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Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch
B.J. Daniels
After Hudson Savage betrayed her, Dana Cardwell hoped never to lay eyes on the seductive cowboy again. Until a bunch of old bones showed up on her family ranch. Suddenly her former lover was back in her life in a big way-to investigate a decades-old crime.Five years ago, Hud left town with a heart load of regrets. But now, as acting interim marshal, he had a job to do. And this time he wasn't walking away. Because now Dana's life was on the line-as the unsuspecting target of a killer who still walked the canyon. Hud would do whatever it took to keep Dana close. Even if it meant risking his own heart for a second chance for both of them….
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The shotgun felt heavy in her hands as she started toward the back door…
Dana heard the creak of a footfall on the porch steps. Another creak. The knob on the back door started to turn.
She raised the shotgun.
“Dana?”
The shotgun sagged in her arms as the back door opened and she saw Hud’s familiar outline in the doorway.
He froze at the sight of the shotgun.
“I didn’t hear you drive up,” she whispered.
“I walked the last way so your visitor wouldn’t hear me coming and run. When I didn’t see any lights on, I circled the house and found the back door unlocked—” His voice broke as he stepped to her and she saw how afraid he’d been for her.
He took the shotgun from her and set it aside before cupping her shoulders in his large palms. She could feel his heat even through the thick gloves he wore and smell his scent mixed with the cold night air. It felt so natural, she almost stepped into his arms.
Dear Reader,
We hope you enjoy Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch, written by USA TODAY bestselling Harlequin Intrigue author B.J. Daniels.
Harlequin Intrigue is the ultimate romance suspense series. If you love following trace evidence and tracking down leads right along with lawmen and investigators, we have a terrific lineup of six can’t-put-down stories available every month.
Join us at Harlequin Intrigue as we crack the hardest cases and unravel the deepest mysteries of the heart.
Happy reading,
The Harlequin Intrigue Editors
Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch
B.J. Daniels
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
When I think of the Gallatin Canyon, I remember rubber gun fights at our cabin, hikes to Lava Lake and stopping by Bessie and Russell Rehm’s place near the current Big Sky.
Russell is gone now, but I will always remember Bessie’s cooking—and the treat she used to make me at her ranch in Texas: a mixture of peanut butter and molasses.
I still make it, and I always think of Bessie.
This book is for you, Bessie. Thanks for all the memories!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA TODAY bestselling author B.J. Daniels began writing novels after a career as a newspaper journalist. The author of more than fifty titles for Harlequin Books, she has won numerous awards, including a career achievement award for romantic suspense. Her books regularly appear on bestseller lists.
B.J. lives in Montana with her husband and their two Springer spaniels. When she isn’t plotting her next book, she snowboards, camps, boats and plays tennis. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Thriller Writers, Kiss of Death and Romance Writers of America.
Visit her website at www.bjdaniels.com or email her at bjdaniels@mtintouch.net
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Dana Cardwell—Her two great loves were her family ranch and Hud Savage. She’d already lost one and now, just when she was about to lose the other, a body was found in the old homestead well.
Marshal Hud Savage—He was back in town, determined to find out who had set him up so he lost not only his former deputy job—but also the woman he loved.
Rupert Milligan—The aging coroner thought he’d seen it all—until he climbed down into the old dry well to retrieve the body.
Ginger Adams—Right until the end, she thought that love could conquer all. Unfortunately, she was dead wrong.
Lanny Rankin—The lawyer had always wanted Dana. But how far would he go to have her?
Judge Raymond Randolph—Was the judge’s death just a robbery gone wrong, or had the judge become too much of a liability because of what he knew?
Kitty Randolph—The widow had buried herself in charity work to forget her husband’s murder five years ago. But the discovery of the body in the well brought it all back.
Jordan Cardwell—He needed money badly if he hoped to keep his lifestyle—and his young, gorgeous, unemployed, former-model wife.
Clay Cardwell—He tried to stay out of the family politics, but if he could get his share of the ranch he could live his secret dream.
Stacy Cardwell—The divorcée had a secret that was eating her alive.
Brick Savage—The former marshal was loved and hated—especially by Judge Raymond Randolph. But his son, Hud, couldn’t really believe he was a murderer, could he?
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Prologue
Seventeen years earlier
The fall knocked the air out of her. She’d landed badly, one leg bent under her. On the way down, she’d hit her head and the skin on her arms and legs was scraped raw.
Stunned, she tried to get to her feet in the darkness of the tight, confined space. She’d lost both shoes, her body ached and her left hand was in terrible pain, her fingers definitely broken.
She managed to get herself upright in the pitch blackness of the hole. Bracing herself on the cold earth around her, she looked up, still dazed.
Above her, she could see a pale circle of starlit sky. She started to open her mouth to call out when she heard him stumble to the edge of the old dry well and fall to his knees. His shadow silhouetted over part of the opening.
She stared up at him in confusion. He hadn’t meant to push her. He’d just been angry with her. He wouldn’t hurt her. Not on purpose.
The beam of a flashlight suddenly blinded her. “Help me.”
He made a sound, an eerie, low-keening wail like a wounded animal. “You’re alive?”
His words pierced her heart like a cold blade. He’d thought the fall would kill her? Hoped it would?
The flashlight went out. She heard him stumble to his feet and knew he was still standing looking down at her. She could see his shadow etched against the night sky. She felt dizzy and sick, still too stunned by what had happened.
His shadow disappeared. She could see the circle of dim light above her again. She listened, knowing he hadn’t left. He wouldn’t leave her. He was just upset, afraid she would tell.
If she pleaded with him the way she had the other times, he would forgive her. He’d tried to break it off before, but he’d always come back to her. He loved her.
She stared up until, with relief, she saw again his dark shape against the starlit sky. He’d gone to get a rope or something to get her out. “I’m sorry. Please, just help me. I won’t cause you any more trouble.”
“No, you won’t.” His voice sounded so strange, so foreign. Not the voice of the man she’d fallen so desperately in love with.
She watched him raise his arm. In the glint of starlight she saw it wasn’t a rope in his hand.
Her heart caught in her throat. “No!” The gunshot boomed, a deafening roar in the cramped space.
She must have blacked out. When she woke, she was curled in an awkward position in the bottom of the dry well. Over the blinding pain in her head, she could hear the sound of the pickup’s engine. He was driving away!
“No!” she cried as she dragged herself up onto her feet again. “Don’t leave me here!” As she looked up to the opening high above her, she felt something wet and sticky run down into her eye. Blood.
He’d shot her. The pain in her skull was excruciating. She dropped to her knees on the cold, hard earth. He’d said he loved her. He’d promised to take care of her. Tonight, she’d even worn the red dress he loved.
“Don’t leave! Please!” But she knew he couldn’t hear her. As she listened, the sound of the engine grew fainter and fainter, then nothing.
She shivered in the damp, cold blackness, her right hand going to her stomach.
He’d come back.
He couldn’t just leave her here to die. How could he live with himself if he did?
He’d come back.
Chapter One
As the pickup bounced along the muddy track to the old homestead, Dana Cardwell stared out at the wind-scoured Montana landscape, haunted by the premonition she’d had the night before.
She had awakened in the darkness to the howl of the unusually warm wind against her bedroom window and the steady drip of melting snow from the eaves. A Chinook had blown in.
When she’d looked out, she’d seen the bare old aspens vibrating in the wind, limbs etched black against the clear night sky. It felt as if something had awakened her to warn her.
The feeling had been so strong that she’d had trouble getting back to sleep only to wake this morning to Warren Fitzpatrick banging on the door downstairs.
“There’s something you’d better see,” the elderly ranch manager had said.
And now, as Warren drove them up the bumpy road from the ranch house to the old homestead, she felt a chill at the thought of what waited for her at the top of the hill. Was this what she’d been warned about?
Warren pulled up next to the crumbling foundation and cut the engine. The wind howled across the open hillside, keeling over the tall yellowed grass and gently rocking the pickup.
It was called the January Thaw. Without the blanket of white snow, the land looked rung out, all color washed from the hills until everything was a dull brown-gray. The only green was a few lone pines swaying against the wind-rinsed sky.
