Page 50 of Rawhide and Ransom

She coughed to clear her throat. “I wouldn’t mind hearing if Priscilla Hardy has any connection to Judge Hardy. For anyone who isn’t already aware, the judge is Rosamund Dakota’s ex-husband.” Whatever had led to her twin sister’s confinement at a state hospital, it was starting to look like Rosamund’s handiwork was all over it. That couldn’t be a good thing.

“I am aware,” Police Chief Montana confirmed. “While we comb through the contents of the flash drive, we’ll run a search on Priscilla Hardy’s connections.”

It was going to take time, though, time Annalee wasn’t sure they had. Time her sister might not have, either, if she was as innocent as she claimed to be.

Tucker finished talking them through the high points of what was saved on the flash drive. Then he ejected it from his electronic notebook, peeling off his latex gloves in such a way as to keep the flash drive tucked inside of them. He handed the whole wad to the police chief.

“Thanks.” Adriel Montana held out a plastic evidence bag so Tucker could drop it in. “I’ll keep you posted about what we find.” A few minutes later, he drove off.

Miley avoided her mother’s eye as she scurried back to her booth to straighten the remaining products on display.

Annalee followed her. “Sweetheart,” she sighed.

Miley’s shoulders stiffened. “I’m not wrong about Aunt Mirabelle, Mom. You’ll see.”

“You took a terrible risk, hon.”

“I know it looks that way, but it’s not like I really had much choice.” Miley darted a sheepish look at her and sighed. “Think about it. If she really was dangerous, what do you think would’ve happened when I pulled out my phone and dialed the police in front of her?”

Annalee honestly didn’t want to think about that. “You purposely let her get away, didn’t you?” Now that they were alone, she peppered her daughter with questions, knowing she could’ve dialed 911 the moment Mirabelle had taken off.

“What if I did?” Miley lifted her chin.

“You almost didn’t hand over the ring she gave you, either.”

“Only because she said it was for your eyes alone. I was worried it would end up in someone else’s hands before you had a chance to read what was on it, and guess what?” Miley gave a bounce of pure frustration. “That’s exactly what happened.”

Annalee bent her head closer to her daughter to confide, “Not before Tucker downloaded a copy of it.”

Miley’s eyes widened. “You mean?—?”

Annalee muffled her daughter’s chortle of delight by slinging an arm around her shoulders and hugging her close. “Upon reflection, you handled the entire situation exactly as you should have, which has earned you zero lashes with a wet spaghetti noodle.”

Miley giggled. “That’s some tough parenting there. Keep it up, and I may never move out.”

Annalee hugged her again. “Trust me, sweet girl. You’ll be moving out long before I’m ready.” She caught sight of a young Native American striding their way with purpose. His gleaming, dark gaze zeroed in on Miley. To Annalee, it was like receiving immediate confirmation of her words. She muffled a sigh as she stepped away from her daughter to give the two of them some space.

“Hey, Miley!” Josh Chavez didn’t look anything like a minister today, just a regular twenty-one-year-old in the presence of a beautiful young woman he was most definitely interested in.

“Hey, Josh!” Miley spun his way, sounding so delighted that his already bright expression glowed even brighter. “Are you out here rounding up sinners or enjoying all the free samples?” Over half of the vendors were offering products to taste, sniff, or try on.

“Neither, actually.” He surveyed the L-shaped display of her and Hawk’s beautiful pieces of carved leather. “I happen to be in the market for a new wallet today.”

Oh, wow! You really do like my daughter, Pastor Chavez.Annalee glanced around in search of Hawk and found him on his phone again. The hard set to his jaw told her the person he was speaking to wasn’t delivering good news.

She hurried his way and waited silently until he ended the call. “What is it?”

He studied her bleakly for a moment. “An eyewitness has come forward with a digital snapshot of our hit-and-run driver.” They were fortunate his truck hadn’t been totaled. It had still taken weeks to fix the damage to the body. “According to the Heart Lake Police, the person is a credible source.”

She nodded and waited for him to continue, feeling suddenly out of breath.

He grimaced. “If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought they were describing you in the photo.”

Her heart hit the ground. “My sister,” she whispered. A fresh wave of uncertainty flooded her, rendering her lightheaded. She didn’t want to believe him, and she most definitely didn’t want to inform Miley that her instincts might’ve been wrong about her aunt. However, the police had deemed the person who’d taken the photograph to be credible, and the evidence didn’t lie.

“Looks like,” Hawk muttered.

She shook her head helplessly. “The whole world feels upside-down right now.”

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