Free Linda Crowder - Jake and Emma 01 - Too Cute to Kill by Linda Crowder

ranch would have used well water but the pump ran on electricity.  They had found lanterns for light, but generally didn’t use them because they didn’t want people to see lights in what was supposed to be a vacant home.  It had just started being cold enough to light a fire in the wood stove for heat but without electricity, they would have had no water.
    “Anyway, I came home from taking a shower.  As I turned off the main road, I saw a strange car in the yard so I pulled off behind some trees and watched.  I figured it was finally the new owners come and we’d have to leave.”
    He stopped again.  “Was it the new owner?” asked Emma.
    Nick shrugged.  “All I could see was that it was a woman and she was arguing with my dad.  I assumed she was telling him to get off her property, but she was the one who left.  Drove past where I was parked without even seeing me.”
    “What did your father say about it?”
    “He said she was the realtor who handled the sale of the ranch.”  Emma again tried to hide her surprise, wondering what Sherry Thorne would have been doing arguing with Nate Carver at his parents’ ranch.
    “What were they arguing about?” was all Emma could get out without her voice betraying her.
    “He wouldn’t tell me, but he said we’d have to leave soon so we’d better get to searching while we still had a chance to find the treasure.”
    “And did you ever find any treasure?” asked Emma.
    Nick shook his head.  “Never did.  We were going to look all that night – even light the lanterns and search in the dark but a big storm came up.  Couldn’t see two feet in front of you so we gave up and hunkered down by the fire all night.  Next morning we packed up and left.”
    “Where did you go?”
    “Crashed in town with some of my dad’s friends,” Nick snorted.  “That was a joke.  We stayed there a couple of weeks.  Finally I told him I was going to talk to my PO about going back to school.”
    “Was he supportive of you doing that?”
    “He told me I could do whatever I wanted.  I told him he ought to get out of Casper; come back to Sheridan with me and start fresh.”
    “Did he want to do that?” asked Emma.
    Nick shook his head again, this time sadly.  “He said he’d be coming into some money soon and once he did, then he could think about making a fresh start somewhere.”  Nick’s eyes watered.  “Only he wanted us to go somewhere warm.”
    “Was that when he started acting mysterious?” asked Emma.
    “I asked him what money he was talking about, since there wasn’t any treasure and we both knew Grandmother wouldn’t have left the ranch to either of us.”
    “He wouldn’t tell you?” guessed Emma.
    “No.  He said it was better for me not to know.  So one night he told me he had somebody to see, I decided to follow him.”
    Emma waited but Nick didn’t offer anything further.  “Did you see what happened at the bridge?” she asked softly.
    “I saw him meet up with someone.  I saw them go onto the bridge.  I saw my dad slump against the railing and I saw the other person walk away.  I waited for my Dad to go back to his car but he just stood there, leaning on the railing.”
    Nick’s voice trailed off.  He hid his face in his hands.  Emma put one hand on his back and the other on his arm.  There would be time later for more talk.  For now, she simply comforted the young man who had watched in the cold and the darkness until the museum staff arrived and the terrible realization sunk in that his father was dead.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    12
     
     
    Emma decided not to ask Nick anymore questions.  She thought he could use some time to regain his composure after reliving the night he had watched unknowingly his father’s murder. 
    She put in a call to Jake’s office and left a voice mail on his cell phone, asking him to meet her at her office as soon as he got out of court.  Kristy made a pot of coffee and the three