Cardwell Christmas Crime Scene

by B. J Daniels

He’d seen Dee Anna Justice, or DJ, as she was called, go into the bar with her cousin. He wasn’t even tempted to take the shot. Later everyone would have been drinking and that would add to the confusion about where the shot had come from.

  He’d been surprised when DJ had come back out so soon—and with a man. They seemed to be in an intense conversation.

  Who was this cowboy?

  What happened next turned Andrei’s blood to ice. A vehicle came roaring into the bar’s parking area. The cowboy with Dee Anna threw her into the snowbank next to where they had been talking.

  Andrei sat up straighter, tightening his grip on the binoculars. Why was the cowboy so jumpy? It made no sense.

  He swore. Had there been another contract out on her—one that had failed? How else could he explain why the man with her had reacted like that?

  What had he gotten himself into?

  * * *

  BEAU STOOD NEXT to the snowbank, cussing under his breath. Walter had warned him not to tell her. Now he understood why. The woman was stubborn as a danged mule.

  He touched his tongue to his lower lip and tasted her, smiling as he thought of the kiss. No matter what she’d said, he’d felt her kissing him back.

  Another vehicle pulled into the parking lot, dragging him back to the problem at hand. DJ Justice. How was he going to keep her safe? And safe from what? Or whom? He cursed Walter Justice. Tomorrow he would call him back, but in the meantime, all he could do was keep an eye on the man’s daughter.

  Good luck with that, he told himself as he went back into the bar. She was sitting again with her cousin. He went to the bar, taking a stool where he could watch her in the mirror behind the counter. She looked up and their gazes met for a moment.

  She touched her tongue to the corner of her mouth and licked away a dollop of ketchup. Then she smiled as if she knew exactly what that had done to him. It was clear that she understood how their kiss had affected him. Because it had affected her, as well? Not likely.

  He pulled his gaze away to nurse his beer. This woman was going to be the death of him.

  Chapter Eight

  Jimmy cursed and told himself to stay calm. He was going to get his shot. He’d been ready, but the damned man kept blocking his shot. He’d decided to try to take them both out when he got his chance.

  He put the crosshairs on her head. His finger teased the trigger. He took a breath. He couldn’t blow this.

  A semi roared past between him and the bar, kicking up a cloud of snow. When he looked through the scope again, the woman had pulled away from the man and gone back into the bar, the man right behind her. Who was this guy, anyway?

  Jimmy swore, hauled his rifle back in and closed his window. He tried not to be discouraged. He had Stacy, which meant he had a standing invitation to Cardwell Ranch. Why rush it? What was another day?

  He was getting cold and tired by the time the door of the bar opened again. He put his window down, lifted the rifle and looked through the scope. Two women. He recognized Stacy’s sister, Dana, leading the way. Right behind her was...DJ Justice.

  His heart began to pound. His finger on the trigger began to shake. Before he could get the crosshairs on her, the door of the Suburban opened and she was gone.

  He beat the steering wheel with his fist, then whirred up the window. He’d get his chance. He had to. A thought struck him. He’d find out where DJ was staying on the ranch and take her out quietly, he thought as he tested the blade with his thumb. A bead of blood appeared on his skin at the mere touch.

  The idea of cutting her throat appealed to him. He was good with a knife. It would be better this way. Better chance of killing her and then making a clean getaway before anyone was the wiser.

  He just had to make sure that the pro didn’t get to her first. Maybe their paths would cross. He sheathed the knife, smiling at the prospect of surprising the pro.

  * * *

  DJ WATCHED THE winter landscape sweep past under a full moon. “I really like your friend Hilde.”

  Dana smiled as she drove them toward the ranch. “I’m so glad. Hilde liked you, too. So, what did you think of Beau Tanner?”

  She shot a look at her cousin. “How long have you known him?” she asked, avoiding the question.

  “Not all that long. His family is from the canyon, but he returned only about five years ago. You two seemed pretty close when you were dancing.”

  DJ smiled. “You aren’t playing matchmaker, are you? You know I’m going to be in town only a few days.”

  “You’ll be here a lot longer than that if I have my way,” Dana said and laughed.

  When they reached the house, the porch light was on, but everyone appeared to have gone to bed hours ago.

  “I should probably go on up to my cabin,” DJ said, getting out of the Suburban.

  “I saw that my sister made sugar cookies. I’m thinking cookies and hot cocoa. Interested? It’s not that late.”

  DJ couldn’t resist. “If you’re sure we won’t wake everyone up.”

  “The kitchen is a long way from the upstairs bedrooms. Come on,” she said, leading DJ inside.

  A few minutes later, nibbling a sugar cookie, DJ watched her cousin make hot cocoa. Her mind kept returning to Beau Tanner and what he’d told her earlier, not to mention the kiss. That she’d felt something—not just something, but something—made her angry with herself. Worse, he’d known she felt it.

  But she suspected he had, too. She smiled to herself as she recalled his expression as he’d watched her lick the dab of ketchup from the corner of her mouth.

  “DJ?”

  She realized she hadn’t been listening. “I’m sorry?”

  “Do you want me to get out the letters or is it too late?” Dana asked.

  “No, I would love it, if you can find them.”

  “I found them earlier and put them in the desk down here,” she said. “I know you’re anxious to learn everything you can about your family. Me, too. Pour us each a cup and I’ll get them.”

  DJ filled two mugs with hot cocoa and, with a plate of cookies, sat down at the table. Dana returned, sat down next to her and pushed a bundle of letters toward her.

  The envelopes were yellowed with age and tied together with a thin red ribbon. DJ looked at her cousin as she picked them up with trembling fingers. “They must have meant something to your grandmother for her to keep them like this.”

  Dana nodded. “I thought the same thing. I can’t imagine turning my back on my children, no matter what they did.”

  “You haven’t met my father,” she said with a sad smile. “I’m sure he sounded charming on the phone. But he was a born con man. He never did an honest day’s work in his life. That’s how he ended up in prison.”

  “My grandparents were hardworking ranchers, up before dawn, so they must have been horribly disappointed that their only son wasn’t interested in staying on the ranch,” Dana said with such diplomacy that DJ loved her all the more for it.

  “You don’t mind if I open these and read them?” she asked.

  “Of course not. They’re from your father. If they can help, please. I just don’t want them to upset you.”

  DJ laughed, thinking of all the things she’d been through tonight, Beau being one of them. “I was raised by my father. Nothing about him would surprise me.” She knew that wasn’t quite true. When he’d mentioned Montana, what she’d heard in his voice—longing, regret, love—that had surprised her.

  She opened the first letter. Something about her father’s precise handwriting made her ache inside. It was clear even before she read the first few words that he was trying hard to make amends. He wanted his parents to get to know his wife.

  DJ put that letter away and picked up another. This one was along the same lines as the first. He talked
about wanting to return to the ranch, to raise a family there.

  The next letter was even more heartbreaking. He was pleading with his parents to forgive him. She saw that the letters had been written only weeks apart.

  DJ wasn’t sure she could read the last letter. The writing was so neat, so purposeful, so pleading. In this letter, he said that he desperately wanted his family to meet his baby girl, DJ.

  Don’t punish her for my mistakes. Please don’t deny your grandchild because of mistakes I’ve made. I will do anything you ask of me. I’ll do it for my child... I’d do anything for DJ. All she has is me.

  As she read the last lines, her eyes burned with tears, the words blurring before her. She quickly closed the letter and put it back into the envelope. He had pleaded for their forgiveness and asked if he and his baby could come home. Clearly they hadn’t forgiven him, since her cousin had never met him.

  But she and her father must have come to Montana later, when she was five. How else could she have met ten-year-old Beau Tanner? How else could her father have forced such a promise out of him?

  He’d tried to give her family. She didn’t think his words could break her heart any further and yet they had. He’d poured his heart out to his parents and yet they hadn’t budged. No wonder he’d never told her about his family. But what had he done to make them so cold to him?

  “He must have done something they felt was unforgivable. I can’t believe it was simply for marrying a woman of Italian descent,” she said and looked at her cousin.

  “I don’t know. I never really knew my grandparents. I was young when they died, but they were very strict, from what my mother told me. However, I’m with you. I don’t think it was the marriage. I think something else happened. Maybe if you asked your father—”

  “He isn’t apt to tell me, unfortunately, since I knew nothing about any of this,” she said quickly and got to her feet. “There is something I’d like to show you.” She picked up her bag from the chair where she’d dropped it. “Do you recognize this?” she asked as she held out the doll to her cousin.

  Dana took the rag doll so carefully, holding it gingerly as she looked into its innocent face. “It’s old, isn’t it? Was it yours when you were a child?” she asked as she studied the construction and clothing.

  “You’ve never seen it before?”

  “No, I’m sorry. I can tell that it is handmade.” She pointed to the small embroidered red heart, almost like a birthmark, on the doll’s chest, under the collar of her dress. “Did someone make the doll for you?”

  “That’s what’s so...frustrating. I had an identical doll, but I lost it years ago. When I first saw this one, I thought it was mine. It’s not, though. Mine had an accident with a dog.”

  “How odd. So, how did you come to have this one?” Dana asked.

  “I recently found it in my bed in my apartment.”

  Her cousin quickly rubbed her arms as if chilled. “That is spooky. And you have no idea who could have left it for you?”

  She shook her head. “None. But this was pinned to the rag doll’s body, under her dress.” She took out the photo and handed it to her cousin. “What about the people in this photograph? Do you recognize them?” DJ asked hopefully.

  Dana studied the old photograph for a long moment before shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but I’ve never seen them before.”

  Taking the photo back, she felt a deep sense of disappointment. She’d hoped that her cousin would have the answers she desperately needed.

  On the table was one of the first letters she’d opened. “Did you see this part?” she asked her cousin. “There was another woman my father had been in love with that summer. Apparently it was someone his parents adored. If he broke that woman’s heart...” She looked back through the letter. “He mentions a Zinnie.” Glancing up at Dana, she asked, “Do you know anyone by that name?”

  Her cousin thought for a moment. “Could be Zinnia Jameson. Well, at least, that’s her name now. She married a local rancher. She would be about the right age. They live about ten miles up the canyon. It’s too late to ask her tonight.”

  “But we could go tomorrow?”

  Dana smiled and rose. “Tomorrow, though if your father broke her heart, she might not want to talk about it.”

  “It was more than thirty-five years ago.”

  “As if that makes a difference when it comes to a broken heart,” her cousin said. “Maybe Zinnia is why Walter’s parents couldn’t forgive him.”

  * * *

  ROGER DOUGLAS HAD just poured himself a drink when his phone rang. He couldn’t help being nervous. If he didn’t get rid of Dee Anna Justice... Paying her off wasn’t an option. That would mean opening up the financials. He couldn’t let that happen. All he needed was a little more time to win the money back. There was a poker game tomorrow night. High stakes. With a little luck...

  The phone rang again. He pulled it out of his pocket, expecting it would be Marietta. He really wasn’t in the mood to talk to her tonight.

  With surprise, he saw that it was the man he’d hired to find him a killer. Was he calling to say the deed was done? His heart soared. With Dee Anna Justice dead, he would have the time he desperately needed to cover his tracks.

  “Tell me you have good news,” he said into the phone without preamble.

  “We have a problem.”

  “I don’t want to hear—”

  “He thinks you put an earlier hit out on her.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous.”

  “Well, something’s wrong. He says there’s this cowboy dogging her like he thinks someone is going to try to kill her.”

  “I have no idea what that’s about, let alone who this cowboy might be. You said that other man you talked to about this...contract could be a problem.”

  “It’s not him.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “Look, I’ll talk Andrei down. He’s a pro. He’ll complete the contract.”

  “What about the other guy?”

  “Jimmy? Who knows? He might get lucky and take her out. He’s cheaper, and with the pro getting cold feet, this could work out better for both of us.”

  “It had better.”

  “Easy, Roger. The only reason you and I are pals is that you owe my boss a potful of money. So remember who you’re talking to.” He hung up.

  Roger downed his drink and poured himself another. If this blew up in his face...

  * * *

  BEAU WOULDN’T HAVE been surprised to find his house empty when he finally got home. Leah had shown up like a ghost out of the past. He half expected her to vanish the same way.

  The house was dark as he entered. As he turned on the light, he was startled for a moment to see a shadowy figure sitting by the window.

  “You could have turned on a light,” he said, annoyed with her for showing up, for only hinting at whatever was wrong and now for startling him.

  “I like the dark,” she said, turning to look at him. “Also, you can’t see the northern lights with a lamp on. Didn’t you notice them?”

  He hadn’t. He’d had too much on his mind.

  “Rough night?” she asked as he hung up his Stetson and coat.

  “You could say that. Look, I’m not staying, so now probably isn’t the best time for you to tell me what’s going on with you and Charlie.”

  She nodded, making him wonder if she was ever going to tell him. “Is everything all right?”

  “Just work.”

  Leah nodded as if to say she knew he was putting her off and it was okay. She got up and followed him into the kitchen. In the overhead light, he could see that she’d been crying.

  “Once I finish this job—”

  “It’s all right. But I do appreciate you letting me stay here.
”

  He nodded as he made himself two sandwiches and bagged them with a couple of colas. “I’m going to grab a quick shower.”

  “I was just headed for bed. I didn’t realize how late it was. Beau, if there is anything I can do—”

  “No. Thanks for cleaning up after yourself.”

  She laughed. “I didn’t mean in the house. I have some experience with undercover operations.”

  He stared at her. “As what?”

  “An operative. But we can talk about that when this job of yours is over.”

  An operative? He realized how little he knew about her and Charlie as he watched her head for the guest bedroom. He’d thought that she and his former best friend were having marital problems. Now he didn’t know what to think.

  He didn’t have time to speculate. Right now, his number one problem was DJ Justice.

  Chapter Nine

  It was after midnight. The snow-covered mountainside shone like day in the light of the huge white moon hanging overhead.

  “Let me walk you to your cabin,” Dana said as DJ started to leave.

  “No, it’s late and I can get there just fine on my own.” She smiled at her cousin and gave her a hug. “But thank you. For everything.”

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t more help with the doll and photo. Tomorrow, though, we’ll pay Zinnia a visit.”

  “We’ll get it figured out,” DJ said, hoping it was true. At least she knew more now than she had before coming here. Her father’s letters still broke her heart. What had he done?

  “So you liked Beau?” Dana asked almost shyly.

  DJ chuckled and shook her head. “The truth is, my father asked him to look after me while I’m out here.”

  “Really? What did he think might happen to you? Or,” she said, smiling, “was he trying to throw the two of you together?” From the glint in her cousin’s eyes, it was clear that she thought Walter was also playing matchmaker.

  DJ shrugged. She really had no idea. If she hadn’t seen her father’s fear... “Again, thank you for everything. See you in the morning.” As DJ stepped out on the porch, closing the door behind her, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. For a startled moment, her hand went to her bag. Unfortunately she’d had to leave her gun behind in California.