Cardwell Ranch Trespasser(19)

Dana nodded, looking skeptical. Who could blame her?

Hilde smiled and touched her shoulder as they passed. She practically ran down the stairs. Dee would realize her makeup and toothbrush were missing. And knowing Dee, she would figure it out.

As Hilde climbed into her SUV, she saw Dana watching her leave. Colt would be furious. He’d realize what was just sinking in for her. Dee had warned her numerous times. The next time they crossed paths, Dee would make sure Hilde Jacobson was no longer a problem.

Hilde just hoped before that time came that she would have the proof she needed to stop Dee Anna Justice—or whoever the woman was.

* * *

DEE CALLED STACY after her unsuccessful lunch with Hud. Dana had told her that Stacy had a part-time job as a nanny. Dee was hoping that meant Stacy could get away long enough to talk.

“I was just in town and thought maybe we could have a cup of coffee somewhere,” she said when Stacy answered. Dee had gotten her number from the little book Dana kept by the downstairs phone. She’d gotten Hilde’s cell phone number out of the book as well.

“Coffee, huh?” Stacy asked.

“Okay, you found me out. I do have some questions about the family.”

Stacy laughed. “So you called me. Sure, I know where all the bodies are buried. Do you know where the Greasy Spoon is, off Main Street?”

“No, but I can find it. Ten minutes?”

“I’ll have to bring the kids, but they have a play area at the café.”

Dee was waiting when Stacy came in with two toddlers: Ella, who she said was now over a year old, and Ralph, the two-year-old she babysat. Stacy deposited the two kids in the play area and came back to sit down with Dee. She could watch the children from where they sat.

“Who names their kid Ralph?” Dee asked.

Stacy shrugged and helped herself to the coffee and mini-turnovers Dee had ordered for them. “Named after his wealthy grandfather.”

“Then I can see why they love the name,” she said and laughed. “I hope I’m not putting you on the spot.”

Stacy’s laugh was more cutting. “You want to know about me and Dana and Hud, right?”

Dee lifted a brow before she could stop herself. “You and Hud?”

“Dana didn’t tell you?”

She lied. “She hinted at something, but I never thought—”

“To make a long story short, Hud and Dana were engaged. I was strapped for money, and truthfully, I was always jealous of Dana. Someone offered me money to drug Hud and get him into my bed so Dana would find him there. It was during a really stupid part of my life. Thankfully my sister forgave me, but it split Hud and Dana up for five years—until the truth came out.”

“Wow.” Dee hadn’t expected this. “Dana mentioned a rift with you and her brothers after your mother died?”

Stacy’s laugh held no humor. “We were all desperate for money. Or at least we thought we were. So we wanted to sell off the ranch and split the money. Since our mother’s old will divided the ranch between us...”

“But then the new will turned up.”

Stacy nodded. “We treated Dana really badly. Family had always meant so much to her... It broke her heart when we turned against her. I will never forgive myself.”

“Families are like that sometimes,” she said, thinking of her own. “I’m just so glad that Dana found me and I get to be part of yours. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

“Okay, now tell me the big secret with your side of the family.” Stacy helped herself to another mini-turnover. “Dana said the family disinherited your father, Walter, because they didn’t like who he married? There has to be more to it.”

Dee had known Stacy might be more outspoken than her sister. She was a little taken aback by how much. Also, the real Dee Anna Justice had never told her about her father, so Dee was in the dark here.

“I had no idea I had other family,” she said. “My father led me to believe my grandparents were dead. Clearly he’d never been close to them.”

“And your mother?”

“She’s a socialite and philanthropist.”

“What?” Stacy cried. “She’s not a tramp?”

“Far from it. The woman was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, can trace her ancestry to the Mayflower and has more money than she knows what to do with.” Dee was offended the family had thought Dee Anna’s mother was a skank, even though it wasn’t her mother and she didn’t like Marietta Justice. The woman was an uptight snob, colder than the marble entry at her mansion. But thanks to her, Dee would be getting her daughter’s trust fund check soon.

“So why did the Montana Justice family disinherit his son for marrying wealth?” Stacy asked. “That makes no sense.”

No, it didn’t. As Stacy said, there had to be more to the story. Dee could only guess. “It’s a mystery, isn’t it?”

* * *

COLT COULDN’T WAIT to get back to Big Sky. He’d been anxious all day and having trouble concentrating on his investigation. It wasn’t like him. He took his job seriously. Just like Hilde.

When he’d finally gotten a chance, he’d called Needles and Pins. The phone rang four times and went to voice mail. He doubted she was so busy waiting on a customer that she couldn’t answer the phone.

So he waited ten minutes and tried again. Still no answer. He’d never known Hilde not to open the shop. His concern grew even more when he tried later in the afternoon.

He’d finally called Dana and asked for Hilde’s cell phone number. “I tried the shop and couldn’t reach her.”

“That is odd,” Dana agreed after she’d given him the number. “She stopped out earlier and brought the kids ice cream sandwiches.”

Colt swore silently. “How did that go?”

“Okay. But she was acting...strange. Is she all right?”

“She’s been through a lot the past few days,” he said. “So she didn’t stay long?”

“No.”

“I’ll give her a call and make sure she’s all right,” he said.

“You’ll let me know if...if there is anything I can do?”

“Sure.” He quickly dialed Hilde’s cell and felt a wave of relief when she answered on the third ring. “You went out to the ranch.” He hadn’t meant for those to be the first words out of his mouth.

“Don’t be mad. I got her fingerprints.”

He bit back a curse. “Hilde.”

“I know. But she stopped by the shop right after I opened this morning.”

If he’d been scared before, he was petrified now. “What did she want?”

“To threaten me. Again. She made it clear that if I didn’t back off—”

“So you went out to the ranch and got her fingerprints. I hate to even ask.”

“I feel like we are racing against the clock,” she said. “I had to do something. She’s more dangerous than even I thought.”

He agreed. “Okay, just do me a favor. Where are you now?”

“I’m at home. I was too antsy to work today.”

“You have the items with her fingerprints on them at the house, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, just stay there, lock the doors, don’t open them for anyone but me. I’m on my way from West. I should be there in an hour. You don’t happen to own a gun, do you? Sorry, of course you don’t.”

“You think you know me that well?” she demanded.

“Yep. Are you going to tell me you do own a gun and know how to shoot it?”

“No.”

He laughed. “Go lock your doors. I’m on my way.”

* * *

DEE WAS DISAPPOINTED when she reached the ranch and found out that Hud was working late at the office. He was the only bright spot in a dreary day.

“I see your ankle is better. That’s good,” Dana said when Dee came in with the small presents she’d brought the kids. She hadn’t wanted to spend much, so she’d found some cheap toys. Mary and Hank thanked her, but she could tell she’d bought the wrong things.

Dinner was just the four of them. Dana had fed the twins and put them to bed. The house was deathly quiet since Mary and Hank were practically falling asleep in their dinner plates.

Dee walked around the ranch while Dana bathed the kids and got them to bed. The night was cool and dark. As she walked, something kept nagging at her about earlier at the sewing shop.

She hadn’t been surprised when Hilde had picked up the scissors and lunged at her. Just as she wasn’t surprised the woman was slow and uncoordinated, so much so that it had been child’s play to take the scissors away from her. Often anger made a person less precise, even clumsy, right?