Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch - B.J. Daniels [60]
At the sound of footfalls, she turned to see her father's doctor coming toward her. She froze. All she could think about was the day of her mother's accident and the doctor coming down the hall to give her the news. She couldn't lose another parent.
* * *
HUD SPOTTED DANA the moment he walked into the Bozeman hospital emergency room waiting area. Relief washed through him, making his legs feel boneless. She was all right.
She was talking to the doctor and he could see the concern in her face. He waited, studying her body language, fear closing his throat.
Her shoulders seemed to slump and he saw her hand go to her mouth, then brush at her tears. She was smiling and nodding, and Hud knew that whatever had happened, there had been good news.
She saw him then. He tried not to read anything into her expression. For a moment there she'd actually looked glad to see him.
She said something to the doctor then walked toward him. He caught his breath. Sometimes he forgot how beautiful she was. Her eyes were bright, cheeks flushed from crying, her face glowing with the good news the doctor had given her.
"Dana?" he said as she closed the distance. "What's happened?"
"Dad. He had a heart attack." Her voice broke. "But the doctor says he's stable now." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "I have to talk to you."
"Okay." He couldn't help but sound tentative. She hadn't wanted to lay eyes on him—let alone talk to him. "Did you want to talk at the office or—"
She glanced around, making him wonder where her brothers were. And Stacy. "Could we go back to your place?"
His place? "Sure." Whatever she wanted to talk to him about was serious. "You want to follow me?"
She shook her head. "I need to stop by Stacy's. You go on. I'll meet you there."
Whatever that was about he didn't want to know. But at the same time, he didn't like the idea of her going alone.
"I could go with you," he said.
She shook her head again. "I'll meet you at the cabin you're renting." She knew where he lived?
"I'll see you soon," he said.
She nodded distractedly. "Soon."
As he got into his patrol car, he tried not to even guess what this was about. But he had a bad feeling it could have something to do with her father's gun now locked in his evidence cabinet at the office.
The night was clear, stars bright dots in the crystalline cold blue of the sky overhead. Snow covered everything. It sat in puffy white clumps in the branches of the trees and gleamed in the starlight like zillions of diamonds on the open field across the road.
The drive home was interminable. He kept looking in his rearview mirror, hoping to see the headlights of Dana's pickup. She'd said she needed to make a stop by Stacy's. He wished he'd asked how long she might be.
He parked in front of the cabin, the night darker than the inside of a gunny sack. In the cabin, he straightened up, built a fire and put on some coffee.
A wind had come up. It whirled the light fresh snow in a blizzard of white outside the window. He should have insisted she ride with him as upset as she was. But he'd had no desire to go to Stacy's, and Dana hadn't wanted him along.
The sky over the tops of the pines darkened as another storm moved in. He'd forgotten how dark it could be in the dead of winter.
He watched the road—what little of it he could see through the swirling snow. Surprisingly he really had missed winters while in Los Angeles. Missed the seasons that were so dramatic in Montana. Especially winter. Two feet of snow could fall overnight. It wasn't unusual to wake up to the silence and the cold and know that something had changed during the night.
Dana should be here by now. He began to worry, thinking about what he'd heard in her voice. She'd been upset about her father. But that hadn't been all of it. Something had happened. Something she needed to talk to him about. But first she had to see Stacy.
Hud was to the point where he was