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“Look, I don’t know what you’re getting at—” he did know exactly what the man was implying “—but people come and go in this river basin.”
“Exactly,” the PI said as Penny returned with his coffee. She slid a plate of pancakes and a side of bacon in front of Duffy, who preferred breakfast over lunch. “Dixon isn’t the only person who’s gone missing around here. I found missing persons going back to the 1800s.”
“Finding all of them should keep you busy for a while, but if you’ll excuse me, I’m hungry and I’d like to eat in peace. I really don’t care about ancient history.” He slathered his pancakes with butter then drowned them with syrup before taking a bite.
Murdock chuckled as he watched him, but didn’t leave. “How about more recent disappearances. Ever heard of a gas company employee by the name of Rory Eastwood?”
Duffy shook his head. “Sorry, not interested and as you can see, I’m eating.”
“Would it interest you if you knew that Rory Eastwood’s disappearance might involve your brother Cooper?”
He felt his stomach twist but took another bite of his breakfast.
“Eastwood gave his notice with the gas company CH4, saying he was leaving here to make a new life with his new lady,” Murdock said. “The bartender down at the Wild Horse said he was all excited, but secretive about this woman he was running away with because she had a boyfriend she hadn’t told yet. He left the bar that night to go pick her up and was never seen again.”
“How do you know that he didn’t leave town with her?” Duffy asked, pushing his plate away. The café made the best pancakes he’d ever had but this morning they tasted like cardboard. He just wanted to settle his bill and get out of the café, far away from this man and what he was insinuating. But at the same time, he knew that he should probably hear this so he could warn his brother.
“Maybe Rory did leave,” the PI conceded. “But what’s interesting is that this new woman Rory had fallen for? Some people think she was Leann Hayes.”
The pancakes he’d eaten felt like lead inside him.
“If true, then the boyfriend that Rory mentioned was your brother Cooper. They’d been an item, I heard, until she allegedly killed herself or was murdered. So what happened to Rory? Some think they were caught together and killed, making Leann’s death look like a suicide and disposing of Rory’s body to make it look like he’d left town.”
“That is a whole lot of supposition,” Duffy said with a shake of his head as he motioned to the waitress for his bill.
“You are so right,” the PI said with a laugh. “Rory Eastwood could have left town, keeping a low profile after what happened to Leann. But Dixon Malone didn’t get out of town that easily. You’re wondering how I know that. I just have this itch I get with certain cases. I say he’s still here in the Powder River Basin.”
“Should be easy to find, then.”
“Much harder to find them when they’re six feet under.”
Duffy had nothing more to say to any of this. He regretted not throwing the PI out. He hadn’t wanted to hear any of it. But at the same time, he needed to let Cooper know what the PI was digging into.
Murdock leaned toward him over the table and lowered his voice. “People around these parts tell me that if anyone can get away with murder in this river basin, it would be Holden McKenna and Charlotte Stafford—or one of their offspring. Word is they can even shoot one of their own and get away with it.”
Duffy met the man’s gaze. “Don’t believe everything you hear.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Oakley pull up out front. He’d had enough of the PI. The man was starting to worry him. If there was something to find and Murdock kept digging, he could turn up evidence that would hurt not just his family, but Oakley’s as well. Everyone knew that Charlotte and Dixon Malone’s marriage had been a battleground. Dixon hadn’t made a secret of it on the nights he drove into town to talk about his impossible, irascible wife.
As for the death of Leann Hayes, even Cooper believed it hadn’t been suicide. Cooper suspected there had been a man in her life, one she was planning to leave town with, but something had gone wrong, and the man had killed her.
It appeared Murdock thought the same thing—only worse. The PI’s theory was that the murderer had also killed and disposed of Leann’s alleged lover, a man named Rory Eastwood.
If true, Duffy knew it could mean trouble for his brother. Cooper had already been suspected of murdering her by an overanxious prosecutor. What Duffy couldn’t understand was why Murdock had been investigating Dixon Malone’s disappearance but now was on the trail of another missing person—a trail that could bring him right to the McKenna Ranch.
CHAPTER TEN
OAKLEYLEFTTHERANCH, but she didn’t go far. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that CJ was somehow faking his injury. Maybe it had gotten better, but he was keeping it from everyone. Even their mother?
She parked her pickup in a spot down the county road and cut across Stafford Ranch property to sneak back to the house. Entering her and Tilly’s separate entrance, she climbed the stairs, then listened. Hearing no sound, she carefully went to the top of the main stairs and looked down into the living room.
No CJ. But still, she waited to make sure he was in his room before she descended the stairs and moved quietly down the hallway. She’d been unable to forget what she’d thought she’d seen—her brother standing in front of the window. It could have been a trick of the light. Or CJ would be trying to dupe them all. If she had to put money on it, she’d bet on the latter.
Nearing the door, she heard him talking to someone. She took hold of the doorknob and carefully turned it. The door opened a crack. She could see him sitting on the side of his bed, his wheelchair nearby.
“This isn’t a social call. You have information for me?” CJ snapped into the phone. Quiet, then, “Duffy McKenna?” She heard her brother swear. “I don’t care about the ranch hand. I can buy and sell a dozen ranch hands. But Duffy? What the hell? First Tilly and now Oakley? Fine, whatever. I told you I’ll get you the money. Just keep me informed any time you see Oakley over there.” He shifted on the bed as if about to rise, when he looked up and swore as their gazes locked.
Surprise registered on his face followed quickly by fear, then fury. He was wondering what she’d heard and afraid that she’d probably heard too much. He reached for his wheelchair, drew it closer and awkwardly lifted himself into it. Once seated, he lifted each leg into place and spun it around to face her.
“Are you spying on me?” he demanded accusingly.
