Cowboy of Interest

Minutes later, she followed the patrol car and wondered if the motel room still held the hint of Wendy’s scent, that exotic patchouli-based perfume that she’d practically bathed in.

If Adrienne smelled a trace of her sister, it would be a bittersweet heartbreak all over again. She and Wendy had had so many issues between them, and Adrienne had always thought there would be time to resolve them.

She hadn’t mentioned to Chief Bowie her tentative partnership with Nick Coleman. She had a feeling the lawman wouldn’t approve and would warn her to leave the investigation to the authorities, and she simply wasn’t willing to do that.

She couldn’t help but remember what Nick had said about six other skeletons. It had been only three days, and already Chief Bowie looked exhausted. There was no way she intended to leave the investigation to an overworked chief of police and his small band of men.

Although she was sorry for the other people found with Wendy’s body, finding Wendy’s killer was her sole concern. And she couldn’t believe that those skeletons had anything to do with Wendy’s murder. Whatever had happened to those people had to have happened years ago for the remains to be skeletal. Surely the only connection to those dead souls and Wendy was the coincidence of their burial site. Still...she supposed she had to consider that there might be a possible link.

They reached the motel, and Adrienne parked in front of her unit. The lawman stopped in the office, probably to get a key, and then pulled his car in front of the door that had the horrifying black-and-yellow crime scene tape across it.

Adrienne got out of her car, her feet suddenly dragging as she walked toward the unit where her sister had lived for the two months she had been in Bitterroot.

Dillon ripped the crime scene tape off, balled it up into a wad and then used a key to unlock the door. He opened it and gestured for Adrienne to go inside.

Her heart beat a frantic rhythm, and a deep dread overwhelmed her as she stepped over the threshold. She wasn’t sure what she expected, but what she found was a neat and clean motel room exactly like the one she had checked into the night before.

There was no sign of a struggle, no blood spattering the walls, and her heart found a more normal beat. There was also no scent of Wendy lingering in the air.

She walked into the bathroom, although she knew the chief and his men had probably already looked there. There was nothing to find, nothing left of Wendy and no hint that anything untold had happened here.

She left the bathroom and noticed the hand-size glass bluebird figurine on the windowsill in front of the small table. Her blood froze, and for a long moment, she couldn’t make herself move.

“Ms. Bailey?” Dillon’s voice seemed to come from very far away as she continued to stare at the bluebird. “Ms. Bailey? Adrienne, are you all right?”

He took a step toward her and broke the trance of horror she had momentarily stumbled into. She gazed at him, his face shimmering beneath the tears that had sprung into her eyes.

“No, I’m not okay.” She pointed to the glass bird on the sill. “That belongs to Wendy. It was her most prized possession. Our mother gave it to her just before she died. Wendy would have never left it behind. It would have been the first thing she packed to leave here.”

Dillon frowned. “You don’t think it’s possible she just forgot and accidentally left it behind?”

“Never,” she replied adamantly. “That bluebird went everywhere with her.”

Dillon’s frown deepened. “Then, it’s possible your sister didn’t pack her own things before she left. Somebody else did it for her, somebody who didn’t know the bluebird belonged to her or at least how important it was to her.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Adrienne looked around the room that had now taken on an ominous aura. “This is where the crime began,” she said softly. “Whatever happened to Wendy started here.”

“I’ll get some men out here to do a more thorough examination,” Dillon said, his eyes appearing even more tired. “Maybe we can pick up some fingerprints or forensic evidence that can be used to find the killer.”

“Can I take the bluebird with me?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, not right now. If what you believe is true, then it is part of the crime scene. I’ll see to it that you get it back when we’re finished processing everything.”

After a promise to stay in touch, Dillon got on his cell phone and Adrienne walked to her own unit, unlocked the door and then sat on the edge of the bed.

Her mind whirled with images of Wendy in her room, being forced to pack her belongings and drive to whatever location to meet her death. Had Wendy purposely left the bluebird behind as a clue that she’d been forced to leave under duress?

Had Nick Coleman been in the room, forcing Wendy to gather her things and load them into her car? Or had it been a nameless stranger who had seen Wendy as a vulnerable target?

Adrienne knew that if she sat and allowed her mind to work over what little she’d learned so far, she’d drive herself crazy, so she decided to spend a couple of hours doing real work.

She’d set up her computer last night on the small dining table, along with several folders of active clients who depended on her expertise.

She’d struggled for years as a freelance book publicist, augmenting her finances by cleaning houses and working fast food during the hours when Wendy was in school. She’d been willing to do whatever it took to keep a roof over her and her sister’s head, utilities functioning and food on the table.

It was only in the past couple of years and the birth of self-publishing authors that her business had exploded and become more successful than she’d ever dreamed possible.

As always, it didn’t take her long to lose herself in the work of making authors visible to readers and to get good books the kind of publicity they deserved.

The rumbling of her stomach finally pulled her from the work, and she was surprised to realize twilight had fallen and the room had grown dim.

She closed the curtains at the window and then turned on the lamp next to the bed and the small overhead light in the kitchenette area.

She had arrived in Bitterroot certain that Nick and Wendy had been lovers and that he was responsible for her murder. Yet when he had spoken about Wendy this morning, it had been with real affection, without any hint of any romantic love. He’d confused her. The fact that Chief Bowie had said that he found it difficult to believe that any of the men who worked the Holiday ranch was a killer confused her even more.

Was Nick just that good at hiding an evil inside him? Or was he truly as innocent as he proclaimed?

Chapter 3

Nick was in a foul mood. He’d had trouble sleeping the night before, and when he had fallen asleep he’d suffered wild dreams. He’d awakened before dawn after a particularly disturbing dream.

He now stabled his horse, Raven. It was eight o’clock and he headed back to his bunk to clean up for the morning meeting with Adrienne.

He’d been up and out in the pasture early, chased out of bed not by nightmares of Wendy, but rather by inappropriate erotic dreams of Adrienne.

He’d thought the early-morning air and the sight of a beautiful sunrise would erase the unacceptable visions his unconscious mind had conjured up during sleep, but it hadn’t worked.

As he showered and dressed in clean jeans and a navy T-shirt, he dreaded his own suggestion that he and Adrienne work together to figure out who might have killed Wendy.

He might have suffered hot dreams of her, but he had a feeling by the time he’d spent an hour in her company, he’d be pulling his hair out in frustration. Still, as much as she wanted to keep an eye on him, he wanted to keep an eye on her. He didn’t want her somehow interfering or tainting the investigation, an investigation he hoped would quickly exonerate him. He had too much to lose if she screwed something up.

At eight-thirty, he stepped out of his bunk and nearly ran into Dusty Crawford, a fellow ranch hand. “I thought I’d see if maybe you want me to go with you this morning,” Dusty said, his dimples flashing with his smile.

“And why would I want you to tag along?”

Dusty’s smile widened. “She beat you up once. I just thought you might need the services of a personal bodyguard.”

“You aren’t kidding me with your stupid offer to be my bodyguard. The only reason you’d want to go with me is to get a chance to talk to Trisha,” Nick replied.

Trisha Cahill worked as a waitress at the café, and it was no secret that Dusty had a major crush on the blonde, who had a four-year-old son.

Dusty’s smile faded. “I’ve never had a woman give me so many mixed signals. One minute I think she’s about to agree to go out with me and the next she acts as though she doesn’t even want to talk to me.”

Nick clapped the younger man on his back. “If getting a date with Trisha is the biggest problem you have in your life, then consider yourself lucky.” He checked his watch. “And now I’ve got to get going...without a bodyguard at my side.”

Dusty laughed and, with a tip of his hat, headed toward the stables while Nick walked to the oversize shed that served as a garage where the ranch hands parked their personal rides.

A variety of black pickups filled the garage, the favorite mode of transportation for most of the men who worked at the ranch. Nick’s ride was a gray Jeep. He pulled out of the garage and a knot of tension formed in his stomach at the thought of meeting with the woman who had occupied so many of his dreams.

He wished he had another suspect to throw out to her, but he had no idea who Wendy had spent time with when she wasn’t with him. She’d never mentioned anyone else.

He wasn’t surprised to see Adrienne’s silver sedan already parked in front of the café when he arrived. He found her seated in the same booth they’d occupied the day before, although this time she was facing the door.

She was clad in a sea foam–green blouse today. Her eyes were more green than blue, although there was no more warmth in them today than there had been yesterday. Not that he’d expected any welcome.

Sunday mornings, the café was relatively quiet. Things would pick up after church services when families would start to arrive for the afternoon meal.

He slid into the seat across from Adrienne and placed his hat next to him. Before they’d even had a chance to speak, Jenna was by the booth. “Adrienne has already ordered,” she said. “What can I get for you, Nick?”

“Just a cup of coffee,” he replied. He’d eaten breakfast hours earlier in the ranch hand dining room.

“Coming right up,” Jenna said.

“Good morning,” he greeted Adrienne the minute Jenna was gone.

“It won’t be a good morning until my sister’s murderer is behind bars,” she replied.

“Nothing like cutting to the chase,” Nick said drily.

She didn’t blink an eye. “There’s some new information about the case that you probably haven’t heard yet, unless, of course, you’re responsible.”

He sat up straighter. “And what’s that?”

Jenna returned to their table with Nick’s coffee and an order of toast and a cup of hot tea for Adrienne. “Anything else I can do for you two?”

“This should do it,” Nick replied, eager for her to leave and Adrienne to tell him what new information she possessed.

“Let me know if you need anything else,” Jenna said, and once she was gone, Nick focused his attention on the woman across from him.

“Chief Bowie and I believe Wendy didn’t pack up her things and leave her motel room under her own volition,” she said. “Did Wendy ever tell you about her blackbird figurine?”

He frowned at her. “I don’t know anything about a blackbird, but she did show me a bluebird that was given to her by her mother before she died. It was very important to her.”

“It was still in the room where she stayed.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “She wouldn’t have left it behind.” He leaned forward slightly. “A blackbird? Was that some sort of test to see if I knew about the bluebird or not? Did I pass?”

“Yes,” she replied succinctly.

“Are there going to be more tests?”

“Maybe...I don’t know. I’m just being careful about trusting you.”

“You can trust me, Adrienne,” he replied.

“Anyway, when I left the motel this morning, there were several deputies inside her room. I assume they were fingerprinting and collecting anything that might point to the guilty.” She took a sip of her tea, her gaze never leaving his. She placed her cup back down in the saucer. “Are they going to find your prints in that room?”

“Probably,” Nick replied honestly. “There was an evening not long before she disappeared that we ate take-out pizza in her room.” He frowned and stared into his coffee cup. “I don’t know what to say to convince you that Wendy and I were just friends. I didn’t kill her. I didn’t pack up her belongings in that motel room. I had nothing to do with any of this.”

He looked up at Adrienne. “She’d just moved to a new town, and I think she was lonely. I think she sensed a loneliness inside me. Other than my fellow ranch hands, I only have a couple of friends. I tend to be a loner, but Wendy was like a force of nature. Once she’d made up her mind that we were going to be friends, I was helpless.”

For the first time since he’d met Adrienne, a small smile curved her lips. The beauty of it nearly stole his breath away. “She was like a force of nature, fierce and fearless. She was like a windstorm that only stopped when it finally blew itself out.” Her smile faltered.

“Wendy and I saw each other once or twice a week while she was here,” he said. “What we need to find out is who she might have been seeing, what she might have been doing during the time she wasn’t with me.”

“And how do we go about finding those answers?” she asked.

“We start right here, where she worked.” He slid out of the booth. “Wait here and I’ll be right back. If that toast is your breakfast, then I suggest you eat it because it might be a long day.”

He went in search of Daisy, the owner of the café. If anyone would know the people Wendy interacted with both at work and outside of work, it would be Daisy. She thrived on the café business and gossip. He had no idea if Chief Bowie had already talked to Daisy, but it didn’t matter if he had. Nick wanted to hear from the woman himself. He found the plump woman in the kitchen seated at a small table sipping a glass of tomato juice that matched the color of her hair.

“Hey, Nick,” she greeted him. “What are you doing back here in my kitchen? Is Jenna not doing her job right?”

“No, Jenna is just fine. I was wondering if you’d have a few minutes to come out and sit with me and Wendy’s sister, Adrienne, and answer some questions for us.”

“Even if I didn’t have time, I’d make time.” She set her glass down and stood. “That poor woman. I can’t imagine what she’s going through. I know how much I miss Wendy, and I only knew her for a couple of months.”

She followed Nick out of the kitchen and to the booth, where Nick noticed that Adrienne had nibbled down half a piece of toast. Nick picked up his hat and placed it on his lap so that Daisy could scoot in next to him.

She instantly reached across the table and clasped Adrienne’s small hands in her meaty ones. “Honey, I’m so sorry for your loss. For the brief time she was here, Wendy was like a breath of fresh air, a new member of my family.”

She released Adrienne’s hands and leaned back in the booth. “So Nick said you two have some questions for me.” She looked from Adrienne to Nick.

“I know Wendy was a popular waitress, but we were wondering if you could think of anyone in particular who showed an unusual interest in her,” Nick said.

“She wasn’t just a pretty girl and something new and shiny in town. She was also friendly and a bit of a tease,” Daisy said. “When she worked, her section was always full. She drew everyone to her. The cowboys especially. Her section was almost always full of single ranch hands vying for her attention.”

“Did she make anyone mad or upset?” Adrienne asked. “Did she have problems with any of her coworkers? I know Wendy could be wonderful and charming, but I also know she had a bit of a temper and could be a brat.” Adrienne’s face paled, as if she was sickened by speaking anything ill about her sister.

Daisy frowned thoughtfully. “I think she might have had some choice words with Zeke Osmond. He sat in her section one day, and I think he got a bit vulgar with her. She called him a filthy pig and refused to finish serving him. After that, he always sat at the counter with his lowlife friends.”

“Zeke Osmond?” Adrienne looked at Nick curiously.

“He works on the Humes Ranch,” Nick replied.

“The one next to where you work,” Adrienne said.

Nick nodded thoughtfully. Zeke Osmond was another piece of nasty in a group of nasty that worked for Raymond Humes. There was no question that there was bad blood between the two ranches. Was it possible Zeke had murdered Wendy and then had buried her on the Holiday Ranch to implicate one of the Holiday ranch hands?

He focused his attention back to Daisy, who had continued talking. “Of course, Greg Albertson is Zeke’s shadow and was with Zeke when Wendy and Zeke had words. Then there’s Perry Wright, who seemed to take a real shine to Wendy. He’s so shy, I don’t know whether he ever asked her out or not, but it was obvious he was crazy about her whenever he came in to eat.”

“Have you told Dillon all this?” Nick asked.

Daisy shook her head. “I haven’t talked to Dillon since I made the initial identification. I told him what I knew about Wendy’s interactions here in the café then.” She kept her gaze away from Adrienne.

“And you can’t think of anyone else that Wendy might have had problems with?” Adrienne asked.

“Not while she was working here. Now, what happened on her own time I really don’t know about.” She looked at Nick. “I know she followed you around like a lost little puppy, but I don’t know who else she spent her downtime with. If she was seeing another cowboy or any other man, I didn’t hear about it.”

Adrienne’s eyes narrowed once again as she looked at Nick. Daisy caught her look and laughed. “Honey, if you think Nick had anything to do with your sister’s death, you’re barking up the wrong tree.” Daisy placed a hand on Nick’s forearm. “I’ve known this man since he was a teenager. There isn’t a bad bone in his entire body.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Daisy,” he said.

She rose from the booth. “You don’t have to convince me of your innocence.” She jerked a thumb in Adrienne’s direction. “She’s the one who has suspicion in her eyes.”

“So what happens now?” Adrienne asked after Daisy left.

“We find Dillon and give him the three names that Daisy just gave us,” he replied. He was particularly interested in Dillon following up on the potential Zeke Osmond and Greg Albertson connection.

Last month one of Humes’s men, Lloyd Green, had been suspected of terrorizing the new owner of Holiday Ranch, Cassie, and her friend Nicolette at the Holiday Ranch. He was eventually cleared, but Nick wouldn’t put anything past any of the ranch hands who worked for Raymond Humes.

They were suspected in all kinds of mischief that had happened at the Holiday Ranch...missing cattle and broken fence line and dozens of other issues.

It seemed as if Raymond Humes had gone out of his way to staff his ranch with rough and mean ranch hands, men who had no moral compasses and who thrived on stirring up trouble. As far as Nick was concerned, it was very possible there could be a murderer among the bunch.

“Let’s go see Chief Bowie,” Adrienne said, pulling him from his thoughts.

Minutes later, they pulled up side by side at the police station only to discover that Dillon was out at the crime scene at the ranch.

Adrienne followed Nick to the ranch, her car like a shining star behind his Jeep in the midmorning sunshine. How did people prove their innocence when there was no evidence to prove their guilt?

It was obvious he’d made little to no headway in making Adrienne believe in his innocence, and what bothered him was how badly he wanted her to believe him.

There had been few people in Nick’s life he’d wanted to please. Certainly not the woman who had given birth to him and then had abandoned him at the zoo when he was eight, leaving him to a foster care system that had, at times, been brutal.

When he’d been brought to the Holiday Ranch, he’d desperately wanted to please Cass Holiday, who had given him real-life lessons and a sense of worth and had taught him how to be a good, self-respecting man.

He’d also wanted to earn the respect and friendship of all the men he worked with at the ranch. He’d managed to do that, and considered each and every cowboy on the Holiday Ranch as a brother.

What he didn’t understand was why it was so important that he somehow prove himself to a woman he barely knew, a woman with chameleon eyes and an unexpected smile that had lit up something inside him.

* * *

Adrienne followed behind Nick’s Jeep, her thoughts in turmoil. She’d come to town wanting to hate Nick Coleman and firm in her belief that he’d killed Wendy. She’d come to town expecting a monster.

What she’d found was a hot, sexy cowboy who seemed as determined as she was to find the real killer. Jenna, the woman who had waited on them the day before, had certainly shown no fear or trepidation around Nick, and Daisy had practically laughed at the very idea of Nick being involved in any way in Wendy’s murder.

So who exactly was Nick Coleman? Was he a cold-blooded killer or simply an innocent man who had struck up a friendship with a young, vibrant and lonely newcomer to town?

There was no question that something about him drew her despite her wish to the contrary. She’d never been a woman particularly attracted to eye candy, although there was no question that Nick was easy on the eyes.

There was definitely some emotion in the depths of his blue eyes that tugged at her, a haunting sadness that occasionally shone through otherwise fathomless waters.

At thirty years old, there had been few men in her life. In fact, there had been only one. At the time, when most young women had begun to date to find their lifelong mate, she’d been busy raising Wendy.

A little over two years ago when Wendy had taken off on her own, Adrienne had done little to improve her love life. Wendy had often told Adrienne she was too rigid, too uptight to ever find a man who’d want to spend his life with her.

Even though Wendy had usually said those words in the heat of an argument, Adrienne realized some of them had taken purchase in her heart, making her leery of even seeking any personal relationship with any man. The one time she’d made an attempt, Wendy’s prediction had proved true.

She followed Nick’s Jeep beneath the wrought iron entrance to the Holiday Ranch, her thoughts focused solely on meeting up with Chief Bowie and hopefully furthering the investigation into Wendy’s death.

Nick parked next to the house, and she pulled in just behind him. In the distance, she could see men on horseback and a huge herd of cattle. She could also see the bright blue tentlike canopy that covered the remains of an old shed where Wendy’s body had been discovered, along with the skeletons.

She swallowed against any emotion that might sneak up on her and fell into step next to a silent Nick. She had to take two steps to his one in order to keep up with his long-legged pace.

They walked about halfway between where they had parked and the blue canopy-topped tent when an officer appeared and approached them.

His name tag identified him as Officer Juan Ramirez. He nodded to Adrienne. “Ma’am,” he said and then turned his focus to Nick. “Nick, you know you shouldn’t be anywhere around the crime scene.”