Page 77 of River Justice

“You know, wrap him up and dispose of his body. She’d brought a pickup. He was very heavy.”

“Did either of you have a gun?”

Her expression was his answer, and yet he needed it on the video.

“A gun. No.”

“You didn’t shoot him to make sure he was good and dead? Charlotte didn’t?”

“No.” She looked horrified. “Why would we do that? He was dead. There was so much blood...” She swallowed.

He read Elaine her rights, then turned off the video and had a deputy take her down to a cell.

Then he sat mulling over everything he’d heard from the two women before calling the county prosecutor and telling him that they had a problem.

BRANDCALLEDBIRDIEthe moment he heard that Elaine had turned herself in for Dixon Malone’s murder.

He’d wanted to believe Charlotte hadn’t done it, even knowing that she could have. He realized that he’d been waiting for the other boot to drop from the moment Dixon’s body had been found in the well so close to Stafford Ranch property.

The coroner had said the body had been in the well for years—probably since the night Dixon had stormed out of the ranch house and was never seen again. At least, that had been his mother’s story—that Dixon had stormed out, and that was the last she saw of him.

Right now, he was more concerned about what this meant for Birdie. She’d come here to get justice. It had appeared that she was finally getting it. But now her reason for coming to Powder Crossing was over. There would be nothing keeping her here.

He didn’t want her to go, but he wasn’t sure he could make her stay. When he mentioned it to Ryder, his brother laughed.

“Seriously? How long have you known her? A week?” Ryder shook his head. “Don’t you dare tell me that you’ve fallen in love with her.”

When Brand said nothing, his brother swore and said, “Wait until our mother hears about this. You could have any woman you want in the Powder River Basin. Enough of them have thrown themselves at you, and yet you want Birdie Malone?”

He swallowed the lump in his throat. His brother was right, but it didn’t change anything. “I do. I want her.” He’d never wanted anyone more in his life.

Ryder shook his head. “Why her?”

“There’s just something about her,” Brand said. “She’s quirky, exciting, fun. I never know what she’s going to do.” He laughed. “And neither does she. She’s impulsive, daring, and cares deeply about things that are important to her, like finding her father’s killer. Being around her makes me feel happy and free and...I don’t know...alive.” He could feel his brother studying him.

“Oh, you have it bad. But if her reason for being in Powder Crossing was to find her father’s killer, now that she has, exactly where does that leave you?”

Up a creek without a paddle, he thought, unless he did something to try to make her stay. He avoided his brother’s gaze until Ryder swore.

“You love her, right? You’ve told her. No? So you’re going to tell her that you love her in hopes that she’ll stay? And if that doesn’t do the trick?” Ryder demanded.

Brand found himself grinning. “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

His brother shook his head. “You’re that sure she’s the one?”

He met Ryder’s gaze. “I know it seems improbable, the two of us, but yeah, I’m that sure. I can’t imagine life without her.”

TREYTONMCKENNADIDN’Twant to take the call from the Billings detention center, let alone pay for the charges. He had a pretty good idea of why CJ Stafford would be calling him now. But he also knew that if he didn’t take the call, he might be getting a midnight wake-up visit from one of CJ’s criminal friends.

“Yeah, I’ll accept charges,” he said in a growl.

“You don’t sound happy to hear from me.”

“What do you want, CJ?” he demanded, even though he already knew. He’d been expecting this call. But that didn’t mean that he liked it.

“It’s time to get back into business.”

Treyton rolled his eyes. “We would have been in business for months if it wasn’t for you getting yourself arrested.”

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