Born to Be a Cowboy Read online

  “Let me guess.” Finn sat back, folding his hands atop the desk. “He never showed up, and you realize he skipped town with your money.”

  “No.” Another tear slipped out and she brushed it aside. “He was involved in an accident on the interstate. He’s dead, and whatever information he had for me died with him.”

  Finn experienced a little tingling at the base of his spine—a sure sign that he was beginning to get sucked in. “A good investigator would have kept notes. Could you call his office and ask his assistant…”

  “I called. Her name is Bev, and she’s his wife. She was so grief-stricken she could barely speak, but she said when his belongings were returned to her, his briefcase containing all his notes was not among them.”

  The little tingling got stronger.

  Finn sat staring at the woman across the desk, mulling the consequences of what he was about to do. If he took this case, he’d be up to his eyebrows in work that could keep him from helping friends and neighbors in need of legal counsel.

  Still, there was that tingle.

  And the fact that she was just about the prettiest woman he’d ever met.

  He dismissed that out of hand. He wasn’t stupid enough to let important work pile up while he pursued some ridiculous story for the sake of a pretty face.

  Was he?

  Yeah, maybe he was.

  And right now, though he could think of all the reasons why he should send her packing, the only thing that mattered at the moment was getting a chance to know more about the fascinating Jessica Blair. And maybe, just maybe, he could help her.

  “I’ll need a lot more information than this.” He lifted a packet of documents from his desk drawer and passed them to her. “I’d like you to fill these out. If I need more, where can I find you?”

  She took in a deep breath. “I checked into the Dew Drop Inn on the interstate last night so I could find you first thing today.”

  “Okay.” He shoved back his chair. “While you answer everything on these pages, I’ll head on over to Dolly’s Diner and bring back coffee. How do you take it?”

  “Two sugars and two creams.”

  He grinned. “So you like a little coffee with your cream and sugar.”

  That remark brought a half smile to her lips.

  As he started down the street, he was chuckling to himself. He’d figured that a woman with a figure like that would never let sugar past her lips.

  His smile suddenly dissolved when he realized it may not be the only wrong impression he’d had. As he began to put time and distance between them on the walk to Dolly’s and back, he began to question his rash decision to take this on.

  Jessica Blair could turn out to be a jealous, vindictive relative who’d just discovered she’d been locked out of a hefty inheritance. And though her nerves looked real enough, she could be nothing more than a really good actress playing on his sympathy.

  “Two creams. Two sugars.” Finn set the lidded cup on his visitor’s side of the desk before taking his chair and picking up the completed pages.

  As he started to read, he looked up. “You’re an accountant?”

  “A certified public accountant with Ayers and Lanyer in Bozeman.”

  At the mention of one of the state’s biggest firms, he lifted a brow. He would have pegged her for something in the public eye. Modeling. TV news.

  “I’ve taken a leave of absence until my aunt is found. My boss isn’t exactly happy about it.”

  Finn nodded. “Then there’s no time to waste. I’ll begin by running a check on Wayne Stone. If he worked on ranches in Haller Creek, he should be easy to find. From time to time I employ a detective, Basil Caldwell, also a retired FBI agent, and I trust him to be thorough and discreet. He should have something for me by the end of the day. Can you give me a number where I can reach you?”

  She spoke the numbers, and he entered them in his cell phone before giving her his number as well.

  “As soon as I hear from Basil, I’ll call you with the information.”

  For the first time her smile wasn’t forced or nervous. “Thank you, Finn. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. The police could prove to be right, and we’ll find we don’t even have a case.”

  She touched a hand to her heart. “I don’t care what the police think. I know I’m right. And I know when your detective starts checking, he’ll know it, too. I’ve lived with my aunt long enough to guarantee she would never willingly be gone from her ranch this long.”

  Finn watched her walk out the door before sitting down to continue reading through the papers she’d filled out. Her handwriting was easy to read. He wished he could say the same for the woman. He wouldn’t be the first person to lose perspective because of a pretty face. But what he liked even more was that she had a good mind to go with the looks. Anyone working for Ayers and Lanyer had to be sharp. But that didn’t mean she was to be trusted. He intended to reserve judgment until he found out more about Jessica Blair and her aunt.

  If he’d learned one thing since going into this business, it was the fact that a good mind and a pretty face could mask a greedy heart.

  Chapter Two

  Finn tossed his attaché case on the passenger side of his truck before heading back to his family’s ranch.

  The little town of Haller Creek was bustling with people happy to be outdoors. Winter in Montana was always blustery, but this particular year had been long and bitter. Now the hillsides, covered with snow just weeks ago, were showing signs of green. Cattle were being herded to higher elevations, where they could soon feast on lush grass. The wranglers who tended them had replaced their heavy parkas with rolled shirtsleeves.

  Springtime was a season of hope, and nowhere more than here in Montana.

  When he arrived home, he noted the line of vehicles parked alongside the back porch and found himself grinning. As always, his oldest brother, Ben, and his wife, Becca, had managed to make it out to the ranch for supper. And that was a good thing, especially since Penny, his middle brother Sam’s new bride, was just about the best cook in the entire state. Ben, Haller Creek’s sheriff, was happy about that because Becca was taking cooking lessons from Penny. Ben claimed he didn’t marry Becca for her cooking skills, and it was true that they were madly in love, but Finn figured good cooking couldn’t hurt.

  Ben and Becca were currently building a new home on a parcel of land on the family ranch. Until it was ready, they still lived in town in her rental house.

  Sam and Penny were planning on doing the same, but they were still in the talking and planning stage, and still living in the main house.

  The old red van parked alongside the barn belonged to Mary Pat Healy, and that meant she’d just returned from another road trip. Mary Pat, the county’s social worker, nurse, and homeschool advisor, visited every isolated ranch in the district during the year, dispensing equal amounts of advice, comfort, and hugs to the many ranch families who held her in highest esteem. She’d been a friend to their family since before Finn and his brothers had come here to live as Mac’s sons.

  As Finn walked up the porch steps, he could smell the amazing scent of pot roast and cherry pie and was reminded once again of how happy he was that his brothers’ wives enjoyed cooking. Though he had no intention of following their lead, the women who graced their family were much better cooks than Zachariah, who had formerly assumed most of the kitchen duties.

  Now Zachariah could concentrate all his energy on assisting Finn whenever he had to prepare for a particularly challenging trial.

  The first to greet Finn was Archie, Ben and Becca’s dog, wriggling with delight. Finn knelt to scratch behind the big brown mutt’s ears and was rewarded with wet kisses.

  “About time you got here.” The shiny sheriff’s badge on Ben’s shirt winked in the light as he clapped a big hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We’re holding supper for you.”

  “Nice of you, bro.” Finn tossed aside his a
ttaché case bulging with papers and rolled the sleeves of his white shirt before accepting a longneck from Sam.

  Otis Green and Roscoe Flute tramped into the mudroom and washed up at the big sink before strolling into the kitchen, to greet the others.

  Archie rushed up to greet each member of the family as they entered, expecting to be petted. He wasn’t disappointed. The entire family lavished him with love. He dashed over to Zachariah, whose lion’s mane of white hair framed a handsome, weathered face.

  “Welcome home, Finnian.” Like the others, Zachariah paused and leaned down to run a hand over the dog’s head as he stepped out of his room to join the group. “Good dog, Archibald, old boy.”

  Finn glanced around. “Where’s Dad?”

  Zachariah pointed. “Mackenzie is in the parlor, no doubt going through the mail as always, sorting the bills.”

  Finn strolled into the other room and found his father frowning over a letter in his hand, his pencil stuck behind his ear.

  “Another bill?”

  Mac Monroe looked up, his frown easing at the sight of his youngest son. “A legal document of some kind.”

  He handed it over.

  Finn read through it. “This is from the county, ordering you to remove stray cattle that have migrated onto the southern rangeland that’s been declared off-limits, or the owner is threatening you with a stiff fine. Were you aware of any cattle straying from our property?”

  Mac shrugged. “It’s news to me. But I can’t deny it until I check it out. If it’s true, it can’t be any significant number of cows. Most of the herd is still in the east meadow.”

  “But the county wouldn’t issue an order like this unless there was a complaint. Who would complain about our cattle roaming on land that has been unused for two decades?”

  Mac shook his head. “I don’t know any more about this than you do, son. But I’m hoping you’ll file an official legal response.”

  “You can count on it. There’s nothing I like better than the chance for a good fight.” Finn folded the document and dropped an arm around his father’s shoulders. “Come on. Time to eat.”

  As they ambled into the kitchen, Mac managed a smile. “I was so caught up in that letter from the county I forgot to ask how your day was, Finn.”

  “It was…interesting.”

  His pause wasn’t lost on the others.

  Becca, Penny, and Mary Pat looked up from the stove, where they were busy stirring gravy, carving the roast, and lifting rolls from the oven.

  “Okay.” Ben, filling glasses from a pitcher of ice water, gave a grunt of laughter. “Now that you’ve got our attention, what’s that supposed to mean?”

  As they took their places around the table and began passing platters of roast beef and creamy mashed potatoes and a big bowl of fresh garden greens, Finn shrugged. “I had a visit from a mystery woman who said her aunt has gone missing, and she fears for the old woman’s safety at the hands of a smooth-talking cowboy.”

  Ben gave a grunt of laughter. “Shouldn’t she be calling me?”

  “Yeah. She said she’d already gone to her local police in Arvid, and they couldn’t find any reason to investigate.”

  “Arvid?” Ben nodded. “I know the chief there. Frank Tyler. Isn’t this woman a long way from home?”

  “Yeah. This is where the cowboy claimed to have worked before meeting her aunt.”

  “So why hire a lawyer? Why not an investigator?”

  Finn shrugged. “She hired a private investigator. He turned up dead in a one-car accident after phoning to say he had some news.”

  “One car?” Ben’s law enforcement antenna went up a notch. “Was alcohol involved?”

  “Apparently not. It was after midnight. He is suspected of falling asleep at the wheel.”

  “So the police won’t bite, and a private investigator has an accident. And this woman’s crying foul play?” Ben looked around at the others. “This sounds like the plot of one of those B movies. Are you sure you want to take her on? What if she turns out to be some crazy airhead hoping to become the next reality TV star?”

  Sam was shaking his head and grinning. “Or a lunatic swearing that aliens abducted her poor old auntie.”

  Finn accepted a platter of beef and helped himself before passing it to his brother. “Or she could be afraid and in need of my help. At any rate, she got my attention. I contacted Basil Caldwell and asked him to see what information he could gather on a cowboy named Wayne Stone.” He glanced around the table. “Does that name ring a bell?”

  The others shook their heads.

  “Okay. Tell me, bro.” Sam was grinning. “I’m going to ask the obvious question here. Is this woman good-looking?”she used

  “Oh yeah.”

  At Finn’s admission, he saw the looks being exchanged. “Okay. So she’s better than good-looking. But there was just something about her story that got to me.”

  “I’m betting she shed a few tears.” Ben shared a grin with his wife.

  “And she had this little-bitty breathless voice that quivered with every sentence,” Sam added.

  When Finn’s eyes narrowed slightly, the teasing ramped up.

  “Oh, Finn. Please help me.” Ben used his best falsetto.

  “My hero.” Sam put a hand to his heart, and then to Finn’s forehead. “Hey, bro, I think you’re running a fever. You’re really hot for this girl.”

  Really getting into it now, Ben winked at Becca. “I’m thinking we should refer Finn to old Doc Higgins.”

  His mention of the town’s ninety-year-old psychiatrist, who still showed up at eight thirty every morning at his office in the Haller Creek Medical Clinic, had the entire family joining him in laughter.

  Even Finn couldn’t help himself.

  “I know.” He shook his head. “I keep telling myself it’s not that pretty face that had me volunteering to take this on. But she really did have the tears and the whispery voice and…” He shrugged. “I guess you had to be there.”

  “Good thing we weren’t,” Sam deadpanned. “Or the whole bunch of us would be seeing Doc Higgins tomorrow.”

  Finn sat at the kitchen table with Zachariah, drinking his last cup of coffee and going over details of the day’s strange meeting.

  “There was just something about her that had me believing that her aunt really is in danger.”

  “You said yourself, Finnian, that you were dazzled by her.”

  “But I wasn’t knocked unconscious.”

  The old lion merely smiled. “A woman like you describe has a way of stealing a man’s mind. Even the most brilliant among us, my friend, who believe we’re immune to such things.”

  “I know she could be a really good actress. But I had the feeling that what she most wanted was for someone to believe her, after the police were so quick to dismiss her claims.”

  “And then there’s the private detective.”

  Finn nodded. “Dying in an accident right after calling to say he had news. She said he sounded excited.” He lifted his hand, palm upward. “No. She used the term agitated. She said he sounded agitated.” He turned to Zachariah. “That’s when I knew I wanted to look into this a little more.”

  “I’ll admit I’m intrigued along with you. I’m sure, if this wrangler was employed in any of the ranches around Haller Creek, Basil will have his records by morning.”

  “That’s what I figure, too. As you told me when you first recommended him, when Basil Caldwell starts digging, there isn’t a rock big enough to hide any dirty little secrets.”

  Zachariah smiled. “I’ve known Basil for more than thirty years. He’s the best in the business.” He pushed away from the table. “I’m heading off to bed now, Finnian. I look forward to hearing how your meeting goes with Basil.” He paused. “I don’t believe you told us the young lady’s name.”

  “Jessie. Jessica Blair.”

  “Jessica Blair. A pretty name. Good night, Finnian.”

  “’Night, Zachariah.”
/>   As Finn made his way upstairs, he thought of Jessica Blair, probably already asleep in one of the dingy rooms of the Dew Drop Inn, the only motel within twenty miles of Haller Creek.

  It was hard to imagine a smart, beautiful woman staying at the Dew Drop. But then, everything about Jessica Blair seemed improbable.

  Like Sam had said over dinner, it was like the plot of a bad B movie that very quickly emptied the theater.

  Except that, Finn thought with a grin, he’d already decided to stay until the closing credits rolled.

  Chapter Three

  Finn was fast asleep when the ringing of his phone broke the stillness of his room.

  “Yeah?” Through a fog of sleep, he heard his brother’s voice.

  “Finn. Ben here. I’m at a motel on the interstate. The Dew Drop Inn. Know it?”

  “Um.”

  “I hope that’s a yes, because there’s a woman here who asked me to call you.”

  It took Finn a moment before the words made sense. “Jessie? Jessica Blair?”

  “That’s the one. Your new client. There’s been a fire.”

  “A fire in her room?”

  “In the motel. Looks like the entire place is destroyed. The volunteer fire department is here now. An inspector will determine where and how the fire started. But for now, I have Jessie and a handful of cowboys who were lucky to make it out with the clothes on their backs. I’ll be taking them to my office until they decide where to go.”

  Finn cradled his phone between his shoulder and chin while reaching for a pair of jeans. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “Good.” In an aside Ben added, “I can see why you went brain-dead. Even with soot on her face, she’s a knockout. And if you tell Becca I said that, you’ll be dog meat, bro.”

  The line went dead.

  Finn swore as he dressed and raced down the stairs to his truck. He made it to town in half the time it usually took.

  Jessie was sitting in Ben’s office, wrapped in a blanket, hair wild and tucked behind her ears. She looked small, frightened, and alone, causing something in Finn’s heart to twist.