KATE WANTED TO lick the bowl. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until Tucker’s brother set the chili in front of her. The aroma alone made her stomach growl loudly. She’d looked up to find Tucker smiling at her. He had a great smile. When he turned it on her like that, her stomach fluttered and she found herself wanting to bask in that smile always.
“So you liked the chili?” he asked now, humor in his tone.
She finished scraping up the last of it and licked her spoon. “I’ve never had chili like that.”
“It’s because you’ve never had Billie Dee’s Texas chili,” Darby said with a laugh from where he was behind the bar. She’d liked Tucker’s brother immediately.
“How many handsome cowboys are there in your family?” she asked, embarrassing both men.
“Just me and Tucker,” Darby joked. “Flint, Cyrus and Hawk...” He shook his head. “Can’t hold a candle to us. But I wouldn’t mention that to them.”
Kate loved the easy banter between the brothers as well as the atmosphere of the saloon. It helped her relax after the day she’d had. When Darby’s very pregnant wife, Mariah, came into the bar, Kate was taken with the love she saw between husband and wife.
“When is your baby due?” she asked.
“Any minute.” Mariah smiled at her husband. “And it can’t come soon enough.”
“She can’t have the baby until Lillie has hers,” Darby explained before seeing Mariah upstairs so she could lie down to rest. “My sister is determined that they will go into labor at the same time. If you knew my sister...”
“You need another bowl of chili?” Tucker asked as Kate watched Darby leave.
“They are so in love,” she said and then realized he’d asked her a question. “More chili? Don’t tempt me.” She pushed her bowl away so she wouldn’t weaken. “You are so lucky to have such a large loving family.”
He reached over and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “I wish you’d give up this quest of yours.”
She smiled. “But you know I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
Kate shrugged. “Does it matter? I have to do this, but I won’t drag you into it again, though. I’m sorry. I saw how hard today was on you. But I have to ask. Aren’t you even a little curious about Melody Dunn, ‘the last Madeline’?”
He withdrew his hand, making her sorry she’d asked. “The woman on the bridge that night is dead. Given the date of Misty’s suicide, I suspect she was the one who was there to drag her near-dead sister from the creek that night. She must have been horrified to see her sister’s head wound and realize she was about to die.
“Since we all know how that ended, it was probably why she killed herself. So much tragedy. Finding Melody won’t bring your brother back or change anything that happened. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”
“What if Melody is your Madeline?” She hated the catch she heard in her voice. Tucker heard it, too.
He gave her a pitying look. “I’m not chasing a ghost. Not anymore. Madeline is dead. That part of my life is behind me.”
“I hear the words,” she said as she looked into his gray eyes. “But I wonder if Madeline will ever be truly gone. And now that you know there is another one out there...” She shook her head. “You are going to be looking for her in every woman you pass on the street. She isn’t through haunting you.” As she said it, she realized that made her heart ache.
She’d gotten too close to this man. Madeline would always be his first love. He would always measure every woman against that distorted “Madeline” image. “A woman would be a fool to fall for you,” she heard herself say. “How could she ever measure up?”
With that, she stood abruptly and headed for the ladies’ room before she began to cry.
* * *
“WHERE’S KATE?” DARBY asked when he returned from going upstairs to check Mariah.
“Ladies’ room.” Tucker was still shocked by not just Kate’s words but the emotion as well as the truth in them. He’d held every woman he’d met in the nineteen years he was gone up to some standard that was pure fantasy. Madeline had been a con woman. She hadn’t loved him. She’d only been after his money. And it wasn’t as if she was some siren who had amazing seduction skills. That’s why she only hit on teenage boys.
It didn’t matter if there were three of them or a half dozen. None of the so-called Madelines had been in it for the love. For the thrill? Maybe. For the money? Absolutely.
He reminded himself he didn’t even know that was the case. Madeline could have acted alone. They had no proof that even her sisters had been involved. And yet...
He swore under his breath as he moved from the table where he and Kate had been sitting to the bar.
“Rough day?” Darby asked after waiting on one of the regulars at the other end of the bar. This time of the afternoon, the bar was relatively quiet, but his brother said it would be picking up soon.
“Interesting, confusing day.”
“Well, this news will probably make it better. Trask called. Lillie’s in labor. I don’t think Mariah is far behind. Which means Lillie might have to cancel your surprise party Saturday here at the saloon. Surprise!”
He laughed. “I can only hope.”
“But it will only be postponed. Remember that determined little sister you used to have? She was nothing like the grown-up version when it comes to stubbornness and determination.”
“I know someone like that,” Tucker said, thinking of Kate and her reaction minutes ago.
“So the party will happen at some point. You should bring Kate.”
“Not a good idea.”
His brother studied him openly. “So what’s with you and the reporter?”
He thought about that for a moment and chuckled. “I have no idea. Half the time, she drives me crazy. The other half...” He laughed and shook his head.
“I see.”
“You don’t see anything,” Tucker snapped good-naturedly. “It isn’t like that.”
“Right.”
He watched his brother wash glasses for a moment. “I like her, that’s all. Well, most of the time. She certainly speaks her mind enough. You don’t have to ask her for her opinion.”
Darby was laughing. “You’re preaching to the choir. So what you’re saying is that she intrigues you, infuriates you, entices you, captivates you, tempts you.”
“I wouldn’t put it that way exactly.”
His brother grinned at him. “Any way you want to put it, you’re falling for her. I know the symptoms well.”
“No,” Tucker said, shaking his head while at the same time remembering the dream he’d had. “Most of the time, she doesn’t even like me.” At the sound of Kate’s footfalls, he slid off the stool and reached for his wallet.
“Put that away,” Darby said. “My treat.”
Tucker started to argue, but his brother insisted.
“Trust me, I enjoyed your lunch as much as the two of you apparently did,” Darby said, still grinning.
Kate said her goodbyes as Tucker waited. He could see that his brother liked her. Most people did, he suspected. Except maybe people she was browbeating information out of, like Carly Brookshire and that bartender in Clawson Creek.
“I got to meet Billie Dee,” Kate said as she slid behind the wheel of her SUV. “I had to compliment her on her chili. What fun she is.” She shot him a look as she started the engine. “Look, if I stepped over the line earlier with what I said—”
“No, but you’re wrong,” Tucker said. “I’m over Madeline. It’s why I don’t want to pursue this anymore.”
She nodded, but he could see that she wasn’t buying it. They didn’t talk the rest of the way to her hotel where he’d left his pickup.
“Good luck,” he said after she’d parked and he’d gotten out in front of the hotel. “Since there is nothing I can say to stop you, just be careful.”
Her smile was sad. “It was nice knowing you.”
Suddenly he couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing her again. “We could have chili at the Stagecoach again sometime. If you’re still around.”
Her smile made his heart ache. “I don’t think so,” she said as she turned and started to head toward the hotel.
“My sister was throwing me a surprise welcome-home party Saturday. But now she’s in labor. Whenever the party is...go with me.”
She turned to look back at him and laughed. “Not much of a surprise.”
“Seriously,” he said as he closed the distance between them. “I want you to go with me.”
“All right. Family can be...too much sometimes, huh? You need me to run interference.”
“That would be nice. I’ve managed to dodge a lot of the questions, and if I know my sister, she’ll corner me unless I have protection.”
“Shall I bring my gun?”
“Definitely not,” he said. “I don’t want you to come for that reason alone.”
“No?”
“No. I can’t stand the thought of not seeing you again.”
She brightened. “Then I guess I’ll see you Saturday. Or whenever your sister is back on her feet.” She was smiling as she turned and walked away and he realized he was, too.
* * *
BACK IN HER hotel room, Kate felt like a balloon buoyed by the wind. One minute she was up and soaring, like when Tucker had asked her to his surprise party. The next, she was plunging toward earth, like when he’d told her he was through looking for the Dunns, through working with her. The day had been long and disturbing to say the least. She would go on but without Tucker. She didn’t need his help. But she couldn’t deny that she would miss his company.
At times like this, she needed a hot shower, she told herself. She was surprised how close she was to tears again. As she started to head for the shower, she realized that her phone had been off most of the day after she’d gotten that call this morning from Peter, and she hadn’t bothered to check it since. She pulled out her cell.
If she was hoping that Tucker might have called to say he’d changed his mind about helping in her search for K.O. and Melody, she was even more disappointed. The only calls were from Peter, three of them. And her mother. Six of them in the last half hour? That was a lot even for Mamie Rothschild. She listened to the last message.
“You need to call me. It’s urgent.” Her mother sounded breathless, maybe a little more than usual.
Urgent with her mother could mean just about anything, though. Maybe she didn’t have anything to wear to some political bash. Or maybe she needed the name of the caterer they’d once used. Or maybe it really was an urgent matter that did require Kate to return her call.
She punched in the number and waited for the phone to ring. Usually her mother picked up quickly. Especially if it really was urgent.
Kate was starting to worry when after five rings her mother finally answered. “Katherine, thank God you called. It’s your father. He’s had a heart attack.”
“Where is he?” All she could think was DC and how she was going to get there quickly.
“Here in Helena. He flew in last night. I told you he was coming home because... Well, you know why. He was upset...” Her mother burst into tears. “What are we going to do?”
“I’ll leave now. I should be there in a few hours. Are you at the hospital?”
“No, I wanted to wait for you. You know I’m not good at things like this.”
Her mother could plan a dinner for over a hundred, put together a fund-raiser for thousands, but even when Clay and Kate were little, she couldn’t handle putting a Band-Aid on them if they were bleeding.
“Sit tight, I’m on my way.” She disconnected and called the hospital but could find out nothing about her father’s condition. As she threw a few things in a bag and headed for the door, she texted Tucker.
Family crisis. Headed home. Thanks again for lunch and everything. She hit Send before she could change her mind.
In the car, she used the Bluetooth system to call her father’s personal assistant. Peter’s phone went straight to voice mail. She swore and left a message. “Call me. It’s Kate.”
* * *
AS TUCKER DROVE away from the hotel toward the ranch, he knew he couldn’t keep dodging Flint’s calls. But there was something he needed to do first.
Jayce looked up in surprise as Tucker walked into his office. The front door was open and no receptionist was at her desk. He was beginning to wonder if Jayce had a receptionist at all.
“Tuck.” Jayce was on his feet, but after a few steps he stopped. “Look, if you want to punch me, let’s step out back. Hate to get my blood on the carpet in the office. We just had it redone.” He smiled to show that he was joking.
“I don’t want to punch you.”
“Whew, I’m glad to hear that. You look like you’ve been working out the past twenty years—unlike me, who’s been sitting behind a desk.”
“I wanted to talk to you,” Tucker said. “You have a minute?”
“Sure.” He motioned him in, offering him a chair, before he said, “I’m sorry about the other night. I was so glad to see you. I wish Cal hadn’t brought all that stuff up. But at least now it’s out in the open.”
Tucker nodded as he took a chair. “Were you aware that Madeline Dunn had sisters?”
“That was her name?” He shook his head. “I didn’t know her at all. It was Lonny. He said Rip knew of a girl who hung around Denton after games—blonde, pretty, available for a price. So we all chipped in.” He shrugged. “Remember? Your birthday was coming up.”
“I know you didn’t do it maliciously,” Tucker said. “But you still should have told me.”
“Truthfully, I didn’t know you were still seeing her until it was too late.”
“Is Rip still around?”
“Took over his father’s auto shop. Cal works down there. Lonny helps out there, too.”
“Maybe I’ll stop by and talk to him,” Tucker said, getting to his feet.
“I guess I don’t understand what it is that you’re looking for,” his friend said. “Isn’t it over?”
Tucker sighed. “The problem is, it doesn’t feel over.” He thought about the notes he’d found under his windshield wiper. “Not everyone is glad I’m back. As for what I’m looking for?” He shook his head. “I guess I’ll know when I find it.”
* * *
TUCKER FOUND RIP working at the body shop, just as Jayce had told him. Rip was a jovial large rounded man who looked as if he belonged in a fraternity-house-party movie. In his early forties, he still had a boyish, florid face and an infectious laugh. He was the guy you paid to buy you beer when you were underage. So it wasn’t much of a surprise that he would have known about young women of ill repute back in the day.
“Tucker, my man!” he said when he saw him. Wiping the grease from his hands on a rag, he strode to him, gave him a high five and a complicated handshake that involved a hip bump, which ended in Rip laughing heartily at how inept Tucker was at it.
“Never thought I’d see you again. So you’re back? You need a place to stay, I know a guy...”
Tucker had to smile. Rip always knew a guy who could provide you with whatever you needed. “Actually, I wanted to ask you about Madeline.”
Rip frowned for a moment. Tucker saw him glance toward where Lonny was leaning under the hood of a car with a crushed fender. He didn’t see Cal anywhere around.
“The woman you suggested for me my senior year.”
“Did I?” Rip said with a laugh and another look at Lonny.
“I believe Lonny was the one who asked you about her,” Tucker said, even more convinced that Lonny had already told Rip about Cal letting the cat out of the bag at the bar the other night. “Madeline?”
“Madeline,” Rip said. “Doesn’t ring any bells but I’m sure the boys were just looking out for you.”
Tucker nodded, wishing they had been looking out for him and never set him up with a con woman, but he kept that thought to himself. They were little more than kids who never thought much about consequences.
“You don’t happen to know her last name, do you?” He was fishing, pure and simple, as he tried to make sense out of who knew what.
Rip looked startled by the question. “You don’t know it? Didn’t you leave town with her?”
“No. That body that was found in the creek?”
“The woman who drowned?”
He didn’t correct him. “It looks like it was her.”
“No kidding?” Rip sounded surprised. Tucker didn’t think any of this had come as a surprise, though, given the way Rip kept looking in Lonny’s direction.
“I thought maybe you might remember her last name since you were the one who apparently suggested her to Lonny,” Tucker prodded.
Rip frowned. “I’ve suggested a lot of girls to Lonny,” he said with a laugh. “But I thought it was Cal who asked me about a girl for you.” He shrugged. “It’s been too many years. Madeline. Now that you mention it, I think I do remember her.”
Lonny appeared even more intent with whatever he was doing under the hood of the car in the next bay.
“Her last name was short, funny.” Rip leaned his head back and looked at the ceiling.
“She told me her name was Ross.”
Rip shook his head. “She called herself a lot of different names. No, it was...Dunn. That was it. Dunn. I only remember because it was so close to the word dung.” He shrugged as if apologizing. “You two sure hit it off.”
Tucker said nothing.
“Madeline Dunn.” Rip chuckled. “I do remember her. I always wondered what happened to her.”
“You have any idea where she was from?”
“North of Denton, though that’s where she spent most of her time. Some town up there... Clark Creek. No, Clawson Creek, that’s it. Wow, I haven’t thought about her in years. You say she’s dead? Too bad. But then a girl like her...” He shook his head.
Tucker’s cell phone rang. He saw that it was Flint—and it wasn’t his first call today.
“I should let you get that. I need to get back to work, anyway,” Rip said. “Good to see you, Tuck. If you ever need any bodywork...” He raised his arms to take in the shop. “Hell, if you ever need anything, I’m your man.”
* * *
KATE DIDN’T KNOW that Peter had flown home with her father until the two came through the front door of the Helena ranch house. She went straight to her father.
“Don’t fuss over me,” Clayton Rothschild insisted. “It was nothing. I’m as strong as a horse. Isn’t that right, Peter?”
Peter had been standing off to one side. As she turned her gaze on him, she saw that he’d been staring at her.
“I’m going up to see your mother,” her father said. “Give you two a moment to talk.”
Kate could have told him that she and Peter had nothing to talk about, but she saved her breath. Her father had such high hopes that she and Peter would hit it off. After a few dates, it had been clear to her that was never going to happen.
“Glad to see you’re home,” Peter said.
“Only temporarily.”
He looked surprised—and clearly disappointed. “I thought with your father ill—”
“He just said it was nothing. Strong as a horse, remember?”
Peter stepped to the bar and poured himself a drink. He’d taken a gulp of it before he turned to offer her one.
She declined, annoyed that he treated this home as if it was already his. “My father was right about one thing. We need to talk. You might want to pour yourself another one of those because you aren’t going to like what I’m going to say.”
“If this is about the lamebrain idea of yours to investigate the woman your brother was seeing...”
She gritted her teeth, knowing without a doubt that her father and Peter had discussed this. Discussed her.
“I won’t be going out with you again. Even though I was honest with you, you’ve let my father believe that the two of us are—”
“Stop!”
His sudden outburst startled her. Before she could speak or move, he strode to her, grabbed her arms and gave her a shake. “You listen to me,” he said, his voice strained. “I didn’t come back all this way to argue with you. I came back to ask you to marry me.” He let go of her to fish a small velvet box from Tiffany’s out of his coat pocket.
“Stop,” she said. “I’m not going to marry you.”
His eyes narrowed. “You haven’t even seen the ring yet.”
“I don’t need to see the ring.”
He looked down. She could see him clenching his jaw in anger. “Is this about that cowboy?” He raised his gaze to hers, his eyes glittering with malice. “The one who shared a woman with your brother?”
She slapped him so hard that her hand stung. The sound echoed through the high ceilings of the room. Then she turned and rushed up the stairs toward her room. Behind her, she heard Peter pour himself another drink.
* * *
BILLIE DEE COULDN’T help being anxious after Henry told her his plan.
“Didn’t you say that Darby and Mariah go over to their new house most afternoons to see how things are coming along?”
She’d nodded. “He leaves me and Ashley Jo in charge.”
“All you have to do is text me right before he leaves.”
So she had. Five minutes later, Darby and Mariah left as Henry was coming in the back door with a carton of strawberries.
“Billie Dee making her shortcake?” Darby said with a grin. “Make sure she saves me some.”
As Darby drove away, Henry put down the strawberries and said, “Join me in the bar. I’ve never asked you if you drink.”
“Alcohol?” she asked as they walked down the hall and into the bar part of the building. There were only a couple of regulars at the bar visiting with Ashley Jo.
Billie Dee knew that Darby was happy with his hire. The young woman was personable, was always on time and did whatever she was asked.
“She has experience at both bartending and waitressing,” Darby had said the one time she’d inquired about Ashley Jo. “Mariah gave her a thumbs-up, as well.”
Billie Dee had smiled at that. “The Mariah seal of approval.”
Darby had looked hard at her then. “Why do you ask? Have you seen something I should be worried about?”
“No, no, not at all,” she’d said hurriedly. “She seems delightful. I haven’t had much chance to be around her so I was curious how she was working out.”
Darby had seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “I have to admit, I don’t trust myself. I thought Kendall was a great hire and look how that turned out.”
“Kendall was very good at what she did,” Billie Dee had agreed. “She’d pulled the wool over all of our eyes while having her hand in the till.” Was that why she was worried that Ashley Jo was hiding something?
“Well, if you see or hear anything, you’ll let me know, right?” Darby had asked. “I depend on you, Billie Dee. You’re family.”
Family. The word had cut her to the quick.
As she joined Henry at the bar, she tried not to stare at Ashley Jo. The young woman laughed at something one of the regulars said. It was a musical laugh but one that chilled her because it seemed so familiar. Henry didn’t seem to notice her reaction to it.
Seeing Billie Dee and Henry, Ashley Jo excused herself and hurried down the bar. “My two favorite people,” the young woman said. “What can I get you?”
Henry looked to her and Billie Dee realized that she hadn’t answered his question.
“I’ll take a margarita, if you don’t mind making me a blended one?” she said.
“I’d be delighted.” Ashley Jo turned to Henry. “And what can I get you?”
“The same, please,” he said, smiling over at Billie Dee.
Ashley Jo went to work making their margaritas. She seemed quite adept at it; Billie Dee couldn’t help but notice. She herself had worked her way through college as a bartender. Not that something like that was hereditary.
“Are you all right?” Henry whispered.
She nodded but knew he could tell it was a lie. Until she knew for sure...
Henry was watching Ashley Jo carefully but managing not to stare. She had no idea what he was up to until she saw Ashley Jo take a sip of the cola she’d poured herself. It wasn’t until their margaritas were served and they’d each had a sip and assured Ashley Jo that they were amazing that the young woman started to take her cola back down to the other end of the bar.
Henry knocked his margarita off and into his lap, the glass breaking as it made contact with the floor.
Billie Dee jumped back in surprise. Ashley Jo turned and headed back. As she put down her cola glass, she grabbed a bar rag.
“Don’t touch that,” the young woman said to Henry. “Darby will have my head if there is any bloodshed before he comes back.”
Henry moved out of her way as she began to clear up what had slipped onto his bar stool. “I’ll get the broom and dustpan,” Billie Dee announced.
When she returned, Henry was behind the bar. He stealthily slipped Ashley Jo’s glass into the plastic bag in his pocket. He replaced it with an empty dirty glass.
Billie Dee met his gaze. He was betting that Ashley Jo wouldn’t remember that she’d finished her cola in all the confusion.
But what if she did? What if she knew they were onto her and left?
She knew that made no sense. But if Ashley Jo was who she thought she was... Then she’d come here for a reason. She wouldn’t leave until she got what she wanted.
* * *
ONCE OUTSIDE THE body shop and in the sunlight and fresh air, Tucker took the call from Flint as he walked to his pickup.
“Tucker? Did you get my messages?”
He realized that he hadn’t checked his voice mail. “No, I just saw that you’d called a few times.”
“Are you in town? Can you stop by the office?”
Before, his brother’s request had been offhand, nothing to worry about. His heart began to pound. A note in Flint’s voice warned him that something had come up and it wasn’t good news. “Is this about Dad?”
“No, Ely’s fine, as far as I know. He’s up in the mountains. It’s about Madeline Dunn.”
Tucker held his breath for a moment before letting it out. “I’ll be right there.”
Five minutes later, he pushed open the door to the sheriff’s office. The dispatcher waved him toward Flint’s office. He found him sitting behind his desk, a frown on his face.
He stepped in, wondering if he shouldn’t be sitting for whatever news the sheriff was about to give him. He sat heavily in one of the chairs, bracing himself for the worst and yet unable to imagine what that might be.
“I’ve got some disturbing news. Madeline’s death wasn’t an accident,” his brother said. “The coroner found a .22 slug embedded in her skull. I’m now investigating this as a homicide.”
Tucker blinked. “She was murdered? Someone shot her?” He’d pictured her smacking into a tree limb hanging over the water as she was swept downstream. Hurt and dying, he’d seen her helped out of the water by whoever she was working with, stumbling up onto the bank, making it the few yards to the old creek bed before collapsing. And there was where she had been put to rest for almost twenty years.
That was how Flint had said the coroner suspected it could have happened. “Now you’re saying it wasn’t a head injury. Someone shot her?”
“The .22 slug was under the splintered wood. She was shot, then apparently struck with a limb, Sonny says. The one shot wasn’t probably enough to kill her so...”
“So someone finished the job with a tree limb.” Tucker couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“That isn’t all. You asked about a silver ankle bracelet?”
All he could do was nod.
“Harp found it along with shell casings for a .22.” Flint opened his drawer and brought out two plastic bags. One had the .22 slug in it and two shell casings. The other the bracelet. “Do you recognize the bracelet?”
He tried to swallow. He did. He’d given it to Madeline. His phone signaled that he’d just received a text. He reached into his pocket, saw that it was from Kate. His heart swelled just seeing it until he read what it said.
“I’m sorry, Tuck,” his brother was saying. “But you understand now why you can’t continue looking for Madeline’s family. This is now a murder investigation.”