When Brand said nothing, his brother swore and said, “Wait until our mother hears about this. You could have any woman you want in the Powder River Basin. Enough of them have thrown themselves at you, and yet you want Birdie Malone?”
He swallowed the lump in his throat. His brother was right, but it didn’t change anything. “I do. I want her.” He’d never wanted anyone more in his life.
Ryder shook his head. “Why her?”
“There’s just something about her,” Brand said. “She’s quirky, exciting, fun. I never know what she’s going to do.” He laughed. “And neither does she. She’s impulsive, daring, and cares deeply about things that are important to her, like finding her father’s killer. Being around her makes me feel happy and free and...I don’t know...alive.” He could feel his brother studying him.
“Oh, you have it bad. But if her reason for being in Powder Crossing was to find her father’s killer, now that she has, exactly where does that leave you?”
Up a creek without a paddle, he thought, unless he did something to try to make her stay. He avoided his brother’s gaze until Ryder swore.
“You love her, right? You’ve told her. No? So you’re going to tell her that you love her in hopes that she’ll stay? And if that doesn’t do the trick?” Ryder demanded.
Brand found himself grinning. “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
His brother shook his head. “You’re that sure she’s the one?”
He met Ryder’s gaze. “I know it seems improbable, the two of us, but yeah, I’m that sure. I can’t imagine life without her.”
TREYTON MCKENNA DIDN’T want to take the call from the Billings detention center, let alone pay for the charges. He had a pretty good idea of why CJ Stafford would be calling him now. But he also knew that if he didn’t take the call, he might be getting a midnight wake-up visit from one of CJ’s criminal friends.
“Yeah, I’ll accept charges,” he said in a growl.
“You don’t sound happy to hear from me.”
“What do you want, CJ?” he demanded, even though he already knew. He’d been expecting this call. But that didn’t mean that he liked it.
“It’s time to get back into business.”
Treyton rolled his eyes. “We would have been in business for months if it wasn’t for you getting yourself arrested.”
“You have the property. How soon can my associates start bringing in product?”
“The sheriff is suspicious that I might have already been in business with you in the past. He’s threatened a couple of times to get a warrant and come search the premises.”
CJ laughed. “Can’t get a warrant without some kind of proof. Your job is to make sure he doesn’t get it.”
“I already know my job. I’m the one sticking my neck out. It’s my property. The new split is eighty-twenty.”
His former partner swore. “I’m the one who introduced you to the business, remember? You begged to be let in. Now you think you’re running the show? Have you met me?”
Treyton fell silent for a moment, warning himself about the man he was dealing with. “Seventy-thirty or I sell the land. It’s worth more now than I paid for it. I’ve been thinking about going to Texas. Buy me a place on the beach.”
“Bullpuck!” CJ laughed. “Sand between your toes? You’re too much of a wuss. Sixty-forty, but only because I need money for a decent lawyer. When I get out of here, we’ll renegotiate.”
He just bet they would.
“You’ll be hearing from my friends.”
The call ended. Treyton swore. If CJ ever got out, he’d take over and have him killed. The best Treyton could hope for was that it would be quick, and they’d at least bury him six feet deep on his own property.
It would be just like CJ to hire an attorney who found a way to get him out scot-free. If that happened, Treyton wanted to be ready, which meant socking away as much money as he could.
If CJ Stafford was ever free, Treyton promised himself he’d head to some tropical island and see how he felt about sand between his toes.
“TWO WOMEN HAVE confessed to the murder?” the prosecutor demanded.
“I have both of their confessions,” Stuart told him. “As for the original confrontation, it appears to be self-defense.”
“Then they decided to get rid of the body,” the prosecutor said.
“They both told the same story. I believe them. A jury would believe them. So, what are we looking at here as far as charges?”
After he disconnected, he called down to have both women brought up from their cells. Their lawyers were cooling their heels outside his office.
After he had Elaine’s confession down and signed, he had Charlotte brought up to his office. “Ladies, would one of you like to explain how you both killed Dixon Malone?”
Charlotte shot Elaine an impatient look. “I have this taken care of.”
“She’s covering for me,” Elaine said. “I killed Dixon. You have my confession.”
“I have two confessions,” he snapped. “Both basically the same story. What I want is the truth. How about one of you tell me what I want to hear?”
The two women exchanged a look that made him swear. “Did you check for a pulse?” he asked.
Elaine started to speak, but Charlotte cut her off. “I checked when I got there. He was clearly dead.”
“So you didn’t check for a pulse before you called Charlotte,” he said to Elaine.
