Page 58 of River Wild

“Did you two get this one?” Tilly asked pointedly, her gaze going from Birdie to Oakley and lingering. Her sister knew her too well. She dropped her gaze, but not before she saw a spark in Tilly’s eyes. She knew and was probably worried that Oakley would announce it atherbaby shower.

There was a time when they’d been so competitive, so immature and resentful of each other, that Oakley might have done just that. But not today. She quickly updated the presents log as everyone began to migrate into the dining room for cake and coffee.

She pushed herself to her feet, the first time she’d gotten a chance to stand for at least an hour. For a moment, she felt a little dizzy. Birdie had gone into the dining room to help serve. Tilly was busy making sure everything was perfect when she looked up and caught Oakley’s eye.

The room seemed to spin as she felt the warm wetness between her legs. No! No! She looked down and saw a trickle of blood run down her bare leg past the hem of her skirt.

Her sister was to her in an instant, taking her arm and leading her quickly into the bathroom. Oakley hadn’t even realized that she was crying until she saw her reflection in the mirror over the skin.

“I’m so sorry,” Tilly was saying as she handed her sister a warm washrag and helped her over to the toilet.

Oakley pulled off her soaked panties. Tilly took them from her and began to rinse them in the sink. “It’s your shower,” Oakley protested. “You should be—”

“I’m right where I want to be,” Tilly said. “Here.” She handed her a tampon. “I’ll get you something to wear and be right back.”

She sat on the toilet, numb even as tears streamed down her face. No baby. All she’d had was a matter of a few precious hours believing she was going to have a baby. Hadn’t she known it was too good to be true?

INTHEINTERROGATIONroom at the sheriff’s department, Stuart sat next to the Miles City police chief across from Richard Cline and his attorney, a man best known as Shorty Gilmore.

“I swear I didn’t kill the man,” Cline cried even as Shorty advised against his talking. “Yes, I followed her there. I waited until she left to go across the street, and then I saw that she hadn’t closed the motel room door all the way, so I went into the room.” He shook off his lawyer’s hand. “They already know I was there. I want to get this cleared up.”

“You had the knife with you?” the chief of police asked.

“No,” the rancher snapped. “I didn’t have a knife. I was going to beat him up—not kill him. I saw he was still in bed. I went over there and jerked back the covers. That’s when I got blood on my clothes. It was everywhere.” His lawyer groaned. “I panicked and got out of there.”

“You were just going to beat him up?” the cop asked.

“He was sleeping with my wife! I was going to beat the hell out of him.”

“Which could have also gotten you arrested,” Shorty whispered.

“Where have you been the past few days or so?” Stuart asked, and he saw the rancher hesitate.

“I had business down in Wyoming.”

“What kind of business?”

Cline looked away. “I knew Annette was seeing someone. I wanted to find out who this man was and how serious it was, okay?”

“You do understand,” his lawyer whispered, “that makes your actions sound premeditated.”

“What did you find out?” the chief of police asked, ignoring the lawyer.

“The son of a bitch was a womanizer and flat broke. He was after my wife and my ranch,” Cline said, making his lawyer groan again.

“You weren’t giving up either, huh,” the cop said. “Kind of gives you a motive for murder, I’d say.”

“I told you. I didn’t kill him.”

“Then who did?” the chief demanded. “Your wife wasn’t gone long enough that two men could have gone into that room.”

“I’d been waiting across the street. I saw Annette leave and started over there but had to wait on some traffic. As I crossed the street, I saw a man walking away from the motel. He could have come out of her room.” He looked from the chief to Stuart. “He must have.”

“What did he look like?” the sheriff asked.

“Big, stocky...” He shrugged. “I only saw him from behind.”

“Did you see what vehicle he got into?”

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