Page 21 of Dark Side of the River

The pilot nodded in understanding and waved them inside. “I have to leave soon for the airstrip, but can I get you some coffee, water?” They shook their heads.

“Just information,” Cooper said. “Did you have a passenger with you that day?”

“A geologist. Tick Whitaker. I think his name is actually Alfred, which could explain why he goes by Tick.” He smiled, offered them a seat and sat on the edge of a chair facing them.

“What were you doing flying over the McKenna Ranch?” Cooper asked, making Tilly cringe. Could he sound any more accusing?

“I’d just flown over a stretch of land Tick had wanted to see from the air on Stafford land and was turning to head back toward town and the airstrip when I saw what I thought was a cowboy on horseback come racing out of one of the ravines.”

“Have you told the sheriff this?” Cooper asked.

“I told the deputy who asked. He was riding so fast it caught my eye. Tick spotted another rider coming out of the ravine. He seemed to be chasing the first one,” Howie said, glancing at Cooper.

“You did hear that the first rider was Oakley Stafford and that someone shot her,” Cooper said.

“I did, but when I saw her, she seemed to be fine, so I figured she must have been shot either in the woods or when she came out of them onto the county road.”

It was clear that Howie had heard who’d found Oakley. The pilot also must have gotten Cooper’s backstory, including the part about his former girlfriend Leann Hayes.

“Why did you fly so low over my pickup on the county road?” Cooper asked.

“I guess I was concerned,” he said. “And curious. I had no idea the rider was a woman. I had no idea who you were,” Howie said to Cooper.

“So you didn’t contact the sheriff’s department?” Tilly asked.

“I didn’t know for certain what was going on. I could see that she was apparently hurt, but I never would have guessed that she’d been shot. I made a big circle after I saw you, thinking I might come back and check, but then I saw the flashing lights coming up the road from farther downriver. Whatever was going on seemed to be covered. When I heard someone had been asking around about my plane, I assumed it was the sheriff. Figured he’d be talking to me about it. Sorry I can’t be of more help,” he said as he rose from the edge of the chair, “but I really have to get going.”

Cooper rose as well. “You didn’t see the second rider again?”

Howie shook his head. “Tick said he thought the rider turned south either toward the McKenna house or the Stafford Ranch. But I didn’t see him.”

“But you think the rider was male,” Tilly said.

The pilot chuckled. “Thought they both were. Assumptions, you know.”

“Where can we find Tick Whitaker?” Cooper asked.

“He’s staying at the hotel in town,” Howie said as he walked them both to the door.

“Do you happen to have his cell number?”

Howie hesitated only a moment before he went to find something to write on. A few moments later, he handed Cooper a piece of lined notepad paper with the wordTickand a number written on it. Cooper thanked him and asked to use his pen.

Tilly watched him write something on the note, then pocket it and hand back the pen.

As they stepped outside, she noticed that the other vehicle, the truck that had been parked next to them when they went inside, was now gone.

It wasn’t until they were in her pickup that Cooper handed her the note with Tick’s number on it and a row of numbers and letters that appeared to be a license plate number—or the call number of a plane.

She shot him a questioning look.

“The license plate number of that large pickup that was parked outside the house when we got there,” he said as he leaned back, tilted his Stetson low over his eyes to shade them from the sun. “Maybe your boyfriend can find out who the rig belongs to.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

TILLYSHOTAlook over at Cooper as she drove him back to his pickup parked in front of the café. His comment about asking her “boyfriend” to run the license plate still annoyed her. Did he have a problem with her dating Stuart? Cooper didn’t get a say as to who she dated. It wasn’t like he’d ever asked her out.

The thought made her groan inwardly. What was it about the cowboy that had always set her off? She glanced at him again. He acted like he couldn’t care less about anything, maybe especially her. Even when she beat him at some competition, he would just shrug and say, “Nice job.”Nice job?The other contestants she had beaten—even some of the women—stomped off, wanted to argue about the outcome or gave her grudging looks. Cooper seemed to do everything he could to beat her, but if he lost to her, he always acted like he didn’t care.

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