Her Cowboy Avenger (11 page)

“Elena Reyes, born twenty-eight years ago. Robert Weston, born thirty years ago, died thirteen days ago. Both natives of Western Bluff. She graduated from UT, he went to Rice. They married at the county courthouse there seven years ago. Still married at the time of his death.”

“What was their financial situation like?”

“Not great. The Weston ranch is heavily mortgaged and they’re carrying a lot of debt.”

So it was as Elena had said. “And the sheriff?”

“Walter ‘Walt’ Bremer was elected sheriff six years ago. He seems competent enough at his job. He’s received the usual commendations from local and state law enforcement. Then again, his job usually doesn’t involve investigating murders. There has been exactly one in his jurisdiction since he became sheriff.”

Even if the sheriff had years investigating homicides under his belt, Matt wasn’t sure he’d trust him to investigate this one.

It was all important information to have, but he wasn’t sure what good it did him. Problem was he wasn’t sure what else he needed to know. “Anything else?”

“Well, there is one thing I found interesting, though I can’t say if you’ll agree. Western Bluff did pop up on the Bureau’s radar once a while back. A number of women were reported missing in the area over a seven-year span between twenty to twenty-seven years ago. Western Bluff was pretty much in the center of the reported disappearances, and there wasn’t much else out there, so the investigation kind of focused on the town for a while. What really got someone’s attention is that all the women matched the same general profile, Hispanic women in their twenties or early thirties. They were considering that the disappearances were connected, maybe a serial killer was operating in the area. Nothing much came of it, though. They were never able to prove that anything happened to any of the women. Some of them were Mexican nationals who might have just gone home.”

Matt frowned. Twenty-five years ago one particular Latino woman had disappeared from the area, a woman who must have been in her twenties or early thirties when she apparently left town.

It was probably a coincidence, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder where Teresa Reyes had ended up. If anything, Elena might like to know, although there was no guarantee a happy reunion would be at the end, he thought, remembering his meeting with his father.

Still, he had to ask. “Can you see if you can find anything on Elena’s mother? I believe her name is Teresa, Teresa Reyes. She left Elena’s father twenty-five years ago. At least that’s what everyone thinks.”

“You think something else might have happened to her?”

“I don’t know. But I’d be interested to know where she is now.”

“I’ll see what I can find.”

“One more thing. Can you get me a list of possible criminal defense attorneys in the area, or maybe in all of Texas, who are damn good at their jobs?”

“You think an arrest is coming?”

“I don’t know, but I want to be ready if it does.”

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks, Pam. I really appreciate it.”

“You got it.”

Matt was just about to shove the phone in his pocket when he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. He whirled around to find a man standing inside the door, eyeing Matt warily.

“Who are you?” the man demanded.

He had some nerve, Matt had to give him that. “Somebody who’s supposed to be here, unlike you. So I’m the one who’s going to be asking the questions. Who are
you?
”

The man’s lips thinned with anger, and Matt wasn’t sure at first he was going to answer. “Carter Baines,” he finally said. “I used to work here.”

“
Used
to. You don’t now, so you have no business being here.”

“I lived here for years. Think I left something behind and came back for it.”

“What is it?”

“My business, not yours.”

“It is as long as
I’m
the one living here now. Either way, this isn’t your property.”

“I just wanted what was mine.”

“You could have called Mrs. Weston and asked her to look for it.”

The man’s mouth curled in a sneer. “Had no interest in talking to
her.
If she was in jail where she belonged I could have been in and out of here without any of this hassle.”

“You believe she killed her husband,” Matt said, leaving it as a statement.

“Of course she did. Who else?”

“You tell me.”

“Nobody,” Baines spat. “She’s the only one with any reason to kill him.”

Matt figured that wasn’t worth arguing. “If you worked here for years, you have to know Mrs. Weston pretty well. She really strike you as the murdering type?”

“She struck me as the greedy type, and there’s no telling what somebody’ll do for money.”

“What made you think she was greedy?”

“Everybody knows she’s the reason Bobby never had any money to spend around here. She was always on him about money, never wanting him to spend a dime. He should have had more men working this place, should have been making improvements around here, but he couldn’t. Because she wanted all the money for herself.”

Anyone could see Elena wasn’t exactly living an extravagant lifestyle. “You really believe that?”

“Everybody knows it!”

“And where was she spending all this money?” Matt asked. “As far as I can tell she doesn’t have any expensive clothes or jewelry. She doesn’t have a fancy car, doesn’t look like she travels much—”

“I don’t know what she’s doing with it,” the man said. “All I know is it’s all she cares about.”

It didn’t make much sense, but Matt was starting to figure Carter Baines wasn’t the smartest guy around. There really wasn’t any point trying to make him see logic. Matt didn’t know why he was wasting his breath on the guy anyway.

He was about to throw Baines out when a woman’s voice rang out. “What’s going on here?”

Elena stood in the doorway. Her gaze slid between him and Baines, finally settling on the other man as her lips turned down in a frown. “Carter? What are you doing here?”

The man didn’t answer immediately, his scowl deepening as he glared at her.

“Mr. Baines says he left something here,” Matt answered for him. “He came to get it.”

“You should have called,” she told Baines. “I could have had whatever you left sent to you.”

“Just wanted to get my stuff,” he grumbled under his breath. “Easier to come and get it.”

“Maybe,” she said patiently. “But you don’t work or live here anymore. That was your decision, which means you’re no longer welcome on this property without my permission.”

It didn’t seem possible, but the man’s eyes narrowed further, tight slits glittering malice. “Damn greedy bitch.”

The bastard had barely gotten that last hateful word out before fury exploded in Matt’s veins, instantly propelling him forward. “That’s it. You’re done here—”

Baines continued as though he wasn’t even there, his focus solely on Elena. “Forget it, I don’t need my stuff. Marshall hired me on, and he pays a hell of a lot better than Bobby ever could because of you.”

Matt frowned, the comment drawing him up short. Glen Marshall, the rancher who’d made the offer on this place, had hired Baines? It didn’t say much about his judgment, as far as Matt was concerned. Unless there was more to it….

“You finally got what you wanted,” Baines continued. “Enjoy it while you can, because you’re not gonna be able to when you’re in jail where you belong.”

Nearly on top of him, Matt reached for Baines’s arm, ready to throw the man out on his ass. He opened his mouth to tell him off—

Elena spoke first, her tone steady, cold and unwaveringly calm. “I think it’s time for you to leave.”

For the first time, the man seemed to notice Matt’s closeness, glancing up, his eyes flaring in surprise. He straightened his spine in an apparent attempt at dignity he didn’t deserve. “I’m out of here,” he said, as if he had a choice.

Baines headed toward the open doorway. He was nearly there when Elena spoke again.

“Carter.”

The man’s step faltered for the slightest of moments.

“You never did say what it was you left here.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Baines shot back over his shoulder.

“It must’ve if you came all the way out here to get it.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Well, if I find anything I’ll be sure to pass it on,” Elena said with sugary sweetness.

Baines didn’t acknowledge the comment. Stomping over the threshold, he disappeared into the midday sun.

Matt and Elena both remained where they were in the wake of the man’s departure. Finally, the sound of a vehicle door slamming, followed by an engine starting, reached them.

Matt watched Elena relax slightly. “You okay?”

Elena waved a hand. “I’m fine.”

Matt couldn’t help but be impressed she’d remembered that detail in the heat of the man’s comments. He had forgotten about it himself.

“Do you really think he left anything here?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t had time to go through the place and clean up since everyone cleared out, something I should have mentioned earlier,” she said with a trace of apology.

“It was fine,” he told her. “I’ve certainly slept in worse places.”

“So there could be something here. But if he didn’t leave anything, then that just means he came out here to cause trouble.”

“Did you have problems with him before?”

“I was never his favorite person. He was tight with Bobby, so I’m sure he was treated to plenty of complaining about me.”

“He said as much,” Matt confirmed. “Nice guy you married. It seems he made you the fall guy for all the money problems the ranch was having.”

Her mouth tightened into a thin line. “Things were tense between us the past several years.”

He nearly snorted. “I guess so.”

“He wasn’t always like that,” Elena said quickly, lowering her eyes, her expression softening.

Matt couldn’t believe she was defending the guy. Anger churned in his gut. “I hope not,” he said sharply. “He had to have treated you a lot better at the beginning if you were willing to marry the guy after three months. I know for a fact you wouldn’t do that with just anybody.”

As soon as the words came out he would have given anything to take them back. He hated how petty they were, how childish. He hated how jealous he sounded, and that even he could hear the thread of pain in his voice. And most of all, he hated that wounded look that entered her eyes, and knowing that he’d managed to hurt her.

“You were never ‘just anybody’,” she whispered.

“Just not good enough,” he said before he could stop himself.

“That’s not true.”

Her denial only stoked the fire he was trying to tamp down, the need to know. “Really? I must have been lacking something Weston had. Was it just the money?”

“No. I didn’t marry Bobby because of money.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“It’s...complicated—”

“How complicated can it be? What was so damn great about him that you were willing to marry him after three months—”

“He was the first man who made me feel anything after—”

She slammed her lips together, her eyes flying to his face.

He stared back, a sick feeling in his gut.

She didn’t have to finish. He knew what she’d been about to say.

The implications of it hit him hard, throwing everything he’d assumed about her into a new light. Even more than before, he wished he hadn’t asked, wished he’d just let it be. Felt like hell for having forced her to admit something she clearly hadn’t wanted to as she stood there, the blood drained from her face.

Oh, hell. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know if he should try to apologize, if there was some way he could make it better, even while he was still trying to process what it all meant.

From the looks of her, it looked like he’d said more than enough already.

He needed to get out of here. He needed to think.

She lowered her head again, turning her face away. It didn’t look like she wanted to deal with him, either.

Matt cleared his throat. “I should make a run into town. I figured I’d pick up some paint and take care that mess on the front of your house.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” she murmured.

Grabbing his keys, he nodded tersely, moved for the door and escaped into the sunlight beyond.

* * *

A
S SHE HAD WHEN
C
ARTER LEFT,
Elena stayed where she was. But this time it wasn’t caution that held her in place. It was sheer humiliation.

She couldn’t have moved if she tried, every muscle in her body tightened hard with it. She stood motionlessly and listened as Matt got into his truck and drove away. She suspected there was some paint somewhere around the ranch they could use, but she didn’t bother mentioning it. She knew it was just an excuse to get out of here—away from her—for a while. At the moment she could use the time apart from him as much as he could.

Even when the sounds of the truck receded and it was clear he was gone, she remained locked in place.

She couldn’t believe she’d admitted that. She’d tried not to, but he’d kept pushing and pushing, until it had just come out. Almost subconsciously she’d managed to cut off the words at the last possible moment, instinct closing up her throat, though it was still too damnably late. She hadn’t had to. From the expression on his face, he knew what she’d been about to say as well as she did.

He was the first man who made me feel anything after
you
.

It was utterly, painfully true, a truth she would give anything for him not to know. Because it spoke volumes about just how much he’d meant to her, just how hurt she’d been after he’d gone, and she wanted to hold on to what little pride she had left too much to admit it.

Because she
had
hurt. In the months after he left, after she went back to school and tried to resume her life, she’d hurt more than she could have possibly imagined. She’d felt gutted, as though all of her insides had been torn out, and most days she barely felt capable of standing. She’d cried, racking sobs that seemed to be ripping out what was left of her, more than she had when her mother had left. Time had passed, and there were days when she’d thought she was finally getting over it—over him. Then the shooting pain in her chest, the gaping emptiness, and the tears would return. For almost a year, she’d gone through the motions of her life in a daze, and her best days were the ones when she was simply, blessedly numb.