At Wolf Ranch (21 page)

She remembered them as little girls, holding hands on the first day of school. Sitting on horseback, Lela’s hands wrapped around her waist. She’d never been as fond of the horses as Ella. Both of them bundled up in snowsuits on tiny skis sliding down the mountain. Lela helping her write a paper in high school for a book she hadn’t read. Ella helping Lela with the math she hated. “Why do they put letters in math?” she’d grumbled.

When Lela smiled, it made Ella want to smile too, even when she’d had a bad day. Her laugh made you want in on the joke. She loved to read and draw and watch black-and-white movies on Sunday afternoons.

Ella pulled the slip of paper out of the purse and stared at the last drawing her sister ever did.

“When we were kids, teachers would send home notes to my parents requesting that they please tell Lela to stop doodling all over her homework. She never did. They’d mark her down for neatness and sometimes give her points for creativity.” She laughed and held the paper up to Gabe. He walked over, knelt in front of her, and looked at the picture.

“She’s a good artist. Is that what you meant by the cave?” Gabe pointed to the arch over the picture of her and Lela’s lockets, with the rosebush on either side, and it all came back to her.

That something nagging her intensified. “What do you mean?”

“When you sleep, you have nightmares, and you’re always saying, ‘The cave.’ ”

The cave.

Ella’s heart soared as recognition slammed through her. She smiled and turned to Lela. “
That
’s
what you meant. You’d never
cave
. The truth will
roll
out, not come out. You told me where to find it, I just didn’t remember.”

“Remember what?”

“Lela and I were five when we moved into the ranch. My mother shooed us out of the house while the movers were unpacking. We went to find our father in the garage. We loved it out there. Our voices and footsteps echoed off the cement floor and walls.”

“It’s a six-car garage, honey, it’s like a cavern.”

“We pretended we were wolves howling in a cave.”

“There is nothing in the garage. I watched them clean out the toolboxes and miscellaneous stuff. It was mostly Christmas and house decorations. No papers.”

“Did you move the big heavy workbench with all the drawers?”

“No one could move that thing. It’s somehow bolted to the wall, despite the fact it’s on wheels.”

“Dad found us in the garage, and we told him it was our cave. He asked us if we wanted to see something, but we had to keep it a secret. We loved playing games with Dad, so we followed him over to the big cabinet. He showed us the secret code, the lock popped, and the cabinet and part of the wall rolled open.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Every house we lived in had a secret place. A vault.” She smiled remembering her father. “Every Wolf needs a cave to keep his secrets.”

“Do you think she hid the evidence there?”

“I’d bet my life on it.”

“Don’t say that.”

She leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his, closing her eyes, and breathing him in. “I’m not ready to say goodbye.”

“You can’t stall much longer. We need to go to Wolf Ranch and open that vault.”

“I know.”

“It’s only goodbye for now. You’ll finish this, and we’ll bury her with your parents on the ranch. You’ll take her home.” Gabe kissed her, stood, and walked back to his position by the door.

Ella put her hand on her sister’s head. “Isn’t he great, Lela?” The thought that her sister had sent her to Montana, to Gabe, and had somehow found her the perfect man from heaven made her smile. “Thank you, Lela, for always being my friend, for always having my back, and loving me with your big, beautiful heart. I will finish this and live my life for the both of us. I love you.” She leaned over and kissed her sister on the forehead.

Ella stood behind Lela, grasped the table, and pushed it back into the locker. She touched her sister’s soft hair one last time and closed the door. She planted both hands on the bank of doors and hung her head between her shoulders, letting the tears roll down her cheeks.

“Ella, honey, come here.”

She pushed off the doors and ran into Gabe’s open arms. He hugged her close, kissed the top of her head, and whispered, “You are still loved.”

She felt her sister’s presence in that room. She felt Gabe’s warmth and kindness wrapped around her. Not exactly a declaration that he loved her, but again, exactly what she needed to hear.

Chapter 24

G
abe played with Ella’s hair, rubbing her head softly. She leaned against him as he drove the truck down the icy road he’d cleared that morning before they left the house. With the sun up and the temperature in the high forties, the snow melted into a slushy mess. The white-capped mountains loomed all around them. Strange weather for this time of year, but he’d take the warmer temps as long as they could get them.

“What’s in the envelope Mr. Henighan gave you?”

“The autopsy report and Dr. Fortner’s recording of his analysis of Lela’s injuries.”

“Who is Dr. Fortner?”

“He’s the top forensic pathologist in the country.”

“You hired him to do an independent autopsy of your sister?”

“Insurance,” she explained. “I heard a struggle on the phone. I think he hit her. I wanted Dr. Fortner to confirm her time of death, any other injuries or bruising. The angle of the shot. I’m shorter than my uncle, so the bullet trajectory will be different if I shoot versus him. I can’t be sure exactly what they’ll falsify against me, so I covered my ass.”

“Smart.”

“With this, everything I’ve gathered, and whatever Lela left at the ranch, I feel a sense that everything will work out. I can’t explain it, but I felt her in that room. She brought me here for a reason, Gabe. I think that reason has a lot more to do with you than just finding the evidence.”

“I don’t care what brought you here, I’m worried that someone or something will take you away.” The admission made him feel vulnerable and open in a way he’d never been with anyone else. With her, he felt he had to lay it all on the line. Time passed, but it felt like a clock ticking down, rather than time stretching out into their future. If he didn’t tell her now, he might not get the chance. That scared him more than anything. Losing her because he hadn’t said enough, done enough to show her he wanted her. Here. With him. Always.

Ella reached over, rubbed her palm over the back of his hand, and laced her fingers through his when he turned his hand over to hold hers. She gave him a soft smile, and his heart felt lighter.

Gabe rounded the bend in the road approaching his place and slammed on the brakes. The truck tires slid and the backend swung to the right, nearly colliding with the snowbank.

Ella sat up straight next to him. “Why are we stopping? I thought we were going up the road to Wolf Ranch.”

“Look at the road.”

“What about it? It’s covered in ice and snow.”

“And fresh tire tracks.”

“So.”

“No one lives up that road but you.”

Ella stared straight ahead, eyes glued to the ominous sight. Fear paled her skin and made her hand tremble in his.

“We can’t go up there now. Your uncle’s men are probably waiting for you.”

“I have to do this. We need that evidence.”

“Let’s call the sheriff. He can meet us at the house.”

Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she shook her head. “After what happened, I won’t trust anyone to see this through to the end. Not until I have the evidence in hand.” She pleaded with her eyes for him to understand.

“Fine.” He eased the truck forward, taking the turnoff for their place. “If someone is up there, I’m not driving in and giving them a free shot at you. We’ll saddle a couple of horses and ride over. It’ll take longer, but we can hide in the trees and get away a hell of a lot faster on horseback.”

While he saddled Sully and Winnie, she grabbed their warmer gear from the house and met him in the stables. She didn’t hesitate to give Winnie a soft pet down her long neck, stick her foot in the stirrup, and boost herself up into the saddle.

He held her thigh, feeling the connection between them pulse. Everything inside him told him to grab her off the horse, take her inside, and lock her away forever where she’d be safe. Instead, he silently swore he’d protect her, or die trying.

Ella stared out
across the snow-covered field to the house rising up ahead on a hill overlooking the tree-lined valley she rode up. Behind the house, the white-capped mountains towered to the sky. She’d waited while Gabe circled the house, looking for any sign someone was inside. She’d promised to stay hidden, but the fear in her gut nearly made her leave the protection of the trees to go after him.

Gabe whistled to her from atop his horse on the rise, leading to the back gardens and patio. She rode up the hill and stopped near him. He didn’t give her time to dismount, but grabbed her by the waist and lifted her from the saddle, bringing her down in front of him. Her body slid along his until her feet hit the ground. She stayed close and glanced up, wondering about his odd behavior. On the ride over, he’d constantly stared at her, but she didn’t know why.

“Someone’s been here. At least two trucks or SUVs based on the tire impressions and width of the wheels. The side door on the garage has a busted window.”

“They went inside?”

He nodded. “Probably to check the house for you. Does Phillip know about the vault?”

“No. The lawyers only had the information on the penthouse safe. Not the ones in the other houses.” She glanced back to the huge, empty house. “I never expected to come back here alone.”

“You’re not alone,” he reminded her, taking her hand. “I don’t know how long ago those people left, or if they are coming back. If they do, we get to these horses as fast as we can and head for the trees.”

“Okay.”

“Promise you’ll stay by my side.”

To ease his mind, break the tension, and make him relax, she closed the distance between them, pressed her hip to his, and said, “Let’s go, cowboy.”

Gabe planted his hand on her ass and pushed her forward. They walked across the back patio and circled the house. Gabe pulled the keys from his pocket and unlocked the side door. She took a step to go in, but he grabbed her waist to stop her, leaned in, and whispered by her ear, “Let me go first in case someone is inside.”

He took her hand and they cautiously walked down a short hall that opened into the living room. The house stood still and silent around them.

No sound or sign of her uncle’s men. She didn’t feel anyone else in the house, just the massive emptiness. Like her heart that had once been filled with love and family, it now felt hollow and cold. Nothing but a cavernous pit of grief and despair.

Gabe stopped and turned to her. He tugged on her hand to get her attention. “What’s wrong?”

Her gaze roamed the massive room, the empty walls, bare windows, and cold fireplace, and settled on Gabe’s handsome face. His warm brown eyes stared back at her, filled with concern and patience. Her chest went tight, and her heart stuttered when he looked at her like that. The need to be close to him, and the easy way she accepted that was where she always wanted to be, surprised her.

Under all the pain, love grew each and every minute she spent with this man. He was right. She’d never forget her sister, or the life they shared together, but Ella was alive and needed to find a way to live. Out of her sadness, love sprouted and reached for Gabe like a plant reaching for the sun.

Did he feel the same way?

Maybe. Why else would he help her like this?

She smiled, feeling lighter. “I’m fine.”

Gabe followed her through the kitchen. When she reached the garage door, he pulled her back and went out first.

She stepped out into the huge open space and walked into the center. Nostalgic and thinking of her sister’s secret message, she opened her mouth and let out a loud wolf howl.

Gabe shook his head. One side of his mouth cocked back in a half grin, squinting his eye a bit. So cute. “You’re probably a lot of fun at a party.”

“You’ve seen the pictures, I am the life of the party.”

“You’re the glue.”

“What?”

“You gather people around you and they stick because you’re fun and kind and you take care of the people around you. I looked at some of those photos again. Most of them were you with friends out to celebrate a birthday or other special occasion. Not for you. For them. You threw the parties. You celebrated them and their accomplishments because you know what it feels like to not have someone do it for you. After your parents died, it was you and Lela out to dinner together for your birthday. High school graduation, you and Lela on a European vacation. Turn twenty-five and take over the company, it’s you and her off to Bora Bora together.”

“Yeah, well, now it’s just me and this mess and nothing to celebrate.”

“Promise me, Ella, when this is done that you will celebrate. You’ve earned it. Don’t let your uncle take one more thing from you. Don’t let him steal the fun-loving, joyful woman in those pictures. As much as I like the strong, confident, sentimental, kick-someone-in-the-balls-when-they-cross-you you I’ve gotten to know, I want to meet her too.”

Ella laughed, but guessed he was right. She hadn’t been herself. She’d never be her old self again. Too much had changed. She’d changed, and she was beginning to like the new Ella.

“I’ll take you to one of my favorite places in the city. We’ll celebrate.” She held her hand out with his and stepped close, dancing side to side. He joined her with a smile. “We’ll dance.”

Ella spun away from Gabe and came face-to-face with the cabinet she hoped held all the Wolf family secrets.

Chapter 25

E
lla stood in front of the metal cabinet and stared at the drawers, her mind taking her back years to a time when she felt safe and loved and didn’t even know it because it just was her life. She traced her fingers over the drawer handles and metal numbers.

“Remember how I told you my father liked to tinker with things?”

Ella pulled out the number four drawer and heard the slide and click. Number two came next. Forty-two, her father’s favorite number. Another soft snick.

“It’s a puzzle lock.” Gabe smiled and stared in awe at what looked like a tool cabinet, but was so much more. Kind of like Ella.

“He loved puzzles.” She sighed and thought fondly of her father. God, how she missed him. “Some he made, others he bought. He’d spend hours trying to solve them. It helped him think, strategize, see things in a new way.”

Number eight stuck a bit from disuse, but she tugged it open, hearing the distinct sound of a lever scraping and catching. Last, she pulled out number twelve. This time, a heavy bar clinked open and the cabinet and wood pegboard behind it snapped loose. She pulled on the cabinet. It rolled easily open and she stood staring at the shadowed room inside, filled with stacks of papers and files; cash; an orange metal box; jewelry and watch cases from Tiffany, Bulgari, Cartier, and Rolex; and other miscellaneous items she’d have to sort through to discover the contents.

She ducked under the door frame and entered the steel four-foot by four-foot box. “Watch your head,” she warned Gabe as he planted his hands on both sides of the entrance and peeked inside.

“I should have brought a flashlight.”

Ella grabbed the lantern off one of the shelves and turned the knob. The LED lights came on, brightening the whole room. She set the lamp on the shelf and turned back. Gabe stared at her, so much sadness filling his eyes, her heart sank. “What?”

His gaze fell to the file box at her feet and the white folded piece of paper on top with her name scrolled in her sister’s handwriting. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Her spine tingled with dread.

Ella snatched the paper up and unfolded it, her eyes watering when she saw her sister’s pretty script and the doodle of a rose on the top.

“Ella Bear,”
she choked out, trying to read the letter to Gabe.
“If you’re here, and I’m gone, you must finish this. It’s all here. Uncle Phillip killed Dad. You know what to do. You always know what to do. I tried to do this for Mom and Dad and for you. Where I failed, I know you’ll succeed. You
’ll have everything we both dreamed. Finally, my twin sister, you won’t have to share.”

Ella choked back a sob. “She put a smiley face.” Ella turned the paper to show him. Sympathy radiated from his warm eyes and it nearly sent her to her knees. “We shared everything: our birthday, toys, clothes, friends, secrets. When you’re twins, it’s just how it is. I never minded sharing. Not with her.”

“She calls you Ella Bear?”

“When we were babies and toddlers, we refused to sleep in separate beds. Mom and Dad gave up trying to separate us. Every night they’d come to tuck us in and kiss us good night. My mother would make sure I had my favorite bunny and always offered a stuffed friend to Lela, but she’d push it away and say, ‘I seep with my Ella Bear,’ and she’d hug me close, press her face in my hair, and fall asleep.”

The sob wracked her whole body, and she fell to her knees, clutching the paper in her hands with her head down, tears dripping onto her hands.

Gabe crouched in front of her and pulled her close. “It’s okay, sweetheart. That’s a really great memory. She loved you so much.”

“I loved them, and they are all gone.” She tried to catch her breath, but couldn’t.

Gabe dragged her into his lap, wrapped his arms around her, and held her close. She pressed her face to his coat and let the tears fall and the pain wash over her. She didn’t know how long she cried all over him. He didn’t seem to mind, but crooned sweet words and brushed kisses against her head.

She regained control, calming as Gabe rocked her in his arms, and they sat in the quiet. “I’m going to make him pay for taking them from me.”

“Does she say anything else in the letter?” he asked.

Ella raised the crushed note and read the final lines.
“Take control of everything he wants. Be everything you are and ever wanted to be. Find someone you love to share your life with now. I will always be with you, Ella Bear. I love you. Lela.”

“You had an amazing sister.”

Ella sighed, turned in Gabe’s arms, and hugged him close. “Yes, I did.” Ready to face the reality of what her uncle did, she let Gabe go and scooted off his lap to check the contents of the vault.

“This is sweet.” Gabe pointed to the picture of the two full-bloom roses facing each other off one stem Lela drew next to her name. “It matches the tattoo on the back of your neck.”

“When we went on our trip to Europe, we decided we’d get a tattoo in France. Lela drew that. Identical roses separated from one stem. I got the tattoo, but when Lela saw how much it hurt me, she backed out.

“Let’s see what Lela left me.” She opened the lid to the box and smiled. “My sister was anal retentive about organization.”

“And you’re not?” he shot back. “You reorganized the silverware drawer, alphabetized my DVD collection by movie genre, reorganized the bathroom, and if that wasn’t enough, you completely overhauled the files on my computer, putting everything into separate folders.”

“It makes things easier to find.”

“It makes you obsessive.”

“I found your missing Jason Statham movie, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. Thank you, sweetheart.”

“You’re welcome. Now, let’s see just how much shit that bastard did to my family.”

“Let’s take it with us and go through it at my place.”

“No. It’s safer here. That’s why she didn’t bring it with her. She knew he might do something to her. That’s why she left me the letter. What I can’t figure out is why she confronted him, even with the cop there. Why not just go to the authorities with all of this?”

“Passion.”

“What?”

“If she’s like you, she’d have been passionate about everything she did. He pissed her off and she went in there ready to make him pay and give him a piece of her mind.”

“It got her killed.”

“Which is why we’re going to handle this another way.”

“What did you find?”

Gabe flipped through the spreadsheets. “I think your father was on to your uncle before he died. These are the financial statements for the company. Your father made notes all over them, accounting for lost revenue and missing income.”

Ella looked through another set of papers. “These are more of the same.”

Gabe pulled out a CD with a slip of paper attached with a binder clip.

“What is that?”

“A receipt for drinks for two the same day Lela has in her calendar to meet the mechanic.”

Gabe checked the box for any more papers, but only found a small handheld digital recorder. He pushed play.

“What happened to your wife?”

“That’s Lela,” Ella said.

“Phillip Wolf killed her. He kidnapped her from our house while she was out hanging the laundry on the line. I was at work, checking over your parents’ plane.”

“Was there anything wrong with it?”

“No, ma’am. Good as new. Your father paid good money to keep that plane in top condition. I did my inspection and he did his before he flew it every time.”

“Did you inspect the plane the day of the crash?”

“I went over it from nose to tail. Checked everything out. But then a man stopped by the hangar. He handed me a picture of Marjorie, sitting in a chair, a gag in her mouth, the morning newspaper against her chest.”

Ella reached for Gabe’s hand and held it tight.

“What did the man ask you to do?”

“Sabotage the fuel gauge to make your father think he had more fuel than he did and swap out the black box for one that didn’t work to cover it up.”
The words came out choked and halting. Ella felt his pain.
“I did it to save her, but I couldn’t. He killed her anyway.”

“How did you disable the black box?”
Lela asked.

“I didn’
t. I swapped it the day after the plane crash.”

“How? Weren’t there a ton of NTSB and police?”

“They were everywhere. The guy in charge, Eardly, the one who came with Marjorie’s picture and the order to kill your father, asked if I did my job. I told him I did it and begged him to tell me where they took my wife. He said that part wasn’t his job, handed me an envelope full of cash, and dismissed me, telling the others he’d questioned and released me. I hoped they’
d release my wife, and I’d find her at home. Before I left the hangar housing all the wreckage, dinner arrived for the investigators. They were distracted just long enough for me to switch out the black boxes and take the faulty fuel gauge.”

Ella and Gabe both stared at the bright orange metal box and gauge on the floor beside them.

“Is that what’s in the bag?”

“After they killed my wife, I took that money, the evidence, and I took off until the coast was clear. They got what they wanted. If I came forward, they’
d pin the whole thing on me. I’d go to jail. I couldn’t sit in a box the rest of my life, going mad with grief. You have to understand, I did it to save her. I’ve lived with this for ten years and it’s eating me alive. I deserved to lose my wife for what I’d done and now cancer is slowly killing me.

“They had my wife.”
His voice cracked.

The sound made Ella’s heart ache, but he’d killed her father and never came forward. Maybe if he had, her mother and sister would still be alive today.

“You take this to the right people. Make him pay for killing my wife.”

“What about you? You killed my father.”

“I paid every day. No one could be more sorry than I am for what I’ve done. God has sealed my fate. It’s nothing less than what I deserve. I’m not long for this world.”

The anguish in his voice wasn’t enough to make her sympathize. He’d killed her father, which led to her mother’s suicide. Yet he’d only been trying to save his wife. The fury swept through her. Gabe’s hand settled over their joined ones, her nails biting into this skin. She loosened her grip, but didn’t let go of him, or her rage. She’d make her uncle pay for ruining so many lives.

“How do you know my uncle is responsible?”

“The black box and gauge aren
’t the only things I kept. I took the photograph. I stared at that picture every day, reminding myself of what I’d done and what it cost me. Every day I made myself look at her face and apologize for what I’d done. The other day, tired from the chemo and dying, I lay down with the picture and my eyes watered up and I saw something I’d never seen before. Here, look.”
Something rustled.
“See, right here. In the reflection of the picture on the wall. He didn’t just take Marjorie’s picture. He took one of himself.”

Gabe pulled the picture out of the envelope that had held the recorder. He held it between him and Ella. They both stared at the image of Phillip, taking the photograph reflected off the glass. If you weren’t looking for it, you’d probably miss it overlaid in the framed art on the wall, but once you saw it, there was no mistaking Phillip Wolf.

“After all these years, I finally know and can prove Phillip Wolf killed my wife.”

The rest of the tape was nothing but them saying goodbye. “I’ll listen to the whole thing again, but my uncle will probably say I fabricated the conversation.”

Gabe held up the CD marked “Surveillance, The Rise, Bozeman, Montana.”

“Your sister didn’t leave anything to chance. She recorded the conversation and got the meeting on video.” He held up the restaurant receipt. “She’s got proof of the date and time of the meeting, which I’ll bet matches the time on the video.”

“This is what brought her here. The meeting to get the evidence that Uncle Phillip killed our father. She came to the ranch and discovered my father’s stash of evidence against him too.”

“You’ve uncovered even more. The ongoing embezzlement, the missing paintings; and he killed those auditors.”

“He won’t kill anyone else,” she vowed.

“Were you supposed to be on the plane with your father?”

“No. If I remember right, my parents had a long, private conversation in the study right before he left. Lela was fighting a cold. I wanted to stay with the horses. Mom stayed with us, and my father went alone. He promised to return in a few days.”

“He didn’t want to take you with him. Your father went back to confront your uncle, but Phillip had already set up his death.”

“Because he knew my father was on to him about the embezzlement.”

Ella sighed and stared at the black box and the files of evidence against her uncle, and thought of the morning her sister confronted their uncle. Triumphant. Full of righteous indignation, and emboldened by the presence of a detective she thought was on her side, Lela marched into the penthouse and swore to take him down.

Ella wouldn’t be that reckless. She needed to verify everything and leave nothing to chance.

“Check this out.” Gabe held out a legal-size folder.

Ella opened it and gasped. “My father wrote out a new will.” She sorted through the papers, found the old will, and started comparing it to the new one. Gabe sat beside her in silence until she finished deciphering all the legalese.

“Fucking asshole, dickhead. Jail is too good for that murderous bastard. I’m going to dump his ass in a vat of acid and watch him writhe in pain.”

“I’m right there with you. I want to rip the guy limb from limb for what he’s done to you and your family.” The anger in his voice matched the fury in her heart. “Tell me what the papers say.”

“My father was not only on to what he’d done, he’d made sure my uncle never received anything if something happened to my parents. The will my uncle is using now was made when Lela and I were born. My father changed the will two months before he died. My uncle isn’t our guardian. My parents name my mother’s distant cousin. I remember meeting her a few times. She was really nice. She and my mother were great friends. They spoke on the phone and exchanged letters often. After my parents died, she came to see me and Lela several times, but then she stopped.”