Cody cursed loudly, then cursed again.
His morning wasn’t working out too well and it didn’t look like improvement was on the menu as he drove the distance between the Simms farm and the Lucky 7.
The long driveway leading up to the ranch house had been plowed, so the going was pretty easy. His mood was not. He could think of about ten things he’d rather be doing than reviewing—for the umpteenth time—the Chandler-Molly Wedding Extravaganza Checklist. He doubted if a State Visit required this much preplanning or coordination.
His brothers were wrong. It wasn’t Molly who was so insistent that every detail be planned, reviewed, adjusted and replanned before finalization. Nope, that was vintage Chandler. Cody knew that from sharing a room with the guy for fifteen long, argument-filled years.
Okay, so living with Chandler had taught him the importance of keeping things neat. In the long run, those habits had made his life less complicated. He could pack in a moment’s notice, and his organization had helped him move up in the ranks at work. But he certainly didn’t take it to the extreme his alphabetizing, color-coding brother lived by. Poor Molly. And she seemed like such a sensible woman.
His brother’s pretty fiancé was waiting for him on the porch holding a very sensible clipboard. Oh-oh. Doesn’t bode well for me.
Sighing, Cody parked between Seth’s Jeep and Sam’s Jaguar.
Because it was the first time in more than six years that all the Landrys would be together to celebrate a wedding, Cody knew it was important that he go with the flow. Only problem was, his mind kept drifting back to the Simms farm and his responsibilities there. Or—more honestly—J.J. Barnes.
The wedding was three days away, which meant he had seventy-two more hours of juggling family responsibilities and his job.
“Hi, there,” Molly greeted cheerfully, balancing on tiptoe to place a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks for meeting us here so early.”
Early? Hardly. “Not a problem. Is everyone here?”
His question didn’t really require an answer. Not when he could hear all the noise coming from inside the house. He smiled in spite of his distracted thoughts. This was like old times. Very old times. When seven unruly boys dominated every waking hour in this house.
He had one foot in the door when Kevin, the second oldest of the new generation of Landrys, rushed past on his way into the living room, with no fewer than four of his cousins—some barely able to run—in hot pursuit. Bringing up the rear was Jessica, Cody’s cousin Cade’s daughter from his first marriage. Jess had grown into a stunning twenty-two-year-old who apparently was assigned the exhausting task of corralling the young ones while the final wedding plans were hashed out. For the last time, I hope.
“Hey, Cody!” Jess yelled, shifting an infant to her right hip as she tried, vainly, to keep pace with her unruly charges.
“Let ’em know who’s in charge!” Molly called after her.
“I will as soon as I know!”
“Too many doughnuts,” Molly explained as she led him into the den.
It was crowded. Seth was sitting in the leather chair next to the fireplace with his wife, Savannah, balanced on the arm at his side. Chance and Val had grabbed pillows and were lounging on the floor with baby Chloe tucked between them. Very pregnant Tory sat propped at one end of the sofa with Clayton rubbing the small of her back. Sam was sitting at the other end of the sofa, his wife, Callie on his lap. Shane was sprawled in the center of the floor, head propped on Chance’s leg. He looked comfortable until Taylor managed to “accidentally” kick him as she made the rounds with a carafe of fresh coffee.
“Hey!” Shane grumbled the third time Taylor’s tennis shoe made contact with his thigh.
“Don’t like it?” she challenged sweetly, “then get out of my way.”
“I have a better idea,” Shane retorted as he eased into a sitting position. “Why don’t you g—”
“Stop this,” Molly chided as she went to stand next to Chandler, who held a stack of file folders. Cody almost groaned aloud. And judging from the looks on the faces of his siblings, he knew they shared his feelings.
“It’s still not too late,” Clayton offered. “You could fly to Vegas, get married and be home by dinnertime.”
Molly paused and Chandler shot Clayton a look that everyone assembled recognized as a warning.
“Ignore them,” Callie piped up. “Men have so little appreciation when it comes to the importance of properly planning a wedding.”
“I appreciate that it shouldn’t take more strategy sessions than planning the invasion of a small country. Ouch!” Shane rubbed his bicep where Taylor had delivered a pretty decent punch considering she was little more than a wisp of a woman. “That’s going to leave a bruise.”
“Sneeze hard and you bruise, wuss-boy,” Sam commented. “I’ve got a meeting with a client in two hours, so can we get this started, please?”
“Okay,” Molly began, taking a pencil from behind her ear. “Taylor, as my maid of honor, you’ll—”
When Cody’s cell phone chimed, every eye in the room glared in his direction. “Sorry,” he muttered, “but I am working right now.” Hurriedly he retreated into the hallway.
Part of him was relieved by the reprieve the incoming call had given him. Depressing the button to call up the text message, he felt a small smile curve his lips. It faded when he read the message.
Request immediate info on Wilkofski and Associates. Barnes out.
“Well, well, Little Miss Honest To A Fault J.J. You’ve been snooping around, have you?” He contemplated answering her as he had been doing for days.
It had been a game. He’d found her secret phone on day one, right after he discovered she was missing, and had called her, tricking her into redirecting her messages to his Inbox. And she’d been none the wiser. Mostly she’d been asking about his team members.
“So why the renewed interest in me?” he wondered aloud. He rejoined his family, half listening to the wedding chatter since he was busy formulating a way to turn the tables on the overly curious Agent Barnes.
“YOU’RE GOING TO WEAR out the carpet,” Martin muttered as he peered around J.J. to catch the late fourth-quarter play on the television.
“Yeah,” Denise chimed in. “What’s with all the pacing?”
Lara looked up from her find-a-word book and added, “It is annoying, Barnes. Can’t you just sit down and read a magazine or something?”
“No.” J.J. planted her hands on her hips and blew out a breath of frustration. “I’m tired of being cooped up in here. Can’t we go into town?”
“No.” It was a consensus.
“What about a walk outside?”
“Again with the great outdoors stuff?” Lara groaned.
“Snow’s too deep for a walk,” Denise pointed out. “And Cody took the SUV.”
Cody the turncoat! she wanted to shout. Okay, so maybe that was jumping to conclusions, but she was feeling pretty damned jumpy. “I’m going insane here, folks. Let’s go out and rig up a sled, build a snowman, decorate the stables, dig a ditch—anything! Have mercy, I beg you. I need exercise. I have to look at something besides these walls.”
“Look outside,” Lara said with a jerk of her head toward the window. “Snow and trees as far as the eye can see. And frigging cold. You’re nuts if you want to go out there. Run up and down the stairs until the idea passes why don’t you?”
“Can’t walk in it, and we don’t have any transportation,” Denise said sympathetically. “Sorry, Barnes, you’re stuck in here for the duration. Be a brave little toaster.”
“Actually, we do have transportation. There are several snowmobiles in the garage,” normally quiet Martin suggested, glancing up from the TV.
“No way,” Lara choked. “Post-op girl probably shouldn’t be on a bumpy snowmobile and Cody said to stick close.”
Snowmobile? Sounded like a possibility. A good one. So good that J.J. was willing to get down on her knees and beg. Turned out it wasn’t necessary.
Martin switched off the television. “What would it hurt?” he asked. “We go slow, take in the sights. It might do us all some good to get out for a while.” He glanced over at J.J. and asked, “Assuming you’re up to it?”
“I’m not up to it,” Lara said. “I’ll freeze inside an hour.”
“So we’ll keep it short,” Martin offered. “Down to the ravine and back. It’s forty minutes tops. Cody said he had them gassed up, so, Denise, you in?”
“Why not,” she answered. “Just gotta go upstairs and get my boots.”
“Lara?”
“Okay. But I’ve got to go upstairs and put on three more layers of clothing. And—” she stopped in the archway leading to the stairs “—if Cody finds out, you take full responsibility.”
“Not a problem,” Martin insisted easily, grinning at J.J. “Cody’s a decent guy. Lara just doesn’t know him well enough.”
While J.J. was putting on her coat and lacing her boots, she seized the opportunity to talk for a few minutes alone with Martin after Denise went to the rest room. “You sound as if you know Cody well.”
“Going on fifteen years. I was his mentor when he first joined the Marshal Service.”
So how come he outranks you? she wondered. “He’s not a very hands-on team leader, is he?”
“Sure he is,” Martin countered. J.J. believed the answer was honest and heard the respect and open admiration in his tone. “Cody is the job. He’s given one hundred percent to it from day one.”
“And you haven’t?”
Martin looked down to tie his laces. “For the most part. I got married a few years ago. You know how it is. The job changes when you’re not single anymore. That’s why I’m getting out.”
That was news. “You’re quitting?”
He laughed. “Retiring, young lady. I’ve got my twenty years in next month. My wife and I are moving to a little place in Idaho. Maybe start that family we’ve been talking about all these years. Didn’t seem right to do it when I was always traveling.”
Buying a house? That could be motive for selling out the other witnesses. “Big place for lots of kids?”
He grunted. “Small place. I’m a government employee and my wife’s a secretary. It’s nice, though,” he insisted, fumbling for his wallet and producing a photograph of a modest home in a modest neighborhood.
The house appeared to be an easily affordable option for a dual-income couple with no kids. Kinda shot her theory all to hell.
“Martin boring you with the house pictures?” Denise asked when she rejoined them.
“Excuse me,” Martin snipped good-naturedly. “Unlike Denise, I didn’t marry an entrepreneur. Her husband figured out a way to make a mint on the Internet.”
Denise swatted Martin’s head. “It’s not a mint, you moron. He traded stocks online. No big deal and certainly none of her business.”
J.J. didn’t blame Denise for being pissed. But she appreciated the information all the same. So, Denise’s husband was making lots of money. That could either eliminate her as a suspect or put her at the top of the list. Sometimes a little money made people want a lot of money. It was another angle.
A few moments later, they were on their way, with Lara complaining on the short walk to the garage. It was too cold. She’d never been on a snowmobile. They could get lost. The world could end.
“Give it a rest, Selznick,” Martin insisted as he started pulling tarps off the snowmobiles. “Think of this as an opportunity to learn a new skill. You’re always complaining about never being given challenges. Well, this is one.”
“I meant professional challenges,” Lara corrected, moving over to where Martin was standing to affix the goggles he’d retrieved from the handle of the machine. “I want this one.”
“They’re all the same,” he argued.
“This one is bigger,” she insisted. “If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right.”
“Since you’ve never done it,” Martin countered, “I’d suggest you take one of the others.”
“Let her have it,” Denise called. “You know our Lara. She always has to do things the hard way.”
Were these people always so contentious? J.J. wondered. Not to mention annoying. They debated everything, from the order of their showers to what to make for dinner. Hardly a cohesive team. It was yet another failing on Cody’s part. He should be here. These people definitely needed supervision. Or a collective swift kick.
In deference to her recent medical problems—which Cody had, thankfully, covered by blaming her previous surgery—they departed the garage and took off at a leisurely pace toward the eastern edge of the property. The pastureland butted the foothills, providing a natural barrier, should the Visnopovs be thinking of dropping by.
The hum of the engine lulled J.J. into her private thoughts. Jumbled as they were. Of the four suspects, she didn’t want to acknowledge that Cody was the strongest by a long shot.
The business card she’d discovered was the most incriminating evidence of all. That and the little bit of the phone conversation she’d overheard had put him at the top of her list.
It just didn’t feel right to her. She couldn’t fathom a single reason why Cody would jump into bed with the Russian mob. He seemed like a decent guy. More than decent, actually. He’d kept her secret. And he’d consoled her. Definite pluses. Why would a guy who was orchestrating her execution do either of those things? It didn’t make sense.
Then again, neither did Martin as the leak. He was on the verge of retirement and apparently planning on spending it in a quiet place with a nice wife and some nice kids. Denise had given her little to nothing to arouse her suspicions. And then there was Lara. She was definitely hiding something—but a link to the mob seemed like a huge stretch.
Which brought her back to Cody as they arrived at an uphill slope at the base of the mountains. Cutting the motor, J.J. shoved off her goggles and dismounted, awed by the beauty.
“There was no hiking mentioned,” Lara griped as she got off her snowmobile, then planted her feet in the snow, her arms crossed. “The higher the elevation, the more wind. More wind means a drop in temperatures.”
“Just a little ways up,” J.J. implored. “Just high enough to get a view of the sun starting to set.”
“Come on, Lara,” Martin urged. “You might like it.”
“I’ll hang back here, thank you very much.” Lara remained anchored in place.
“Suit yourself.” Martin shrugged. “I wonder if the camera on my cell phone is decent enough to get a picture of this.”
“That would be great,” J.J. said with genuine enthusiasm.
Martin took the lead. Which made sense. As the heaviest, he could test the footing. The terrain was a pretty slick mixture of rock, ice and snow as the three of them snaked their way higher.
The only sounds were the occasional flutter of a bird overhead and the echoes of Lara slapping her arms to keep warm. There was an earthy smell that reminded J.J. of childhood camping trips. And had her suddenly longing for a gooey s’more. Somewhere higher up in the rocks, a deer skittered, faltered on a rock, then bounded off for the relative safety of some undergrowth. The aroma of pine grew stronger the higher they went.
“I think this is far enough,” Martin said as he turned and rested against a boulder. “Wow. Now that’s a once in a lifetime sight.”
J.J. turned and had to agree. It was as if someone had taken a broad brush and painted swatches of pinks, purples, yellows and golds across the endless sky interrupted only by the mountains. All of the colors converged on the giant sun just beginning to hide behind the tallest of the peaks.
“Let’s see if this thing can do this justice,” Martin said, flipping open the phone and pointing it toward the scene. “Too bad it doesn’t have a wide-angle lens,” he joked, adjusting the phone so J.J. could see the preview in the two-inch screen.
“It’s great,” she promised, touching his forearm as she offered a reassuring smile. “And it’s the only option we have.”
“Make it a speedy option,” Denise cautioned. “We don’t really want to be out here much longer. It’s starting to get dark, and Lara’s freezing.”
“One sec and we’ll be on our way,” Martin promised. “One…two…”
He never got to say three. Or if he did, it was drowned out by the sound of an explosion.