Justice at Cardwell Ranch

by BJ Daniels

  “Maybe,” he said doubtfully.

  “Go on, you have a murder investigation to worry about instead of me.”

  “You sound way too happy about that.”

  * * *

  LIZA ALREADY HAD THE CRIME scene cordoned off when Hud arrived. He waved to the deputy on guard at the falls parking lot as he got out of his patrol SUV. The coroner’s van was parked next to the two police vehicles.

  “The coroner just went in,” the deputy told him.

  He turned on his flashlight and started down the trail. Hud couldn’t help thinking about his wife’s siblings trying to force her to sell the family ranch. They’d been like vultures, none of them having any interest in Cardwell Ranch. All they’d wanted was the money.

  Jordan had been the worst because of his New York lifestyle—and his out-of-work model wife. But Stacy and Clay had had their hands out, as well. Hud hated to think what would have happened if Dana hadn’t found the new will her mother had made leaving her the ranch.

  He smiled at the memory of where she’d found it. Mary Justice Cardwell had put it in her favorite old recipe book next to “Double Chocolate Brownies.” The brownies had been Hud’s favorite. Dana hadn’t made them in all the time the two of them had been apart. When they’d gotten back together six years ago, Dana had opened the cookbook planning to surprise him with the brownies, only to be surprised herself.

  Two of her siblings were back in the canyon? That had him worried even before the call from his deputy marshal that there’d been a murder. And oh, yeah, Liza had told him, Jordan Cardwell was somehow involved.

  Now as he hiked into the falls, he tried to keep his temper in check. If Dana’s family thought they were going to come back here and upset her—

  Ahead he saw the crowd gathered at the top of the falls. He headed for the coroner.

  Coroner Rupert Milligan was hugging seventy, but you’d never know it the way he acted. Six years ago, Hud had thought the man older than God and more powerful in this county. Tall, white-haired, with a head like a buffalo, he had a gruff voice and little patience for stupidity. He’d retired as a country doctor to work as a coroner.

  None of that had changed in the past six years. Just as Rupert’s love for murder mysteries and forensics hadn’t.

  “So what do we have?” Hud asked over the roar of the falls as he joined him.

  Rupert answered without even bothering to look up. “Single gunshot through the heart. Another through the lungs. High-powered rifle.”

  “Distance?”

  “I’d say fifty yards.”

  “That far,” he said, surprised. The killer would have needed the victim to be out in the open with no trees in the way to make such a shot. Like at the top of a waterfall. “Any idea where the shot came from?”

  Rupert had been crouched beside the body. Now he finally looked up. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s dark out. Once it gets daylight you can look for tracks and possibly a shell casing. And once I get the body to Bozeman for an autopsy I might be able to tell you more about the trajectory of the bullet. Offhand, I’d say the shot came from the other side of the creek, probably on the side of the mountain.”

  “So either it was a lucky shot or the killer had been set up and waiting,” Liza said, joining them. “The killer either picked the meeting spot or was told where the victim would be.”

  Rupert shifted his gaze to her and frowned. Being from the old school, the coroner made no secret of the fact that he didn’t hold much appreciation for women law enforcement. If he’d had his way, he would have put them all behind a desk.

  Hud liked that Liza didn’t seem to let him bother her. His deputy marshal’s good looks could be deceiving. Small in stature, too cute for her own good and easygoing, Liza often gave criminals the idea that she was a pushover. They, however, quickly learned differently. He wondered if Jordan Cardwell thought the same thing about the deputy marshal. If so, he was in for a surprise.

  “Which could mean either that the victim was expecting to meet not only Jordan Cardwell up here, but also someone he trusted,” she continued. “Or—”

  “Or Jordan told the killer about the meeting,” Hud interjected.

  Liza nodded and glanced over to the stump where Jordan was waiting. “That is always another possibility.”

  “One I suggest you don’t forget,” Hud said under his breath. “If it’s all right with you, I’ll take our suspect down to the office.”

  She nodded. “I want to wait for the crime scene techs to arrive.”

  Hud hadn’t seen Jordan for six years. As he walked toward him, he was thinking he could have easily gone another six and not been in the least bit sorry.

  “You just happen to come back to the canyon and a man dies,” he said.

  “Good to see you again, too, brother-in-law. I guess my invitation to the wedding must have gotten lost in the mail, huh?”

  “What are you doing here, Jordan?”

  “I already told your deputy marshal.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to tell me, too. Let’s get out of the woods and go to my office. You have a rifle you need to pick up before we go?”

  Jordan gave him a grim, disappointed look. “No, I’m good.”

  * * *

  THE DOOR OPENED A CRACK. “Oh, good, you’re awake,” Stacy said as she peered in at Dana. “I brought you some still-warm chocolate chips cookies and some milk.”

  “That was very thoughtful of you,” Dana said, sitting up in the bed and putting her crossword puzzle aside. Earlier, before her doctor’s appointment, Hud had made her a bed in the sunroom so she wouldn’t have to go up the stairs—and would be where she could see most of what was going on. She patted the bed, and her sister sat down on the edge and placed the tray next to them.

  “I’m just glad you let me stay and help out. It was fun baking with Hank and Mary. They are so cute. Hank looks just like a small version of Hud and Mary is the spitting image of you. Do you know…” She motioned to Dana’s big belly.

  “No,” she said, taking a bite of cookie. “We want to be surprised. Did you find out ahead of time?”

  Stacy had cautiously placed a hand on Dana’s abdomen and now waited with expectation. The babies had been restless all day, kicking up a storm. She watched her sister’s face light up as one of the twins gave her hand a swift kick.

  Stacy laughed and pulled her hand back. “Isn’t that the coolest thing ever?”

  Dana nodded, studying her older sister. Stacy had changed little in appearance. She was still the pretty one. Her dark hair was chin-length, making her brown eyes the focus of her face. She’d always had that innocent look. That was probably, Dana realized with a start, why she’d been able to get away with as much as she had.

  “So did you know ahead of time you were having a girl?” she asked again.

  Stacy shook her head and helped herself to a cookie. “It was a surprise.”

  “Speaking of surprises…” She watched her sister’s face. “Jordan is in town.”

  “Jordan?” Had Stacy known? “What is he doing here?”

  “I thought you might know.”

  Stacy shook her head and looked worried. “I haven’t heard from him since we were all here six years ago.” She made a face. “I still feel bad about trying to force you to sell the ranch.”

  Dana waved that away. “It’s history. The ranch is still in the family and it makes enough money that you and our brothers get to share in the profits. You know I think my lawyer did mention that he’d received notice that Jordan was divorced.”

  “I wonder how much of his ranch profits he has to give to Jill? That woman was such a gold digger.” Stacy laughed as she realized the irony. “I should know, huh? Back then I figured if I was going to get married, I might as well get paid for it.” She shook her head as if amazed by the woman she’d been. “Have you heard from Clay?”

  “No.” She helped herself to another cookie and sipped some of the milk. “He hasn’t bee
n cashing his checks lately. My attorney is checking into it.”

  “That’s odd,” Stacy agreed. “Well, I need to clean up the kitchen.”

  “Thanks so much for giving the kids their baths and getting them to bed.” Mary and Hank had come in earlier to say good-night and have Dana read a book to them before bed. They’d been wearing their footie pajamas, their sweet faces scrubbed clean and shiny. They’d been excited about helping their aunt Stacy cook.

  “Thank you so much for all your help,” Dana said, touched by everything Stacy had done.

  “I’m just glad I was here so I could.” She smiled. “I didn’t know how fun kids could be.”

  “Wait until Ella is that age. Mary loves to have tea parties and help her daddy cook.”

  Stacy nodded thoughtfully. “Let me know if you need anything. Knowing you, I can guess how hard it is for you to stay down like this.”

  Dana groaned in response. She couldn’t stand the thought of another day let alone weeks like this. “Thanks for the cookies and milk. The cookies were delicious.”

  Stacy looked pleased as she left the room.

  Chapter Four

  Hud walked out with Jordan to the road, then followed him to the marshal’s office. Once in the office he got his first good look at his brother-in-law. Jordan had been only two years ahead of Hud in school, three years ahead of his sister Dana. His brother-in-law had aged, but it hadn’t hurt Jordan’s looks. If anything the years seemed to have given him character, or at least the appearance of it.

  “Why don’t you have a seat and start at the beginning?” Hud said dropping into his chair behind his desk.

  “I thought Liza was handling this case?”

  “Liza? You mean Deputy Marshal Turner?” He shouldn’t have been surprised Jordan was on a first-name basis with the deputy. He, of all people, understood the charm of the Justice-Cardwell genes. Dana could wrap him around her little finger and did.

  “Don’t think just because she’s a woman that she isn’t a damned good marshal,” Hud said to his brother-in-law. “She’s sharp and she’ll nail you to the wall if you’re guilty.”

  “If you have so much confidence in her abilities, then why are you here?”

  Hud gritted his teeth. Jordan had always been difficult. At least that hadn’t changed. “Several reasons. None of which I have to explain to you. But—” He held up a hand before Jordan could speak. “I will because I want us to have an understanding.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “One, I’m still the marshal here. Two, Liza has her hands full up at the site. Three, I want to know what happened on that mountain. And four, your sister is my wife. I don’t want her hurt.”

  With a smile and a nod, Jordan ambled over to a chair and sat. “Dana doesn’t have anything to worry about. Neither she nor the ranch is why I’m back in the canyon.”

  “Why are you here?” Hud asked, snapping on the recording machine.

  “It doesn’t have anything to do with family.”

  “But it does have something to do with Alex Winslow.”

  “Alex was a good friend from high school. I didn’t kill him.” Jordan sighed and looked at the ceiling for a moment.

  Hud noticed that he was no longer wearing a wedding ring. He vaguely remembered Dana mentioning that she’d heard Jordan was divorced from his ex-model wife, Jill. The marriage had probably ended when Jordan didn’t get the proceeds from the sale of the ranch.

  “If Alex was your friend, I would think you’d be interested in helping us find his killer,” Hud said. “Not to mention you’re neck deep in this. Right now, you’re the number one suspect.”

  Jordan laughed. “Does that work on most of your suspects?” He shook his head. “I came back because Alex called me. He hinted that he might know something about Tanner’s suicide but it was clear he didn’t want to talk about it on the phone. He said he’d share his theory with me if I came to our twenty-year high school reunion. The next time I talked to him, he sounded scared and wanted to meet at the falls. That’s it.”

  That was a lot. Hud wasn’t sure how much of it he believed. But at least he had some idea of what might have brought Jordan back to town—and it wasn’t family.

  “Tanner Cole committed suicide when the two of you were seniors in high school. Why would that bring you back here after all these years?”

  “When your best friend commits suicide, you never stop thinking you could have done something to stop him. You need to know why he did it.”

  “Unless that person leaves a note, you never know. Tanner didn’t leave a note, as I recall.”

  Jordan shook his head.

  “Did you talk to Alex before he was shot?”

  “As I told your deputy, I heard the shot, he stumbled toward me, there was another shot and he went down. All he said was the word Shelby. At least that’s what I thought he said.” Jordan shrugged. “That was it.”

  Hud studied him openly for a moment. “Maybe the bullets were meant for you and the killer missed.”

  Jordan sighed. “What are you insinuating?”

  “That maybe Tanner didn’t commit suicide. Weren’t you the one who found his body?”

  Anger fired Jordan’s gaze. “He was my best friend. I would have taken a bullet for him.”

  “Instead, another friend of yours took the bullet tonight,” Hud said. “You’re telling me you came all this way, hiked into the falls in the dark, just for answers?”

  “Why is that so hard for you to understand?”

  “What about Alex Winslow? Don’t I remember some falling-out the two of you had before you graduated?”

  “It was high school. Who remembers?”

  Hud nodded. “Is Stacy in the canyon for the same reason?” Stacy had been in the grade between the two of them.

  “Stacy?” Jordan looked genuinely surprised. “I haven’t seen or talked to her in years.”

  “Then you didn’t know that not only is she back in the canyon, she also has a baby.”

  Jordan laughed. “Stacy has a baby? That’s got to be good. Look, if that’s all, I need to get some sleep.”

  “Once Liza allows you to, I’m sure you’ll be leaving. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t upset Dana before then. She’s pregnant with twins and having a rough go of it.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Jordan said, sounding as if he meant it. “Don’t worry, I won’t be bothering my sister. Either of my sisters,” he added.

  “Then I guess we’re done here.”

  * * *

  A WHILE LATER, DANA HEARD HUD come in. She heard him go upstairs to check on the kids, before coming back down to her room. He smiled when he saw her still awake and came over to her side of the bed to give her a kiss.

  “So everything’s all right?” he asked.

  “I’m the one who should be asking you that. You said there’d been a shooting?”

  He nodded. “Liza’s got everything under control. The crime techs are on their way from Missoula.” He sounded tired.

  “Stacy kept a plate of dinner for you. She made chicken, baked potatoes and corn,” Dana said. “Then she and kids baked chocolate chip cookies.” She motioned to the cookies on the tray next to the bed.

  Hud gave her a who-knew-she-could-cook look and took one of the cookies.

  Who knew indeed? Dana couldn’t believe the change in her sister. She felt horribly guilty for not trusting it. But even Stacy was capable of changing, right? Having a baby did that to a person. But Stacy?

  Unfortunately, the jury was still out—given her sister’s past.

  “Did she mention how long she’s staying?” Hud asked, not meeting her gaze.

  “She was planning to leave earlier, but I asked her to stay. I’m sure she’ll be leaving in the morning.”

  Hud nodded. She could tell he would be glad when Stacy was gone. Dana couldn’t blame him. Her sister had hurt them both. But she desperately wanted to believe Stacy had changed. For Ella’s sake.

  Unfortunately, like her hu
sband, Dana had a niggling feeling that Stacy wasn’t being completely honest about the real reason she’d come to the ranch.

  * * *

  EXHAUSTED, JORDAN WENT BACK TO his cabin, locked the door and fell into bed with the intention of sleeping the rest of the day.

  Unfortunately, Deputy Marshal Liza Turner had other plans for him.

  “What do you want?” he said when he opened the cabin door a little after eleven o’clock that morning to find her standing outside. He leaned a hip into the doorjamb and crossed his arms as he took her in.

  “What do I want? Sleep, more money, better hours, breakfast.”

  “I can’t help you with most of that, but I could use food. I’ll buy.”

  She smiled. “I know a place that serves breakfast all day. We can eat and talk.”

  “No murder talk until I’ve had coffee.”

  “Agreed.”

  Liza drove them to the upper mountain. The huge unpaved parking lots sat empty. None of the lifts moved on the mountain except for the gondolas that rocked gently in the breeze.

  “It’s like a ghost town up here,” he commented as they got out of her patrol SUV.

  “I like the quiet. Good place to talk. Most everything is closed still. Fortunately, there are enough locals that a few places stay open.”

  The café was small and nearly empty. Liza led him outside to a table under an umbrella. The sun was low to the south, but still warm enough it was comfortable outside. A waitress brought them coffee while they looked at the menu.

  Jordan ordered ham and eggs, hashbrowns and whole wheat toast.

  “I’ll have the same,” Liza said and handed back the menu. As soon as the waitress was out of earshot, she said, “You didn’t mention last night that you and the victim were no longer friends at the end of your high school years.”

  “So you spoke with Hud.” He looked toward the mountains where snow dusted the peaks, making them gleam blinding bright. “It was a stupid disagreement over a woman, all right? Just high school stuff.”

  She nodded, not buying it. “What girl?”

  “I don’t even remember.”

  Liza’s look called him a liar, but she let it go. “I’m still confused why he contacted you. He must have had other friends locally he would have talked to.”