Annabelle Weston (11 page)

“
You must be Kate Crowley,” he said.

Kate Crowley rolled her eyes. “Of course I am. Who else would I be?”

There was no way to ease into this conversation, Jed decided. He’d witnessed her short fuse and had no doubt she was ready to turn her anger onto him. These girls had suffered a terrible loss and he made allowances for her sharp tongue.

The younger girl seemed to have gotten herself under control. “I’m Jolie, Sheriff. I hope you aren’t offended by my sister.”

“
It’s all right, ladies, I understand you’re mighty upset about what’s taken place here. Why don’t we go inside and you can tell me what happened.”

“
I’m not going in there,” Jolie wailed. She clutched a limp handkerchief to her bosom. “He’s in there. I just can’t!”

“
Who’s in there?” Jed asked, reaching for his six-shooter. Had the man who’d shot Crowley decided to stick around?

“
Hush up, Jolie.” Kate looked like she would burst into flames but her words calmed the girl down to a whimper. She turned and scowled. “Our pa is inside, Sheriff. We laid him out on the dining room table.”

“
I need to see his body,” Jed said.

Kate Crowley, who’d given full rein to her emotions, blinked. Her shoulders slumped, her expression dissolved into one of doubt. Her anger had taken just about every ounce of strength, Jed reckoned. He knew what that was like, to be depended on, to bear the burden of loss and hurt on broad shoulders.

He wouldn’t embarrass her by suggesting she do otherwise.

She nodded and stepped aside.

He tied Shooter to one of the porch posts.

Kate led the way. Inside the doorway, she sidestepped a dark pool of blood that’d drawn flies. “Mind where you walk.”

The sickening-sweet smell was the kind he never forgot.

“
How about I clean this up first?” he asked the girl. They obviously hadn’t had any inclination to deal with their pa’s blood and he suspected even the sight would bring on more hysterics.

Kate gave a resigned sigh. “That’d be appreciated, Sheriff. I’ll be right back.”

While he waited, he took a good look around. Nothing appeared amiss—save for the giant puddle of blood. This crime hadn’t been a robbery.

A parlor on the left was a picture of cozy domesticity. There were doilies on the arms of the chairs and curtains at the windows. He was reminded of how he’d lived in the saddle for far too long, how that corn-husk mattress in the jail cell put his back to aching.

Was he the kind of man who could settle down?

His thoughts turned inevitably to Carly. By no stretch of the imagination could he picture her in this setting. She was as wild and free-spirited as the mustangs that roamed these mountains. No man would be able to tame her.

Kate Crowley returned with a pot of water and some rags. She’d also brought a bottle of lye—which stank to high heaven.

Jolie had curled herself up on the porch rocker. She needed more time to deal with what’d happened, Jed decided. A girl of her tender years had plenty of bad times ahead of her.

Jed set his hat on a nearby table and took the pot. He splashed water over the bloodstain. The bloody water seeped through the cracks in the floorboards and ran on to the ground beneath.

Jed took one of the rags, crouched and started scrubbing. Kate opened the bottle of lye and moistened her rag. She knelt beside him and worked furiously until the stain was almost gone.

“
That’ll do for now, Miss Crowley,” Jed said, standing. He feared she’d wear her fingers to the bone from the lye.

Kate stood and wiped her brow. She tossed the dirty rags into the pot then set them to the side of the door.

“
This is where Pa was standing,” she said, staring at the wet spot. “He opened the door to two strangers.”

“
Your hired hand told me he was shot in the back.”

“
That’s right.” She opened the door and held out her hand. “Come on, Jolie. There’s work to be done.”

Jolie came inside and wrinkled her nose. The sight of the wet floor spooked her and her hand went to her mouth as she smothered a scream.

“
Don’t you fret so,” Kate said. “Go into the kitchen and finish your chores.”

The girl did as she was told.

“
This way, Sheriff.” Kate opened a door and walked into a room.

Jed followed her. Mr. Crowley’s body had been laid out on the dining room table. A white sheet covered him. Kate peeled back the sheet.

The old man showed a lot of hard years. Jed lifted the leather vest. Two holes pierced the bloody shirt.

“
The bullets went clean through him,” Kate said.

From the size of the holes, Jed guessed a .45 was the weapon.

“
Thank you, kindly, Miss Crowley. I know this ain’t easy.”

She turned ashen as she covered her pa’s face.

“
Coffee, Sheriff?” She seemed to have put her anger away—at least for a while.

“
None, thanks.”

“
You won’t mind if I have a second cup?”

“
No ma’am. Appears you could use one.”

She led him to the kitchen and offered for him to sit at the kitchen table. The morning dishes still soaked in the tin tub.

Jed pulled out a chair and sat opposite a plate of fried potatoes and eggs that’d gone cold.

“
I can’t do this,” Jolie sniffed, hovering in the doorway. Her fragile nature touched Jed. He’d witnessed how his mother fell apart when his own dad had died.

“
Then sit down,” Kate said to her sister. The edge had crept back in her voice. “We owe it to Pa to find his killer.”

The girl slumped down in the nearest chair.

“
I didn’t catch your worker’s name,” Jed said.

“
Name’s Mack. He’s the foreman here at Crowley Ranch.”

“
I’ll need to talk to him,” Jed said.

“
He can’t tell you anything.” Kate reached for the percolator and poured herself a cup of coffee. “If he’d been around, this might not’ve happened.”

“
Anybody else see those men?”

“
No Sheriff. Just me and my sister. We were cooking up breakfast when those two men arrived.” She sat down opposite her sister.

Jed was thinking how lucky they’d been working here in the kitchen. Otherwise, he might have had a triple murder to deal with.

He turned to Jolie. “I’m sorry, miss, but I need to know that happened here today. Did you see anything?”

The girl shrugged, running a shaking hand across her forehead, finding an errant lock of hair and putting it back into place. “It all happened so fast. I was at the stove when I heard horses coming. Our pa went to the door to see who had come by, hoping it was the man from the mercantile with our weekly order. I heard them talking but I didn’t pay no mind. My attention was on not burning Pa’s eggs.”

“
I’d just come in the kitchen,” Kate said. “I heard the shots and saw Pa fall across the threshold. He must’ve turned his back on those two and was coming inside.”

Jed’s own anger spiked. The man had been gunned down in his own home.

“
I saw them ride away,” Jolie said in a near whisper. “Those men were riding hell-bent for leather.”

Kate nodded as she stared off into the distance. “They shot him and just rode away.”

“
Are you sure there were only two?” Jed asked.

“
Two is all I saw.”

“
Did you recognize them?”

“
No,” Kate answered first. “I’m sure they weren’t from around here. No one I’d seen at church or in town leastways.”

Jolie pulled her lower lip into her mouth. If she’d known the murderers, she would’ve told him first thing. He moved on to the next question.

“
Did your pa have any enemies?”

Kate shook her head.

“
I just don’t understand why anybody would do such a thing.” Jolie sniffed. She was working herself into another cry.

Kate looked down toward her feet.

“
What are you thinking?” Jed asked.

“
Well…it’s nothing.”

“
Sometimes nothing turns out to be something.”

Kate picked up her cup and took another swallow of coffee. “The neighboring rancher wants to buy up our land. Pa’s been resisting for a long time. Do you think this could’ve been the work of hired guns?”

“
Don’t you go saying things like that, Kate!” Jolie reared up. “Those kinds of accusations are liable to get you in trouble.”

Hired guns had been Jed’s first guess.

“
The sheriff asked about enemies.”

“
Pa didn’t have any.”

These girls were at each other’s throats for some other reason, Jed realized, something the killing of their pa had made worse.

“
Miss Crowley, I understand your concern but I’ve got to know what we’re up against. I’ve got to interview this neighbor to make sure he isn’t involved.” He turned to Kate. “What is your neighbor’s name?”

Jolie shuddered.

“
Mr. Silas Purdy,” Kate said.

“
I’ll stop by his ranch and see if he knows anything about this. Did your pa have any other disputes? Someone in town? Maybe someone from another part of the territory?”

“
That’s all,” Kate said. “Purdy wants to buy us out. He’s been pretty persistent.”

“
What about you, Jolie, do you know of any other disputes your pa might have had?”

She shook her head. “I can’t say that I do. I knew about Mr. Purdy’s offer but I tell you, I—Mr. Purdy is one of the nicest men you’d ever want to meet.”

Kate scoffed.

Her sister cast her a look filled with venom. “I happen to know Mr. Purdy’s not a violent sort of man at all. That family don’t settle their differences by killing.”

Jed nodded. “I appreciate how you think highly of the man and I’m not saying he was responsible. I just want to ask him a few questions.”

“
Will you keep us informed about what you find out?” Kate twisted her hands, showing a case of nerves for the first time.

“
Of course, Miss Crowley.”

“
Is there anything else you can think of?”

Both girls shook their heads.

“
I almost forgot. Here’s something you should see.” Kate reached into a deep pocket of her apron and pulled out two shell casings.

He rolled one between his thumb and finger. He was right. “Looks like the shots came from a .45 revolver. Thanks for saving these. I’ll be on my way now.”

“
Thank you,” Kate said. He’d no doubt she would be all right but the younger sister had him worried.

Jed pushed back from the table and stood. He’d better find that foreman before the trail went cold.

“
What will we do now?” Jolie said. The poor girl kept shooting glances toward the room where her father’s body was being kept until the coroner arrived.

Jed didn’t like the idea of two girls being out here on their own. “You can come into town. I’m sure one of the church women will take you in.”

“
No, Sheriff.” Kate frowned. “We’re staying put.”

Jed donned his Stetson. Seemed to him the women of the territory had a stubborn streak and he wasn’t about to start an argument. He nodded to both of the girls. They had each other. That would be enough for now.

“
I’ll go see your foreman.”

“
I’ll go with you,” Kate said. She rose to her feet.

Jed didn’t like the idea of having her along. “I reckon his ears are still burning from the tongue-whipping you gave him.”

Two spots reddened her cheeks. “Maybe you’re better off talking to him alone.”

“
Yes ma’am, that’d be best.”

They were on the way to the front door when Jed heard the sound of a horse on the road.

Jolie jumped and Kate swiveled to Jed. Jed pulled his gun from its holster and gripped the door handle.

“
You expecting company?” Jed asked.

“
No, we never get company,” Jolie said.

“
You girls lay low,” he said. Both stared at him wide-eyed. Kate put an arm around her sister.

The horse stopped and whinnied. Jed opened the door a crack.

Who had come a calling but Miss Carly Buchanan.

What the hell was she doing here?

Jed wasn’t the only one taken aback by the visitor. Mack, coming out of the barn, stopped short and gaped.

Jed opened the door and stepped outside.

“
Will you take a look-see at who’s here?” Mack said, coming up on the porch. “It’s one of the whores from town.”

Jed bristled. On any other occasion, the two men would’ve exchanged angry words. The two girls were at his elbow, staring as if they’d seen a ghost.

Carly was dressed demurely in a high-necked shirt and a short velvet jacket in green. A woolen skirt covered her gorgeous legs to the top of her boot. She wore a top hat and veil that covered her face to the chin. Even with the veil hiding her finer attributes, he could tell she wasn’t painted, and she’d shucked her bawdy jewels. Even her hair seemed subdued, pulled back into a neat roll at the nape of her neck.

She sure was a sight to see.

Jed strode out to meet her. He reached up to help her off her mount.

She lifted her veil and cast him one of her smiles. “Why, Sheriff Poole, you are too kind.”

Damn if she couldn’t make him hard with just a look.

He lifted her out of the saddle and set her firmly on the ground. He caught a whiff of her scent, something flowery and light, something a town lady would wear.

“
You seem surprised to see me,” she said as she straightened her skirt.

“
That I am.” His mouth twitched. She had no idea how much power she held over him. He’d like to spend all day trading sweet talk with her but this was neither the time nor the place for a flirtation.