Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch - B.J. Daniels [56]
Dana felt all the air rush from her lungs as if he'd hit her. "You aren't seriously suggesting that I—"
"Your attitude is making us all look guilty," Jordan said.
"And you think if I'm nice to Hud, it will make you look any less guilty?" she snapped.
"Please, can't we all just quit arguing?" Stacy said, sounding close to tears.
"After the ranch sells, I'm leaving," Clay said out of the blue, making everyone turn to look at him. He seemed embarrassed by the attention. "I have a chance to buy a small theater in Los Angeles."
"You'd leave Montana?" Dana asked, and realized she didn't know her younger brother at all.
Clay gave her a lopsided smile. "You're the one who loves Montana, Dana. I would have left years ago if I could have. And now, with everyone in town talking about our family as if we're murderers…Did you know that a deputy made me stop on the way here to have my fingerprints taken?"
"Stop whining, Clay, I got a call from the deputy too," Jordan said, and looked at Stacy. She nodded that she had, too.
"What do you expect?" Dana said, tired of her siblings acting so put-upon. "A woman's body was found in our well. We all knew her. She broke up Mom and Dad's marriage. And, Jordan—"
"Maybe Mom killed her and threw her down the well," Jordan interrupted.
The room went deathly quiet.
"Don't give me that look, Dana," he said. "You know Mom was capable of about anything she set her mind to."
"I've heard enough of this," Dana said, and headed for the kitchen.
"Well, that's a surprise," Jordan said to her retreating back. "We knew we couldn't count on you to be reasonable."
Seething with anger, she turned to face him. "I have another month here before the court rules on whether the ranch has to be sold to humor the three of you and I'm taking it. If you don't like it, too bad. I'm fighting to save the ranch my mother loved. All the three of you want is money—any way you can get it. Even by destroying something that has been in our family for generations."
Jordan started to argue but she cut him off. "And as for the murder investigation, you're all on your own. Frankly, I think you're all capable of murder."
Clay and Stacy both denied that they had anything to hide. Jordan just glared at her and said, "You're making a very big mistake, Dana. I hope you don't live to regret it."
She turned and stalked off into the kitchen. Going to the sink, she grabbed the cool porcelain edge and gripped it, Jordan's threat ringing in her ears.
HUD GOT THE CALL from the crime lab just as he was starting to leave his office.
"We've found some latent prints on both the box of chocolates and the doll," Dr. Cross said. "I decided to do the tests myself since it tied in with your ongoing case. Interesting case."
"Did you come up with a match?" Hud asked.
"No prints on file that matched any of the prints on the doll or the package. We found multiple prints on the doll, all different. As for the gift, only one set."
Hud felt his heart rate quicken. "My deputy is bringing you up some fingerprints to compare those to. What about the chocolates themselves?"
"No prints on them. Also no sign of a drug or poison. As far as I can tell, they were nothing but chocolate."
Relieved, Hud sighed. "Thanks for doing this so quickly." He hung up. There was one set of prints he hadn't asked Liza to get for him. Lanny Rankin's.
Hud planned to get those himself tonight.
He picked up the phone and started calling the local bars on a hunch. The bartender at the second one Hud called said that Lanny was there.
"Try to keep him there. I'm buying," Hud said. "I'll be right down."
* * *
DANA WASN'T SURPRISED to hear tentative footfalls behind her and smell her sister's expensive perfume. Standing at the sink with her back to her sister, she closed her eyes, waiting for the next onslaught. Obviously, Jordan and Clay had sent Stacy in to convince her to change her mind.
"Dana," her sister said quietly. "I have to tell you something."
Dana kept her back turned to her sister. She'd planned