Page 14 of Setup In Montana

“That’s just it, I couldn’t tell with the face in shadow. I assumed it was Esther. But it was after midnight by then. I remember because I’d just looked at my phone. Sarah, it had to be the killer. According to what you texted me, Esther was already dead.” The silence on the other end of the line stretched out so long that Clancy was afraid they’d been disconnected.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I didn’t kill her,” Clancy said quickly. “I swear I didn’t, but something told me it wasn’t Esther at that window even before I knew she was already dead.” She shuddered even now in the warm bedroom. “The killer saw me! I figured whoever it was would come after me thinking I could recognize him. Or her.”

“But you didn’t get a good look?”

“No, so I don’t really have anything to tell the sheriff that would help him find the person. Hasn’t he turned up anything at the rest home?” she asked hopefully.

“Not that I know of except… Did you know Esther was a kleptomaniac? She’d been stealing from everyone. Everyone thinks one of the residents killed her because of something she took from her room.”

“Like what?” Clancy looked at the bed, where the plastic bag of jewelry lay.

“Something valuable that they wanted back.”

“Valuable? Really? From what I saw, all she had was a bunch of ugly costume jewelry.”

“You saw some of it?” Sarah asked, sounding surprised.

“She had this plastic bag with a bunch of junk jewelry in it that she tried to pay me with instead of cash.”

“What did you do with it?”

“I refused to take it! I could tell how badly she wanted to get rid of it. I figured she’d stolen it and didn’t want to be caught with it.”

“So you don’t have it?”

Clancy heard a noise out in the hall. Had someone been outside the guest room, listening in on her call? “I have to go, but I’ll call back when I can.” She disconnected quickly and stood listening. How much could a person standing outside her room have heard of her conversation? Too much.

By the time she’d taken a quick shower and dressed in clean, warm clothing, she heard a tap at her door announcing the food was ready.

Clancy thought about Shady Rest and the sheriff. He was looking for her, had law officers across the state on her trail. With a groan, she told herself that she should have stayed instead of taking off the way she had. Too late for that now, she thought, unable to tell if she was more hungry or exhausted or maybe just running scared.

Hunger won out as she opened the bedroom door and followed the sound of voices and the wonderful scent of food down the hallway. As she came in view of the kitchen, she saw John setting the table and Tanner dishing up food into large bowls. She wondered who all was joining them, but then noticed that the rancher had only put out table settings for four people. She hoped she wasn’t expected to eat all that food.

John turned and smiled. “Come have a seat here next to me. I don’t know about you, but I’m starved. We normally don’t eat this late.” Tanner put the dishes full of food on the table without looking at her as she made her way to the chair the rancher had indicated as John took his seat at the head of the table.

As she sat down, she heard a door close at the end of the hallway opposite the guest room. A moment later, a cowboy sauntered into the room. She knew that walk as if it had been imprinted on her. All the times he’d come into the convenience store. The moment she saw him, her breath caught in her throat. She quickly averted her eyes as he stopped abruptly at the sight of her and then chuckled. The sound of his boots came closer until he pulled out the chair directly across from her.

Clancy cursed under her breath as she heard Tanner grumbling at being forced to take a chair next to his brother, two across from her. She wished she’d gone to bed hungry as she slowly raised her gaze to the handsome grinning cowboy across the table.

“Clancy, this is my youngest son, Dub. Dub, meet Clancy.”

She felt his gaze slide over her, his grin growing as he met her eyes. “Clancy and I already know each other,” Dub said.

“Oh, really?” His father looked back and forth between them.

“She doesn’t like cowboys. Or maybe it’s just this cowboy she doesn’t like.”

Clancy groaned inwardly. She hadn’t known Dub Crawford’s name, but she’d known the sound of his boots on the convenience store floor. She also knew the swagger of his walk when he’d approached her each time at the store. Just as she knew his laugh even before the first time she’d looked up to meet his startling green-eyed gaze.

And oh, did she know that dimpled grin, since it had never failed to make her knees go a little weak and her traitorous heart beat a little faster. She’d grown up around cowboys and had told herself she was immune to their bluster, their flattery, their smooth talk, or their backsides in their Wranglers. They were heartbreakers and she wanted nothing to do with any of them.

Every time Dub came into the convenience store and made a point of asking her out, she’d said thanks, but no thanks. “We really need to get to know each other before we get married.”

“Why would I marry you?” she’d asked.

“Because I can make your every dream come true.”