Death Rides Again (A Jocelyn Shore Mystery) (12 page)

We turned and started back to the truck, glancing uneasily over our shoulders as we went.

“They don’t attack people, do they?” asked Kyla.

“It’s highly unusual, but they can,” I answered. I wasn’t really worried about being attacked by the animal, especially since it had seemed intent on getting away from us, but something else was bothering me. “Don’t you think it’s weird seeing two different animals out here that don’t really belong? That kudu isn’t even from this continent, and now a mountain lion.”

Kyla shrugged. “T.J. runs an exotic animal ranch, remember, and his place isn’t very far. I bet you anything the ku-whatever got out of its pen. We’ll have to ask him.”

“And the mountain lion? I seriously doubt exotic ranches deal with predators. They could never control them.”

She shrugged. “Coincidence. He probably ranged outside his normal zone because of the drought, and all the activity got him stirred up.”

This actually made sense and made me feel better. I could feel my pulse start to slow. “Maybe. I guess there have been a lot of hunters in the area in the past few weeks.”

“Not to mention murderers and police and us. Anyway, I’m glad that’s all it was. For a minute there, I thought…”

I glanced at her, then nodded. “Me, too.”

I knew we’d both been afraid the killer had returned. Which was ridiculous, because who would come back to the scene of the crime? Unless, of course, the killer did not know the murder had been discovered and had returned to bury the body. After all, no one could have anticipated a truckload of out-of-towners coming across the body in this isolated place.

Kris looked puzzled. “What? You thought what?”

“Never mind. Let’s go find Colin.”

*   *   *

By the time we returned to the ranch house, three vehicles had arrived and were parked in a neat row beside the yard gate. The first, I was pleased to note, was Colin’s Jeep. The second was a white Ford F-150 with the gold seal of the sheriff’s department emblazoned on the doors and the word “police” stamped in two places on the tailgate. The third was a silver Ford Escape that I did not recognize. I pulled the ranch truck onto the grass beside the Jeep, and we got out.

Kris looked at the cars with an odd expression. “Think I’ll head over to the RV,” she said, and hurried away.

I watched her go with some concern. A man was dead, a girl was missing, and the police were in the house. When I’d been her age, nothing on earth could have kept me from finding out what was going on inside. The presence of an unknown car alone would have been enough to quicken my pace toward the house, not away. So was it just a desire to avoid strange adults or was she trying to avoid the police? Apart from her appearance, nothing about her suggested that she was anything other than an average teen with average teen angst and average teen rebelliousness. Now I paused to consider whether she might have something to hide. However, I decided there was no way she could conceal anything in her bunk in the RV without one of her brothers or nephews discovering it within microseconds, and followed Kyla inside.

In the big dining room, Uncle Herman was holding court at the head of the massive oak table. He sat stiffly upright on a wooden chair clutching his ornate cane, his walker beside him, his perfect posture making him look less like a frog and more like a great horned owl, all eyes and tufted hair. At the seat to his left sat Sheriff Bob Matthews, looking both tired and exasperated—a not uncommon combination when speaking to my relatives. Sheriff Bob was in his mid-fifties, tall, spare, and weathered, with a white mustache and hollow cheeks. His build was that of a high school boy who’d shot up to basketball player height before the rest of him could catch up. His fingers and teeth were stained yellow from years of coffee and cigarettes and his voice rasped like a hoarse crow’s, but for all that he was well liked and respected in the town. The kids in particular loved him and called him Sheriff Bob, which is how I’d been introduced to him and how I always thought of him.

Across from Sheriff Bob, Uncle Kel and Aunt Elaine sat shoulder to shoulder. Elaine’s hands were hidden below the table, but from the doorway I could see she was shredding a tissue, a sure sign of nervousness. When Kel’s grandmother had first become ill and Elaine had started taking over chores, the old woman had hounded Elaine unmercifully. Sometimes after a family dinner, the floor around Elaine’s chair would be littered with a miniature snow flurry of little white scraps of tissue fluff. I hadn’t seen her resort to tissue shredding since the old lady had died.

On the other side of the room, Colin leaned casually against the door frame, one long leg crossed over the other, listening intently to the conversation. He looked up as Kyla and I walked in, and gave me a brief smile, warm enough to linger in his eyes even after his lips relaxed. I felt my heart give an extra soft beat. He returned his gaze to the conversation at the table, but I knew he was as aware of me as I was of him. I quietly crossed behind the table and went to his side, to find his hand waiting to take mine. The warmth of his fingers, the muscle of his arm against mine, the faintest scent of clean shirt and soap rising from his skin were completely mesmerizing. My only comfort was in knowing that I was having the same effect on him. He straightened subtly, and I felt his thumb move along my wrist in a caress.

Across the room, Herman was sounding annoyed. “I don’t understand what y’all are on about. Aren’t you here about my birthday? Ninety-five today. That’s the story here. What is all this other nonsense?”

Sheriff Bob was trying to maintain a patient tone, but I could hear the underlying edge to his words. “Now, Herman, everyone is just pleased as can be about your birthday, but this here is about Eddy Cranny and Kel. It’s been going around that Kel pulled a gun on Eddy yesterday. Pointed a shotgun at him and threatened to blow him to kingdom come is how I heard it.”

Herman laughed and turned a hazy eye on Kel. “Damn, boy, didn’t know you had it in you. Wish I’d been around. And you, Bobby”—here he pointed a finger in the direction of Bob’s chest—“so what if he did? That little sumbitch had it coming, and it ain’t illegal to point a gun at vermin.”

“Actually, it is illegal,” Bob responded. “And Herman, I’m not talking to you right now. I’m talking to Kel.” He turned back to my uncle. “So how about it?”

Kel sighed. “Yeah, I threatened him with a shotgun. I didn’t kill him though. Did your informant happen to mention that?” Here he shot a cold look in Colin’s direction, which took me by surprise. It also struck me as unfair. Even if Colin had mentioned the incident to the sheriff based on what I’d told him, he could hardly have been the only one, not with Carl Cress having been an eye witness. Carl would have lost no time in spreading that story over the entire tricounty area.

“He did,” said Sheriff Bob. “He also told me how Eddy got on your bad side, but I’d like to hear it from you.”

“He hit my girl. Guess that’s reason enough.”

“Reason enough to go after him later? Maybe threaten him again, try to find out where Ruby June had gone?” Bob paused, then went on in a tone both reasonable and persuasive. “Maybe you didn’t even mean to hurt him. Might be he grabbed the gun, and it went off, sort of an accident.”

Kel’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. Elaine was the one who spoke up. “You can’t be serious, Bob.”

Bob made no answer, his eyes on Kel’s face.

At that instant, Herman’s cane came down on the table with a bang, just inches from Bob’s fingers. We all jumped, and Bob jerked his hand away.

“You accusing my nephew of murder, Bob Matthews?” Gone was the expression of an upright old owl, gone the petulant self-absorption in his birthday. This Herman Shore was the man who had earned a Silver Star on the muddy fields of Normandy and then returned to Texas to build a thriving cattle ranch from nothing. Now he glared at Bob Matthews like Patton staring down a thieving kitchen boy, and poor Sheriff Bob had nowhere to hide.

Sheriff Bob sputtered for a moment, then finally said, “No, of course not, Mr. Shore. But I got to ask these questions. It’s my job.”

“Then do your job somewhere else. Get off my property.”

Uncle Kel added, “You ought to be looking for my daughter, not wasting your time with me.”

Sheriff Bob looked from one to the other of them, then slowly rose to his feet. “If you have any ideas on where your daughter might have gone, I’d like to hear them. As far as we can tell, the last place she was seen was right here.”

I said, “No, that’s not true. Kyla and I dropped her off at her house yesterday morning.”

He turned to me, eyes sharp. “What time was that?”

I looked at Kyla for assistance, but she just shrugged. “I don’t know exactly. Maybe ten thirty or eleven.”

“She say anything when you left her? Mention going out?”

Kyla and I both shook our heads.

“No, she was planning to wait for Eddy. She was going to kick his ass to the curb,” said Kyla with some relish.

“Maybe,” I corrected. “I’m not sure she was really planning anything like that, but she was going to talk with him.”

“She seem agitated? Maybe even angry? After all, he’d hit her.”

Kel made a strangled sound at the implication.

“No,” I said quickly, thinking back. “No, in fact she stood up for him at first. Then when we dropped her off, she said something about Eddy not going to be surprised. She didn’t seem angry at all. Maybe a little sad.”

Bob shook his head, probably not sure how much he could believe. “All right then. Well, if any of you all think of anything else, give me a shout.”

He made his way around the table, boots clumping on the hardwood floor. He paused beside Colin. “You coming?”

Colin nodded. “I’ll be along in a few minutes.”

Bob nodded, then left, pausing to catch the screen door so it wouldn’t slam.

I threw Colin a questioning look, then followed him as he led the way to the front porch. I could feel my relatives staring after us.

We moved a few paces from the door so we couldn’t be overheard.

Colin spoke first. “I told Sheriff Matthews that I’d be glad to assist him. He’s shorthanded, and this is a bad thing. I hope you understand, and that you don’t … mind.”

“Mind?” I turned the word over in my head. “I don’t think I have the right to mind. I might be disappointed that you’re going, or proud that you want to help, or guilty that I’ve dragged you into this, but no, I don’t mind that you’re going to help the sheriff.”

“You didn’t drag me into this,” he said. “And I’m okay with you being disappointed I’m going,” he added with a grin.

I felt worried. “Still, it’s not much of a vacation for you.”

He shrugged, then said, “I wanted to talk to you. This isn’t looking good for your uncle.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, surprised.

“We’ve been asking around. Yesterday wasn’t the first time Kel and Eddy got into an argument. Kel went after him in one of the bars in town only a few weeks ago. Spotted him carrying on with another woman is the rumor. And there have been other incidents. Now this. Threatening Eddy with a shotgun, then Eddy being killed with a shotgun. It’s not good.”

“You’re wrong. Kel wouldn’t do anything like that,” I said automatically, but I couldn’t deny that the authorities had a reason to be suspicious. Worse, I couldn’t deny that I’d felt the same suspicion, even if only for a moment.

He sighed. “I figured you’d say that.”

I bit my lip. “Look, I’m not stupid. I realize that Sheriff Bob has to check him out. And I can even see why it looks bad for him. But I’m telling you, he didn’t do it. You need to look for somebody else. I can think of half a dozen people who wanted to kill Eddy, and I don’t even live here.”

“Why? Why don’t you think he shot Eddy?”

I thought about it, then answered, “Because if he had killed him, he wouldn’t have dumped the body like that.”

Colin blinked. “Didn’t expect that. I thought you were going to say he wasn’t capable of killing a family member.”

I snorted. “I wish I could say that. I saw him that morning, and I’m still not sure he wouldn’t have pulled the trigger if the rest of us hadn’t been there. I don’t know what’s going on with him, and you were right, he’s not acting like himself. But he’s not a sneak, and he’s not an idiot. I don’t believe he would have tried to hide the body. But if he did? He would have done a better job than that. You need to look for someone else.”

Colin gazed beyond me toward the barn on the hill, eyes unfocused, mulling over my words. I took the opportunity to study his face, the blue eyes beneath black brows, the shadow of his beard along the long firm jaw, the way his dark hair waved just a little at his temple.

After a moment, he nodded. “We’ll look. But, I just want you to be prepared for the possibility that things aren’t what you think.”

I frowned, not happy. But if Colin said he would consider other possibilities, then he would, and I decided to let it go for now. In the yard, the branches of the pecan tree twitched and then rustled in an unexpected breath of wind. Looking up, I could see a bank of gray clouds, still hazy and distant, rolling along the horizon. A cold front was on its way from the north, and I gave a shiver. Colin noticed and put his arm around my shoulders.

Without thinking, I slid both arms around his waist under his jacket and lifted my face to say something undoubtedly profound about the weather. His change of expression stopped me. I heard his sharp intake of breath, and the next thing I knew his mouth was on mine, and he was pressing me against the length of his body. An unexpected wave of desire flooded through me, heedless and wild, the passion I’d been trying so hard to hold in check for the past few weeks flaring. Colin ran one hand through my hair, caressing the nape of my neck and slid the other down my back, hard fingers hot through my shirt. My breath caught against his lips, and I arched against him, wanting to be closer, wanting to feel his skin against mine.

Fortunately or unfortunately, a dry little voice interrupted us.

“Jeez, get a room. Or at least a show on pay-per-view.”

Bemused, I broke away from Colin’s embrace and turned to see Kris, spiky black hair teased upright and restiffened with blue hairspray. She was glaring at us like a particularly strict member of the Order of the Little Sisters of Chastity and Piercings, lips pursed and disapproving.