When she walked back into the front room, only Natalie remained. “Rick and Henry are outside. They’re armed and keeping an eye on things just to be sure no one’s around trying something.” Natalie went to the window and looked out. “I think they should stay in here, not run around out there trying to be heroes.”
Gabriela agreed. “Maybe you should call them back inside.” She didn’t dare go to the window to peer out. The picture of the dead man’s face kept flashing in her mind and she let out a long breath. “Are you all right Natalie?”
Her hostess turned around. “Yes. I keep wondering who the victim is. Hopefully Jeremy will come tell us something.”
It really wouldn’t make much of a difference to Gabriela who the person was since she didn’t know anyone. However, if the investigation took over the ranch, it could mean the festival would be put off. And that could possibly mean she could go home early.
“Has something like this happened before?”
Natalie turned from the window. “No. Never. Crime here is very low.”
Going onto the Hawkins’s land and then luring someone into the cabin had taken some planning. “I wonder why they chose your land then?” Gabriela asked.
“It could be they know nobody uses the cabins during the winter. And being winter, there wouldn’t be a smell or any telltale sign of the murder until spring. If you hadn’t happened upon it, it could’ve been months before someone discovered him.”
“It seems I may have ruined their plans somehow.” Gabriela went to the closest chair and lowered into it. Snap. Snap. Snap. The sound of her knuckles cracking replaced the silence in the room. Hopefully the killer wouldn’t be the vengeful kind.
Kevin Maloney. The name had been repeated several times since Jeremy finally returned. It was almost dinnertime by the time he walked through the front door. Eyes flat and sidearm snug in its holster, he was every inch the detective.
Jeremy sat on the couch and blew out a long breath. Everyone’s gaze was locked on him, anxious to know what happened. Gabriela was certainly curious although she imagined there wasn’t much to tell other than the dead man’s identity.
“The victim is Kevin Maloney, the council guy.” Everyone nodded in acknowledgement. They already knew about his neck being cut open since Gabriela had described it. It felt so wrong that the entire time he talked, she fought harder not to stare at his lips or eyes than to remember every detail of what she’d seen or heard when heading to the cabin.
“Detective Sanders is coming over here. He’ll need to ask you questions, Gabriela.”
“Oh…yes…of course.” She’d thought Jeremy would be the one questioning her.
Moments later, the doorbell sounded and a stout man with beady eyes entered the room. He wore a blue shirt, black pants and black tie. The man had bags under his eyes and the look of that one professor who never smiled.
“Good evening everyone. I have questions for each of you. Anyone else that may have been at the cabins today as well.” His small eyes went to each of them. “It’s going to be a long night.”
Gabriela frowned. “Is he friend or foe?” she whispered to Jeremy.
“Both.”
“Detective Sanders, this is Gabriela Diaz, a writer from California. She’s the one who found Maloney.”
Sanders eyed her as if she were a clue. “Young lady. Sorry about the way Montana welcomed you.”
So maybe he wasn’t so bad.
Two hours later, her opinion changed. Detective Sanders had her go over every detail of the walk to the scene and what she saw several times. Each time he’d stopped her mid-sentence to ask more questions until she wanted to punch him in the face.
Finally Jeremy stepped in. “I think you’ve got what you need. If anything else comes to mind, I’ll ensure to let you know.”
Gabriela wanted to cry from exhaustion allowing Jeremy to guide her to the kitchen where Williams had already questioned Henry and another ranch hand. Natalie and Rick were told to go in to be interviewed by Sanders.
Their questioning only lasted ten minutes or so. However, both looked as drained as she felt when they returned to the kitchen.
“You should probably stay here at the main house tonight. We’ve done a sweep of the area, but I imagine you’re nervous.” Jeremy’s hazel gaze met hers. The green was darker than normal, she supposed due to the intensity of the situation.
“I agree, stay here. This is horrible. I insist,” Natalie said seeming to be close to tears. “I feel horrible about all this.”
Gabriela decided she wasn’t going to cower. She didn’t expect anything to happen with all the police crawling around.
In San Diego it was nothing to wake up to sirens at least once a week or have to skip an elevator when some sort of public servant took it over for some emergency in her building.
“I’m okay. I’m from the city. Stuff like this is not a big deal.” This however was different. Not only was it a small town, but also everyone seemed to know the victim and his family. And of course there was the fact she’d found the body.
“Is there anything else you noticed or saw that you can think of?” Jeremy asked as they walked to her cabin. She suspected he didn’t offer to drive so that it would give her time to breathe fresh air and consider his questions.
“No. Like I said, I thought I saw a shadow in the woods, but it seemed too small to be a human. I thought maybe it was a large bird or something.”
He nodded and took her arm to guide her around a tree stump. They made it up the steps and Gabriela unlocked the door.
He insisted on walking in first while she waited just inside. Finally he came back to the front room. “Looks to be clear.”
A tremble traveled through her at his proximity. “Jeremy?”
“Mmm?”
“Did you check the closet?”
His lips quivered. “Yep. Under the bed too.”
“Okay.” She didn’t move. Aright
