Free At Wolf Ranch by Jennifer Ryan

due to inherit the family fortune, estimated at four hundred and twenty million, on their upcoming twenty-fifth birthday, leading some to speculate if the inheritance played a role in this crime. So far, police won’t say anything about a possible motive for Lela’s death.”
    Gabe heard enough. He got up to confront Ella, but she stood behind him, gaze locked on the TV.
    Somewhere inside him, he’d felt there was something different about her. “You lied to me. You’re not Lela. You’re Ella.”
    “I never said I was Lela.”
    “No. You just let me believe you were. Why? Because you killed your sister?”
    “I did not kill her,” she exploded, planting both hands on his chest and shoving him back.
    Everything about her remained defensive, from the stubborn tilt to her head and chin, to her arms folded across her chest. The defiant gleam in her eyes turned to rage when the press shouted questions to the PR rep from Wolf Enterprises, who stepped out of her apartment building along with a detective.
    “Mr. Wolf is devastated and grieving,” the rep addressed the crowd. “He will not make a statement. Please, allow him the time and space he needs. When it is appropriate and more facts are available, the police or I will provide you with the information. Thank you.”
    The rage and desolation roiled in her gut, knowing her sister lay on a cold slab and that fucking detective did nothing to stop her uncle from putting her there. He stood before the cameras pretending to care with his pasted-on look of grave conern, and all the while he planned to find her and kill her.
    The TV went back to a woman reporter outside her apartment building. “Again, to recap, Lela Wolf was found murdered this morning, a gunshot wound to the chest. Mr. Wolf has not made a statement, and Ella Wolf’s whereabouts remain a mystery.”
    As the reporter talked, paparazzi shots flashed across the screen of Ella dressed in every sought-after designer’s clothes with friends entering one nightclub after another over the last five years. She had to admit, her fashion sense stood the test of time. Simple. Classic. Provocative, but not promiscuous. Her mother wouldn’t cringe, maybe frown a bit at the lack of coverage.
    Gabe didn’t look at the TV, but kept his steady gaze on her face. “Did you shoot your sister?” When she didn’t say a word, he shouted, “Answer me.”
    “I already did,” she yelled back. She couldn’t make him believe her, but she really wanted him to. “I’m sorry I didn’t correct you when you thought I was Lela. No one will ever make that mistake again. She’s gone.” Tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them away. She needed to stop wallowing in the pain and do something to avenge her sister. “I need to go to the house.”
    She didn’t wait to see if he’d take her. She turned and went back to her room and closed the door. She leaned against the wood and hung her head, numb from the inside out.
    “Ella, talk to me. What the hell is going on?”
    “I need to go to the ranch. Either you take me, or I’ll find another way to get there.” She sucked in a ragged breath and bounced off the door, determined to set her grief aside and do what needed to be done.
    “We’re not done talking about this.” No answer. Gabe smacked his flat hand on the door frame. Short of busting down the door to get her to say something, talk to him about her sister’s murder, he was at a complete loss.
    Did Ella kill her? He didn’t know. Not for sure. Right now, he’d give her the benefit of the doubt, because the grief he saw in her eyes was real. He hoped those tears, and the ones he heard her shed in the night, weren’t hiding her guilt.
    He walked into the kitchen and grabbed her pill bottle, thinking about the photos of Ella on the news and the reports about her. She lived her life on the edge, drinking, doing drugs, partying until all hours. He tried to put that together with the woman in his spare room, but