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THAT AFTERNOON, IN her motel room in Deer Ridge, Kiera assembled the proofs for Sabrina and sent them off for her to choose the ones she wanted. She hadn’t set a minimum number of photos when she’d drawn up the agreement, and she wondered if she should do it in the future. She’d get her shooting fee, but what if the client wanted only one image?
One image was still money she wouldn’t have made otherwise. Since she wasn’t going to do any post-processing until the client chose the images, she wouldn’t be spending much time without being paid for it.
Derek had been understanding this morning. She thought she’d arrived early enough to catch him before he did whatever ranch work he needed to do, but he was already on his way out. She’d waited, chatting while Tanya put together a breakfast casserole and took a pan of cinnamon rolls out of the oven. Kiera would miss those meals, although her waistline would be in better shape.
Derek had returned about half an hour later. She accompanied him to his office and gave him her best advice—he needed to be realistic about bookkeeping, and hiring Paulette to handle his accounting was a smart move. He agreed immediately, and she’d arranged to put the two of them in touch.
Kiera explained what had happened with Frank yesterday, and Derek admitted it was better to give him the day off. “Make sure it’s recorded as a sick day,” she’d said. “If you want to feel generous, consider the time and people it’ll take to get his truck back to his house as donated hours.”
Derek gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Sabrina and I will consider it a short detour. We have plans to go out tonight, so she’ll drive her car, I’ll drive Frank’s pickup, and we’ll leave from there.”
Now, Kiera had finished her own work, and the guilt about the way she’d left Frank washed over her like a mountain flash flood. She owed him more than a disappearing act, but she couldn’t deal with what he’d opened up inside her. She thought she’d buried those emotions, sealed over the pain.
Kiera looked at her phone again, at the missed call. When Frank’s name had appeared, she’d let it roll to voicemail. When he didn’t leave a message, she figured he didn’t want to talk to her. At the time, she didn’t want to talk to him, either.
She had enough cowboy shots. Tomorrow, she’d head for Victor. Time to try something else, and according to her searches, the abandoned mining equipment on the trails around the town should provide plenty of opportunities for interesting pictures. Maybe a day alone with her camera would clear her head. Meanwhile, she had to decide what to do about Stu. Should she tell the State Patrol she thought Stu might have had something to do with Madelynn’s accident?
She had no proof. Gut feelings wouldn’t fly with serious investigators. As Cecily had said, they knew their jobs. If Kiera did suggest they look into Stu, and he found out she was the one who’d given them his name—she shuddered to think what he might do. It wouldn’t matter if he were guilty or innocent. If he was behind the accident, wouldn’t that say he had other people working for him? She couldn’t visualize Stu getting his hands dirty messing with lug nuts. White collar crime was what she associated with Stu.
At least he couldn’t fire her. Which reminded her, she needed to review her letter of resignation. Make sure it was ready to send.
She paced the small motel room, collecting her thoughts. Her resignation would go to HR, but they’d share it with Stu. Would he suspect her reasons?
She paused, mid-pace, and sank onto the edge of the bed. What happened to Kiera the Proactive? If she turned over what she and Madelynn had collected, a compliance team or the SEC—or both—would be doing the investigating. It wouldn’t do Stu any good to come after her.
Unless he did it for purely vindictive reasons.
She went to her envelope of printouts and stared at them. What good would they do, other than get Stu kicked out of the company?
Prevent him from doing anything else unethical with finances. From hurting innocent people who trusted him with their money.
A headache pinched the back of her neck.
Which made her think of Frank with a puncture wound at the back of his. How was he today? Angry with her—justifiably so. Was his infection clearing up? Was his fever gone? Had he figured out a way to get to the ranch and report for duty? Would Derek let him do anything risky, like driving a tractor with a mower or riding a horse?
Those wouldn’t fall into risky territory for Frank. Risky was being an Army Ranger.
What was she afraid of? Heights. Which, she supposed, she could get desensitized to and learn to ride. Why waste those new cowboy boots?
Did she even want to learn to ride? She was no longer hanging around the Triple-D. What if a magazine wanted more cowboy shots? The sort she’d need to be at horse-height to capture. Should she be prepared? Kiera knew it would take time—maybe a long time—to get comfortable on horseback.
Avoiding the issue, she went back to the printouts. Considered what Liz had said about Stu. She thought he was a sleaze, but she had nothing to confirm he’d been acting inappropriately on the financial side of things.
Her cell rang. Liz. Should Kiera ask whether Liz had evidence Stu was doing anything wrong? She answered the call.
“I was just thinking about you,” Kiera said.
“Oh? What about?”
“Stu. Has he been acting strange, other than his usual sexual proclivities? Any word on who’s going to replace Doug and Madelynn?”
And me? No reason to bring it up now. Liz didn’t need to know.
“Stu was interviewing two people,” Liz said. “Nothing official on whether one of them might be to replace Madelynn.”
“Do you have their names?” Kiera asked. Her insatiable curiosity notwithstanding, if Stu hired either of these people, there was nothing stopping anyone from looking into their histories. Heck, people Googled date material all the time.
Liz said she did, and Kiera jotted them down. Might give her a distraction. Might also give her ammunition to use against Stu.
“The reason I called,” Liz said, “was to tell you Madelynn’s funeral will be on Tuesday. Stu’s being a prick and not giving anyone in the office time off, but since you’re still on vacation, I wanted to let you know in case you wanted to be there.”
“Give me the time and place, and I’ll try to make it happen.”
Liz filled her in, then added, “We’re going to have an official office memorial. After working hours. Probably the following Friday at the Eagle’s Roost. Whether we invite Stu remains to be seen.”
“Thanks,” Kiera said. “I’ll definitely plan to be there. She disconnected the call and opened a search engine. Both men Liz had mentioned had degrees in business, both worked in finance-related fields. Nothing jumped out and said they were suspected of unethical behavior. She gave up. There was none of the satisfaction of working with images.
Frank was good at using search engines. Thinking of Frank brought up thoughts of Ben, and even if she’d hurt Frank, those thoughts hurt her more.
~~
FRANK OPENED THE DOOR to Derek and Sabrina, invited them in. Sabrina’s assessing gaze had him on the defensive. Remembering she’d been with Derek when he’d contracted a new virus, he tolerated her concern, but added, “Mountain lion. Infected bite. Nothing contagious.”
Sabrina pushed past him into the kitchen. Derek followed, carrying a cooler.
“Thought you could use food you didn’t have to cook,” Sabrina said. She removed a quart-size plastic container and set it on the counter. “Chicken soup—cliché, but good.” Next, she took out six smaller square containers. “Turkey casserole, chicken stew, and chili. You can freeze them until you’re ready to eat. Take what you want out of the freezer the night before, then microwave to reheat.”
Frank put the soup container in the fridge, and all but one of the other containers into the freezer. First Kiera, now Sabrina. Mollycoddlers. “You didn’t need to do this.”
“You’re lucky. I was working on recipes for the next cooking school session.”
Frank doubted that was the case but didn’t call her out.
Derek fished a memory card from his pocket. “Thought we’d have a look at these on your computer. Then you can tell me how you think I should handle it.”
From the concerned look on Derek’s face, Frank figured they’d be caught in a no-win situation. “Computer’s in my office.”
“You don’t need me,” Sabrina said. “I can stay here and watch television.”
“No, you’re a part of this, too,” Derek said.
The three of them trooped down the hall, and Frank inserted the memory card into the computer. A moment later, an array of images filled the screen. “Did you have the camera set to time or motion?”
“Motion. According to Rusty, they don’t require a flash. He said it was so any intruders wouldn’t know they’d been caught on camera, and so it wouldn’t frighten any innocent wildlife wandering through.” Derek pointed to a section. “These are the ones in question.”
Time stamps said the images had been captured between one and one fifteen in the morning. Frank clicked on the first image and enlarged it enough to see a shadowy figure approaching the spot where the cattle had been. Light illuminated the ground, although the figure wasn’t carrying a flashlight, creating harsh shadows. A closer look showed he was wearing a headlamp. “You know who we need here? Kiera. She’s got much better software, and she knows a lot more about enhancing images than I do.”
“’Fraid you’re all we’ve got now,” Derek said.
Frank almost asked him why, where Kiera was, but even if Derek knew and called her to come over, they’d be wasting time.
Derek pointed to another. “Tell me what you see.”
Frank enlarged the suggested image, did what he could to sharpen it. Now he knew why Derek was so upset. “That’s Javi.”
Derek scrubbed his jaw. “If he’s been rustling cattle, Cecily’s Helping Through Horses program will be in trouble.”
Sabrina moved closer, peered at the screen. “You’re both right. Am I here because Cecily’s my friend and you want me to break the news?”
“She’s my sister,” Derek said. “You think I want to see something she’s worked so hard for fall apart? I can’t see turning a blind eye to this evidence.”
Sabrina spoke up. “Evidence? I can tell you, what you have is circumstantial. All this proves is Javi was in the woods where the cattle had been.”
“Why else would he be there?” Frank said. “It’s miles away from the Randall spread, and it’s on Triple-D property.”
“What about innocent until proven guilty?” Sabrina faced Derek. “You’re the one who wanted my opinion, remember?”
“The kids Cecily gets into her program are last-chancers,” Derek said. “I’ll bet Phil Randall got a full report on Javi’s history before he agreed to take him in. I can ask.”
“It’s Cecily’s program,” Frank said. “Shouldn’t she be the one to deal with it, good news or bad?”
“Wait.” Frank zoomed in, focused on a part of the image. “Javi’s back pocket. Is that a bandana?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Sabrina asked. “Every cowboy carries one.”
Derek explained what they’d found in the barn to her.
Sabrina huffed. “You can’t see what color it is, and as I said, they’re common as cow patties around here. Even if the bandana is identical to the one you found in the barn, there’s no proof who it belonged to.”
Frank clicked to the next image, not much different from the previous one. “Technically, if the bandana’s wearer used it to wipe his face or hands, it’s possible to get DNA, and identify the user, assuming you have something to match it to. I’m with Sabrina on this one. All it would say is we found a bandana Javi had used in our barn. Not that he was the one to drop it.”
“I was almost certain the person in the pictures is Javi,” Derek said. “I wanted impartial confirmation, and I got it, but my bigger question remains. Who do we tell? Confront Javi? Go to Phil, who’s accepted responsibility? Or to Cecily, as head of the program?”
Frank scrolled through the images again, seeking the narrative. “The camera picks Javi up here. He’s on foot. How did he get here?” He held up a hand to forestall discussion. “Let me finish.” Frank moved on through a couple more images. “Here. He's confused. Checks the cut rope. Disappears out of frame and doesn’t come back into range. What does that tell us?”
Derek spoke first. “He didn’t just happen to be out for a midnight stroll. He came looking for the cattle. My thought is he went off in search of them.”
“Either that, or he decided he’d better get the heck out of there,” Sabrina said. “Knowing where the cattle were doesn’t prove he’s the one responsible.”
Derek straightened. “We have one answer. Javi, with intention, came to the spot where the animals were being held. Beyond that, we have nothing but questions. Was he coming to set them free? Who do we go to with what we’ve discovered?”
“I suggest a sit-down with Phil and Cecily first, and then Javi,” Frank said.
“I agree.” Sabrina stepped to Derek’s side and smiled up at him. “Why don’t you call Phil and Cecily and set things up? For tomorrow. We have places to be tonight.” She shifted her attention to Frank. “You still look like you came out of your encounter with the mountain lion in second place. Take it easy.”
Frank ignored her. “I’ll be at work tomorrow, D-Man. What time?”
“Seven’s fine,” Derek said.
Frank saw the two of them to the door. When Sabrina got behind the wheel, not Derek, Frank sent him a text.
Where’s Kiera?