Montana Midwife

“It’s done.” Laura gestured toward the hall. “Sheriff Fielding will wait down here in the office. Tab will bring Misty to talk with him immediately.”

Everybody moved quickly, anxious not to destroy the fragile moment of truce. Tab found herself being escorted up the staircase by Aiden. This time, he was holding her arm above the elbow in a tight grip. His outrage manifested in a bodily heat that sizzled in the air around him.

Under his breath, he said, “I’ll be damned if I let the sheriff connect Misty to these murders. He’s delusional.”

“Calm down.” She fought to keep from being drawn into the vortex of his anger. “We have only a few minutes. Fill me in.”

“The first victim was raped,” he whispered.

“And the girl they just found?”

“We won’t know until after the autopsy. They’re transporting the body to Billings.” His jaw clenched. “Usually, the sheriff would call on me for transport in the chopper. Now he’s treating me like a suspect. It’s crazy. These are sex crimes. How could Misty be involved?”

On the landing at the top of the staircase, she gazed into Aiden’s gray eyes, searching for the truth. “The sheriff must have a reason.”

“He talked to Wally who went into detail about the wild parties he’s seen up and down the river.”

“Did he tell the sheriff that he saw David with a blonde girl named Ellen?”

Aiden nodded. “If Wally can be trusted, David knew the victim, but so did a lot of other people. She’s a local girl. The sheriff thinks these disappearances might be a bullying thing gone wrong. When the second victim was found wearing Misty’s wristwatch, he figured she was part of the gang.”

Aiden had said that the sheriff wanted a quick solution, and she thought he might be right. Supposing these murders were the actions of a gang tied Welling’s death to those of the missing girls. It made for a tidy solution.

She asked, “Why would he think Misty was involved?”

“She has a reputation for being wild.” Aiden shook his head and looked away. “Whenever there’s trouble, she seems to be the ringleader.”

Tab attempted to put a positive spin on his words. “She’s a leader. Headstrong. Determined.”

“Great qualities if you’re doing something good. And if not …” He drew in a breath and exhaled slowly. “It’s not her fault. I haven’t done a good job raising her.”

“You’re not her parent.”

“Gabriel Ranch and everything that happens here is my responsibility.”

He spoke with calm conviction as though his words were indisputable. When Aiden’s father died, he took on that mantle. The buck stopped with him. He was the protector, the caretaker and the final authority, even though his mother had taken over the day-to-day chores and the running of the ranch.

Seeing Aiden with his head bowed made her realize that he wasn’t the perfect, ideal man she’d cherished in her memories. He was real. He suffered just like any other man. Beneath his strength was a thick layer of sadness. He’d given up everything for his family. Somehow, that made him even more attractive to her. She wanted to comfort him and tell him that everything was going to be all right.

“Let me handle the sheriff,” she said. “If Misty is under too much stress, I’ll call an end to the questioning.”

He looked doubtful. “What if—”

“Stop,” she said quietly. “There’s only one thing that needs to happen. Misty has to tell the truth.”

“That’s what scares me.”

His fear touched her.

Though it seemed impossible, Misty could be involved in these dark, terrible crimes. Tab didn’t want to believe it was possible.

Chapter Six

In the downstairs office at the ranch, the decor showed a more feminine touch than the rest of the house. Sylvia spent most of her time behind the polished-oak desk, surrounded by antique wooden filing cabinets. A jar of jelly beans sat at the corner of the desk beside a bowl of fresh yellow roses. The computer screen saver showed a Degas painting of ballet dancers.

Sheriff Fielding perched on the edge of the desk facing Tab and Misty who were at opposite ends of a blue love seat. From what Aiden had told her, Tab knew that the sheriff considered Misty to be a prime suspect. But she saw hesitation and doubt in his eyes.

With a flannel robe belted above her pregnant belly, Misty couldn’t have looked less like the ringleader of a murderous gang. Under the pink velour robe, she wore striped yellow pajamas. Her freshly washed hair piled on top of her head with wispy blond curls escaping to frame her face. Her eyes were red-rimmed as though she’d been crying.

The sheriff cleared his throat. “Misty, it’s very important for you to be honest with me and tell me everything, even if you think it might get somebody else in trouble. This isn’t like high school. People are getting killed.”

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