Page 7 of Murder at Rescue Ridge

“With all due respect, it’ll be easier and more efficient if we share information rather than work on this case separately,” Nikki said, catching Kade off guard.

“This is a private family matter,” he said, digging his heels in. That was Kade. Once he got an idea in his head, he was a mule. Arguing in the Sturgess family proved useless, so Conrad didn’t. He didn’t always agree but bit his tongue when it came to the majority opinion.

“Not so private when it’s my dad who is dead,” Nikki said. She stood up. “I know how close my father was to the Sturgess family.”

“He was close to Beaumont,” Kade corrected. It struck Conrad that Kade had been the one to butt heads with Harrison Guidry the most. Would he be added to the suspect list? Getting the lawyer out of the way would make it easier to hire someone else like Kade had demanded. Beau had been the holdout on removing Guidry.

Nikki frowned. “That may be so, but—”

“I’d like her to stay,” Conrad spoke up. “In fact, I insist.”

Kade opened his mouth to argue, then froze. And then, he snapped his mouth shut. “Have it your way.”

3

“I’d like to see the crime scene,” Nikki said to Conrad as soon as his brother left the two of them alone again.

“The area is taped off,” Conrad said, then shrugged. “If everyone’s gone, I don’t see a reason why we can’t take a look for ourselves. We’ve been warned to leave it alone in case the deputy wants to come back to examine the area more thoroughly.”

“Is there another reason besides the ax that you’re a suspect?” The question had to be asked.

“I got into an argument with your father.” His lips formed a thin line.

“What about?”

“He said using the racehorse ranch as a rescue would make Beaumont turn over in his grave. He said anything less than producing winners was a slap in the face to a business Beaumont had worked hard to build into a successful operation. He argued against us firing the current trainer, who, we believe, is not just disloyal but a disgrace.”

“Who are we talking about here? Who is this trainer?”

“Lukas Wayne,” Conrad muttered.

She shrugged. “Never heard of him, but that’s not a surprise since I don’t follow horseracing.”

“Apparently, Lukas has been cutting deals behind our backs ever since Beaumont’s death a couple of months ago,” Conrad said.

“Why would he do that?”

“That’s what I asked your father, who blew up at me and said the deals had to be honored,” Conrad said. “Said they were legitimate, and that we shouldn’t interfere with the trainer since we had zero interest in using the horses for what they were bred for.” He issued a sharp sigh. “I got worked up, which, unfortunately, was overheard by one of the ranch hands. Toby Whalen walked outside to see what all the commotion was about and heard me losing it.”

“Did you make any threats?”

“No,” he quickly stated. A fast, decisive answer usually meant someone was being honest. “I wouldn’t do that, and what would I have to gain?”

“You just found someone who would target you,” Nikki pointed out.

“Lukas was in cahoots with your father,” Conrad said. “It doesn’t seem logical that he would kill him and then set me up to blame. He wouldn’t want your father dead at all.”

She couldn’t argue Lukas wouldn’t necessarily want his ally to turn up dead. “Who figured out what was going on in the first place?”

“Beau,” Conrad said. “He’s been rolling his sleeves up, trying to learn the family business.”

Beau, the illegitimate son. “Why did he come to you with the information? Why not call a family meeting.”

“First of all, he wanted to have all his ducks in a row before he spoke to the family about any of this,” Conrad said. “The others haven’t exactly welcomed him with open arms. He figured he’d be digging a deeper hole if the trainer turned out to be legit and Beau was wrong about the sales.”

“Was there something in the books about it?” she asked. “A log of some kind?”

Conrad shook his head. “Beau heard it through the grapevine. Said he didn’t want to reveal his source until he was certain about everything.”

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