Cowboy of Interest. Carla Cassidy

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СКАЧАТЬ “I apologize for my little chatterbox.”

      “No apology necessary,” Adrienne replied and then introduced herself.

      Nicolette took her hand and squeezed it tightly. “I’m so sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, Cassie and I arrived in town after your sister had gone missing, so we never got an opportunity to meet her. I’ve heard she was a wonderful young woman.” She released Adrienne’s hand and motioned both her and Nick to the sofa. “Sammy, why don’t you take the catalog and go upstairs to your room. You can use a crayon and mark what you like.”

      Adrienne was disappointed that they hadn’t known her sister, but before she could scarcely blink an eye, she was on the sofa next to Nick with a glass of iced tea in her hand.

      It didn’t take long for Cassie to explain that the ranch had belonged to her aunt Cass, who had died almost two months ago in a tornado. Cass had left the ranch to Cassie, who had left her art and clothing boutique in New York City and had brought her best friend and her son with her to check out her inheritance.

      “It was when the men were pulling down an old shed that had been damaged in the tornado that we discovered the bodies,” Cassie said, her blue eyes darkening.

      “On that note, I’d like to ask you for some time off,” Nick said. “You know I’m a person of interest in Wendy’s murder, and Adrienne and I are doing a little investigation of our own in an attempt to find the real killer.”

      “You can take as much time off as you need,” Cassie replied easily. “I know your fellow cowboys will fill in for you.”

      “And you know that you have our one hundred percent support,” Nicolette added as she looked at Nick. “More than once over the past two months I left my son’s safety in your hands. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t trust what kind of man you are, and you aren’t a killer.”

      The obvious respect and support the two women showed Nick only managed to confuse Adrienne more. Was he so good that he had managed to fool everyone around him? Or was he really innocent and didn’t warrant her suspicions at all?

      By the time they left the house, it was well past noon.

      “By the way, who is Perry Wright?” she asked before they got into their vehicles.

      “He’s a shy, quiet young guy who works in medical billing at the hospital. I don’t know him very well. He lives in an apartment in town and pretty much keeps to himself.”

      She nodded. She’d find out more about these men in the next couple of days. “What now?”

      He frowned thoughtfully. “I think the best thing for me to do right now is hang around here and wait for Dillon to contact me about that interview.”

      “Then, I think I’ll just wander around town a bit and ask some questions,” she replied.

      “I’d rather you not do that alone,” he said. “For the most part, Bitterroot is filled with good people, but there are also some rough characters. Besides, you’re a stranger, and folks around here can be pretty closemouthed with outsiders.”

      “Are you afraid for my safety or about something I might learn about you?” she asked.

      His sensual lips thinned to a grim line before he replied, “I thought we were partners working together on this.”

      “Is that what you are? My partner, or are you managing me, making sure I only talk to people who believe you’re innocent?”

      “Wendy told me you could be impossible,” he said, his eyes flashing with obvious annoyance. “Go talk to whoever you want to, and far be it for me to worry about your safety.”

      He didn’t give her an opportunity to reply. He got into his Jeep, started the engine and headed to a large structure in the distance.

      Adrienne got into her car with the sting of his words in her heart. Of course Wendy had told him she was impossible. Adrienne could only wonder what other negative things her sister had said about her. She’d been tough on Wendy, but at the time she’d felt she had to be. Now she lived with the regret of second-guessing every decision she’d made during Wendy’s growing years.

      She pulled away from the Holiday Ranch and headed back toward town. She consciously willed away thoughts of her sister’s hurtful words and instead focused on what she intended to do when she got back to Bitterroot.

      If Nick thought she was just going to return to her motel room and cool her heels for the rest of the day, then he was sadly mistaken.

      She had a gun in her purse and knew how to keep out of dangerous situations. Somebody in town knew something about Wendy that would lead to the identification of her killer, and she intended to ferret out that information, with or without Nick’s presence.

      With this plan in mind, she found a parking space smack-dab in the center of Main Street and decided she would begin at one end of town and work her way to the other. There were plenty of stores that Wendy would have frequented, and people in those stores who would have interacted with her.

      She not only wanted to find out what she could about Wendy’s interactions in town, but she also wanted to dig up what she could about the three men Daisy had mentioned. And if she happened to learn more about Nick, she’d consider that a bonus.

      She figured she’d work the streets and stores until it grew dark and then she’d head back to her motel room for dinner and to work a couple of hours on her personal business until bedtime.

      It didn’t take her long to realize that, unlike Nick’s comment about outsiders and closed mouths, some of the people in Bitterroot liked to talk...a lot.

      The first person she spoke to was the owner of the small grocery store that served the town. Sharon Watson was an older woman with salt-and-pepper hair who spent much of her time as not only the owner but also the head cashier.

      “I was always riding your sister when she’d come in here for groceries,” Sharon said. “She’d buy frozen burritos and cheap pizzas, chips and dip and all kinds of cookies. I told her she needed to be buying some fruits and vegetables, maybe cook herself a roast or some juicy pork chops, but she just laughed at me and said she liked her junk food diet.”

      Adrienne’s heart squeezed tight. Yes, that sounded like Wendy. Getting her to eat a healthy meal had always been a challenge.

      By the time she left the store, she knew the eating habits of half the inhabitants of Bitterroot. She’d also learned that Sharon thought Zeke Osmond was a punk, that Greg Albertson was Zeke’s tagalong and that Perry Wright was a sweet, soft-spoken man who had helped Sharon with her insurance claims when she’d had her gallbladder out the year before.

      She had no intention of interacting with any of the three men by herself, and she had a feeling her “partnership” with Nick was finished. He’d been angry with her when they’d parted ways earlier. She’d have to depend on Chief Bowie to do his job when it came to those men.

      It was almost eight o’clock when she finally returned to her motel room. She parked in front of her unit but remained in the car for several long minutes, discouragement weighing heavily on her shoulders.

      She’d managed to talk to people in only four different places of business and hadn’t learned СКАЧАТЬ