Hero's Return

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Kate ground her teeth. “That makes it even worse.” She’d never understood how her brother could have taken his own life. “She was that good?”

“When you’re seventeen... But yes, she was good at making an inexperienced teenager fall for her.”

She felt all the anger leak from her like a pinprick to a tire. It left her simply tired and, again, close to tears. Not even her parents knew everything about Madeline. It felt good to finally say what had been bottled up inside her to someone who’d known the woman.

“There’s another reason I wanted to find you,” Kate said. “I need to know everything about Madeline so I can find her accomplice.”

The waiter tentatively came back to the table. “I don’t want to rush you.”

“No, it’s fine. Are you ready to order?” Tucker asked her.

She nodded. For the first time since her brother had died, she didn’t feel that hard knot in her chest. Finally, she would avenge his death. Tucker Cahill didn’t know it yet, but he was going to help her.

CHAPTER EIGHT (#u5116cf9d-d5b1-50f9-bf71-3d2d10e4b2be)

BILLIE DEE COULDN’T quit thinking about Henry’s proposal. She was deep in thought when Darby came into the kitchen the next morning.

“Can I make you some breakfast?” she asked, happy to see him. She was dreading the day when Mariah gave birth and the two of them moved out of the upstairs apartment. While she knew it was selfish, she liked knowing they were up there when she came in early in the morning to start the day’s cooking.

“Thanks, but no breakfast today. I have some waitstaff interviews this morning. With summer and the busiest time of the year coming up, I need more help. Mariah is going to be busy nesting, same with Lillie. You thought any more about the apartment upstairs? No,” he said with a laugh. “Of course you wouldn’t want to move in up there, not with—”

Just then Mariah came down the stairs, her huge belly leading the way. Billie Dee put a finger to her lips. Mariah and Darby’s twin sister, Lillie, were best friends and told each other everything.

He nodded and went to help his wife down the last few steps before the two went to the front of the saloon to get ready to interview candidates before opening for the day.

Billie Dee turned back to her cooking. She liked to cook what she knew. And what she knew was Tex-Mex with a side of Cajun. Which in this part of the country seemed exotic—and often too spicy. Since she’d gone to work here, she’d introduced this part of Montana to her brand of cooking and this morning she was making up a batch of her famous chili.

When she heard more voices at the front of the old stage stop, she peered down the hall to see the candidates for the job.

Her breath caught. She had to grab the back of one of the chairs at the kitchen table for support. That face. She’d been looking for it in every young woman she passed for the past twenty-six years—terrified she’d see it and terrified she wouldn’t.

The young woman looked up, her eyes a startling blue that rivaled even the Montana sky. And that face... But there was no recognition in the young woman’s gaze.

The woman looked away and Billie Dee felt as if someone had just stomped on her heart.

* * *

TUCKER WAS HAULED out of his dream by his cell phone chime. Without opening his eyes, he reached over to shut off the phone, surprised it was morning. He didn’t want to wake up. He could still feel the night on his bare skin as he clung to the erotic dream he’d been having.

Almost midnight, the Montana sky ablaze with stars. Hot water bubbled up from deep in the earth to pool in the middle of the large boulders as a small waterfall washed over the rocks like a lullaby.

He lay naked in the water waiting for her. He knew she could come to him in this isolated place. The natural hot spring was surrounded by mountain ranges, deep purple against the skyline. It was their special place. He could hear the faint tinkling of her silver anklet as it dangled from her ankle. Other than the anklet, the only other thing she wore was a large straw hat that hid her face. Strange, since there was only moonlight.

Her hair was tucked up under the hat as she padded barefoot toward him and the tantalizing pool. She had just reached the edge, stuck in one perfectly pedicured toe and reached to take off her hat...

His cell phone rang again. Cursing, he opened his eyes and picked up the phone to see who was calling at this hour. When he saw it was Flint, he answered, “What?”

“I guess I don’t have to ask how your date was last night.”

He could feel the dream slipping away. Worse, he’d glimpsed the face under the hat and... It hadn’t been Madeline’s. It was Kate’s. The dream dissolved into a feeling of frustration. Kate?

“There a reason you called?”

“I forgot you’ve never been a morning person,” Flint said. “If you get a chance, stop by my office.”

He sat up a little. “Has something happened?”

“No, I just wanted to ask you more questions about Madeline.”

“Madeline?” He swung his legs over the side of the bed as he tried to clear his head. “I told you everything I know about her.”

“I talked to the sheriff up in Judith Basin County. He says the Dunns cleared out about twenty years ago and, as far as he knows, haven’t been seen since. It was before his time, but he said they were an odd family. Said there were an older brother and some sisters. Stayed to themselves in some big old house outside town. As far as he knew, there wasn’t anyone living there anymore. Could take time to track them down, if any of them are still around.”

A dead end. Clawson Creek? It wasn’t that far from Denton where he’d first met Madeline. He thought about what Kate had said about finding Madeline’s accomplice.

“I don’t mean to bring up bad memories,” Flint said. “I just want to tie up what loose ends I can and put it all to rest. You have to quit blaming yourself for her death, though. It was an accident, one she brought on herself.”

Tucker nodded. So why did he still feel guilty? Nor did it feel as if it was over. “What about the person who hid her body downstream?”

“Because the death was an accident, the person who hid the body would have been facing only misdemeanor charges for the improper disposal of a corpse. Since the statute of limitations has run out...”

“So you aren’t going to pursue this? You aren’t even going to look for whoever was helping Madeline?”

“I can’t see using manpower when no charges could be filed, anyway.”

He thought of Kate and that darned dream came back with her standing naked in the mist at the edge of the pool. He frowned as he remembered the tinkle of the ankle bracelet in his dream.

“Did your deputies find any jewelry at the scene?”

“No, why?”

“Maybe a little silver ankle bracelet with tiny bells on it. I believe Madeline was wearing it that night.” He sounded lame even to himself. The woman in the dream who’d been Madeline up until that last minute had been wearing a silver ankle bracelet with little bells on it. Until this moment, he’d forgotten about the bracelet he’d bought her.

“I’ll send Harp back out there. Will give him something to do.”

“Who’s Harp?” Tucker asked, still distracted.

“Harper Cole. Mayor’s son and a deputy I inherited. While he’s doing better at the job, he has a pregnant wife he calls every few hours to make sure she’s all right.”

“And that’s a bad thing, him checking on his wife?”

Flint groaned. “You have to know Harp. He tends to overdo everything. So putting him on creek dirt duty will at least give all of us a break,” his brother said with a laugh. “What do you have planned today?”

Tucker glanced at the clock, cringing at how early it was. “Going back to sleep.”

“Sorry for waking you up.”