Return to Star Valley ; Want Me, Cowboy by RaeAnne Thayne

Author:RaeAnne Thayne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-11-12T16:03:34+00:00

Chapter Eleven

She stared at the box in her hands, vaguely aware of the drumming of her pulse, her rapid, shallow breathing.

Her mind raced, trying to figure out what it meant. Why would this be here, tucked away in the kitchen of the Rendezvous Ranch? Had Wade somehow been involved in Melanie’s death? Was this box some kind of grisly souvenir?

Her vision dimmed at the thought, and she had to step down from the stool before she toppled to the ground.

What other explanation could there be?

Zack had tried to warn her about Wade, but she hadn’t listened. Now she saw his claims in an entirely different light. Had Wade really been involved in the drug ring Zack said he’d stumbled on the night he left? Had he been one of the men who had brutally kicked and beaten Zack before ordering him out of town?

She had struggled to believe Zack’s claims. The idea of a mild-mannered, kind man like Wade—a pillar of the community, active in church and civic responsibilities—wrapped up in something so ugly seemed ludicrous.

It didn’t seem so outrageous now.

She stared at the picture in her hand, at that beautiful face with the wide, empty eyes, and her stomach churned.

Had Melanie been linked to the drug activity Zack claimed to have seen? She wouldn’t have been surprised to know her sister-in-law had been abusing drugs. It fit the pattern of an unhappy, self-destructive woman.

Melanie hadn’t died of an overdose, though, but of a bullet to the brain. Had Wade put it there?

She began to shiver. Why, in heaven’s name, would he have left this here tucked away in a back cupboard of his kitchen? He must have known she would eventually find it.

Maybe that’s exactly what he wanted.

A chill gusted over her, colder than any January wind. Why? Why would he possibly want her to see this?

No. This must be some kind of hideous mistake. The logical, rational corner of her mind still couldn’t imagine Wade could be capable of this. A box full of costume jewelry wasn’t proof of anything.

The picture, though. That was a fairly damning piece of the puzzle.

Jesse. She should call Jesse. He would know what to do. Hands shaking, her breathing ragged, she rushed to the phone hanging on the kitchen wall and dialed her brother’s cellular number.

She was just punching in the last number when the door opened. She froze, her finger poised above the five, and the box in her other hand just as Wade walked back into the kitchen.

In one quick movement, she shoved the box behind her back and hung up the phone.

“Did you forget something?” she asked, hoping he couldn’t hear the panic she tried to hide behind a thin, crackly sheen of false cheerfulness.

He narrowed his gaze at her, looking from the phone and then back to her. “Is everything okay? You’re looking a little pale.”

“Fine. Everything’s just fine.” Breathe, she ordered herself as her knees started to wobble.

“Are you sure? Maybe you need to sit down.”

“No. I promise, I’m fine.

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