Wyoming Christmas Ransom

by Nicole Helm

  Will nodded, and Gracie tried to concentrate on her driving, but her gaze kept moving back to Will.

  “We need to talk to a Carson,” he finally said.

  Gracie wrinkled her nose. “Why would we talk to a Carson?”

  “Paula was a Carson. She wanted to live in her hometown. I didn’t really have one of those, so I didn’t question it. It sounded nice, to have a hometown.”

  “It is.”

  “But she wasn’t close with her parents. I wasn’t either, so I didn’t question that, either. But if we put those things together—hometown but not being close with your family.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but I love Bent and my uncle isn’t my favorite person.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, but I spent two years looking into Paula’s present. Her job, the people she worked with. Her friends. I never went back to before we met because that didn’t make sense. But she wanted Bent even though she could have had a better job elsewhere. She wanted Bent even though she wasn’t particularly close with her parents. Maybe it’s nothing, but a Carson might be able to tell me that.”

  “Okay. Which Carson? I have to warn you though, I’m not sure how far we’re going to get in a basically stolen truck, or with a Carson for that matter.”

  “She’d go drinking with a group of second cousins sometimes. One was in the army or something and they’d get together when he was on leave. I’m not sure I ever met him since he wasn’t around much. Ty, I think. Ty Carson. You know where he lives?”

  “Yes, but Ty Carson is Grady Carson’s cousin. Grady Carson is engaged to Laurel. And they all live together either on their ranch or in Rightful Claim.”

  “Jeez. Small-town life is no joke. Okay. Well, we’ll try to find Ty. Ask him about Paula. Her parents never believed me regarding the affair, and they’d lost their daughter so I never pushed there. But the second cousins were more friends. Maybe she said something.” He frowned, but kept barreling forward. “We’ll talk to Ty about people in Bent Paula might have had a history with. Maybe he doesn’t know about an affair, but maybe he says something that clicks. We won’t mention your uncle or anything else. We’ll focus on the past. If it doesn’t lead us anywhere, and Cam and Laurel don’t find us first, we’ll make our next choice from there.”

  “Okay, we can try the Carson Ranch first. If Ty’s not there, Noah might know where he is. But I have to warn you, Grady and Laurel might be engaged but that doesn’t mean Carsons love Delaneys. Particularly Delaneys who deal in death.”

  “I’ll admit, I never paid much attention to Paula when she was ranting about the feud. Because I think a century-old feud is ridiculous, but I never got the sense one side was evil.”

  “You must not have been listening hard enough.”

  Will smiled a little at that. “What I mean is it sounded like a bunch of misunderstandings and blame. Sure some of the ancestors along the way were jerks, but it always sounded like a bunch of people trying to do the right thing—and just not agreeing on what the right thing is.”

  “And by ‘not agreeing’ you mean ‘feuding bitterly over it.’”

  Will shook his head, but Gracie supposed he wasn’t wrong. Except for the people who were after them who definitely didn’t want the right thing, all the Carsons and Delaneys she knew were mostly good, mostly trying to do the right thing. Maybe not so much in the past, but now.

  All her interactions with Ty and Noah and Grady over the past few months since Grady had gotten involved with Laurel hadn’t just been civil—there was a kindness there, too. She had to admit that they weren’t the odious, evil caricatures the Delaney side often made them out to be. Most especially her uncle.

  “You don’t think it could all connect to the feud, do you?” Will mused.

  Gracie wanted to immediately deny it, but the fact of the matter was the people she knew who took the feud the most seriously were her uncle and Jesse Carson, who’d been in jail for the past two years. “How was Paula related to Jesse Carson?”

  “Max and Jane Carson are her parents.”

  “If I have my family trees correct, I think Max is Jesse’s brother. That would make him Paula’s uncle. Sound right?”

  “I think so. What does Jesse have to do with any of this? I’m not sure I’ve ever even met him.”

  “He’s in and out of jail, so it doesn’t surprise me you might not have had any family gatherings with him. But I was just thinking about the people who take the feud the most seriously, as in would possibly cause physical harm to someone from the other side.”

  “And you came up with Jesse Carson? She definitely wasn’t having an affair with her uncle.”

  “No, but I was thinking about Jesse Carson and my uncle. They take the feud very seriously.” Gracie didn’t have to look at Will to know he was giving her a lifted eyebrow, but you don’t think your uncle is a murderer look.

  And she didn’t, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t some more complicated connection here. She couldn’t rule anything out. Just like when she was examining a body, she couldn’t let her assumptions or presumptions rule her findings. She had to let the evidence speak for itself.

  Somehow they made it all the way around Bent to the other side where the Carson Ranch spread out as if it was in an Old West standoff with the Delaney Ranch on the exact opposite side of town. Facing each other. Always ready to fight.

  But where the Delaney Ranch was all polish and sparkle, the fence in front of the Carson Ranch was run-down and old. Gracie took the turn onto the gravel road that led them up the hill to the main house.

  “I guess it’s possible that Cam and Laurel gave up and went back to their own lives instead of trying to find us,” she offered.

  “Judging from the red and blue lights flashing behind us and a very angry man marching at us from the tree line, I don’t think so.”

  Gracie flicked a glance in her rearview mirror, and sure enough a Bent County Sheriff’s Department cruiser was behind them. When she looked to the tree line, Cam was marching toward them on foot.

  Gracie offered Will a somewhat sheepish shrug. “I guess we won’t be talking to any Carsons.”

  “We could always make a run for it.”

  Gracie laughed as Cam stormed toward them. “I know for sure that I cannot outrun a marine, and maybe you could if you weren’t broken and bruised. But you are.”

  He made a scoffing noise. “I’m not that broken.”

  “Then why are you still sitting here? Make your run for it,” she challenged.

  He reached out, surprising her by gently touching a stray strand of hair and tucking it behind her ear. He looked at her, his expression not exactly grave, but certainly not cheerful. “We’re in this together. No matter what. Deal?”

  She inhaled and smiled at him, because Will had kissed her. Will had wanted to come back and be safe. They were in this together. “Deal,” she returned, more hopeful than she’d been in days.

  * * *

  WILL STEPPED OUT of the truck at the same time Gracie did. Both Delaneys barreled toward them, even as Will and Gracie stood still.

  When they approached, there was nonstop yelling and demands, though Will couldn’t make out any of it since Cam and Laurel were yelling and demanding over each other.

  Gracie held up her hands, giving them both quieting looks. “I know you’re both angry.”

  The two started shouting again, but Gracie waited them out. Patient. Strong. She had such a presence about her, and for the first time in two years Will wanted to get beyond this case, beyond the truth, and really figure out that what then on the other side.

  “I’m sorry,” Gracie said, sincerity all over her face. “I know you think I was in the wrong, but I did what I had to do.”

  “You could have been killed,” Cam and Laurel said in unison. Then they both gave Will almost identical murderous looks.

 
; “We thought we’d be better off trying to figure this out alone, but we both realized we were wrong. We actually went by the Delaney Ranch to talk to you, but you weren’t there, so we started talking. Will has some theories.”

  Laurel started. “Will can shove his theories up his—”

  Cam cut off Laurel. “Easy,” he muttered, calming his sister down. “What kind of ideas?”

  “I never really looked into Paula’s life before we met. I assumed whoever she was having an affair with, whoever would have killed her, it would have been someone in her life since us moving to Bent.”

  “We still don’t have evidence Paula was killed, Will.” Laurel shook her head. “I’m sorry, but—”

  “I’m sorry,” Will interrupted. “But I do believe that’s what happened, and as long as Gracie’s in danger, that’s the lead I’m going to follow. Paula was a Carson. I know she used to go drinking sometimes with Ty Carson. I wanted to talk to him.”

  “Ty has spent most of the past ten years in the army,” Laurel replied.

  “But not all. He’d come home for leave and spend some time with Paula. Him and some other second cousin I can’t remember. But I know they did, and Paula would always tell me not to bother to come with. It was ‘family time.’ So, maybe she talked to Ty or something, or maybe they just know something about an ex or relationship before I came along that might give us a lead.”

  “Is it smart to focus on the murder and cheating as one thing?” Laurel asked, and Gracie appreciated that there was an amount of gentleness in her voice that hadn’t been there before.

  “I don’t have any other angles, and...” He flicked a glance at Gracie and she stepped forward.

  “We found a motel Paula used to go to. We talked to the woman who ran the motel and she told us—”

  Laurel swore. “You better not mean the Tick Tock Motel between here and Fairmont.” When Gracie only smiled sheepishly, Laurel swore again. “You are killing me, Gracie.”

  “Listen. She told us Paula used to go in there with a man. And another man used to watch them. She told us the kind of car the man who was with Paula drove.”

  “And got her skull bashed in the process,” Laurel added, glaring at Will.

  “I’m sorry she got hurt,” Will said. “I take responsibility for it, I do. I wasn’t thinking beyond finding the truth, and I’m trying to take more care, but until this man is caught, anyone could be hurt.”

  That seemed to cut through at least a little bit of Laurel’s irritation, if possibly none of Cam’s military blankness.

  “Did you find anything about Will’s phone?”

  Laurel shook her head. “No. Whoever used it to text you has it turned off, so it’s not traceable.” Laurel eyed Gracie then Will. “I’ll take you up to the house. If Ty isn’t there, someone will know where he is. But if we’re working together it means I need to know everything, and it means we need to be able to trust each other. You can’t run off again.”

  “Of course not,” Gracie said gently. But Laurel wasn’t looking at Gracie, she was scowling at Will.

  He was tempted to stare her down, or maybe promise Gracie wouldn’t run off again. Laurel didn’t have any say over him. But Gracie was looking at him expectantly, with just enough concern in the set of her eyebrows to have him giving in.

  “We won’t run off,” he promised.

  “You know what will help with that?” Cam asked, his voice alarmingly casual. “Giving me my truck back.”

  Gracie winced, but she dug out Cam’s keys and handed them to him. “I am sorry. It was the only option.”

  Cam raised one eyebrow, very slowly. Quite the trick.

  “Okay, maybe it wasn’t the only option, but it was... Well, I’m sorry.”

  Cam nodded, pocketing the keys. “And you two are under my protection until further notice, which means I’ll follow you.”

  Will chafed at the idea of someone “protecting” him, but surely what Cam meant was Gracie. Will could pretend he needed protection for Gracie’s sake.

  Unfortunately there was one thing he couldn’t do for Gracie’s sake. “There is something we found out that you should both know about.”

  Gracie squeezed her eyes shut in dismay, but she had to know this was information they needed to share. “The woman at the motel told us the man my late wife was having an affair with drove a black Ford F250.”

  “I guess that’s something,” Laurel said. “But it was a few years ago. It doesn’t mean whoever it is still drives that, or that this necessarily connects.”

  “But it’s something to go on.” He almost opened his mouth to remind Laurel her father drove that kind of truck, but Gracie’s gaze was pleading.

  Well, clearly he wasn’t going to get anywhere with convincing a man’s family members he was a liar, cheater and possibly murderer.

  But that didn’t mean it wasn’t the theory he’d be working to prove.

  Chapter Twelve

  Gracie couldn’t blame Noah Carson’s greeting scowl when three Delaneys showed up on his porch. One even in uniform.

  “No one’s dead, are they?” he asked, glaring in Gracie’s direction.

  “Not today.” She managed a wan smile. “Things have been very quiet. Unusual for this time of year.”

  He rolled his eyes before the sound of a young boy shouting no started emanating from the house. A pudgy little toddler appeared on his hands and knees before sitting back on his diaper and lifting his arms. “No!”

  Noah scowled at them, but when he bent down to pick up the boy everything about him softened. “Well, I guess you want to come in,” he grumbled, moving out of the doorway.

  Laurel and Cam went first, which irritated Gracie a little. She wanted to be running this show because she knew more. She knew Laurel had worked hard on the case of Paula’s accident, but Gracie had an intimate acquaintance with it. Two years’ worth of going over it with Will.

  But they were all working together now, and Gracie had to let some things go. Laurel was the cop. The one who’d have to actually build a legal case against whoever they found guilty.

  Please, God, let us find the guilty party.

  “Is Ty here?” Laurel asked.

  Noah narrowed his eyes as he settled the baby in a high chair. “What do you want with Ty?”

  The front door swung open and Addie Foster, arms heavy with bags, stepped inside already talking.

  “Sorry I’m late. I was talking to Jen and... This is a lot of Delaneys in our kitchen. Did someone die?”

  Addie might be newer to Bent than the rest of them, and her Delaney relation was far down the line, but she’d certainly picked up on the history quickly since moving here to become Noah’s maid earlier in the year. Of course, based on the kiss they shared as Addie transferred the bags to Noah, and Noah’s carefulness with Addie’s baby, Gracie had to assume things had gotten rather personal.

  “No one’s dead,” Gracie said almost simultaneously with Laurel.

  “Ty’s in trouble,” Noah said.

  “No,” Laurel corrected. “We need to talk to him. There isn’t any trouble. It’s about someone he used to know.”

  “This seems very ominous,” Addie said, eyebrows drawing together in concern.

  “The case I’m working on is serious, but Ty hasn’t got anything to do with it. He just had contact with someone and we want to talk to him about anything he might have heard.”

  “So, what’s with the posse?” Noah demanded.

  Laurel crossed her arms over her chest and stared Noah down. “Are you going to tell me where Ty is or do I have to text Grady?”

  Noah grunted. “Stables.”

  “Thank you,” Laurel said. She patted the baby on the head as she moved back for the door.

  “Couldn’t you give us a clue as to what’s going on?” Addie asked as the group
followed Laurel back to the front door.

  “Sorry, Addie. It’s fairly unconnected though, and hoping Ty might remember a conversation from a few years ago is a pretty big leap.”

  “What confidence,” Will muttered, and Gracie nudged him disapprovingly.

  They filed out the door and since Laurel knew her way around the Carson Ranch, they all followed her, trudging through the snow to a large building that was clearly the stables.

  When they reached the building, Laurel walked right in. In the tradition of all the Carsons, Ty was a large, intimidating-looking man and the glare he sent Laurel had Gracie taking a few steps backward.

  Of course, that only knocked her into Will, who let out an oof when she jarred his broken arm.

  Ty studied them all with a kind of calm that reminded Gracie of Cam. Ty had been in the military, too. There was a stillness to it, but there was a sense that he was ready to strike at any moment that put Gracie a little bit on edge.

  “This feels like an ambush, Delaney. Or should I say Delaneys.” He tilted his head. “Plus that guy.” He squinted. “I know you.”

  Will rocked back on his heels. “Will Cooper. I was married to Paula.”

  “Paula.” He sighed. “A shame about Paula.”

  “Something has recently happened that leads us to believe—”

  Ty held up a hand, and Gracie was shocked to watch Laurel snap her mouth shut. She was clearly irritated, but she quieted nonetheless.

  “Are you here on official business, Deputy?”

  Laurel pulled a face. “Sort of.”

  “Sort of?”

  “Ty—”

  “No. You talk,” he said, pointing at Will.

  “You’re such a caveman,” Laurel muttered, but she turned to Will and gave him a little nod as if to give him the go-ahead.

  Will cleared his throat. “Ah, well, I haven’t ever thought Paula’s death was an accident.”

  “Pretty common knowledge.”

  “Right, well, it looks like I might have been right.”

  Ty looked to Laurel. “Officially, right?”