listened to the rest of the story. How frightening for a young woman to walk into what she thought was an empty house and find that macabre scene waiting for her. “How old is Kali Cooper?”
“Twenty-six,” Ed said. “The victim looks to be even younger. She might even be a teenager.”
Maybe as young as her granddaughter Gina. A bone-chilling shiver climbed Lenora’s spine. “Do you know the identity of the victim?”
“Not yet, but we do know that no one’s been reported missing from our immediate area.”
“How long had she been dead?” Matt asked.
“Best estimate is that she was shot within an hour of the time Kali arrived on the scene. Kali was damned lucky she didn’t walk in on the killing. If she had we’d likely be investigating two murders today.”
Becky walked to the window and looked out. Lenora knew she was assuring herself the boys were fine.
“Kali must be horrified.” Jaime said.
“Yeah, but that girl’s got grit. She stayed at the motel in town last night. I didn’t want her living in the crime scene until we had a chance to comb it thoroughly. But I gave her clearance to return an hour ago, and she’s already back on the premises.”
“Zach can go check on her,” Lenora said.
“I knew I could count on you folks for that,” Ed said. “And until we get a handle on things, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful, especially you women. No tellin’ where the killer is now.”
Lenora stayed back as her three oldest sons walked to the front door with the sheriff, Matt still asking questions.
Zach propped a booted foot on the hearth. “How did I get elected to go check on the new neighbor?”
“You and Kali are the same age and you played together when you were children.”
“That was fifteen years ago.”
“See, you remember her, and I’m sure she’ll remember you. Having a friend show up after last night will be more reassuring than having a stranger show up at her door.”
“I remember her because she was as annoying as a burr in a sock and kept following me around.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“He’s shaking in his boots,” Jaime teased. “Want me to tag along and protect you?”
“Scared has nothing to do with it. I just don’t like calming hysterical women. What if she starts crying?”
“Hand her a tissue,” Lenora said. “And don’t come on to her. This isn’t the time for that.”
“Give me a little credit.” Zach left through the kitchen door, but returned a second later wearing a black leather jacket and holding his Stetson.
“That was quick,” Jaime said. “I think your complaints were camouflage. Looks to me like you’re eager to hook up with this old flame.”
“I’m just going to get my neighborly duties over with before Mom hands me a basket of goodies to deliver.”
“Great idea,” Lenora said. “Juanita baked yesterday and there should be plenty of the lemon tea cakes left.”
Zach groaned. “This isn’t a tea party.”
“You win, Zach. I’ll give her the cookies later, but I want you to insist she join us for dinner tonight. If she’s afraid to stay on the ranch alone, just bring her back with you now.”
“Okay, but if she’s as weird as she was as a kid and starts stalking me, it’s on your conscience.”
“I’ll live with it,” Lenora said, smiling. “But be careful, Zach, and I don’t mean of Kali.”
“If you’re worried, you can send Matt. He’s older and—well, he’s older.”
“You’ll do fine. Just be careful.”
But he was already heading for the back door, his cocky swagger a discomforting reminder that he wasn’t afraid of anything and that being wary would never cross his mind. Maybe sending him to see Kali wasn’t the best idea after all.
“Relax, Mom,” Jaime said, no doubt reading her concern. “I’m sure the killer is long gone. If he wasn’t, Sheriff Guerra would already have him in custody.”
“That makes sense,” Lenora said. Still she worried. It was her job. She was a mother.
ZACH WAS not looking forward to playing comforter to Kali Cooper, but he’d love to go toe to toe with the cowardly skunk who’d murdered a young woman. He hadn’t wanted to belabor the point with his mother or Jaime, but what kind of deranged pervert got his rocks off like that?
Zach kept his eyes peeled for anything suspicious as he made the short drive to the Silver Spurs Ranch. He’d taken Bart’s pickup truck instead of his own new Jaguar. The main roads at Jack’s Bluff were graded regularly and kept in excellent condition, but the ones at the Silver Spurs were another story.
He slowed as he turned right on Cooper’s Road. That wasn’t the official name of the blacktop that dead ended at the front entrance to the Silver Spurs Ranch, but that was the only thing Zach or probably anyone else around here had ever heard it called. And there was no road sign to suggest they were wrong.
The fence posts along the edge of the road were leaning and there were several breaks in the strings of barbed wire. Old man Cooper had kept the place in top-notch shape when he was able, but it had fallen into disrepair when his health had started to fail, and it had gone downhill even faster during the months since his death.
That might explain why a killer had found his way to the spot. He could have gotten lost and wound up on the dead-end road. One look and he’d have figured that the ranch was deserted.
The gate was open and banging in the wind when Zach reached it. He drove through, then got out of his truck and closed and latched it. Not that there were any livestock to worry about or that closing it would deter a killer, but latching gates was a habit everyone growing up on a ranch learned early in life.
As he’d suspected, the ranch road was a muddy slush and he dodged potholes and trenches where the squad cars had slewed around them. He wondered as he did what a city girl was going to do in a place like this. He could imagine her now, traipsing through the mud in fancy, high-heeled boots with her skinny arms swinging at her side and her red hair flying about like a horse’s mane.
Probably more of a pain now than she’d been that long-ago summer when she’d followed him around like a sick calf. Still, he felt bad that she’d arrived to a bloody welcome.
He pulled up in front of the house and was about to step out of the pickup when the front door of the house flew open. A young woman stepped onto the porch with a shotgun in hand. If the woman was Kali, she looked a lot different all grown up.
He climbed from behind the wheel and waved a greeting. “Zach Collingsworth,” he said. “I’m a neighbor, and I’d feel a bit more welcome if
