Page 49 of Wyoming Bodyguard
“I need deputies at Tremont Ranch. There’s a man hanging from the rafters. I think he’s dead.” Her voice trembled, and she struggled to keep the bile from coming all the way up.
“Okay. I’ll send deputies there right away. Do you know who the victim is?”
“I didn’t see his face and stepped out of the barn.”
“That’s good. Don’t touch anything. Just stand tight and help will be there shortly. Would you like me to stay on the line with you?”
Even though she gripped the phone tight like a lifeline, there was no reason to keep the dispatcher on the phone. Madden was right inside, and she didn’t believe she was in immediate danger. “No, I’m fine.”
She almost laughed at her own words. She was anything but fine.
Clicking off, she tapped her toe against the packed dirt at her feet and bit her thumbnail. She should tell Madden not to touch anything like the dispatcher warned, but she couldn’t bring herself to go back inside. She’d assumed witnessing her father being shot was the worst thing she’d ever see. She wasn’t so sure now.
A light touch on her shoulder made her jump.
“Sorry,” Madden said. “Didn’t mean to scare you. Did you get ahold of the sheriff’s department?”
Wrapping her arms around her middle, she nodded. Chills raced up and down her body despite the warm air. “They’re on the way. Any chance you saved some guy’s life?”
He scrubbed a palm down his face. “No. I knew it was a long shot he was still alive, but I had to make sure. Once I verified he was dead, I let him be. I don’t want to disturb the death scene. The deputies need to see everything exactly the way we found it.”
She swallowed hard, hating the question she had to ask. “Do you know who it is?”
The painful look in his eyes had her bracing herself. “Tell me.”
“I think it’s Daniel.”
“No!” She lunged for the door, needing to see for herself if a man she’d known and trusted for a big part of her life was really dead.
Madden hooked an arm around her waist. “You don’t want to see him like that, Lily. He wouldn’t want that.”
“I don’t care,” she yelled. “I have to see if it’s him. I need to know.” She struggled against Madden’s hold until she broke free and burst into the barn.
Harsh light beat down from the exposed bulbs overhead. She steeled her nerves and glanced up. Daniel’s red and bloated face stared down at her.
Gasping, she covered her mouth with a shaky hand.
Madden stood beside her and coaxed her to lean into him as he held her against his strong body.
Tremors took over her limbs. Tears coated her cheeks. “It’s him. It’s Daniel.”
“I’m sorry, Lily,” Madden said, his muscles coiled as if ready to attack anything that came their way. “I know he meant a lot to you and your family. Sometimes people can’t outrun their demons. Hopefully now he’s free of whatever led him here, and we can find out exactly what he’d gotten himself involved in.”
His words were meant to be comforting, but instead raised fury in her blood. Her body stiffened, and she pulled out of his hold. She pointed a finger up at Daniel. “He did not do that.”
Madden frowned, doubt rippling his forehead. “Lily.”
He said her name as if speaking to a child, which only pissed her off even more. “Don’t. Don’t say I’m delusional or not seeing the truth. Iknowhim. Have known him for a very long time, and what you said was absolutely right. He wouldn’t want me to see this. Especially after everything that’s been happening around here lately. If he’d wanted to kill himself, he’d have no reason to sneak onto the property, wait for no one to be here and then hang himself in my barn. What’s the point?”
Madden shrugged. “Maybe he’d hope someone would be here. Maybe he wanted someone to stop him.”
She shook her head. “No. If he’d wanted to end his life, he wouldn’t have come here. Hell, why pack his stuff and drive away yesterday if this was his plan? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Madden flicked a quick glance up at Daniel before returning his gaze to her. “You know him a hell of a lot better than I do, and I trust your gut. So what do you think happened?”
His ability to believe in her despite his initial doubt overshadowed a little of the turmoil chugging her stomach. “I think Daniel was murdered.”
Chapter 19
