Inhaling sharply, Callie’s eyes widened. “Be careful, Marshall. There is a very dangerous person close to you.”
Dragging his fingers through his newly grown stubble, Marshall absorbed her words. “What do you think happened to Agnes?”
With a trembling lip, Callie traced the rim of her coffee cup. “I’m worried something awful was done to her. I asked the phone company to trace her cell phone, and there has been no activity. Same with her bank accounts and credit cards. I had to fight for that information, but I got it.”
That didn’t sound good.
For the woman to have been paid off and left freely, it was shitty, but not the worst-case scenario. For her to stop showing signs of life? It screamed foul play.
It was the connection between Agnes and Jack he both needed and never wanted to discover.
His breath locked in his chest as the mysterious circumstances surrounding the possible ends of two of his employees began to twine together, weaving into one dangerous reality. There was a killer in their midst. He didn’t want to assume anything happened to Agnes, but Callie was convinced. Tipping his mug to sip his coffee, the drink tasted like ashes in his mouth. The money going to nowhere, the unfulfilled shipments, even the damage re-occurring on the ranch after constant repairs. Jack’s murder, Agnes’s disappearance… Who could possibly benefit from this much destruction?
“Thanks for meeting me, Callie. I’m hoping, with your help, we can get to the bottom of this. I’d also like to formally file a missing person’s report with you. Maybe together, we can make the police listen."
"I’d appreciate that.” Callie blinked and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I have to get to work. I hope you figure it all out, Marshall. And take care. Please.”
A shiver passed through him at her prophetic words, and Marshall followed Callie with his gaze as she left the bakery, her coffee sitting half-full in the bright blue mug on the table. For a moment, Marshall wished he was smart. He wished he could make connections as quickly as everyone else seemed to. Someone had to die for him to finally see that something wasn’t right on the ranch. Determined to sit down and figure it all out, he left the bakery. He needed air to think. They had no enemies that he knew of, but maybe he was relying on old information. Perhaps new enemies were hiding in plain sight.
The finances were the key. Someone wanted money. Someone wanted the King family to suffer. Starting his truck, Marshall stared sightlessly at the road before him. Driving always cleared his mind and helped him solve problems.
First, he would go have a chat with the men in the bunkhouse again. Maybe there was something they hadn’t told police. Something strange they never thought to connect to anything. He trusted those men with his life.
But maybe that was the problem.
He was trusting the wrong people.
CHAPTER 48
Sexually frustrated and grumpy, Colette rose from her bed extra early after a long night of tossing and turning. What was the point of working from home and flexible hours if her body didn’t cooperate and let her sleep in? Maybe she had gotten used to those early hours on the ranch, rising as the sun filtered through her lacy curtains, beckoning her to watch and savor the beauty of the sunrise each morning.
Marshall had promised to call her and fill her in on his meeting, which wasn’t for a little while. A heavy pit of dread resided where her stomach used to be. She hoped he had arrived and was staying safe. They knew someone at Rosebud Ranch was capable of murder and, through her financial analysis, fraud. Marshall had left so fast, she hadn’t been able to fill him in on the latest, but that didn’t bother her. She wanted to be able to paint a complete picture before presenting him with the facts. The perpetrator was very savvy and covered up all digital traces that would link the shady finances and maybe even the homicide to anyone.
Shuffling to the kitchen, she turned on the coffee maker and texted Simone.
Colette: Hey, I need to pick your brain
Simone: If this is about men, I don’t understand them. They are on earth to drive us crazy. That is all I know
Colette: No, this is about the stuff I’m working on. The ranch finances
Simone: I’m a law girlie, not a finance girlie [sad face emoji]
Colette: Yeah, maybe I can ask some of my accounting friends
Simone: The idea of accounting friends is sad
Colette: Shut up. We’re a hoot
Simone: Wait… I have an accounting friend. And she is a hoot. Not you
Colette: Rude
Simone: I’ll send her a message and get back to you. Could we meet tonight?
Colette: Yeah, I’m just sitting around wishing I was someplace else. And working… stop in whenever
She dropped the phone on the counter. There. That was enough work for now. The reality was, she was stumped. Looking forward to another day of scouring the old files for new information, Colette made herself breakfast and turned on reruns ofThe Golden Girls. There was something soothing about all that sass that was comforting during these fraught times. She and Marshall were working so hard toward something, but she wasn’t exactly sure what. There were too many intersecting mysteries, and it was hard to imagine they were related, but maybe they were? If someone was stealing from the Kings, maybe they hurt Jack because he discovered something. Jack was the kind of man whose loyalty could be trusted. Or could it?
