Loe raamatut: «Murder And Mistletoe»

Chapter One

The normally pitch-black night was lit up with swirling red-and-white bursts. At half past midnight, the normally empty gravel lot teemed with law enforcement and emergency personnel. Dalton Butler’s heart fisted as he approached the scene in his sport utility, thinking how much of a contrast the activity was to the normally sleepy town of Cattle Barge. An ominous feeling settled over him. This was the spot where his high school girlfriend’s life had ended on a cold winter night fourteen years ago.

As Dalton drove toward the scene, the air thinned and his chest squeezed. A rope hanging from the same tree came into view. Emotions he’d long ago buried stirred, as the unsettled feeling of history repeating itself enveloped him. A shot of anger surfaced and then exploded with rage inside his chest. He white-knuckled the steering wheel as he navigated onto the side of the lot, watching the flurry of activity in disbelief. Why this spot? Why this night?

He parked, lowered his gray Stetson on his forehead and turned up the collar of his denim jacket to brace against the bitter temperatures. A cold front had blown in during the last hour, welcoming the month of December with a blast of frigid temperatures and freezing rain.

Dalton blocked out the image of a young life hanging from that rope as he shouldered his door open against the blazing winds. A gust blew his hat off before he could react. He retrieved it and held it in his hands. The entire scene unfolding before him tipped him off balance as memories crashed down around him like an angry wave tackling a surfer, holding him under and twisting his body around until he didn’t know up from down anymore.

A foreboding feeling settled around his shoulders, his arms, tightening its grip until his ribs felt like they might crack. Not even a sharp intake of air eased the pressure. Fourteen years was a long time to hold on to the burden of guilt that he could’ve saved her if he’d shown up to this spot.

The sheriff stood inside the temporary barricade that had been set up around the perimeter of the tree, a somber expression on his face. Sheriff Sawmill’s shoulders were drawn forward as he listened to one of his deputies. Cattle Barge had been overrun with news crews since the end of summer when Dalton’s father—the wealthiest man in the county—was murdered on the successful cattle ranch he’d built from scratch. Maverick Mike Butler’s rise to riches was legendary. He’d won his first cattle ranch in a gambling match, lost his first wife to alcohol and his bad luck ended there. In death as it was in life, the man always seemed to have another card up his sleeve.

“Sir, you can’t be here,” Deputy Granger said, extending his arms to block Dalton.

“I need to speak to the sheriff.” He had every intention of walking past the man, and there wasn’t anything Granger could do to stop him short of arresting him.

Granger seemed to know it, too. He called for Sawmill but kept his arms outstretched.

The sheriff glanced over and did a double take. Stress shrouded him as he made a beeline toward Dalton, stopping behind Granger’s arms.

“I appreciate what you’re going through and how personal this may seem, but I can’t let you walk onto my crime scene and destroy evidence.” The middle-aged man looked like he hadn’t slept in months. His eyes had the white outline of sunglasses on tanned, wrinkled skin. Hard brackets bordered his mouth and deep grooves lined his forehead. The tight grip he had on his coffee mug outlined the man’s stress level. He was on high alert and had been since Maverick Mike’s murder, a high-profile case he had yet to solve.

“Tell me what happened.” Dalton needed to know everything.

“We haven’t established cause of death.”

Most of his family might get along with the sheriff now but Dalton would never forget the way he’d been treated after Alexandria Miller’s death. He’d barely been seventeen when he’d been picked up in the middle of the night and hauled to the sheriff’s office. Sawmill had spent the next twenty-two hours interrogating Dalton, suspecting him of murder and treating him like a criminal.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you found her hanging from that tree.” Dalton bit back the frustration that was still so ready, so available. He’d go through it all again willingly if Alexandria’s murderer would be brought to justice. If her family could have answers. If there could be closure.

Sawmill tilted his head. “Doesn’t mean it was the cause of death, and I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation with a civilian and you know it.”

“Who is she?” Dalton asked anyway.

“I didn’t say the victim is a woman.” The sheriff was trying to sell the idea that this had no connection to the past. Without proof, Dalton wasn’t buying it.

“No. You didn’t. She’s a girl, not a woman.” Déjà vu struck as Dalton glanced at his watch. At around the same time fourteen years ago, Alexandria was being cut down from that exact tree.

“Out of respect for you and your family, for what you’re going through, I won’t threaten to arrest you, Dalton. But make no mistake that you’re interfering with an ongoing investigation and I can’t allow that, either,” the sheriff warned.

Again, Dalton noticed the sheriff’s word choice. He didn’t mention murder.

“Another suicide in that tree fourteen years to the day and around the same time?” Dalton folded his arms and planted his boots in the unforgiving earth. “What are the odds?”

“They’re high, actually.” The sheriff blew out a sharp breath and threw his hands up. “All these reporters drudging up the past, digging into everyone’s personal lives. Every story they run increases the odds of a copycat from some crime in the past.” There hadn’t been many criminal acts in Cattle Barge leading up to this past summer. “There’s no respect for the families involved. The people who suffered through losing a loved one and now are being forced to relive the pain as news is being blasted across the internet. They deserve peace, not this.”

“There can be no peace without justice. I think we both know that,” Dalton shot back. From his peripheral, he saw a woman stalking toward them, so he turned to look. Her face was set with determination, her gaze intent on the sheriff. She had on dark jeans and a blazer. She was tall and beautiful with chestnut wavy hair loosely pulled back in a ponytail that swished back and forth as she walked. An inappropriate stir of attraction struck. Dalton shoved it to the back burner. Charging toward them, she took the kind of breath meant to steel nerves. She clutched something tightly in her left hand as her right fisted and released a couple of times. She was young, early thirties if Dalton had to guess. As she neared, he could see concern lines ridging her forehead.

The sheriff followed Dalton’s gaze, which admittedly had been held a few seconds too long toward the object of his attention.

Sheriff Sawmill immediately spun around to address the stalking female, who was only a couple of feet away from them by now. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but this is a restricted area. Only law enforcement personnel are allowed beyond—”

The woman cut him off by holding up the item clenched in her left fist, a badge.

“My name’s Detective Leanne West. Tell me exactly what went down here, Sheriff,” she demanded, with an intensity that made Dalton believe her interest in this case extended beyond official duty. She wore a white button-down oxford shirt under the blue blazer and low heels, which also told him that she wasn’t from around these parts. The butt of a gun peeked out from her shoulder holster. If he had to guess, he’d say it was a SIG Sauer. His first thought would’ve been FBI if she hadn’t already identified herself.

“I’ll have my secretary issue a full report to your supervising officer when we’ve concluded our investigation.” Sheriff Sawmill crossed his arms and dug his heels in the hard dirt.

“My SO? Why not tell me? I’m standing here in front of you—he’s not.” Her determined voice had a musical quality to it that reached inside Dalton. This wasn’t the time to get inside his head about why. He wanted information as badly as she did and, at least for now, nothing was more important. If he had a chance to put his demons to rest and give peace to the Miller family, there were no walls too high to climb.

She was getting further with Sawmill than he had been, so, if necessary, he would be her shadow from now on.

With the sheriff’s back to Dalton as he was being distracted by the detective, Dalton turned toward the hanging rope and palmed his phone. He angled his cell toward the rope as anger stirred in his gut, remembering the specific knot used in Alexandria’s hanging, The trucker’s knot. Alexandria would have had no idea what that knot was. She hadn’t had a brother or male cousin who she spent time with and she wore more skirts than jeans. Furthermore, every Boy Scout knew that the whole conglomeration could be untied with only four pulls in the right places, meaning she could’ve freed herself at any time if she’d known. And anyone who knew how to use the knot would know how it worked.

With a quick swipe across the screen, Dalton blew up the focal point, zeroed in on the spot and snapped a pic. The knot could tell him a lot about whether these two crimes were related. All his warning flares were firing, but he couldn’t ignore the sheriff’s argument. A lot of time had passed. News stories had been drudging up the past. There was a possibility that this incident wasn’t related, other than someone being a copycat or inspiring a young person to imitate what she thought was a suicide in the same spot.

“Because I’m not ready to risk details of this case leaving this lot and being broadcast across the state.” Sawmill’s normally steady-as-steel tone was laced with frustration. “In case you haven’t noticed, this town has had its fair share of exploitation for the sake of ratings in the past three months.”

“I can assure you that won’t happen.” The detective’s shoulders straightened and her chest puffed out a little at the suggestion she’d bring in the media. The words had the sharp edge of a professional jab.

Sawmill tipped his head to one side. “Forgive my being blunt, but so can I.”

* * *

LEANNE WOULD’VE HANDCUFFED the good-looking cowboy for taking a picture of the hangman’s rope herself if the sheriff was cooperating. Since he wasn’t and she figured the two were in the same boat with Sawmill, she’d let it slide and figure out a way to find out what he was so interested in.

The cowboy was hard to miss at six-four and he was using her as a distraction, which had her mind spinning with even more questions. Did the man, who was professional-athlete tall with a muscular build and grace to back it up, know Clara? His hair was a light brown with blond mixed in and his eyes were a serious blue. Under different circumstances, she’d have enjoyed the view. But her niece had been taken down from that tree...

Leanne’s heart nearly burst thinking about it. As difficult as it was, she had to keep her emotions in check and focused. Keeping a tight grip on her sentiments was proving more difficult than expected, and she’d put the sheriff on the defensive already because she wasn’t restraining those very feelings.

For the sake of finding Clara’s killer, she would do almost anything and that included swallowing her pride. The last thing she wanted to do was cut off her best source of information.

She softened her approach. “I apologize for getting off on the wrong foot, Sheriff.”

The sheriff nodded. “If you’ll excuse me, this case needs my full attention.”

Sheriff Clarence Sawmill was much older than Leanne and he had more experience. She was a solid detective, but her emotions were getting in the way and she was blowing it big-time. The sheriff was already on high alert and, from the looks of him, had been since his town had gone crazy following the news of Maverick Mike Butler’s death. Leanne had read about the famous murder that was still an open investigation and she worried that her niece’s case would get swept under the rug.

“In the spirit of cooperation, I’d like to offer my assistance,” Leanne said, hoping the softer tact would sway him. She didn’t care how she managed to get the sheriff’s agreement. Only that she got it.

“Again, with all due respect, we have this covered.” His tone was final as he walked her toward the temporary barricade that had been set up to cordon off the scene. He seemed to realize the cowboy wasn’t following when he stopped and turned. “Dalton.”

The cowboy seemed to be taking full advantage of the sheriff’s split attention. She needed to figure out his interest in the case.

“I’m coming, Sheriff,” he said, jogging to catch up.

Since Leanne never seemed to learn her lesson about fighting a losing battle—and face it, this battle was lost—she spun around to try yet another approach. It was the equivalent of trying to grasp a slippery rope while tumbling down a mountain, but she’d do anything to find out what had really happened. “I can call my SO and have more resources here than you’ll know what to do with. Surely, you wouldn’t want to—”

“I doubt the city of Dallas will throw personnel at a teen suicide investigation in my small town.” The sheriff’s brow creased.

“Is that how you’re classifying it?” Leanne balked. “What makes you so sure it’s not murder?”

“For one. There were no other footprints leading up to the ladder against the tree.” The sheriff took in a sharp breath as though to stem his words. No doubt, he hadn’t meant to share this much. “I’ll include all the details in my report.”

“How soon will that be available?” she asked, figuring she was already overstepping her bounds. Might as well go all in at this point.

“You’ll be one of the first to know.” The sheriff signaled for one of his deputies to escort her and the cowboy, Dalton, the last few steps to the barricade.

A cruiser parked and the passenger side door opened. Leanne started to make a beeline toward the vehicle because she had a sinking feeling her sister would be the one stepping out. She wasn’t ready to reveal her relationship with the victim but that was about to be done for her.

“Excuse me.” The sheriff grabbed her arm to stop her.

Leanne muttered a curse, wishing she could shield Bethany.

“I’m afraid you’re done here,” the sheriff warned.

“Not anymore.”

“This is my county and my business.” The sheriff’s voice fired a warning shot.

“That may be true, Sheriff. But that’s my sister, and I have every intention of staying by her side through this,” Leanne ground out. Technically, Bethany was Leanne’s half sister. “So I’m not going anywhere until I know she’s all right.”

Bethany had been fragile before and Leanne was worried the situation was about to get a whole lot worse.

“The victim was your niece?” It was the sheriff’s turn to balk.

Leanne nodded.

“Why didn’t you say something before?”

“Would you have allowed me to stay? To have access to your investigation?” she shot back.

The sheriff hung his head in response, and she was certain Dalton made a shocked noise. Everyone knew the answer to that question, and she’d been forced to tip her hand before she was ready.

Dalton turned and then made a move toward the barricade. She couldn’t let him disappear without finding out what he’d captured on his phone.

She touched his arm and fireworks scorched her fingers.

Ignoring the heat pulsing between them, she said, “Please, stay.”

“What happened to my baby?” Bethany’s legs folded and a deputy caught her as she slumped against the cruiser. Leanne bolted toward her sister as her stomach braided.

Even with the best of intentions, Bethany would only hurt Clara’s case.