Page 48 of Dark Side of the River

It wasn’t until he got home that he had a good look at the notepad he’d taken from the sheriff.

The paper was thin. He could see why it left an indentation on the page under it. Holding it up to the light, he almost missed the only word that had been written on the sheet before it.

Leann.

It appeared Stu had started to write her a note but never finished it.

Cooper had almost convinced himself not to continue looking into Oakley’s shooting and let the sheriff handle it. But something about seeing that name, ghostlike on the notepad, made him change his mind.

On the way back to the ranch, Cooper called Tilly. “You’re right. We need to find out what Oakley was doing in that ravine. Want to saddle up and meet me at the crime scene?”

TILLYWASSADDLINGher horse when CJ walked into the stables.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded.

She looked up at him in surprise. “None of your business.”

He took a step toward her. “You think I haven’t heard about you and that McKenna cowboy? Between you and your sister...”

“What is going on with you?” she demanded, turning to frown at him. “You aren’t my father. Stop acting like you’re running this ranch. You can’t tell me or Oakley what to do.”

“That’s for sure. Look where it landed her. She could have been killed. She had no business on the McKenna Ranch. So which one of them was she meeting over there?”

“You think Oakley was seeing a McKenna and that’s why she got shot?” He said nothing, his jaw muscles bunching, his eyes narrowed angrily. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I? I warned her to stay away from there and now I’m warning you. I saw the way you looked at Cooper when you were a teenager. He’s just toying with you, Tilly. Just trying to rile me up.”

She shook her head angrily. “Not everything is about you, CJ. Get out of my way.”

“I’m warning you,” he called after her as she led her horse out of the stables. “You’re just going to get hurt.”

As she swung up into the saddle, she saw her mother standing a few yards away just outside the stables.

Charlotte had a worried look on her face as she stepped forward and grabbed Tilly’s reins to stop her on her way out. “What’s going on?”

Not you too, Tilly thought. “I’m going for a ride.”

“Why is your brother so upset?”

“You’d have to ask him. He’s been acting stranger than usual.”

“Because you’ve been spending so much time with Cooper McKenna,” her mother said. “What did I hear him say about Oakley?”

Why didn’t she ask CJ? she wondered, but when she turned in the saddle, she saw that he was no longer in the stables. She turned back and sighed. “He said he thought Oakley was over at the McKenna Ranch to meet one of the boys.”

“Is that true?”

Tilly shook her head. “I have no idea. Have you asked Oakley?” She saw at once that her mother hadn’t. She thought about Pickett Hanson, the ranch hand who’d been messaging her sister. The one text she’d seen for just a second had looked as if the two of them were close, but maybe Oakley had been seeing one of the McKenna brothers. Cooper probably wouldn’t know since he’d been gone for two years. “Is that all?”

Her mother looked as if there was more she wanted to say, but she let go of the reins. “Enjoy your ride.”

As her mother stepped back, Tilly spurred her horse. She was going to be late meeting Cooper. She didn’t like keeping secrets, but in this case, it seemed the safest thing to do.

THESUNHADcleared the crest of the rugged hills to the east as Cooper rode out to meet Tilly. The ravine was a crime scene. Even if the sheriff’s department and medical examiner were through with their investigation of the area, the sheriff wouldn’t like them going in there.

Then again, Stuart didn’t like them doing anything together.

Also, if the medical examiner and sheriff had found anything, Cooper thought they would have heard about it. Still, Tilly was convinced there was something back there to find. Otherwise, what had Oakley been doing in there? Not exactly the place to have a clandestine relationship, even if she and Pickett had something going on.

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