Page 21 of Reckoning with the Cowboy
“Me, too. I have enough trouble without looking into that mind of yours.” She was joking—but only in a way.
“I’m thankful for that,” her friend said as she rose, leaving the blanket. “Good luck saving the world. I’m going back to bed.”
“Night,” she said and listened as Goldie went back inside. For a few moments, she quit worrying about what was coming and considered what she sensed in her best friend. Fear, but something more that was almost like…unrest. She feared Max had pushed Goldie away too many times. What would Goldie do if he really meant it this time?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Early in the morning before he’d had a chance to go to the office, Max got a call from Deputy Green. “Got some news for you,” the deputy said between bites of apparently his breakfast. “Got a call from Cheyenne. They picked up Grimes on his way north and are running him back to the sheriff’s office there. Thought you’d want to know.”
Max couldn’t help the flood of relief he felt. “That’s good news.”
“That’s not the only reason I called,” the deputy said. “I told one of the other deputies about what you said about your mother. He ran back out there. He found a shallow grave down the road from the house. There was quite a bit of clothing that was still intact in the grave along with the remains. Might be the only way we can get a positive ID. Would help if you came down to the coroner’s office, see if you recognize any of the clothing and make a statement.”
Max felt his stomach lurch. He’d known his mother hadn’t left. He’d known she was dead, that Grimes had killed her, yet… He felt as if he was going to be sick.
“Yes, we’ll come down,” he finally managed to say. “I suppose he couldn’t tell how she died.”
“The coroner said the back of her skull was caved in.”
Max had been standing but now dropped into a chair and put his head in his hand. He couldn’t imagine how he was going to tell Cordell. “We knew that Grimes killed her, but now we know what he did with her body.”
“We’ll take your statements when you get here,” Green said. “If Cheyenne has Grimes and your statements convince a judge, he’ll be looking at murder one. That should keep him behind bars for a while.” With that, the deputy hung up.
Max disconnected, his hand shaking. There was no statute of limitations on murder. After all these years, Grimes could be going down for killing their mother. He couldn’t help his relief that the man had been picked up in Cheyenne. He hadn’t been at the homestead, but he’d been headed that way.
For now, though, the man wasn’t a threat.
The news of their mother had taken his breath away. He thought of the dress his mother had been wearing that night, the last time Max had seen her. Was it possible the deputy had found their mother’s remains? If they were treating it as a crime scene, they must be taking his accusation seriously. Finally, maybe there would be enough to put Grimes away for good.
Max called his deputy. “I have to leave town for a day or two. You’re in charge, Rance. I’ll keep in touch, though,” Max told him and disconnected.
“What?” Cordell asked as he walked into the room. “Where are you going?”
“Grimes was picked up down by Cheyenne.” Max looked into his kid brother’s face. “One of the deputies noticed something when he was looking for Grimes out at the homestead. He found a shallow grave down the road a bit from the house. They think they might have found Mother.”
To his credit, Cordell didn’t even flinch. “We knew he killed her, but we never thought he’d pay for it.”
“Maybe he still will. I need to go down there and see if I can identify what she was wearing the last time we saw her.”
“Not without me,” his brother said quickly. “Out at the homestead?”
Max heard Cordell’s voice quaver. His brother had sworn he’d never go back there. “No. We need to ID her clothing at the coroner’s office. If it’s her, then they want our statements. They treated the grave like a crime scene, but it’s been so many years, there wouldn’t be much if any evidence to find.”
His brother looked relieved they wouldn’t be going near the homestead. “I can’t believe we might finally get some justice for her murder.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Josie had gotten hardly any sleep last night. But just near daylight, she’d dreamed about Cordell, that gleam in his eyes, that dimple when he smiled at her. She’d awakened with a start when her cell phone rang. Overshadowing the sweet dream she’d had was the darkness looming on the horizon. It felt denser somehow, more threatening this morning, as if getting closer as she picked up the call.
The news from Cordell had come as a shock and a relief.
“We heard from Wyoming that the man I warned you about has been picked up,” Max said. “Sorry if I worried you for no reason.”
She thought the dark foreboding fog of danger would lift, but she could still feel the weight of it. “You’re sure?”
“Everything is fine,” the sheriff said. “Cordell and I are going down there. We’ll probably be gone at least until tomorrow.”
Everything wasn’t fine, but he didn’t give her a chance to argue the point before he said, “Hold on, Cordell wants to say something.”
