Free Blood Stains by Sharon Sala Page B

married, although Savannah has a boyfriend who owns a ranch near ours. We all still live at home, which might seem strange to some, but we’re all involved in running the ranch. Dad brought us up that way and it stuck.”
    “So Savannah is one of your sisters,” he said. “Who’s the third?”
    Her face lit up. It was the first time he’d seen her so animated.
    “Savannah’s the baby. Holly is the oldest. I’m the middle child. Oh, and there’s Bud. I don’t know what we would have done the last few days if it hadn’t been for him. But that’s the way it’s always been.”

    Bodie frowned. Bud? This was the first time she’d mentioned a man in her life, and that wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
    “So who’s Bud?”
    “Dad’s foreman, and even though he was quite a bit younger, he was also his best friend. He taught me to ride and everything I know about training horses. Hannah, our mother, died when Holly was in junior high school. Bud became the shoulder I cried on when something happened at school. You know all the drama that comes with growing up…facts of life, boys, the whole bit. Dad was the backbone of the ranch, but Bud is its heart. He loves the place as much as Dad did and put up with all three of us, no matter what. He never backed off from a question I asked, even when his ears turned red from embarrassment. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
    Bodie nodded, but his mind was racing. Was she saying he was like a brother…or a lover? Although it was none of his business and she was too much of a stranger for it to matter, it still did. He was beginning to realize he didn’t want Maria Slade to be otherwise engaged, so to speak.
    Before he could press her for more information, their meal arrived. After that, the conversation turned to intermittent comments about the food, the service and how far it was to Lake Eufaula.

    Franklin Sheets had finished his business nearly an hour ago, and still he lingered in the hotel lobby, having taken a seat behind a potted plant near the entrance to the restaurant. There was absolutely no reason to believe their meeting was anything but personal, but his guilty conscience and a healthy dose of fear kept him from leaving.
    Just when he thought they would never leave, they appeared in the doorway. The cop had his hand at her back, and she was talking as they walked. He wished he could hear what they were saying, but they weren’t coming in his direction, and with all the open space between them, he could hardly get up and move closer without calling attention to himself.
    They paused in the middle of the lobby. Franklin watched the cop hand her a card. She dropped it into her purse, then looked up at him and smiled.
    Franklin’s gut knotted. He wondered if she was in the same business as Sally had been. It was eerie to watch her. Like Sally Blake come to life again. He shifted slightly, watching as the cop frowned, then pulled out his phone. Obviously he’d gotten a call. Whatever it was about, it put an end to their meeting. With a few short words and a hand on her arm, the cop was out the door, leaving the woman alone in the lobby.
    Franklin couldn’t read the expression on her face. He couldn’t tell if she was into the guy, which could have meant that their dinner had been a personal affair, or if their meeting was strictly business. However, he was certain that whatever the reason for her presence, it had nothing to do with him.

    When she headed for the elevator, he started to leave. Then, before he knew it, he was following her across the lobby. When the doors opened, he was one of seven others who boarded with her. Confident he would not stand out in a crowd, he took out his cell phone and pretended to be checking messages. She never looked back, but when she got off the elevator on the sixth floor, he got out behind her. Careful to leave a good distance between them, he followed. When he saw her go into Room 604, he had all the information