Wyoming Tough - Diana Palmer [62]
“Cane hired him to investigate it for us,” Mallory said stiffly. “And I don’t think Morie took it,” he added without meeting her eyes. “It was stolen after she left the ranch.”
“How kind of you to move me off the suspect list,” she said. “A few weeks late, of course.” She was looking at Gelly, who was pale and unsteady on her feet. “Perhaps in the future, you’ll be more careful about whom you set up for a burglary charge, Ms. Bruner. This one seems to have backfired on you.”
“I didn’t set anybody up,” Gelly muttered. She pressed close to Mallory. “Could we leave? I won’t be harassed like this!”
“You didn’t mind harassing me, as I recall,” Morie replied. “Or that poor cowboy who was fired for a missing drill that conveniently turned up in his suitcase.”
“We need to go!” Gelly said. She was sounding hysterical.
“If you have any part in the charges against my daughter, Miss Bruner,” King continued, staring straight at Gelly, “I will have my attorneys nail you to a wall. That’s a promise. If you have one skeleton in your closet, I promise you’ll see it on the evening news!”
Gelly let go of Mallory’s arm and literally ran for the front door.
“As for you,” King told Mallory Kirk, “in the history of this ranch, I have never had anyone escorted off the property. But if you and your ‘friend’ aren’t gone within the hour, I swear to God I’ll have the local sheriff escort you personally to the airport!”
Mallory sighed heavily. He looked at Morie, so beautiful in her gown, with her face taut and her eyes hard. She clung to that damned handsome kid, her fiancé, and looked as if it would make her happy never to see Mallory Kirk again as long as she lived. And he was dying for her. He’d missed her, wanted her, blamed himself for her condition. He’d imagined her ragged and poor, in a shelter somewhere because she couldn’t find another job. And here she turned up in a mansion, surrounded by wealth, pampered by her father, the richest cattleman in Texas!
He’d been taken in by Gelly, lock, stock and barrel. Morie hated him. Her father hated him. He’d never live this down. He’d been stupid and judgmental, and he was getting just what he deserved. Morie had wanted to love him. He’d slapped her down. Now she was engaged to some other man, set to marry and start a family. Mallory would go back to Wyoming alone to reflect on his idiocy and face the future all by himself.
He stuck his big hands in his slacks pockets. “Well, if I had hemlock, I guess I’d drink it about now,” he mused.
Danny muffled a laugh. Nobody else was amused. King looked murderous. Morie was impassive, on the surface at least.
In the middle of the confrontation, Shelby arrived. She lifted her eyebrows at the tableau. “My goodness, are we hosting a murder?” she mused.
Mallory looked at her with sudden recognition. “I know your face,” he said gently.
She smiled. “I was a professional model when I married King,” she said, sliding her hand through King’s arm.
“Your mother was Maria Kane, the actress,” Mallory continued. She nodded.
“I’ve been watching her old movies on late-night television,” he commented. He glanced at Morie. “Now I know why you looked so familiar to us.”
“She favors my mother,” Shelby replied. “Mr…?”
“Kirk. Mallory Kirk.”
The smile immediately left Shelby’s elfin face. Her dark eyes began to glitter.
Mallory sighed. “No need for further introductions.” He nodded and glanced down at Morie. “For the record, nobody thought you took the damned egg. You had no opportunity. As for the charge I made, I apologize. I’ve been blind, deaf, dumb and stupid, as my brothers have reminded me every hour on the hour since you left. I guess it took a kick in the head to convince me.” He shrugged. “I don’t need a road map to see which direction I need to look for a thief.” His face set in hard lines.