“I remember you mentioning that. That’s why I thought of you. So maybe you know the area?” the man had said.
“Like the back of my hand. I might even know the target.”
“Ever heard of the Cardwell Ranch?”
Jimmy had felt a chill as if someone had walked over his grave. This was too good to be true. “Are you kidding? I used to...date Stacy Cardwell.”
“Well, maybe you won’t want this one.”
As desperate as he was for money, he would have killed anyone they asked, even Stacy herself, though not before he’d spent some quality time with her for old times’ sake.
He’d thought it was fate when the man told him the hit was on a woman named DJ Justice, a cousin of the Cardwells. “Don’t know her. Don’t care even if I did. Just get me some...traveling money and then let me know how you want it handled.”
The man had said he’d get back to him, but it had to be done soon. Jimmy had started making plans with what he would do with all that money.
Now, though, he felt his heart drop as he saw the man’s expression. “I’m sorry. The client has decided to go with someone else.”
“Someone else?” Jimmy cried loud enough that the bartender sent him a look. “Come on,” he said, dropping his voice. “I thought I had it? I’m perfect for the job. Shouldn’t it be a case of who gets her first? If it’s the money—”
“They went with a pro, all right?”
“Excuse me?” Jimmy demanded, mad at the thought of losing the money and taking it as an insult. “I grew up in Montana. Do you have any idea how many deer I killed? You ever kill a deer?”
“A deer is a lot different than killing a woman.” The man threw down some bills on the bar. “For your time.” He slid off his stool and started to step away.
“You think that bothers me?” Jimmy had known some women he would have loved to have put a bullet in. He wouldn’t even have flinched.
As the man started through the empty bar toward the back door, Jimmy went after him, trotting along beside him, determined not to let him leave without getting the job.
“I’ll do it for less than your...pro.”
“I don’t think money is the issue,” the man said without looking at him. “She just wants it done fast.”
She? He was thinking jealousy, revenge, a catfight over some man. “So what did this DJ Justice do? Steal some broad’s old man?”
The man stopped at the door. Jimmy could tell that he was regretting giving him the details. “Look, forget this one, and maybe the next time I have something...” The man pushed open the door.
“You want to see a pro? I’ll show you a pro. I got this one,” he called after him. “I’ll find her first and I’ll be back for the rest of the money.”
* * *
STACY CARDWELL WIPED her eyes as the movie ended. She couldn’t help blubbering, not at the end of a touching love story. Maybe she was a sucker for a happy ending. Not that she expected one for herself. She’d picked the wrong man too many times.
But she was just happy to have her daughter, Ella, who was almost five years old. Ella had the biggest green eyes she’d ever seen and had stolen her heart even before she was born. Sure, Stacy got lonely sometimes, but she had her sister, Dana, and brothers, Jordan and Clay. Jordan just lived up the road. Clay was still in California but visited a couple times a year.
Years ago they’d had a falling-out over the ranch. Stacy still regretted it. But Dana had forgiven her, and now they were closer than ever.
“Hello?”
She quickly turned off the television as Burt Olsen, the local mailman, stuck his head in the front door of the main ranch house, where Stacy was curled up watching movies.
“Got a package for Dana,” he said. “Need a signature.”
Stacy waved him on into the house, smiling as he stomped snow off his boots on the porch before entering. Burt was always so polite. Dana was convinced that Burt had a crush on Stacy, but he was just too shy to ask her out. She was glad Dana wasn’t here to tease her about him.
“How’s your day going?” Burt asked, then quickly lowered his voice. “The kids asleep?”
She laughed and shook her head. “That would be some trick, to get them all to take naps at their ages. No, their grandpa took them sledding. I’m just holding down the fort until my sister gets back.”
“Saw your car out front,” Burt said. “Figured you might be sitting the kids. What’d ya think of that snow last night? Really came down. I’ve already been stuck a couple of times today. Glad I have chains on my rig.”
She nodded as she signed for the package. “Can I fill up your thermos with coffee? I have a pot going.”
“That would be right nice of you,” Burt said, blushing a little. He was a big man with a round red face and brown eyes that disappeared in his face when he laughed. He wasn’t handsome by anyone’s standards, but there was a warmth and a sincerity about him.
“He will make some woman a fine husband,” Dana had said more than once. “A smart woman would snatch him up.”
Stacy had never been smart when it came to men, and her sister knew it. But she liked Burt. If she had been looking for a husband... But she wasn’t.
When he returned from his truck with the thermos, she took it into the big farmhouse kitchen and proceeded to fill it with hot strong coffee. Burt had followed her only as far as the kitchen doorway.
“Having electrical problems?” Burt asked.
She turned to frown. “No, why?”
“I saw some feller up a pole not far from the house.”
Stacy shrugged. “Here, I made sugar cookies. I’ll put a couple of them in a bag for you.”
“Oh, you don’t have to...”
“Dana would insist if she was here,” Stacy said.
“Well, thank you.” He took the thermos and the plastic bag. “Shaped like Christmas trees,” he said, holding up the bag to see the cookies. “You did a real nice job on them.”
She felt her cheeks heat. Burt was so appreciative of even the smallest kind gesture a person did for him. “Thank you.”
“Well, I’ll be getting along, then.” He nodded, not quite looking at her. “Might want to dig out some candles in case that lineman turns off your power. You have a nice day now.”
“I’m going to try.” She watched him drive away, wondering when Burt was going to get around to asking her out and how she was going to let him down easy.
In the kitchen, she got herself some cookies and milk. Going back to the television, she found another Christmas love story and hoped Burt was wrong about the power man cutting off her television. She didn’t get that much time alone to watch.
But this show didn’t hold her attention. She wondered when Dana would be back with their cousin Dee Anna Justice and what surprises this cousin might bring to the ranch.
* * *
AS BEAU CLIMBED into his SUV and began the drive out of the airport on the newly constructed roads, his cell phone rang. The roads were new because Gallatin Field was now the busiest airport in the state. “Beau Tanner.”
“What is your hourly rate?”
He recognized Leah’s voice and imagined her