by Roma James
That conversation would have to wait until another time, though.
“You’ll have to forgive me for being a little late,” Logan continued. “I came straight here from Nora Statler’s ranch.”
All of us perked up at the mention of Nora’s name, and I might have made a noise that sounded a lot like bitch, but just loud enough to earn me a smirk from Cade and a frown from my uncle.
Whatever.
I was more and more convinced that she had something to do with these poisonings, and it’s not like she and I had been anything close to friends even before all of this craziness had started.
“What can you tell us about Nora?” the sheriff asked. “Did she mention whether or not she’s noticed anything out of the ordinary happening on her property lately?”
“Only if you count the fact that one of her stallions was poisoned last night,” Logan said, then nodded in my direction. “Same sort of thing we’ve seen happen here.”
I gasped, then quickly covered my mouth. Either I’d been wrong about Nora or she had gone completely crazy and poisoned her own horse. I honestly wasn’t sure which scenario was more likely.
Cade and Boone looked confused as well. “Just one horse?” Cade asked.
“Is the horse going to be okay?” Boone added.
Logan nodded. “Yep, same as here. The poison was strong enough to put the horse out of commission for a while but not strong enough to kill it. And, of course, it helped that Nora realized something was wrong and called me right away—just like you did, Janessa.”
Great.
So now it looked like Nora and I were in the same boat. And I couldn’t bring up the fact that it was awfully convenient for Nora to have caught the poison so quickly without making myself sound suspicious for the same reason.
“Thank goodness the horse is going to be okay,” I said, choosing the nicest thing I could say under the circumstances. No matter what else might have been going on, none of these innocent animals deserved to suffer like this.
“Did she happen to see anyone suspicious coming or going from her property?” the deputy asked, still taking notes. “Or did she mention what time, exactly, she found the poisoned horse?”
Logan thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t recall her giving me a specific time, but she did say it was early in the morning. She had luckily gone out for a walk and found the horse when she came back. If it had been much later when she’d found him, though…” He grimaced. “Well, let’s just say it probably would have been bad.”
I shuddered. I hated to think of what would have happened to that poor horse—and for what? We still had no actual proof that Nora was behind this or what her true motive might be. And now? I wasn’t even so sure it was her anymore.
“If you’ll all excuse me,” I said, swallowing hard. “I’d like to go back to the house for a while. Sheriff, do you need me for anything?”
“No, thank you, Janessa.” Sheriff Prescott gave me a sympathetic smile. “I know this whole business must be unpleasant for you. We’ll come and get you if we need anything else.”
“Do you need anything?” Boone asked, giving me a concerned look.
“Do you want us to walk you to the house?” Cade asked, mirroring Boone’s concern.
I shook my head and tried to give them a reassuring smile. “I’ve got Daisy Lynn and Becca. I just want to sit down for a little while.”
They all nodded and I turned to walk back toward the house. Daisy Lynn and Becca were on either side of me, and I could feel Becca’s hand on my back.
“Are you going to be okay?” Becca asked. “You look like you might faint.”
“No,” I shook my head. “I’m not going to pass out or anything. I’m just… worried.”
“What are you going to do?” Daisy Lynn asked.
I looked over at her and nibbled at my lip. “What else can I do? I’m going to talk to Nora.”
Chapter 17
Janessa
“Where are you going?” Cade asked, eyeing me from his chair on the front porch as I walked out of the house.
Oh, God.
This felt like a repeat of the other night. Did I have to get security clearance every time I wanted to leave the house now? Even in the middle of the day?
“I have a hair appointment,” I said, smiling sweetly to hide my spark of annoyance. I knew he was just looking out for me, and I didn’t want to seem ungrateful… but I was really starting to miss the time when my life had at least seemed a little more normal.
It was hard to believe that I would have even considered my day-to-day life a little boring just a few weeks ago.
Boring was definitely not a word I’d use to describe my days now, though.
“Surely, I can do that on my own, right?” I continued. I’d made the appointment on the spur of the moment after the sheriff had left. And honestly? I’d made the appointment knowing it was the one place in town where the men around here would probably let me go by myself. “Unless you and Boone want to sit there with me at the salon?”
“You know Boone and I would go through hell to spend a little more time with you, beautiful,” he said, then crinkled his nose. “But, uh… I think we might look a little out of place if we went with you to the salon. Your friends aren’t going with you, though?”
I shrugged. “I asked, but they both wanted to stay around here this afternoon.”
And okay. So that might have been a little white lie. I hadn’t exactly asked them if they wanted to tag along, but whatever. This wasn’t exactly going to be a social trip anyway, if it worked out the way I was hoping.
Cade looked a little skeptical for a second—God, I really wasn’t a very good liar. Could he tell? Was I being that obvious? Finally, though, he shrugged and tossed me a wink. “You’ve got your phone in case you need anything, right?”
I held up my purse. “Right in here. I’ll be fine, though. Just going to the salon and back. You won’t even miss me.”
“I already miss you,” he said, grinning. “But okay. Be careful and call if anything seems weird.”
I gave him a mock salute and turned to walk toward my car. I didn’t feel great about leaving out some of the details of my trip, but Cade and Boone wouldn’t have understood. They would have just tried to talk me out of going.
Because I wasn’t the only one who had a hair appointment in town today. As long as her old routine hadn’t changed too much, there was one woman in particular who I planned on accidentally running into.
And then, hopefully, I could start to get some answers.
From across the parking lot in my car, I could see through the big floor-to-ceiling window of the salon.
And yep, she was there.
Nora.
I could feel my stomach start to knot and my blood pressure start to rise just from looking at her. I wasn’t normally a violent person at all, but I’d had enough interactions with Nora over the past year to realize that it was probably best for both of us if we weren’t in a confined area together for too long.
But just once, I really wouldn’t mind kicking her ass.
I took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. There wouldn’t be any ass kicking today, though. That wasn’t what I was there for—even if it probably would have felt really good for at least a little while.
One more deep breath and I was out of the car, walking toward the salon door with just one objective in mind. I needed to hear Nora’s story for myself. I just wanted a few minutes and a chance to look her in the eye, to see for myself whether or not she was lying.
She might be able to sweet-talk Logan and the sheriff and even Derek Winslow. But she wasn’t going to sweet-talk me. I could see right through her, and I knew her smile was as fake as her tan.
I waved to Linda, the hairdresser, when I walked in.
“Hey girl,” she said, waving back. “Just have a seat and I’ll be with you in a bit, okay?”
Perfect.
I couldn’t help but smil
e. Everything was going to plan so far. And even without looking over, I could feel Nora’s eyes on me. When I finally did make eye contact, it was because I’d walked by all of the other empty chairs in the waiting area to sit in the one right next to her.
Was it wrong that I got a little bit of satisfaction from the way she frowned when I sat down?
I smiled, knowing it was too big and sweet to be believable. Not that I cared. “Nora, I didn’t expect to see you here today. What a coincidence.”
She didn’t even try to hide her annoyance as she looked at me. “Is it?” She raised a carefully sculpted eyebrow, then sighed. “Listen, I’m not really in the mood to chat today, so if you’ll excuse me—”
“I understand,” I interrupted. “I honestly don’t feel like talking to anyone these days either. I’ve got so much on my mind lately with the ranch.” I paused, then added. “I almost think it might have been worth it to sell the place when you made that offer.”
She sat up and her eyes went wide for a split second before she was able to school her expression again. It had been quick, but I’d seen enough to know that she was still definitely interested.
“Really?” she asked, giving me a sideways glance. Suddenly she felt like chatting after all. “Well, unfortunately, I probably couldn’t give you as good a deal as the one I offered before, but I’d still be willing to talk business with you if you’re seriously interested.”
“What makes my ranch so special, though?” I asked. “Surely you have plenty of land already. We’re not even neighbors.”
She gave me that patented fake smile. “My daddy always told me I could never have enough land or money. Turns out, he was right. I have plenty of both, but…” She shrugged. “Sometimes a girl just needs more.”
I had to turn away for a moment to keep from making a face. I wondered if that was the same ridiculous line she’d tried to lay on Derek when she’d made an offer on his land.
Sometimes a girl just needs more?
That wasn’t a reason to buy land, and she wasn’t fooling this girl.
But whatever. That wasn’t my main concern anyway. Finding out her motivation for buying would have definitely been a bonus, but it wasn’t what I was there for. And since that hadn’t panned out, it was time to change my tactics.
“All of these poisonings lately just have me scared, you know?” I shook my head, giving her a worried look that wasn’t entirely for show. “I never thought the day would come when I wouldn’t feel safe in my own home, but…” I let the statement linger a moment, then asked, “I’m sure you’ve heard about the poisonings, haven’t you? And the fire at Derek Winslow’s ranch?”
I studied her face for a reaction. Now that I’d planted the idea, I wanted to see if I could catch that overly-eager look again. Better yet, if she really was the one behind the poisonings, I hoped that our little conversation would make her think she was winning.
If she thought her plan to drive me off my land was working, she’d surely try it again. If she was feeling cocky about it, she might even slip up. And when she did? We’d be waiting.
She didn’t get that same spark in her eye this time, though. Instead, she blinked and swallowed hard. “I heard.” She nodded. “It happened to me, too. My stallion, Lucky… he was…” She turned away, and her shoulders heaved as she dashed at the tears that had started to roll down her cheeks. “I thought I was going to lose him.”
I reached out to rub her shoulder before I could stop myself. I didn’t know what to do. I’d never seen Nora show feelings before—not real ones, anyway. And if those tears weren’t real, then she was the best actress I’d ever seen.
“It’s okay,” I said, still feeling more than a little conflicted about being nice to her. And even though I still didn’t really like her, I could at least sympathize with almost losing an animal. Even Nora deserved a little compassion for that. “You didn’t lose him, though. He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”
She sniffled, then nodded. Her eyes were still full of tears when she turned back to face me again, and I felt another little pang of guilt for all the uncharitable thoughts I’d directed her way lately.
“I’m sorry," she said. "I can’t believe I’m getting so emotional. It’s just that… well, that horse was the last gift I got from Zachary on our anniversary. It was shortly before he died, and I still think about him every time I look at Lucky.”
I honestly didn’t know what to think anymore. I was having a really hard time believing she had poisoned her own horse—especially one that obviously meant so much to her. But if Nora really wasn’t behind the poisonings, then who could it be? She was the only real suspect any of us had come up with over the past couple of weeks, and now we were back to square one.
“Janessa?” Linda waved from across the salon, interrupting my thoughts. “Are you ready?”
I nodded, then gave Nora an actual, real smile. First time for everything, right? “It’ll be okay,” I said. “Whoever is behind all of this won’t get away with it.”
She returned my smile but didn’t say anything else. We’d shared our moment, and there honestly wasn’t anything left for either of us to say.
And even though I’d tried to sound confident that the person behind the poisonings would be caught, I was less certain than I’d ever been. Whoever it was seemed to be staying two steps ahead of the rest of us. The way things were looking now?
Yeah, they really might just get away with it.
Chapter 18
Janessa
I was still feeling conflicted when I got back home. I needed to talk about what I’d found out from Nora, but I also needed… well, I just needed Cade and Boone.
Instead of going into the house after I parked my car, I walked across the yard to the bunkhouse, hoping I’d find them there. I had almost reached the door when I saw them pull up in Cade’s pickup.
“Hey, darlin'.” Cade grinned, leaning out the driver side window as he stopped the truck next to me. “You need a ride?”
“You know I do,” I said, laughing. “I don’t even care where you’re going as long as you take me with you.”
Boone opened the passenger door and stepped out, pulling me in for a quick kiss before helping me up into the seat. Within just a few seconds, I was right where I needed to be—right between my guys.
“Your hair looks really nice,” Boone said, reaching over to gently push a blonde strand back away from my forehead. “I love how it looks when the sun hits it just right. Just like this.”
“You could shave all that hair off and still be the sexiest woman I know,” Cade said, tossing me a wink as he drove around the back of the bunkhouse and into the pasture.
I laughed and shook my head. “Thanks, I think? For as long as it took me to grow my hair out, I think I’ll keep it long for a while.”
“We do have some electric clippers we can use if you ever change your mind,” Boone said. “We wouldn’t even charge.”
“Well,” Cade added, waggling his eyebrows. “Maybe we wouldn’t charge cash. But we could probably work something out in trade.”
“Oh my God.” I rolled my eyes. “You guys are too much. But God, you don’t even know… I really needed a good laugh.”
They both gave me an adorably identical worried look. It really was hard to worry about anything at all when I was with them, but my conversation with Nora was still weighing on my mind.
“What’s wrong, babe?” Boone asked, reaching over to place a hand on my leg. “Whatever it is, we’ll fix it.”
“Did something happen at the salon?” Cade asked. “Did you have any trouble getting back? Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”
I laughed again and shook my head. “No ass-kicking needed today, but I appreciate the sentiment.” I sighed, then looked from Boone to Cade and back again. “It’s Nora. I ran into her at the salon.”
Both sets of eyebrows shot up at the same time. Cade shot me a sideways glance as we bounced over the rough terrain of the past
ure. “I knew you were up to something at that salon… you should have taken us with you.”
“Well… I didn’t know for sure she’d be there,” I said, which was mostly true. “But anyway, when I saw her, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask some questions about the poisoning.”
They both looked interested now. “And?” Boone prompted. “Did she say anything useful? Anything we can take back to the sheriff?”
I sighed. “That’s sort of the problem. I’m not sure if she’s behind it now that I’ve actually talked to her.” I thought back to the sight of her crying, of her whole body shaking as she sobbed. “I know it sounds crazy, but if you guys would have seen her… She was really torn up about her horse. I actually felt bad for her.”
Just saying it all over again made me feel sad. And okay, maybe I felt worse for her horse than I did for Nora, but just knowing that the stallion had been an anniversary gift from her husband right before he passed away?
It was one of the most romantic and sad things I’d ever heard.
“So if it isn’t her…” Boone began.
“Then who is it?” Cade finished.
“That’s the question of the day, isn’t it?” I shrugged. “I wish I knew, but now I feel like we don’t have any leads.”
“And you seriously don’t think it could be Nora?” Boone asked.
“I guess I’m not ruling it out completely. I mean, anything is possible, right?” I took a deep breath and shook my head. “But my gut is telling me it isn’t her.”
Boone smiled, then leaned over to kiss my forehead. “Then I’m going to trust your gut.”
“That makes two of us.” Cade grinned, reaching over to rub my thigh. “And now that we don’t have to worry about Nora, we can enjoy the rest of the afternoon.”
We’d been bouncing along through the pasture for the past few minutes, and I’d been so caught up in my thoughts and the guys’ questions that I hadn’t even been paying attention to where we were going. I could see the tree line at the edge of the pasture approaching, though, and I knew there were some light woods beyond the barbed wire fence.
