Justice at Cardwell Ranch. B.J. Daniels
Читать онлайн книгу.
checked to make sure the batteries were still working and got out of the truck.
It was a short hike back to the trailhead. From there the path dropped to the creek before rising again as it twisted its way through the thick forest.
The trail was wide and paved and she found, once her eyes adjusted, that she didn’t need to use her flashlight if she was careful. Enough starlight bled down through the pine boughs that she could see far enough ahead—and she knew the trail well.
There was no sign of Jordan, though. She’d reached the creek and bridge, quickly crossed it, and had started up the winding track when she caught a glimpse of light above her on the footpath.
She stopped to listen, afraid he might have heard her behind him. But there was only the sound of the creek and moan of the pines in the breeze. Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted. She moved again, hurrying now.
Once the pathway topped out, she should be able to see Jordan’s light ahead of her, though she couldn’t imagine what he was doing hiking to the falls tonight.
There was always a good chance of running into a moose or a wolf or worse this time of a year, a hungry grizzly foraging for food before hibernation.
The trail topped out. She stopped to catch her breath and listen for Jordan. Ahead she could make out the solid rock area at the base of the waterfall. A few more steps and she could feel the mist coming off the cascading water. From here, the walkway carved a crooked path up through the pines to the top of the falls.
There was no sign of any light ahead and the only thing she could hear was rushing water. Where was Jordan? She moved on, convinced he was still ahead of her. Something rustled in the trees off to her right. A limb cracked somewhere ahead in the pines.
She stopped and drew her weapon. Someone was out there.
The report of the rifle shot felt so close it made the hair stand up on her neck. The sound ricocheted off the rock cliff and reverberated through her. Liza dove to the ground. A second shot echoed through the trees.
Weapon drawn, she scrambled up the hill and almost tripped over the body Jordan Cardwell was standing over.
Chapter Three
“You have a baby?” Dana said, still shocked when Stacy came back downstairs carrying a pink bundle. “I’m just having a hard time imagining you as a mother.”
“You think you’re the only one with a maternal instinct?” Stacy sounded hurt.
“I guess I never thought you wanted a baby.”
Stacy gave a little shrug. “People change.”
Did they? Dana wondered as she studied her sister.
“Want to see her?” Stacy asked.
Dana nodded and her sister carefully transferred the bundle into her arms. Dana saw that it wasn’t a blanket at all that the baby was wrapped in, but a cute pink quilt. Parting the edges, she peered in at the baby. A green-eyed knockout stared back at her.
“Isn’t she beautiful?”
“She’s breathtaking. What’s her name?”
“Ella.”
Dana looked up at her sister, her gaze going to Stacy’s bare left-hand ring finger. “Is there a father?”
“Of course,” her sister said with an embarrassed laugh. “He’s in the military. We’re getting married when he comes home in a few weeks.”
Stacy had gone through men like tissues during a sad movie. In the past she’d married for money. Maybe this time she had found something more important, Dana hoped, glancing down at the baby in her arms.
“Hello, Ella,” she said to the baby. The bow-shaped lips turned up at the corners, the green eyes sparkling. “How old is she?”
“Six months.”
As the baby began to fuss, Stacy dug in a diaper bag Dana hadn’t seen at the end of the couch. She pulled out a bottle before going into the kitchen to warm it.
Dana stared at the precious baby, her heart in her throat. She couldn’t imagine her sister with a baby. In the past Stacy couldn’t even keep a houseplant alive.
As her sister came out of the kitchen, Dana started to hand back the baby.
“You can feed her if you want.”
Dana took the bottle and watched the baby suck enthusiastically at the warm formula. “She’s adorable.” Her sister didn’t seem to be listening though.
Stacy had walked over to the window and was looking out. “I forgot how quiet it is here.” She hugged herself as a gust of wind rattled the old window. “Or how cold it is this time of year.”
“Where have you been living?”
“Southern California,” she said, turning away from the window.
“Is that where you met the father?”
Stacy nodded. “It’s getting late. Ella and I should go.”
“Where are you going?” Dana asked, alarmed, realizing that she’d been cross-examining her sister as if Stacy was one of Hud’s suspects. She couldn’t bear the thought of this baby being loaded into that old car outside with Stacy at the wheel.
“I planned to get a motel for the night. Kurt’s got some relatives up by Great Falls. They’ve offered me a place to stay until he gets leave and we can find a place of our own.”
Dana shook her head, still holding tight to the baby. “You’re staying here. You and Ella can have Mary’s room. I don’t want you driving at night.”
LIZA SWUNG THE BARREL OF HER gun and snapped on her flashlight, aiming both at Jordan. “Put your hands up,” she ordered.
He didn’t move. He stood stock-still, staring down at the body at his feet. He appeared to be in shock.
“I said put your hands up,” she ordered again. He blinked and slowly raised his gaze to her, then lifted his hands. Keeping the gun trained on him, she quickly frisked him. “Where is the weapon?” She nudged him with the point of her gun barrel.
He shook his head. “I didn’t shoot him.”
Liza took a step back from him and shone the flashlight beam into the pines. The light didn’t go far in the dense trees and darkness. “Who shot him?”
“I don’t know.”
She squatted down to check for a pulse. None. Pulling out her phone, she called for backup and the coroner. When she’d finished, she turned the beam on Jordan again. “You can start by telling me what you’re doing out here.”
He looked down at the body, then up at her. “You know I didn’t kill him.”
“How do I know that?”
True, she hadn’t seen him carrying a rifle, but he could have hidden one in the woods earlier today. But how did he get rid of it so quickly? She would have heard him throw it into the trees.
“What are you doing here at the falls in the middle of the night?”
He looked away.
She began to read him his rights.
“All right,” he said with a sigh. “You aren’t going to believe me. I was meeting him here.”
“To buy drugs?”
“No.” He looked insulted. “It’s a long story.”
“We seem to have time.” She motioned to a downed tree not far from the body but deep enough in the trees that if the killer was still out there, he wouldn’t have a clear shot.
Jordan sighed as he sat down,