Cardwell Ranch Trespasser(18)

Just the thought of Colt made her heart beat a little harder.

He would have a fit when she told him how she’d managed to get Dee’s prints. She’d been pretty sure that Dee would take the scissors away from her. She had hoped that Dee wouldn’t use them on her, had bet that Dee wasn’t ready to kill again. Not yet, anyway. Even if Dee would have claimed self-defense, few people would have believed it.

Well, they wouldn’t have believed it before the past few days. Now Hilde wasn’t sure what her friends thought of her. That she was mentally unbalanced? That like Dee said, she was teetering on the edge?

Wait until Dee’s prints came back. She’d see what they thought then.

What if she is Dee Anna Justice? Hilde tried to remember what Dana had told her about Dee Anna and her family. Maybe Dana’s grandparents had had a good reason for disinheriting Walter Justice and demanding that his name never be spoken again.

The thought gave her a chill. If there had been something wrong with Walter, wasn’t it possible Dee Anna had inherited it?

“No, she’s not Dee Ana Justice,” she said to herself now. “And I’m going to prove it.” If she had a good set of Dee’s prints on the scissors. Now she was worried that she might not have.

Hilde started to open her shop when a thought struck her. Dee had gone into Bozeman to have lunch with Hud. That meant Dana would be at the house alone with the kids.

“You promised Colt you wouldn’t go near the ranch,” she reminded herself, as she went into the back to stuff several plastic bags into her purse. “Colt meant don’t go near Dee, not the ranch, and I might not have this opportunity again.”

As she started for the door, she realized she was talking to herself. Dee was right. She was teetering on the edge. She was starting to scare herself.

Locking up behind herself and leaving the Closed sign in the window of the sewing shop—something she never did—Hilde headed for Cardwell Ranch.





Chapter Nine

“Dee,” Hud said the moment there was a lull in the conversation.

She’d chosen a private booth at the back of the local bistro and had been doing her best to entertain him with fabricated stories about her life.

He’d laughed at the appropriate times and even blushed a little when she’d told him how she’d lost her virginity. Well, how she could have lost it if it wasn’t for her real life. Her fabricated story was cute and sad and wistful, just enough to pluck at his heartstrings, she hoped. She had Dana where she wanted her. Hud was another story.

She’d noticed that he’d seemed a little distracted when he’d sat down, but she’d thought she’d charmed away whatever was bothering him.

“Dee,” he repeated when she’d finished one of her stories. “I have to ask you. How much do you know about Rick?”

The bastard was dead, but not forgotten. She’d been relieved earlier when she’d stopped by Needles and Pins to learn that Rick hadn’t had a chance to tell Hilde anything of importance. Had he lived much longer, though, he would have spoiled everything.

“What do you mean?” she asked, letting him know he’d ruined her good mood—and her lunch—by bringing up Rick.

“I found three different forms of identification on him in three different names.”

The fool. Why had he taken a chance like that? Because it was the way they’d always done it. So she knew he was planning to start over somewhere else—once he got money from her. If she could have sent him straight to hell at that moment, she’d have bought him a first-class ticket.

“I don’t understand.” It was the best she could do. Now the marshal would look into Rick’s past. It was bound to come out who he really was. Damn him for doing this to her. He really was going to ruin everything.

“Did you suspect he might not be who he said he was?”

She let out a nervous laugh. “He’s Rick Cameron. I met his friends. He even had me talk to his mother one time on the phone. She sounded nice.”

“I think he lied to you,” Hud said gently.

She let him take her hand. His hands were large and strong. She imagined what they might feel like on the rest of her bare skin, and she did her best to look brokenhearted. She even worked up a few tears and was pleased when Hud pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her.

“Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if this had happened in New York. I have friends there, but at a time like this it is so good to be around family.” She gave him a hug, but not too long since she felt him tense.

Hilde. The blasted woman had warned him. Of course she had.

“You are so lucky to have such a wonderful family,” she said. “Dana is amazing and the kids...what can I say?”

He nodded and relaxed again. “I am lucky. And Dana is so happy to have found a cousin she didn’t know she had.”

“I feel as if I’m wearing out my welcome, though.” He started to say something. Not to really disagree, but to try to be polite. “I’ll be taking off Saturday. Dana’s invited me back for a week next year. I hope she and Hilde regain their friendship. I know it’s not my fault, but still...”

Hud smiled. “They’ll work it out. I’m just glad you came out to the ranch. You’ll have to keep in touch.”

“I’ll try,” she said, furious that between Rick and Hilde, they’d managed to ruin her lunch with Hud and force her to move up her plan—because she wasn’t leaving Cardwell Ranch.

* * *

WHEN DANA OPENED the door, Hilde saw her expression and felt her heart drop. She thought of all the times she’d stopped by and her best friend had been delighted to see her. Today wasn’t one of those days.

“Hilde?” She looked leery, almost afraid. How ironic.

Hilde wanted to scream, I’m not the one you should fear! Instead she said, “I bought those ice cream sandwiches the kids like.”

Dana glanced at the bag in her hand, but didn’t move.

“I won’t stay long. I just haven’t seen the kids for a few days now. I’ve missed them.”

“Auntie Hilde?” Mary cried and came running to the door. She squeezed past her mother and into Hilde’s arms.

She held the adorable little girl close. Mary looked just like the pictures Hilde had seen of Dana at that same age. Was that another reason Dee had been able to fool Dana? Because there was a resemblance between Dana and Dee, one no doubt Dee had played on?

“We’re making pies!” Mary announced, as Hilde let her go. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Hilde took the child’s hand and followed her through the house. Dana had been forced to move out of the doorway, but she looked worried as Hilde entered. What did she think Hilde was going to do? Flip out in front of the kids?

“These are beautiful,” Hilde said when she saw the pies. The kitchen looked like a flour bomb had gone off in it. Dana was so good at letting the kids make as big a mess as they had to. She was a great mother, Hilde thought as she looked up at her friend and smiled.

Dana seemed to soften. “Would you like a pie?”

Hilde shook her head. Only a few days ago, Dana would have asked her to stay for dinner and have pie then. Now she seemed anxious that Hilde not stay too long. Dee would be returning.

“We’d better put these in the freezer,” Hilde said, handing Dana the bag with the ice cream sandwiches.

“What do you say to Auntie Hilde?”

“Thank you, Auntie Hilde,” Mary and Hank chimed in. Dana stepped out on the old back porch to put the ice cream in the freezer.

“I’m taking off now,” Hilde called. She said goodbye to the kids, then hurried back into the living room and up the stairs. She assumed Dana had put Dee in the guest bedroom. Hilde had stayed over enough; she almost thought of it as her own.

The door was closed. She opened it quickly and stepped inside. The curtain was drawn so it took her a moment before her eyes adjusted. She knew she had to move quickly.

Dee’s cosmetic bag was on the antique vanity. She hurried to it, trying not to step on the floorboards that creaked. Taking the plastic bags out of her purse, she used them like gloves. They were awkward, but she managed to pick up a bottle of makeup, then spied Dee’s toothbrush. DNA. She grabbed it, stuffed both into her purse again and hurriedly moved to the door.

Opening it, she stepped out and was partway down the hall headed for the stairs when Dana came up them.

“Hilde?”

“I’m sorry, I just needed to use your bathroom. I hope you don’t mind. I drank too much coffee this morning.”

Dana relaxed a little. She, of all people, knew about Hilde’s coffee habit.

“Thank you for letting me see the kids.”

Tears filled her friend’s eyes. “I hate this,” Dana whispered.

“Me, too. But we’ll figure it out. We have to.”