Free Death Rides Again (A Jocelyn Shore Mystery) by Janice Hamrick Page A

snuggling up to his dry side. Actually, on him the smell of beer-soaked denim wasn’t at all bad, I thought. I held out my can. “Would you open my beer for me?” I asked.
    The low rumble in his throat would have made a Doberman proud. In the ring below, another bull exploded from the pen and hurled its rider through the air in one graceful arc. The rodeo clowns ran to distract it before it could complete its mission of stomping the prone figure to death, and the cowboy leaped to safety with an impressive burst of speed. The portion of the crowd that was actually watching erupted into wild cheers, and Colin put his damp arm around my shoulders. Without thinking, I lifted my face for a kiss and instantly forgot about Eddy and Carl. And Alan.
    *   *   *
    We returned alone to the ranch house after the last bull riding event, having seen no sign of Kyla. My phone, which showed a single flickering signal bar, contained a text message from her saying she had gone dancing. I did not need to ask with whom, although I wondered what effect it would have on Uncle Kel’s blood pressure if and when he found out.
    As we walked in the door, shouts of “About time!” and “It’s Stinkalyn!” greeted us, a dead giveaway that my brothers had arrived while we were gone.
    Two years younger than I and apparently incapable of maturing beyond the age of fourteen, Sam and Will were fraternal twins, their only identical feature being the ability to yank my chain. Sam, the older by about six minutes, had the Shore looks through and through—tall, rangy, and dark haired. Will, on the other hand, most unfairly took after our petite French mother, from his short compact frame to his auburn hair, cropped close to hide the curls. If there was any justice in the world, those looks should have been mine. Both brothers had grown up to be surprisingly successful, something I would never have predicted for them when we were kids. In fact, back then I would have said that their reaching adulthood was something of a long shot. However, Sam was now an architect living in San Jose, married to his high school sweetheart who was expecting their first child, and earning recognition and awards in his field. Will was some sort of international investment banker who spent part of his time traveling back and forth to Europe and the other part raking up the enormous piles of cash his employers heaved at him.
    Now, Sam gave me a hug while Will slapped me lightly on the back of my head. With a sigh, I introduced them to Colin, watching with some concern while they did the manly handshaking thing, everybody squeezing just a little too hard. I also took note of the narrowed glances they gave Colin, looking him over with suspicion. Neither of my brothers had liked my ex-husband, and being right about that made them insufferable. I hadn’t told them that I had started dating again, and no one except Aunt Elaine had known in advance that I was bringing Colin to the reunion. Now Will sniffed a little too audibly to make sure I knew he could smell beer on my boyfriend, while Sam began asking the kind of questions usually uttered by overprotective Victorian fathers or particularly zealous members of the paparazzi. I glared at them from behind Colin’s shoulder.
    Some of my relatives gathered to watch, Aunt Gladys joining us with a bowl of popcorn and holding it out so the idle bystanders could grab a handful. And why not? As entertainment, it didn’t get much better than this. Hardened criminals wanted for heinous acts of violence hardly got this type of grilling. What did Colin do for a living? Where did he grow up? Where did he go to school? Colin, however, just smiled pleasantly and answered in a light amused tone.
    Uncle Kel stiffened. “Detective? I didn’t hear that earlier. Maybe you can answer this, then. Why aren’t the cops interested in helping me find my daughter?”
    Colin blinked. “I was under the impression that she’s only been gone a few