan’s property. The sign at the top, between two racks of sun-bleached elk antlers, read DIAMOND BAR RANCH.

  After she’d met Logan yesterday, Ellie had done some research. The man owned over 19,000 deeded acres plus 18,000 grazing acres near the tiny town of Coffee Springs. The ranch house and pastures sat in a valley surrounded by forested mountains that rose up from the valley floor.

  As she drove the last few miles down a well-maintained gravel road, Ellie looked up at the swath of pine trees stretching all the way up to snow-capped peaks. The grass in the valley had turned golden brown, and the leaves on the aspen trees shimmered in red and orange on the sides of the hills.

  Fenced pastures ran along both sides of the road, and as she neared the house, she saw wooden corrals, a few log cabins, and several barns clustered around a newer structure fashioned of stone and chinked square timbers under a dark brown metal roof.

  The ranch was beautiful, like something out of the old West. Except for the house, which, with its huge, plate-glass windows, tall stone chimneys, and inviting covered porches, appeared to be no more than twenty years old.

  Ellie pulled her rented white Jeep Cherokee around to the back of the house, figuring the temporary cook she was pretending to be wouldn’t likely arrive at the front door. She made her way up onto the back porch and knocked, stepping back when a slender young woman with glossy hair in a loose black braid opened the door.

  “You must be Ms. Bowman,” the young woman said.

  “I’m Ellie Bowman, the new cook.” She smiled. “At least until Mabel gets back. You must be Maria.”

  “Sí, I’m Maria.” She pulled the door open wider. “Please come in. It’s good to meet you.”

  “Good to meet you, as well, and please just call me Ellie.” As she stepped into the steamy interior, delicious aromas drifted toward her. “Something sure smells good.”

  “That’s the meat and onions I fried for the casserole. It’s all finished, in the pan and ready to go into the oven. The men will be in before dark for supper.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  “I think Señor Kade expected you to come in through the front,” Maria said. She was in her early twenties, a Latina or perhaps part Native American. “He wanted to see you in his study before you settled in, but something came up, and he was called away. He said to tell you he’d be back soon.”

  “Is that what I should call him? Señor Kade?”

  Maria smiled. She was a beautiful girl. “No, no. That’s just what I call him. My mother worked for him. I’ve known him since I was a girl. Señor Kade is still how I think of him.”

  Ellie smiled, liking the young woman already. “I can bring my stuff in later. Tell me what you ne
ed me to do.”

  Maria flicked a glance toward the seating area off to one side. There was a long rectangular wooden table with benches on both sides, room enough to seat ten or twelve people, plus a chair at each end.

  “Mabel left last night,” Maria said. “I’m not used to cooking by myself. You could help by setting the table. Then I won’t have to do it later. Just the basics, silverware, paper napkins, water glasses, and coffee mugs. The men serve up their own meals.”

  “All right. I can do that. It’ll give me a chance to figure out where everything is.” Ellie set to work opening cabinets and drawers, mentally cataloging supplies and cookware, memorizing where things were located. In minutes, she had the table set using vinyl, red-checked placemats and red paper napkins to give it a cheerful look. Maria seemed pleased.

  They worked together to cut up tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers for a big crisp green salad to go with the casserole.

  “The men won’t be in for a while,” Maria said. “I’ll help you bring in your things.”

  “Great. Thanks.”

  But Kade Logan appeared first. Shoving through the back door and stepping into the warm kitchen, he shed his tan Carhartt jacket and hung it on a peg beside the door. The hat he was wearing was the same brown felt as before, but this one was crimped and stained, a working cowboy’s hat.

  Her gaze traveled over him, and her stomach contracted. She had forgotten the impact the man had had on her the first time she’d seen him. The broad shoulders and long legs, the square jaw and hard mouth, the slightly mussed golden-brown hair. The feeling was even stronger today.

  Kade Logan was a man’s man, and her hormones seemed to know it.

  The notion grew when he turned and saw her. She could have sworn his nostrils flared. Ellie forced herself not to turn and run back out the door.

  It was ridiculous. Kade Logan was only a man. In her line of work, she dealt with men every day.

  “I see you made it.” The deep male voice sent a tingle of awareness up her spine. “We had a little trouble or I would have been here to greet you.”

  “What kind of trouble?” She was a private investigator. Curiosity came with the job.

  “Why don’t we get our business finished? Then you can get settled in. My study is down the hall.”

  She followed his long strides out of the kitchen, traveling over polished wood-plank floors, past a dining room lit by an antler chandelier and furnished with a copper-topped table surrounded by eight high-backed leather chairs. A wine cellar with a glass door was tucked into one wall, something she wouldn’t have expected.

  His study reflected the same combination of mountain and western décor, with beautiful oil paintings, dark wood furniture, and colorful Indian throw rugs on the floor.

  Kade didn’t sit down, just closed the heavy door.

  “What’s going on?” Ellie asked.

  “You’ll hear about it anyway. Not many secrets on a ranch. Someone shot a steer up in the north pasture. Probably just some hunter who couldn’t tell the difference between a cow and a deer, but the men have all been told to stay alert.”

  “Did you call the sheriff?”

  He nodded. “Sheriff Glen Carver. He’s working on it, but the ranch covers a lot of acres, and it’s been raining, which destroys any footprints or tire tracks. With luck, the guy is long gone and won’t be bothering us again.”

  “I’ll keep my eyes and ears open just in case.” She smiled up at him. “No extra charge.”

  Amusement touched his lips, and Ellie felt it in the pit of her stomach.

  “I assume Maria showed you your room.”

  “She was busy working on supper. I’ll bring my stuff in later and ask her to show me.”

  “I’ll help you bring it in. I saw where you parked. Let’s go.”

  They walked back into the hall but turned the opposite direction, went through a mudroom, and out a door leading onto the wooden deck that wrapped around this side of the house. As they headed for the Jeep, a black-and-white border collie raced up to Kade and gave a single bark.

  “That’s Smoke. Short for Smokin’ Joe because he can run like the wind. He’s friendly. You don’t have to worry.”

  She knelt and stuck out a hand so Smoke could sniff her fingers. Ellie ran her palm over his glossy coat. “He’s your dog?”

  “He’s the ranch dog. He kind of belongs to everyone, but I watch out for him.”

  She loved dogs. If she lived there, she’d have at least two or three.

  Kade grabbed both her bags out of the rear of the Jeep and started back toward the house while Ellie slung her laptop case over her shoulder, grabbed her big leather purse, and fell in beside him.

  Kade went back inside through the mudroom and opened a door off the hall. There was a nice big bedroom with a small sitting area off to one side and a private bath. An old-fashioned quilted spread covered a queen-size bed with an ornate wrought-iron headboard.

  “I’ll leave you to it,” Kade said. “I think I’ll head back to the kitchen and find something to eat. Maria always keeps something around for strays.” The door closed, shutting out Logan’s tall frame. It felt as if the air had gone out of the room.

  Ellie sank down on the bed. Kade Logan had an amazing presence. He had money and power and a sexual aura that was hard to resist.

  Ellie wondered why his wife had left him.

  * * *

  Supper was over. It was dark out, the moon covered by a thick layer of clouds. Sitting behind the desk in his study, Kade looked up at a light knock on the door. “Come in.”

  Ellie Bowman walked into the study, closing the door behind her. “I need to talk to you.”

  “I figured that when I heard the knock.”

  “Now that I’m settling in, I have questions. Until I have answers, I can’t do my job.”

  He capped the pen he was holding as he went over the monthly bills. His CPA took care of the day-to-day money side of ranch business, but he still liked to keep an eye on things like income and expenses, watch for ways to make improvements.

  “Have a seat.”

  She sat down in one of the wing-backed, brown-leather chairs across from him. She’d shown up today dressed for ranch living, in a pair of jeans and a yellow-plaid western shirt that stretched over a pair of breasts that threatened to pop the snaps. The humidity in the kitchen left wispy strands of fine, dark auburn hair curling around her face. Kade felt the same pull of attraction he’d experienced the first time he’d seen her and cursed the arousal tightening his jeans.

  He leaned toward her across his big oak desk. “So what would you like to ask?”

  “I think we can agree the fewer people who know why I’m here the better. After you left, I asked Conner to make a few phone calls. He spoke to Sheriff Carver, got some basic information on the case, and emailed it to me. Once I knew your wife’s body was found in Boulder County, I was able to go online and get a copy of the autopsy. Since I’m sure you know the details and hearing them again must be painful, I won’t enumerate them here.”

  “She’s been gone eight years. I can handle whatever you have to say.” Not exactly the truth. He could handle the details. He knew them by heart. But every time something new came up, the rage resurfaced, the way it had the day they’d found her car.

  “Her body wasn’t discovered for two years after she died,” Ellie continued. “Which destroyed all but the most basic evidence.”

  Kade said nothing.

  “Bones broken in her skull indicated she’d been beaten. The hyoid bone in her neck was broken, which says she was strangled to death.”

  “Yes.”

  “There was nothing in the car,” she said. “The police believe she took her bags and her purse with her. They weren’t with her when they found her body, so the killer must have disposed of them elsewhere.”

  “Good a guess as any.” His jaw felt tight. “They don’t know if she was raped. Once I know who the guy is, I’ll find out.” Before I kill
him. Kade wondered if Ellie recognized the hard look in his eyes.

  “I can get the facts of the case,” she said. “I’ll read everything I can find about your wife and the murder. What I need to know are the things I can’t find in a report.”

  Wariness trickled through him. “For instance?”

  Ellie looked him straight in the face. “Why did your wife leave you?”

  Silence fell. Irritation had him sitting up straighter in his chair. “You think Heather was the one who wanted the divorce?”

  “You said she’d started seeing someone. Sometimes when a man sleeps around, the woman wants payback.”

  His jaw tightened even more. “Tit for tat. Is that it?”

  “Was it?”

  He leaned back in his chair, rocking a little on the springs. “Since you’ve already formed an opinion, why bother asking me?”

  Faint color rose in Ellie’s cheeks. She took a deep breath. “You’re right. I’m being unfair. It isn’t like me. Let’s start over. Tell me why the two of you were divorcing.”

  Kade clamped down on his emotions. He hated this. Hated talking about the past. “You really need to get into my personal life? Can’t you just be satisfied knowing the marriage failed?”

  “I have to know as much as I can about your wife in order to find out what happened to her. You promised to give me the information I need.” She cocked one of her reddish eyebrows. “Or do you want to end this right here?”

  Kade’s hand tightened around the leather armrest of his chair. He didn’t want to talk about his marriage. It had been painful eight years ago when he’d first filed the divorce papers. It was nearly as painful now.

  He didn’t want to talk about it—but he wanted to catch a killer.

  “You want to know what happened, but it’s not an easy question to answer. Heather and I were high school sweethearts. She was a cheerleader. I played varsity football. We were prom king and queen, that kind of thing. Heather was beautiful. When we met, I was a senior, and she was a sophomore. The first time I saw her, I fell a little in love.”