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AS KIERA BOUNCED ALONG the trail in the Gator, she wondered why she’d asked Frank to kiss her. Hadn’t she already decided her short stay on the ranch wasn’t the time for a fling? Was it because he’d witnessed her breakdown, offered support? When he’d sat next to her, she sensed protection. No belittling. No judgment.
Was the kiss a subconscious way of thanking him? She felt something for Frank, no question about it. Nobody else knew of her acrophobia. She wasn’t sure she’d have told him—not at this point for sure—but then, she hadn’t expected the attack.
The barn came into view, and she eased off the accelerator. Frank had said she could take the Gator to the guesthouse. Seemed like extra work for him. If she had her sneakers instead of the cowboy boots, she’d leave the Gator here and walk to the guesthouse, but unlike the old song, these boots weren’t made for walking.
She continued on, parking the Gator next to her loaner. She hadn’t thought about being in or out of cell phone range while she’d had her aborted riding lesson. She let herself inside and booted her laptop, then checked her phone for messages.
A text from Liz. Madelynn didn’t make it.
Kiera sank onto the couch and stared at the message as if she could change it if she looked hard enough. Tears brimmed, and she let them fall.
Once she’d composed herself, anger replaced grief and sorrow. Although there was no rational reason to connect Stu to the accident, her gut wasn’t listening. If Stu knew Madelynn had accessed his emails and phone records, and he was indeed guilty of churning, frontrunning, and even insider trading, he had motive.
What were the other things detectives in books and television looked for? Means and opportunity. Did Stu have either of these?
Kiera marched to the bathroom and washed the tears from her face. She was not going to let Madelynn’s death have been for nothing. She addressed her reflection in the mirror. “I’m going to make it right. No more keeping those files just in case. It’s time to get out of the backseat and behind the wheel. You’re looking at Kiera the Proactive.”
Filled with determination, she drove her car to the ranch house. Someone connected to the ranch worked for the sheriff’s office. She tried to remember who, and what they did. This might not be Denver, but law enforcement worked together, didn’t they?
She parked in front. Entering through the mudroom seemed inappropriate. Working on bookkeeping didn’t give her free access to the house, at least not until Derek said so. She knocked on the door. Derek answered, his hair mussed.
“Am I disturbing you?” she asked.
“No, come on in.”
She stepped inside. A petite blonde sat on the couch, sipping a glass of red wine. A second sat on the coffee table.
“I am disturbing you,” Kiera said. “I’m sorry. I can come back tomorrow.”
“No, not at all.” He glanced at the woman, and they exchanged a silent communication shared by people in a more than just friends relationship. “This is Sabrina Barton. She runs a cooking school nearby. Sabrina, this is Kiera O’Leary, who’s helping straighten out my books.”
Sabrina stood, extended a hand. “Can I get you a glass of wine?”
Offering refreshments in someone else’s home? Definitely more than friends.
“That would be fantastic,” Kiera said.
Sabrina poured, handed the glass to Kiera. She took a seat in one of the easy chairs. Derek and Sabrina sat on the couch, thigh to thigh. Absolutely more than just friends. No ring on Sabrina’s finger, though.
“If you taught Tanya how to cook,” Kiera said, “your school must be terrific.”
“It’s a program for getting people off the streets,” Sabrina said. “Gives them a marketable skill. Tanya’s one of my success stories.”
Kiera sipped her wine. “I recall hearing about another program. One with horses.”
Derek picked up his glass. “That’s right. My sister’s pet project.”
Helping people seemed to be a big thing out here in the country.
“Am I remembering correctly that your sister works for the sheriff’s office?” Kiera asked.
“Right. Cecily. She’s a dispatcher,” Derek said.
Kiera wondered how much detail she should go into with Derek and Sabrina. She had to start somewhere. “That’s why I came up. A friend and colleague of mine was in a fatal car accident. I’d like to know more about the circumstances and thought she might be able to put me in touch with the right people in Denver.”
“I’m sorry about your friend,” Derek said. “I’ll give you Cecily’s number.”
Kiera had her phone out and tapped in the number as Derek dictated. “Thanks.”
“Derek was telling me about your photography,” Sabrina said. “He was impressed. I’m working on promotion for my cooking program. Would you be willing to take pictures to go with it? I’d pay, of course.”
An actual paying photography job? Not that she’d charge much, not for a more than a friend of Derek’s, but it would be something for her résumé. Kiera tried to keep the excitement off her face. “Of course. What kind of pictures are you looking for?”
“Brochure type stuff. The school’s kitchen. One of me. The students, once we’re in session again. Them working, a few of their finished products.”
“I’ve got pictures of Tanya working in the kitchen here. If you’re free tomorrow, I can bring them over and look at your school. Get a feel for what you want.”
“After the ranch breakfast?” Sabrina asked.
Which would give Kiera time to work on Derek’s books first. “Sounds good.”
Sabrina gave her directions to the school. Derek picked up his wine again and draped an arm over Sabrina’s shoulders. Kiera had what she’d come for and a whole lot more. Feeling like an intruder, she finished her wine, carried the glass to the kitchen, and washed it.
The mudroom door opened and Frank marched in.
~~
FRANK STOPPED SHORT when he saw Kiera standing at the sink. “You made it back all right, I take it.”
“I did. Did you find something?”
“I did,” he echoed. “Came to tell Derek. Is he around?” Of course he’d be around. Why else would Kiera be in the house? Or was she working on his books again?
“Living room. Sabrina’s with him.”
Frank strode through the kitchen, paused in the doorway. “Derek?”
Kiera came up behind him. “Am I allowed to know what you found?”
“Don’t see why not.”
“Come on in,” Derek called.
Frank sat in one of the easy chairs, and Kiera took the other. “Let’s have it,” Derek said.
“I found some shoe prints.” Frank pulled up the images on his phone and handed it to Derek. “Near as I can piece things together, whoever they belong to came into the ranch from the county road, near mile marker ten.”
“Not far from where Kiera hit the heifer,” Derek said.
Frank went on. “It appears this person left via the same route. I only picked up a few clear prints, but there were enough partials and other disturbed foliage that I’m confident someone came in and out. From the size, I’d say it was a male.”
“Any idea what he did? Can’t imagine someone would be walking that route for exercise,” Derek said.
“Agreed. Getting to the barn is the only reason I can think of, but nothing out of the ordinary has gone on there, has it?”
“I haven’t noticed anything, and Bryce would have mentioned it. He’d notice a piece of hay out of place.”
“Sometime tomorrow when there’s daylight, I want to follow the track all the way to the county road. Or start at the road and work backward.”
“You think it’s worth the time and effort?”
“If I don’t, we won’t know anything. If there’s something to be found, why not find it?” Frank said.
Derek stood. “If you think this guy’s target was the barn, might as well take another look now that we have an idea of what to look for.”
Sabrina rose from the couch as well. “I need to get home.” She smiled at Kiera. “I have a brochure to work on. See you tomorrow.”
“Right,” Kiera said. “Ten o’clock.”
Derek and Sabrina exchanged a brief kiss, and she left.
“I should be going, too,” Kiera said. “I wouldn’t have a clue if something wasn’t right in your barn.”
“This shouldn’t take long,” Frank said, “but leave the Gator keys in the mailbox so you don’t have to wait for me.”
“Will do,” she said, but Frank got the impression she’d said that for Derek’s sake, and she would wait for him.
Because she’ll want to know what you found.
Or she wanted to continue what she’d started while walking Ginger. He hoped for the latter. As soon as Kiera drove off, he and Derek headed for the barn.
Sunlight had faded, but it wouldn’t be full dark for another hour or more. Inside the barn, Derek flipped on the lights. “Where should we start?”
“Tack room?” Frank suggested. “It’s an everything in its place area, so easier to see if something’s missing.”
“Or added.”
“Like someone’s going to come in here and give us gifts?” Frank processed Derek’s words and checked the fridge. “Poisoned fruit in our fridge?”
Derek dragged both hands through his hair. “Seems like a longshot, but to be safe, we should toss what we have. I never thought about locking things up, but maybe we should consider it.”
“We haven’t found any evidence of an intruder. This is all speculation. Drastic measures might not be necessary.”
“The saying about locking the barn door after the horse gets out comes to mind.” Derek yanked the fruit container out of the fridge, set it on the workbench, and went to the shelf where they kept the canister of treats. “All it would take would be one poisoned biscuit. We’d never notice.”
“Do you think this is related to Ed Parker’s calls?” Frank asked.
“Doesn’t make sense. He calls, tells me I owe him money, but doesn’t say how much, or how he wants me to pay him.”
“What if he’s mentally ill? He might be following voices in his head, which wouldn’t make sense to us. I know you don’t want to involve your father,” Frank said, “but maybe a call to see if he ever had dealings with anyone by that name couldn’t hurt.”
“It’s been years,” Derek said.
Frank went to the bin holding the sweet feed, lifted a handful and smelled it. “Doesn’t seem off to me.”
“Would you risk the lives of the horses?”
“Of course not. But if someone’s on the deranged side of normal, would he be subtle? Cutting fence would be subtle. Cutting fence, taking away the wire, and stampeding cows wouldn’t.”
“I’m clueless as to the mechanisms of the deranged mind, and to that end, I’m going to empty the sweet feed bin. I won’t throw the feed out until we know more, but we’ll replace it with the unopened bag.”
“I’ll do it,” Frank said.
“No, your eyes are sharper when it comes to anomalies. Give the barn a thorough inspection.”
Frank grabbed the Maglite from its holder on the wall and began his search. Something would have to be obvious to look out of place in a barn where people and horses marched through several times a day. Based on the sounds from the tack room, Derek was getting rid of anything that could have been contaminated. Emphatically.
“If Ed Parker had something against your father, why wait until now?” Frank called out.
Something slammed into the trash can. “Maybe he couldn’t. Maybe this was his first opportunity.”
“So, he’s had years to build up a grudge,” Frank said. “Where might he have been?”
“Maybe a mental institution, if he’s seriously demented.” Thump. “Or maybe in prison.”
Frank continued his inspection of the barn, shining his light into each stall. “Plenty of grudge-building opportunities there. Are you aware of anyone your father might have played a part in getting sent to prison?”
The noise from the tack room stopped, and Derek emerged. “A viable hypothesis. One I shall pursue. Cecily might be a better one to ask. She could do the preliminary research. If she uncovers anything—or remembers something, since she was around then—I won’t have to upset my father.”
Frank translated that last bit to mean Derek didn’t want his father to feel obligated to come back to the Triple-D to offer assistance. Frank had never met the man, but from what Derek said, he’d worked long and hard to keep the Triple-D’s reputation for its beef a stellar one, and Derek felt the man had earned his retirement. Plus, he had a wife who still had lingering effects from a stroke, and Derek didn’t want to make his father choose between the ranch and her.
Derek strode to Zephyr’s stall, stepped inside, checking the hay feeder, kicking at the bedding.
“We put in all fresh after the storm,” Frank said. “The prints I found would have been laid before we did it. I don’t think it’d be risky for the animals to be inside tonight.”
“With the barn door secured. Have you found anything yet?”
A flash of color peeked out from beneath the bedding in the last stall. “Maybe. Hang on. Let me check.”