Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch - B.J. Daniels [37]
Hud had to sit down. He moved the files stacked on his chair and dropped into it.
"The doctor and dental records the crime lab sent down came back with a match on both dental and emergency room records," Rupert said.
Good God. Ginger Adams. In a flash, Hud saw her. A pretty redhead with a stunning body and the morals of an alley cat.
Hud closed his eyes as he kneaded his forehead. "You're sure it's Ginger?"
"It's a ringer," Rupert said, not sounding any happier about it than Hud. "I told you your suspect list could be as long as your arm, didn't I?"
"You were right about her being a waitress, too," Hud noted. Was that why Rupert had been acting strangely after coming out of the well yesterday? Because he'd suspected it was Ginger?
Ginger had waited tables at the Roadside Café, the place where locals hung out every morning, gossiping over coffee. Both of his deputies had been there just this morning. It was an old hangout for sheriff's department deputies, the local coroner—and the marshal.
Hud swore softly under his breath. "I thought she left town with some guy."
"Guess that's what we were supposed to think," Rupert said. "I gotta go. Calving season."
"I didn't realize you were still running cattle on your place."
"Helping a friend."
Hud had that feeling again that Rupert knew more about this case than he was saying. "Thanks for letting me know."
"Good luck with your investigation."
"Yeah." Hud didn't mention that he'd found the owner of the ring. He was still trying to figure out how it ended up in the same well as Ginger Adams—years later.
Holy hell. The woman had been rumored to have broken up more marriages in the canyon than Hud could shake a stick at. But there was at least one marriage that had definitely bit the dust because of Ginger—the marriage of Mary and Angus Cardwell.
Damn. As he hung up, he wondered how Dana was going to take the news. He started to dial her number. But he realized he couldn't tell her this over the phone.
Everyone knew the Cardwell marriage had been on the rocks, but Ginger, it seemed, had been the last straw. And now her body had turned up on the ranch. Add to that, someone was targeting Dana.
He picked up his hat, grabbing his new marshal jacket on the way out the door. His left arm still ached, the skin around the cut bruised, but Dana had done a good job of patching him up.
It was only a few blocks to Needles and Pins. He knew he had more than one reason for wanting to tell Dana the news in person. He wanted to see how she was doing. She'd left the ranch house so quickly this morning he hadn't even had a chance to talk to her.
Clearly she'd been avoiding him. Last night after he'd announced he wasn't leaving her alone, she'd started to argue, but then got him some bedding from the closet and pointed at the couch.
She'd gone to bed and he hadn't seen her again until this morning—and only for the length of time it had taken her to grab her coat and leave.
He was her least favorite person in the world, true enough. Except maybe for whoever had put that doll in the well—and called and threatened her afterward.
But he also wanted to see her reaction to the news that the body had been Ginger's. He was the marshal and he needed to find Ginger's killer as fast as possible so he could put a stop to whoever was threatening her. He couldn't help but believe the two incidents were connected somehow.
As he started to cross the street to Needles and Pins, Lanny Rankin stepped into his path.
Hud hadn't seen Lanny since he'd returned, but he'd known eventually he'd run into him. The canyon wasn't wide or long enough for their paths not to cross.
"Lanny," he said, seeing the set of the man's broad shoulders, the fire in his eyes. There'd been bad blood between the two of them as far back as Hud could remember. Lanny seemed to have a chip on his shoulder and it didn't help when Hud had started dating Dana.
Hud had known that Lanny would move in on Dana as soon as he was out of the picture. He'd seen the way Lanny had looked at Dana back in high school.