Cardwell Ranch Trespasser(14)

“Be careful,” Hilde said. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Dana gave her a sympathetic look, and Hilde sensed that things had changed between them. It made her sad, but she couldn’t blame her friend. Dee was like a slow but deadly poison.

“Oh, Hilde, aren’t you staying for dinner?” Dee said all cheery, as she came down the stairs. She’d showered and now wore a sundress that accentuated all her assets—which were no small thing. “I know Dana has missed you. I’m afraid she’s getting bored with me. I’m not much fun.”

“You are plenty fun,” Dana said to her cousin. “I could never get bored with you.”

“Am I the luckiest woman in the world to have such an amazing cousin?” Dee asked with a too-bright smile. “I’m so glad she found me and invited me to Montana. I’m having a terrific time. I’ve missed having family so much.”

“I know that feeling, so I’m glad,” Dana said to her cousin, then turned to Hilde. “Change your mind about dinner.”

“Another time.” Hilde held Dana’s gaze. “Take care of yourself.” And she was out the door and headed for her SUV. It was all she could do not to run. She saw Colt glance up from where he and Hud were talking by the corrals. Concern crossed his expression, then his gaze went to the porch where Dee was standing, backlit by the light coming from inside the house.

Dee said something to the two men. Hud laughed and Dee started to come off the porch toward them. Dana called from the kitchen for her cousin. Dee hesitated, clearly disappointed, but went back inside to help Dana.

On the drive to her house, Hilde felt sick to her stomach. She’d never been violent. She was a forget-and-

forgive kind of person. At least she thought she was. But for a few moments back there at the house, she’d wanted to walk back to the porch and punch Dee in the face.

“I really need some rest,” she told herself, as she parked in front of her house. Once inside, she showered and changed into her favorite silk robe before padding into the kitchen for a glass of warm milk. She knew she couldn’t eat anything the way she felt right now.

Back in the bedroom, she finished the milk and crawled into bed with a book she’d been wanting to read—the same one Colt was reading. A book would be the only thing that could get her mind off Dee and her fears for Dana and her family.

She’d read only a few pages, though, when she must have fallen asleep. When the ringing of the phone woke her, she was lying on the open pages of the book, her cheek creased and damp. It took her a moment to realize what had awakened her.

“Hello?” she said, snatching up the phone. Her first thought was that something had happened out at the ranch. Her heart took off like a shot.

“I was afraid you were out with your boyfriend.”

She didn’t recognize the voice, but her heart was still pounding. “I beg your pardon? I think you have the wrong number.” She recognized the laugh, though, and sat up in the bed, trying to shake off sleep. “Rick?”

“One and the same,” he said with another laugh. “I’ve been sitting here having a few drinks, thinking about you.”

Hilde groaned inwardly, afraid where this was headed.

“I know your type,” he continued. “You like nice things but you try to hide the fact that you come from money.”

She was momentarily surprised by his insight.

“I like nice things, too, but I’m afraid I don’t come from money. Far from it.” Another laugh. “I’ll make you a deal. You want to know the scoop on Dee? If you can get your hands on ten thousand dollars, which I have a feeling you can without much trouble, then I will tell you things about dear Dee that will make your hair stand on end.”

“You sound drunk.”

“Not yet.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I know she tried to kill you on the river. I’m betting it wasn’t the first time she put a scare into you.”

“You would sell out your own girlfriend?”

He chuckled. “That’s the other thing. Dee and I have a complicated relationship. I’ll tell you all about it when you get here. How she sold my soul to the devil a long time ago. You’d better hurry before I get too drunk, though. I’m starting to feel the effects of this whiskey.” With that he hung up.

* * *

COLT WAS AT the marshal’s office when the call came in. He saw the dispatcher look in his direction then said she would put the call through to Deputy Marshal Colt Dawson.

The woman on the other end of the line sounded hysterical, and for a moment he didn’t recognize Hilde’s voice. “Where are you?” he broke in, hoping she would take a breath.

“At the Lazy T Motel, room 9. It’s Rick Cameron. He’s dead. She killed him, Colt. She killed him because she knew I was coming here tonight.”

Colt wondered why Hilde was going to Rick’s motel room, but he didn’t dare ask right now. “Step outside the room. Take some deep breaths. I’m on my way.” The moment he put down the phone he called Marshal Hud Savage, then he headed for the Lazy T, siren blaring and lights flashing.

Hilde was standing outside, just as he’d told her to. She wore a pair of jeans, a blue-and-tan-print blouse and nice sandals. Her hair was piled on top of her head. Had this been a date?

Jealousy bit into him like the bite of a rattlesnake, filling him with its venom. “What are you doing here, Hilde?” he asked the moment he reached her.

“Rick called. He said he’d tell me about Dee for ten thousand dollars. She killed him. You know she did.” The words came flying out, tumbling all over each other.

“Easy,” he said and drew her to the side, away from the motel room doors. They had opened, and guests were looking out to see what was going on. “You were going to pay him ten thousand dollars?”

She nodded. “I was asleep when he called. I dressed as quickly as I could.”

He had to smile. Only Hilde would grab a matching outfit to come pay off a con man. She’d even taken the time to pull up her long hair into a do that made her look like a model on a runway.

“Stay here, okay?” he said, holding her at arm’s length to look into her face. She’d been crying, but she still looked great. As he stepped to the door of the motel, he heard Hud’s patrol pickup siren in the distance.

Several more guests stuck their heads out to see what was going on.

“Please go back inside,” Colt told them. Inside the motel room he found Rick Cameron sprawled on the bed. There was an empty bottle of whiskey on the floor and an empty bottle of prescription pills under the edge of the bedspread.

He checked for a pulse. Hilde was right. The man was dead. Still when the EMTs arrived seconds later, they attempted to revive him without any luck.

“Looks like an overdose,” one of the EMTs told Hud as he came in the door.

Colt stepped out to Hilde, but she’d already heard. “No,” she cried, trying to get past him to talk to Hud. “This wasn’t an accident. He knew I was on my way over.”

The EMTs brought out the body and loaded it into the ambulance. Hud came out after them and walked over to Hilde, clearly unhappy to see her there.

“Dee killed him,” Hilde said before the marshal could speak.

Hud raised a brow but didn’t respond to the accusation. “I’m going to have to ask you a few questions. Why don’t we go down to the office?” He turned to Colt. “Stay here and talk to the motel owner when he gets here.”

Colt nodded and didn’t look at Hilde as she and the marshal left. The lines had been clearly drawn now. Hud had made that point by telling him to stay there and wait for the motel owner.

He and Hilde were alone on their side of that line, and from Hud’s disappointed look as he left, they were on the wrong side.

* * *

HILDE FOLLOWED HUD in her SUV the few blocks to the marshal’s office, her mind racing.

Rick had been ready to tell her the truth about Dee. Surely Hud would realize it was too much of a coincidence for him to overdose right before she got there. She said as much as she followed him into his office.

“I’ve seen enough of these where the victim mixed alcohol and heavy-duty pain pills. It looks to me like an accidental drug overdose,” Hud told her.

“Well, you’re wrong.” She hated the way her voice broke. Even to her own ears, she sounded close to hysteria. Why wouldn’t he believe her?

“Hilde, you’re upset. You’ve been under a lot of strain lately—”

Of course Dana would have told him about her breakdown on the river. “Are you telling me you can’t see that people have a lot of accidents around Dee?” she snapped.

“Why don’t you tell me how it is that you’re the one who found the victim,” Hud said, as he settled into his chair behind his desk.