Just His Luck

by B. J Daniels

  Had she been looking for one particular photo as Shade had suggested? It seemed like a good theory given that Stephanie had gone to the trouble of driving up there, breaking in and searching through the photographs—until she was almost caught. But was she also the person who’d crashed into Lizzy that evening on the mountain road?

  Lizzy felt at least some of the pieces coming together. Stephanie had admitted leaving the graduation party early and refused to tell her where she’d been. Also according to Ashley, when Ariel had texted about meeting at the cemetery, Stephanie had arrived forty-five minutes late and hadn’t provided an explanation.

  Now the question was, had she found whatever she’d been looking for when she broke into the lodge? And was it so incriminating that it would put her behind bars for Ariel’s murder? Or was it merely to hide both her DUI and her relationship with Mark Matheson, the father of her good friend?

  Lizzy swung by the judge’s house, knowing he wouldn’t have left for the office yet. She needed a search warrant before she visited Stephanie with what she did know.

  * * *

  STEPHANIE, STEPHANIE. YOU had to know that the truth was going to come out. It was only a matter of time. Some secrets just can’t stay buried. I suspected where you’d gone the night of the graduation party. I couldn’t believe, though, that you wouldn’t take my threat seriously.

  I told you that if you ever saw my father again, I would expose you and not just to my mother. I would tell everyone—especially that dental student you had a crush on.

  But you didn’t listen, did you? Well, my father finally proved what kind of man he was that night, didn’t he? He let you take the fall for driving drunk with the promise of his lawyer smoothing it all over since you were underage. That’s my daddy for you.

  Why would you though? Because he said he was in enough trouble without being caught driving drunk with his teenage lover?

  Did you really think he would leave my mother for you? Guess you didn’t know he would be going to prison for twelve years. Decided not to wait for him? That was probably the smartest decision you ever made, but you seem a little bitter about it. Not that I blame you. But you didn’t have to marry that boring dentist. That was your choice.

  Don’t feel bad. I’m living—so to speak—with my bad choices, too. At least you’re still breathing. For the moment.

  * * *

  ONCE BACK AT the ranch, Shade took the package from Ariel into the kitchen. His brothers must have been out working somewhere on the ranch. Dorothea had her knitting group this afternoon, followed by a date with her fiancé, former sheriff Sid Anderson. The house was peacefully quiet.

  Shade was glad to be alone. He wanted to see what Ariel had left him without anyone looking over his shoulder. He couldn’t imagine what might be inside. Something bad? Or maybe she just wanted to return presents he’d given her while they’d been going out.

  But with Ariel, he expected the worst.

  He was anxious to talk to Hannah again and just wanted to get whatever this was from Ariel over with as quickly as possible.

  Taking a sharp knife, he cut the tape on the package and then carefully dumped the contents onto the kitchen counter. There’d been no rattle of anything inside. He realized that was because she’d wrapped the contents in his favorite T-shirt that she’d taken when they’d first started dating.

  The T-shirt had been shredded. No surprise there. As he lifted it by what was left of one sleeve, a disk fell out. He stared at it in confusion. There was no label, no hint as to what might be on it.

  He looked through the rest of the package but found nothing else. His destroyed T-shirt and an unlabeled disk.

  * * *

  “I SAID EVERYTHING I had to say the last time you were here,” Stephanie said when she opened her front door to find the sheriff standing on her doorstep. “I’m not saying another word until my lawyer is present.”

  “Then I suggest you call your lawyer,” Lizzy said, holding up her badge and the warrant. “We can talk here or I can have you taken down to the sheriff’s office. Your choice. But right now I have a warrant to search the premises.”

  Stephanie looked past her to the two deputies standing outside and began to fish out her cell phone. Within minutes, her attorney arrived at the house. He read the warrant and then spoke with his client for a moment before waving Lizzy and the deputies inside. She noticed that Stephanie’s face was the color of bone as her attorney took her hand and the two sat down on the couch to watch her house being ransacked.

  Within minutes, they’d located an unregistered gun, some old rope the same color as that used to tie Ariel to the steering wheel and photos taken from the lodge break-in.

  “I’ve never seen that rope before in my life,” Stephanie cried when she saw one of the deputies bagging it as evidence. “Where did you find that? It’s not mine. And the gun—” Her attorney stopped her from saying any more.

  “Stephanie Curtis Tanner,” Lizzy began, “you are under arrest for the burglary of Sterling’s Montana Guest Ranch. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you—”

  “I broke into the lodge,” Stephanie cried as her lawyer tried again to get her to be quiet. “But I didn’t kill Ariel. I’m telling you the truth. I can prove it.”

  “You’re not being charged with murder,” her attorney said as he fought to get her attention. “You really shouldn’t say anything more.”

  “I can prove I was nowhere near that pond the night she died,” Stephanie cried as she was helped to her feet and handcuffed.

  “Your lawyer is right. You’re being arrested for breaking and entering, robbery, and trespassing.” Lizzy watched the woman’s face as she continued to read her her Miranda rights and then led her out to the patrol SUV.

  * * *

  SHADE WAS ABOUT to put the disk into his computer, when his cell phone rang. He cursed and checked to see who was calling. Hannah. He glanced at the disk as his phone rang again. He took the call. What were a few more hours in the big scope of things?

  “Hello?”

  “Do you want to see your daughter?”

  “Hannah, if you’re lying—”

  “I’m not. We’re staying at a motel on the edge of town.” She gave him the name and address. “There’s a café across the street. We’ll be waiting there for you. Can you come now before I change my mind?”

  He disconnected and headed for his pickup for the drive into Kalispell. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was. What if this really was his daughter? The thought blew his mind. He always knew he’d get married someday, but kids? Those were so far down the road he hadn’t even imagined them yet.

  Shade knew what his brothers and Dorothea would probably say about it. That he wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility. He was too young. He was still sowing his oats. He hadn’t even thought about settling down—until Ariel’s body was found and he’d thought that finally there was nothing standing in his way of dating Lizzy.

  He tried not to think too far ahead. Until he knew for certain...

  Swinging into a parking spot in front of the café, he looked into the front windows. He couldn’t see anyone because of the glare. Taking a breath and letting it out slowly, he climbed out of his truck.

  He didn’t see Hannah at first as he stepped in the door of the café. But when he did, his gaze flew to the little girl standing on the booth seat next to her.

  “May I help you?” a woman holding a stack of menus inquired.

  Shade barely heard her. Maisie. She had his blue eyes and the sandy blond hair he’d had at that age. She looked like photos he’d seen of himself before his first haircut.

  She saw him and her big blue gaze locked with his. He found himself walking toward the little girl, pulled like metal to a magnet.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  WHEN SHE RETURNED to her office, Lizzy took a better look at th
e two photographs that had been in Stephanie’s purse. They appeared to be random shots taken at a party. At Brad’s house? She thought so. Brad had lived with his father, a long-haul trucker who spent most of his time on the road.

  Lizzy recognized the few people dancing or standing around drinking in the living room. Everyone appeared to be there except for her and Kayla. Past the dancers on the left side of the photo, she could see into the kitchen where two people were barely recognizable.

  Pulling out the magnifying glass from her drawer, she examined the photo. Ariel and Shade appeared to be having a heated conversation. Seeing the two of them gave her heart a little bump of jealousy, even though she knew this photo must have been taken before graduation—the two were clearly close to over, if they hadn’t been already.

  She searched the rest of the photograph but didn’t see Stephanie. Picking up a similar photo, she studied it, as well. It appeared to have been taken at a slightly different angle. Shade and Ariel were still arguing in the kitchen, but in this shot, Lizzy could see through the front window out into the yard.

  Two figures stood near a tree, both barely more than shadows.

  She put the magnifying glass on them. The woman was definitely Stephanie, and she was with a man. They were embracing. Lizzy picked up the first photo again. She hadn’t noticed the people outside in the first one, but she could see them now that she knew where to look.

  As she put the magnifying glass on them, she realized why Stephanie had stolen the photos and what she’d hoped to hide. The man with his arms around her was Mark Matheson.

  After all this time, Stephanie was still determined to keep this secret? Lizzy realized that she must have never told her husband about her former lover. Who else knew about this secret? Ariel.

  Lizzy thought about the rope and gun they’d found at her house, then called the office to verify something.

  Hanging up, she made the calculations. Stephanie had been released after her DUI arrest in plenty of time to return to the party, climb into the back of Ariel’s car, and kill her before meeting Ashley and Jennifer at the cemetery.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  HANNAH HAD TEARS in her eyes and a half smile on her lips as Shade approached the table in the café. She looked as nervous as he felt. Could he have misjudged her? He reminded himself that she hadn’t been honest with him three years ago. That didn’t make her reliable.

  But as his gaze went back to the little girl, he felt his heart inflate to near bursting. He slid into the booth across from them. Maisie had a spoon and was trying to pound it on the table. Hannah was having none of it and took the spoon. Before the little girl could protest, Hannah handed her a packet of sugar, shook it. Maisie’s sweet face went from a scowl and near tears to lit up in a heart-stealing smile instantly.

  Hannah must have seen the way he was staring at the girl. “She looks like you in the pictures I’ve seen of you at this age.”

  He recalled her going through the photo albums the Christmas he’d brought her home to the ranch. Dorothea had been shocked that he’d brought a girl home. She’d thought it was serious—until she was around them for a few days.

  * * *

  “SHE’S NOT THE right one for you,” Dorothea had said, as if he didn’t know that.

  “We’re friends. That’s all,” he’d told her. “She didn’t have anywhere to go over the holidays so I brought her to the ranch. Sorry you read too much into it.”

  “She’s more serious than you are.”

  He’d laughed and shaken his head. “We’re just having fun. She knows that.”

  But Dorothea had given him that knowing look of hers. “Be careful or you’ll find yourself married before you know it.”

  “Me? Married?” That was a laugh.

  * * *

  HE CERTAINLY HADN’T been ready for marriage at that age. Only recently had he even thought of settling down and only because of Lizzy.

  Maisie began to sing softly. He didn’t catch all the words, but he could tell it was a song she was making up on the spot. He caught enough of it, though, to hear her cute little lisp. It clutched at his heart.

  When she saw him watching her, she smiled and said, “It’s juth a thong I made up.” She shook her head. “I don’t know real thongs. I’m only two and a hav.”

  With a thud, he fell in love with this little girl. If Hannah was wrong and Maisie wasn’t his... “I’m going to have to see some kind of blood test or DNA test,” he said as he swallowed the lump in his throat.

  Hannah nodded. “I figured you’d say that. I made an appointment for us to have the test done here in town at a lab this afternoon at three.” She slid a card across the table to him with the name and address of the lab.

  “Wow.” His head spun. Everything was moving way too fast for him and he said as much.

  “I thought you’d want to know as quickly as possible,” she said in her defense.

  He studied her for a long moment, suspecting there was more going on here. What was he missing? “Fine.” He looked again at Maisie. She was singing softly and shaking the sugar packet in time to music in her head. He didn’t think any little girl could be more adorable. He felt his heart swell at even the thought that she could be his.

  The waitress came over to take their orders. He shook his head. He didn’t think he could get down a bite or drink a thing. “I need to go, but let me buy the two of you lunch.” He pulled out his wallet.

  “We aren’t after your money, Shade.” Hannah sounded offended.

  He froze for a moment, but then took out a twenty and laid it on the table. “It’s just lunch, Hannah. I’ll see the two of you at three.”

  * * *

  LIZZY FINALLY HAD a chance to check her voice mail. She saw that Shade had called to see how she was feeling. As she listened to the message, she noticed she was smiling. The realization didn’t make her happy. Too much was riding on her solving Ariel’s killer to let Shade Sterling distract her. And what a distraction the cowboy was. She smiled again despite herself. Too bad it had taken ten years and Ariel’s death to free them from the past.

  Pocketing her phone, she headed for the door. She wanted to talk to Stephanie. But at the jail, she had to wait for the woman’s lawyer and then Stephanie refused to say anything. Lizzy was sure that she had her killer, but she needed more proof.

  Anxious to talk to more of her classmates before the reunion, she found Brad Davis at his newspaper’s office in downtown Whitefish. It was a hole-in-the-wall kind of place since actual printing of the paper was done elsewhere.

  She walked past two women working in the front. One started to speak, but Lizzy waved her off and kept going until she reached the back of the building where Brad had his feet up on his desk, his chair leaned back and a phone pressed against his ear.

  He sat up quickly, his shoes hitting the floor with a thunk when he saw her. “Let me call you back,” he said into the phone and got to his feet. “Sheriff, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

  Lizzy closed the door to his office. “I want to ask you about Ariel.”

  “Ask me what?” He seemed to shake himself. “You can’t seriously think that I...” He laughed. “Why would I kill Ariel?”

  “You tell me. What were some of the names she called you?”

  His smile turned into a scowl. “That was high school. There were bullies and there were nerds. I was a nerd who liked to read and write. Ariel was...” His gaze narrowed. “I don’t have to tell you what Ariel was. You had firsthand knowledge. And before we go any further, I think you should know...” He hesitated. “After what I saw at the scene of the murder, I had a thought. I looked in my family’s garage.”

  “You found the rope.”

  He nodded. “It was old, stuffed back under a bunch of junk. My father’s a hoarder. The rope had been cut. I left it right where it was, knowing I’d be seeing you and could te
ll you where you could find it. Now does that sound like I was the one who killed her?”

  Lizzy slid into a chair across from his desk and pulled out her notebook and pen. “Tell me about the night of our graduation party.”

  He groaned and took his chair again. “Let’s make this quick. I have work to do. Yes, I saw Ariel. She came storming over to me, demanded I move my car because it was blocking her in.”

  She frowned. “Why was your car parked behind hers?”

  “She’d arrived before I got back with more ice, so I pulled in behind her. By then, it was the only place to park.”

  Lizzy nodded and encouraged him to continue.

  “I told her to hold her horses. She got abusive. No surprise there. So I took my time moving my car and she cursed at me the entire time.”

  “What did you do after you moved your car?”

  “I parked it again and came back to the party. You can ask anyone who was there. I didn’t leave. I didn’t follow her out to the pond.”

  “Was she alone in her car?”

  He shrugged. “As far as I know.”

  “Who saw you after she left?”

  He sighed. “I don’t know. I saw you talking to Christopher. You looked upset. I saw Shade leave not long after Ariel. I was looking around for Stephanie but I couldn’t find her.”

  “Why were you looking for Stephanie?”

  “I wanted to give her shit for something she wrote in my yearbook, okay?”

  “But you didn’t see her?”

  He shook his head.

  “Did you see anyone nearby when you went to move your car?”

  “You mean like someone hiding in the bushes?”

  She didn’t bother to answer.

  “No. But it was really dark that night. The wind had come up. I was parked behind Ariel’s SUV in the pines.” He shrugged and looked at his phone. “If that’s all, I have a newspaper to put out if you don’t mind.”