police business?”
“No.” He felt every eye on him, suspicious, wary, waiting. “I’m here to make sure whoever killed my sister is sent to prison.”
The room went dead silent.
Mitch spoke first, staring him down. “And who do you figure is responsible?”
Sergio wasn’t about to be intimidated. “I don’t know. I’ll share when I have something concrete. Until then, I’ll keep my investigation private.”
Mitch’s expression turned to granite. “Helen is our sister, and whoever was hiding in that closet hurt her and set fire to the cabin. We take that kind of thing real personally here at Roughwater Ranch, Mr. Ross.”
“My sister was murdered here,” he said, on his feet now. “And I take that personally too.” He was almost as tall as Mitch and he leveraged every inch. Five tense seconds passed between them before he figured Mitch had got the measure of him. Helen stepped between them, her palm gentle on Mitch’s wide chest.
“It’s okay, Mitch,” she whispered.
“No, it’s not,” Sergio said quietly. “It won’t ever be all right because my sister is dead and her girls are motherless.” He’d dropped the words like empty bottles that shattered on the tile floor. Shards of his anger struck at her and though he felt a flicker of shame, it did not blunt his rage. Her eyes raked him, searching. What was she looking for? Some of Fiona’s warmth mirrored in him? She wasn’t going to find it.
I’m all hard edges and determination, and I want only one thing.
Whoever killed Fiona is going to pay.
Helen refused a trip to the hospital. “It’s a bump, that’s all.” And she declined to be persuaded to sleep at the ranch house. “I have to get back to the lodge. We’ve got a big group checking in in the morning, fifty cattlemen and women here for a convention.”
She accepted hugs and kisses from a worried Gus and Ginny, and the promise that Farraday would process the cottage for evidence as soon as he finished with their statements. Chad walked her to her vehicle. She pretended not to notice Sergio trailing behind them, but his proximity made her senses prickle.
He’d become a private investigator, apparently, in the nearly three years since the funeral, and now he thought he was ready to solve his sister’s murder.
Trish. Proof.
Find out who still has theirs.
Helen had noticed Fiona was distracted during her visit, but she assumed it was the responsibility of being a new mom. Helen had been knee-deep in responsibility herself at that time, having recently taken over the job as manager of the luxurious Roughwater Lodge. The town and lodge were bustling with people visiting the area for a horse show and competition. The morning of Fiona’s death they were supposed to meet for coffee in town, but a broken water heater required Helen’s attention and she’d postponed.
No prob, Fiona had messaged. Tell you about it later.
She hadn’t even read the message until hours later, after Fiona had already been killed.
She realized they were at her van when Chad politely cleared his throat. Chad was a man of very few words, but she knew he wanted to be sure she was okay.
“Uh... I wondered if, you know, I should tell Liam,” Chad said.
Her brother, the overprotective former Green Beret, would go bananas and Helen couldn’t allow it. He and his new wife Maggie were in Tahiti, celebrating their marriage. Liam was happy for the first time in a very long while, in spite of the condition which was gradually stripping away his hearing. Ever since they were children, Liam had made Helen his number-one priority. It was time for him to do that for his new wife. She fixed Chad with her sternest look. “Don’t you dare tell him.”
Chad looked as though he’d swallowed something prickly. “Don’t like secrets.”
“I’ll explain it all when he gets back. Promise.”
Chad arched an eyebrow. “Gonna skin us both for keeping things from him.”
She smiled and hugged the man who was as much her brother as if they had grown up together. “I can handle Liam.”
“Not sure I can. He’s gonna have me mucking stables until I’m eighty.”
She laughed. “I promise, I will explain it all to him so he’ll understand.”
Chad’s expression remained doubtful, but he opened the van door for her anyway.
“Mind if I have a word?”
Helen tensed to find Sergio standing a respectful distance behind, hands shoved in the pockets of his leather jacket.
Chad looked from him to her. He shot her a look that said, Just say the word and I’ll toss him off the property in a heartbeat.
They were going to have to talk privately sooner or later. She forced a smile. “It’s okay, Chad. It will just take a minute, and then I’ll drive myself back to the lodge.”
Reluctantly, he walked away a few paces toward the house, taking his time, keeping them in his peripheral vision. Her heart swelled at the family she’d found here at the ranch, a family she would do anything to protect.
Like you failed to do with Fiona?
She blinked the thoughts away and faced Sergio, searching for a way to make normal conversation. “How... I mean, where are you staying?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Got us a hotel suite, me and the girls and Miss Betty. That’s their nanny.”
The girls. Her breath caught. “They must be almost three now.”
“Their birthday is coming up.” His mouth worked for a moment. “Gotta...plan something, I guess. Preschool birthday parties aren’t in my wheelhouse. Anyway, I need a better place. Hotel isn’t comfortable for them and I’m sleeping on a rollaway which is about six inches too short. We need three rooms. I thought the lodge might suit, if you have vacancies.”
The lodge? He wanted to stay at the lodge? “I...” Stop stumbling around it. She squared her shoulders. “I wouldn’t think you’d want to stay there, at my place, frankly, since you blame me for Fiona’s death.”
His lips twitched. “I know you loved my sister and I know you didn’t want harm to come to her, but yes, I blame you for letting her down.”
Helen felt it like a slap, and the pain settled down into the reservoir of guilt she always carried around. “If it makes you feel better, I blame myself too, every day,” she said quietly.
Silence
