At Wolf Ranch (24 page)

It didn’t take her long to retrieve the boxes of files and the black box from the airplane crash. She waved to Dane on her way back down the pass to town. On her way, she called to have the plane ready and spoke with Sam to make sure everything was in order.

Time to finish this. But first, she had to get her man.

Chapter 28

E
lla walked into the sheriff’s office, feeling more like her old self. Confident. In control. Ready to take on the job ahead. She scanned the room, noting she’d beat the lawyers to the office. Not surprising since they were coming in from Bozeman.

“Thanks for coming down, Miss Wolf,” the officer who handcuffed Gabe said from his desk behind a short wall that separated him from the entry area.

“I’m here to press charges against Travis Dorsche and get any charges against Gabe Bowden dropped. Travis deserved the broken nose and a lot more, but we’ll get to Gabe as soon as my lawyers arrive. For now, what do you need me to do to press charges against Travis for attempted sexual assault and attempted murder to go along with the animal abuse and neglect he’s already facing?”

“Those are big accusations.”

“Those are the facts. Let me tell you all about it and you can write up the report. My lawyers will have a discussion with Travis about the way he treated me and whether or not Gabe was protecting me when Travis grabbed me and shoved me to the ground.”

“I’m starting to get a clearer picture of what happened,” the officer said.

“I thought you would, but that is what happened, so we’ll just play this out and see how far Travis wants to take this.”

“Travis really made an enemy of you. I’d hate to be in his shoes.”

“Damn right.” Her uncle thought he could go up against her. Well, he’d discover, just like Travis was about to find out, that she wasn’t an easy target. She’d stand her ground and use everything at her disposal to do what was right and see them behind bars.

Filled with the confidence she hadn’t felt since her sister’s murder and her spiral into depression, she dictated her statement about what happened with Travis. By the time she finished, the officer was frowning and shaking his head. She hadn’t even gotten into the animal neglect and abuse she’d witnessed. She had the documentation and the sick animals to prove it.

Gabe sat on
the cot with his back to the wall, legs stretched out. He’d replayed last night in his mind all morning, and let the scene play out again. Ella and him together in bed, making love, completely connected in a way he’d never been with any other woman. God, the way she made him feel. Then he woke up this morning, knowing that their time in seclusion together was up. They needed to go to New York, and she needed to avenge her sister and take down that bastard once and for all.

The thing was, playing house was one thing, but Gabe couldn’t shake the fear that Ella would get justice, and then discover how much she missed her familiar life. The country might be good for grief, healing, and hiding out, but was it an existence she could ever truly lead. Not a weekend here or there, but days that stretched into weeks that encompassed a lifetime. God, he wanted a lifetime. But she had responsibilities to her company and the people she employed. If he knew one thing about Ella it was that she looked out for her own. What chance did this fantasy of her living in Montana have in the face of her reality?

The days they’d spent together would go down as the best time of his life. He’d spend the rest of his days loving this woman. As much as he wanted to ask her to stay with him on the ranch, he hoped she wanted just as much to ask him to stay with her in New York. Yet neither of them would be happy living the other’s life. So how could he ask her to do something he couldn’t do for her? It would end in disaster. He’d rather let her go now, his sweet memories of their time together happy moments he’d pull out every time he missed her. Which would be every second of every day.

Look at that. He finally fell in love and lost her before he ever really had her. From the moment he’d met her, she’d always been passing through his life.

“Hey, cowboy, I came to bust you out of this joint. I’ve got two horses saddled out back. Let’s make a quick getaway and ride off into the sunset together.”

He wanted to smile, but couldn’t find one to give her. “Where are we off to, city girl? The Big Apple?”

“I’ve got the jet waiting on the tarmac.”

He slid from the cot and stood in front of her next to the bars. “It’s very strange that you mean that.”

“I’m sorry, Gabe.”

“For what? Being who you are? I like who you are.”

She averted her face, her expression covered by a curtain of light brown hair. “It gets in the way sometimes.”

He shrugged that away. Ever since she found the evidence, things between them had gotten weird.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the cattle and the ranch. I wanted to surprise you.”

“You surprised me, all right. I left you alone to do what you needed to do. I never realized how much you can get done in a short amount of time with nothing more than a phone and a computer.”

“I’m a resourceful girl.” She turned her head away to glance at the two men in suits who walked into the holding cell area. “I couldn’t leave those cattle with Travis. The man has no regard for decency. They need to be taken care of properly. It’s a good business that makes a lot of money. You wanted the ranch. You paid my uncle to buy the place. I told you I’d make it right.”

“I never thought you meant to hire me as an employee to run your ranch.”

“Not my ranch. Our ranch.”

Too much to hope she meant she’d live there with him and be a rancher’s wife. Yet, for a brief moment, he let the wave of anticipation wash over him before becoming more practical. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

“I’m a businesswoman, and I’m making you a business proposition.”

Of course. “Is that why you brought the suits?”

“I couldn’t trust the lawyers at the company or the family attorney, so I hired Mr. Crawford and Mr. White out of Bozeman.”

“You’re serious?”

“They are here to get you out of this trouble with Travis and facilitate our new business arrangement.”

So this is how it would end. He’d get the land, but not the woman. If he thought it hurt the first time, it was nothing compared to the crushing grip around his heart now.

He leaned his shoulder against the bars and studied her. The woman he knew, but didn’t quite get at the moment. “Explain this arrangement?”

“Okay. Well. You paid my uncle one-point-five million for the whole ranch. As you discovered, the current market value of the ranch is about sixteen-point-nine million.”

“So, what are you offering me? A job?” The anger simmered in his gut.

“A partnership. Your million and a half buys you a twenty percent interest in Wolf Ranch. Still, an amazing deal. You will live in the house, oversee the cattle business, grow it as you planned, and run it as you see fit. I’ve hired some men temporarily to help you get started, including Dane to oversee things until you get back.”

“You hired my brother?”

“He’s the only man I knew you’d approve to look after the cattle and your horses.”

“So I do all the work and get twenty percent.”

“You own twenty percent. We’ll split the profits twenty-five, seventy-five.”

“So I do all the work and you get the lion’s share of the profits too?”

“No. You do. You do the work. You build the business, and you’ll earn the profits. I’m just supplying the land and the initial startup with the cattle. What you do with it is up to you.”

“You once warned me about taking deals that are too good to be true.”

“Take this one. You won’t find anything better. Besides, I’ve already moved the cattle. The contents of the house will be moved back in tomorrow.”

“So I get the ranch and a furnished house. What’s the catch?”

“Angel and Belle.”

“Your horses.”

“Blake is on his way to get them and bring them here. It’s not right to leave them at the New York estate all alone.”

There it was. Once she returned to the city and took over the business, she’d have no time for her beloved horses. No time for him.

“Jeez, Ella. What else have you done with your spare time?”

“Learned that when something really terrible happens, something even better can show you the way back to happiness. Thank you isn’t enough for all you’ve done,” she said.

“So you practically gave me your house and turned everything we had into a business deal?” He couldn’t help the anger in his voice.

“You know that’s not true. What we have is special, but it doesn’t change what I have to do. I promised I’d make things right, and I have. Now I’ll always know where you are and that you’re happy.”

That sounded too close to goodbye. It tore his heart to shreds. He wanted to ask her how he’d ever be happy again without her, but he couldn’t put her on the spot like that. Not with the suits standing there discreetly acting like they weren’t seeing and hearing everything he and Ella said.

“This isn’t over.” He’d stay by her side until her uncle was behind bars no matter what. The business deal pissed him off, because he wanted a hell of a lot more. He wasn’t stupid enough to turn it down. Not when it kept him connected to her—even if only in this small way.

“I hope not.”

“Bust me out of here, city girl.”

She reached up and touched her hand to his face, giving him a soft smile. “Mr. Crawford has some papers for you to sign on the ranch stuff. Mr. White has brokered a deal with Travis. He won’t press charges for the assault—”

“Mostly because you were clearly defending Ms. Wolf from further attack and she had every reason to believe Travis would harm her due to their previous encounter where he attempted to sexually assault her and left her for dead on the side of the road, in freezing temperatures, with no means of reaching safety before she succumbed to the cold.”

“Thank you, Mr. White.” She rolled her eyes at Gabe, which made him even more crazy for her, because although she’d called in the cavalry, she still found the stuffed shirts irritating.

“Travis drops the charges against you in exchange for lesser charges for what he did to me.”

“That sucks. You almost died out there.”

“Yes, well, I may have to thank Travis for leaving me out there.”

“Why the hell would you do that?”

“If not for him, I might not have met you.”

Those words went right to Gabe’s heart. He squeezed Ella’s hand, drew her close, and whispered, “Get me out of here.” His voice came out gruff. He needed her in his arms. Right now.

“Crawford, the papers.” She held out her hand for the contract. “Sign these.”

“You aren’t letting me out of here without signing those?”

“It’s a great deal. Take it.”

“What if I want more?” He didn’t want twenty percent of this and seventy-five percent of that. He wanted it all. Her. Even if it did seem impossible.

“I want to give it to you, but I can’t. Not yet.” Her gaze fell to the floor. “My uncle.”

She needed to finish things. Put it behind her and stand on her own for the first time without her twin backing her up. She needed to know she could. A woman of integrity, she wouldn’t make him promises now when her world was still in chaos and she might not be able to keep those promises. She’d never hurt him on purpose and refused to open the door to even the possibility she might.

He wanted to build a life with her. A simple plan, complicated by geography, lifestyles, and circumstances beyond their control.

“Is Sam ready?”

“Everything is in place. I need to bring what I have and finish it.”

Gabe narrowed his gaze. “We will finish it. I’m going with you.”

“I hoped you’d say that.”

He smiled. “You knew I’d say that.”

“I packed you a bag. We’re leaving now.”

“I hope your digs in New York are better than this.”

“I think you’ll like the penthouse.”

“Ah, well, if that’s the best you can do.”

That earned him a dazzling smile. One that squeezed his heart and refused to let go. He took the papers and signed them, trusting in her completely that they said what she outlined and with no hidden tricks.

The lawyers had disappeared moments ago and returned with an officer. The minute the cell door opened, he reached for Ella and pulled her into a tight hug, lifting her off her feet.

“Are you okay?”

“Right now, I’m perfect.”

He hugged her tighter. Yeah, right now, this second, when they were in each other’s arms, everything was perfect. But would it last?

His doubts grew when they reached the Bozeman airport and they drove to the hangar and the private plane she’d chartered to take them to New York. Far beyond anything he could imagine or afford. They barely spoke during the flight. The stewardess served them the meal Ella ordered, including his favorite amber beer. She sat beside him, her head on his shoulder, hand in his, lost in her own thoughts of what was to come.

When the pilot announced they’d land in twenty minutes, she pointed out the window, and he stared at the New York City lights. He’d never seen anything like it.

“So many people.”

“Welcome to New York.”

Chapter 29

T
ouchdown made all of Gabe’s protective instincts kick in. This was Phillip’s home turf. He had people in his pocket, including the police, but Gabe swore he wouldn’t let anything happen to Ella. He didn’t make promises he didn’t intend to keep.

The pilots opened the plane door. He helped Ella gather their stuff. They exited and Gabe gaped at the black SUV, complete with driver, waiting for them. The back door opened, and Sam got out.

“Is that him?” Ella asked.

“Sam,” Gabe called, setting down his bag and Ella’s to take Sam’s outstretched hand. They’d met only a few months ago at Caleb and Summer’s wedding, but he liked Sam and accepted the hug and slap on the back like he greeted one of his brothers. “This is Ella Wolf.”

“Nice to meet you in person, Ms. Wolf.”

“I told you on the phone, it’s just Ella. Nice to see you too. How are we on time?”

“If you’d been any later, we’d have had to do this without you.”

“Sorry. I had to bail Gabe out of jail.”

Sam eyed Gabe with a cocky grin. “Really? What happened?”

“I clocked the asshole who nearly killed Ella.”

“Travis,” Sam guessed. “Ella told me all about him. We’re up to speed on this end. I’ve got agents on all the key players. We’ll start rounding them up about the same time we get your uncle.”

“Great. Let’s do that now and get this over with.”

Ella walked to the SUV, and the driver held the door for her. Sam grabbed one of the bags at his feet. “She’s even more gorgeous in person,” Sam commented. “The pictures don’t do her justice.”

“Hands off. She’s mine.”

“I got that loud and clear by the way she looks at you. Is she moving to Montana?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know. We haven’t gotten that far yet.” Frustrated, Gabe changed the subject back to the matter at hand. “How long is this going to take?”

“If she’s got the evidence she says she does, not long at all. We’ll wrap this up tomorrow, once everyone is in custody. Charges will be filed, and depending on how many cut deals and plead guilty, it’s only a matter of letting the system work over the next couple of months. Her part will be done once we arrest everyone, and she turns over the evidence.”

“Will she have to testify?”

“Depends on the evidence and if he pleads guilty or innocent. Her testimony will sway any jury to convict.”

“She told you what happened.”

“The whole gruesome tale. I talked to her for about an hour this morning. I’ll go with you to her place and look over all the evidence. We’ll all go to the police station in the morning and question her uncle.”

“Is this a problem for you, working this case with the NYPD?”

“They’ll get the credit for the bust. They’re happy I’m handing this to them, especially since it involves several corrupt cops.”

“Is she in danger?”

“Not with you by her side, knocking out bad guys. Plus I’ve brought some other agents as added security.”

Gabe stared at the big man, putting the boxes of evidence into the back of the SUV. “Good. I don’t want anything else to happen to her.”

“Come on, let’s get this show on the road. I’ve got a bad guy to take down.”

“I kind of hoped to do that myself,” Gabe admitted.

“We need to do this by the book. We’ve got a long list of charges against him. I want to nail his ass for every single one of them.”

“Gabe,” Ella called from the car. “Are you guys coming, or what? Let’s go.”

“Bossy,” Sam teased, smiling at him.

“A woman on a mission.”

“Let’s see if we can get this done.”

“I’m pretty sure she can do anything she sets her mind to.”

“When you’ve got her kind of money, I don’t doubt it.”

Gabe never really thought about her money in terms of anything bigger than the massive ranch she owned. He thought of her working for the business, but not in terms of the wealth she held.

“It’s not a competition. You two live very different lives,” Sam said, reading his expression.

“Get out of my head.”

“Screw it on straight. She is who she is. You are who you are. If you two really have something together, all the rest doesn’t matter, unless you make it matter.”

“I live in Montana. She lives here.”

“Why can’t you live in both places?”

“The ranch, for one.”

“Seems to me your brothers are taking care of that while you’re away. It’s not like that has to be a onetime deal.”

“They have their own lives.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got men who work for you to oversee things when you’re gone.”

“Seriously, you two, time is ticking by while you two have a tea party and play catch-up on the tarmac,” Ella called out to them again; this time she stood next to the SUV, hip cocked, hands on her hips.

“God, she’s something.” Gabe stared, a slight smile on his face. Why couldn’t they live in both places? Maybe it wasn’t the way he pictured his life, but she wasn’t exactly the kind of woman he pictured living that life with him. Maybe neither of them had to give up everything to be with the other? Maybe all they had to do was find a middle ground they could both live with?

Ella picked up
Gabe’s hand again and checked the time on his watch. The press set up twenty minutes ago. The podium and microphones were in place on the steps of the courthouse. Reporters eyed the SUV with the black-tinted windows, wondering who might be inside. Well, they’d come for a show and she planned to give it to them. She’d revel in seeing her uncle’s face when Sam arrested him.

“I cannot believe your uncle is holding a press conference, naming you the suspect,” Gabe said for the third time.

She smiled and shook her head. “I can. This press conference is as much to name me the suspect in my sister’s death as it is to draw suspicions away from him even more. Too many people are asking questions. Reporters are wondering why none of my friends believe I killed my sister, or can come up with a single occasion that we fought, let alone argued about something.”

Gabe held up several recent local papers. “Your friends defend you vehemently and are asking for further investigation.”

“My friends and the people they know have a lot of influence. If they make enough noise, someone in the police department is going to question Detective Robbins’s investigation. My uncle can’t let that happen.”

Gabe nodded toward the window. “The bastard is ready to start the party.”

“Good thing I brought the fireworks.” She put her hand on the door to exit, but Gabe reached across and stopped her before she got out.

“Are you sure about this? How do you know he’s not armed?”

“I don’t.” Ella opened the door and stepped out.

She smiled at Gabe’s descriptive string of swearwords, but didn’t wait to find out if he’d really,
“Stuff her pretty ass back into the SUV,”
as he’d threatened.

“You can play with my ass later,” she teased.

Gabe growled under his breath, but shot back, “Damn right I will as soon as I get you alone.”

“Looking forward to it. Oh, and honey, if it comes to it, I’ll bail you out again.”

Gabe laughed. “Damn right you will.”

Several reporters spotted her coming. They swatted at their camera crews to turn in her direction. Photographers snapped pictures of her and Gabe.

Her uncle stood at the podium, looking over the eager crowd, though he hadn’t spotted her yet. The family lawyers, Detective Robbins, several other high-ranking officers, and the medical examiner stood around him, looking important, waiting to take their turn to prove she’d done the unthinkable.

“Ella Wolf has been missing since Lela’s death—” Her uncle began his string of lies, but she cut him off.

“I’m not missing, Uncle,” she called out across the lines of reporters with their recorders in hand.

She took Gabe’s hand and led him straight through the throng to her target. With six-foot-two of solid muscle beside her, she stopped next to her uncle.

The shocked look on his face disappeared so quickly she wished she’d snapped a picture to replay it later and gloat. That was probably the first time his face contorted into any kind of honest expression in years. He’d miss his dermatologist in prison. She wondered what he’d really look like in another year when his face unfroze. Maybe she’d send him a gift basket of wrinkle cream from her new cosmetics line just to piss him off.

She had to give him credit, he recovered from the shock quickly. “Ella.” Her uncle’s eyes darted to the reporters hanging on every word. “The police want to talk to you. They know you killed your sister.”

“You paid them to falsify evidence and point the finger at me. You killed her.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, my dear. You’re confused.”

“I stood outside the library door, and I saw you murder my sister.”

“Ella, why would I do that? I loved her like my own child.”

“You wanted what will never be yours. You tried to take it once before, but just like this time, you failed. You killed my father, you greedy son of a bitch, and Lela found the evidence to take you down.” She took the recorder from her pocket, pushed play, and set it on the podium in front of the microphones.

“What happened to your wife?”

“Phillip Wolf killed her . . .”

She let the recording play to the now hushed crowd of reporters standing stunned with their recorders in hand raised to capture every damning word.

“Those are lies. You fabricated the tape. You killed Lela.” Sweat poured down the side of his face. His mouth drew back in a tight line. He grabbed her by the front of her coat and hauled her up against his chest and got right in her face. His eyes were filled with fear and fury. “You’re sick. You need help.”

“This isn’t the first mistake you’ve made.”

Gabe swung his arm down onto Uncle Phillip’s hands and broke the hold he had on Ella’s coat. Sam pulled her back a few steps for safety, and Gabe grabbed her uncle with one hand and punched him in the face with the other, sending him to his ass on the ground in front of everyone. “Keep your fucking hands off her.”

Photographers and reporters crushed in, snapping photos of her uncle on the ground holding his bleeding nose and asking questions over one another.

“I’ll have you arrested for assault,” her uncle bellowed through his cupped hands.

“Won’t be the first time today,” Gabe shot back, making Ella laugh.

Agents rushed forward and took her uncle into custody, bringing his arms behind his back and arresting him.

“Read him his rights.” When the agent finished, Sam said, “You’re under arrest for the murder of Lela and Stuart Wolf, a string of other murders, fraud, embezzlement, art theft, and any number of other things I have yet to unravel.”

“Detective Robbins will tell you she killed her sister. The rest is her drug-induced imagination.”

“Look around you, Uncle, Detective Robbins and some of his cohorts are also under arrest. Wait until they get him in an interrogation room. He’ll probably sing like a bird about what you did, how much you paid him to do your bidding, and name names of all the other people you’ve got on your payroll using my money.”

“You have no proof.”

“Lela discovered you killed the airplane mechanic’s wife and set up our father’s plane crash. I bet it pissed you off that we weren’t on that plane too. I found the so-called accidental deaths of Wolf employees.” His eyes went wide with undiluted fear. “Bribes. Embezzlement. Falsified records.” She made a tsk, tsk sound and shook her head. “You’ve been busy. I wonder what I’ll find in the penthouse vault.”

Uncle Phillip ducked his head like a mad bull and tried to come after her again, but the FBI agents restrained him. Camera flashes went off like a strobe light, blinding him and everyone around them.

Ella grabbed the recorder off the podium, handed it to Sam, and turned her back on her uncle. She walked toward the car with a throng of reporters crushing in on her, yelling questions, Gabe by her side, an FBI agent covering her back, and her uncle yelling obscenities.

A woman fought her way through the crush of people and blocked her path. Ella stopped. Gabe stepped in front of Ella to protect her.

“Wait. Please. You can’t do this.”

“Who are you?” Gabe asked.

“I am Rose. Phillip’s girlfriend.”

“Rose, leave now,” her uncle barked.

Rose, short for Rosalind.
Her mother’s name. Her father had called her Rose affectionately, but she never permitted others the privilege reserved only for her beloved husband.

Something about the woman bothered her. Ella stared, not caring that it made the other woman uncomfortable. She resembled her mother, with her dark hair hanging in waves past her shoulders to the middle of her back. The wind whipped and made her coat flap open, revealing a gorgeous green beaded dress Ella remembered her mother wearing long ago. Eyes narrowed, she scowled at her uncle, then looked back at the brunette, studying her closer. Yes, the resemblance was there, but it was more the clothes, the jewelry. All her mother’s. He’d found a way to re-create what he’d lost.

Could his jealousy toward her father have run deeper than his success? Maybe he’d killed her father over a lot more than money. The thought turned her stomach. Another item to add to her uncle’s list of sins. You shall not covet your
brother’s
wife.

“You’re sick, you know that. You’ll get what’s coming to you. I’ll make sure of it,” Ella vowed.

Her uncle’s eyes blazed with rage that she’d discovered yet another of his secrets. Again, she ignored his obscenities.

“Wait. You can’t do this. What will I do now?” Rose asked. “Phillip, you swore you’d take care of me.”

Ella turned to Sam. “Arrest her. She’s wearing my mother’s clothes and jewelry. Get a search warrant for her place. I bet you’ll find more of my mother’s things there.”

“I haven’t done anything,” Rose pleaded.

“We’ll see about that,” Ella shot back. If Rose was associated with her uncle, no doubt she was guilty of something.

Agents moved the press back nearly fifteen feet to give them space.