Page 51 of Reckoning with the Cowboy
“Max?”
Josie could hear the pain in her friend’s voice, as if even saying his name hurt. “He’s the one who just notified me of the connection between Shane Wagner and Roger Grimes. Unfortunately, it’s not illegal for the two to have known each other or for them to have been pen pals with women from this area. Max can’t do anything until Shane breaks the law.”
“You mean kills you.”
“Or at least attempts to. But Max would have to be able to prove it and I think Shane is too smart to get caught easily,” Josie said. “He has every advantage because he’s staying out at the farm and he’s working here in town for Cordell.”
“But Cordell knows what he’s up to?”
“He’s watching Shane as much as he can. He’s also taking me away for the weekend to Billings. We’re leaving soon.”
“Josie, that’s great. You must be so excited.”
“He’s been keeping me at arm’s length. I’m hoping that’s not the case this weekend, but for all I know he might be getting us separate rooms.” Goldie lifted an eyebrow. “Apparently he wants more from me.”
“Good for him,” her friend said. “I made that mistake with Max and look how that turned out.”
“I know he loves you,” Josie said.
“I thought he did. But now I’m not so sure. I can understand why he broke things off because of Grimes. But once we were both safe…”
Josie shook her head. “I’ll never understand the male mind or heart, for that matter.”
“You must be so worried about Amy Sue and what this is going to do to her when she finds out the truth,” her friend said.
“If she does. Killing me would only be the first step. He’d have to marry her to get the farm, but then he wouldn’t need her anymore since I doubt his goal is to become a farmer—no matter what he tells her.”
Goldie shook her head. “So your sister was his pen pal and you had no idea?”
Josie shook her head. “I don’t think they ever discussed his plans once he was released. She might not have even known he was going to be released. So I’m sure she opened up her heart to him.”
“A complete stranger?”
“A criminal behind bars. She would have felt safe.”
“Maybe he really does care about her,” her friend said. “Maybe there’s a happy ending here and we’re just overreacting because he knew Grimes.”
Josie glanced out the window to the hotel across the street. Shane Wagner had just come out with a load of what looked like old bedding in his arms. He dumped it into the back of a truck parked at the curb.
As if sensing he was being watched, he looked in the direction of the café and spotted Josie. He grinned and gave her a wink before going back inside.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
When Josie unlocked the door to her office and started to step in, she froze. She couldn’t tell if it was a scent on the air or something out of place or just her second sight. Yet at once she knew someone had been here. Her mind raced to understand how that was possible. She always kept the office locked. The only other person who had a key was—
Amy Sue.
Her heart lodged in her throat. Whatever Amy Sue had, Shane Wagner now had access to it. Why hadn’t she realized that sooner?
Stepping in, she immediately went to her desk to see if anything had been disturbed. The file cabinets were locked with keys that Amy Sue didn’t have copies for, so she wasn’t worried about them.
Nor did she keep anything confidential dealing with her clients in the desk drawers. But as she sat down, she saw that her top drawer hadn’t been closed all the way. She opened it slowly. Nothing seemed out of place.
As she was closing the drawer, though, she saw her notepad lying on her desk and the pen next to it. She had put the pen in the cupholder before she’d gone to the café. She was sure of it. She’d always been a little too fastidious about keeping her items neat.
The notepad still had the information Max had given her about the pen pals and the connection between Grimes and Wagner—but they were in shorthand so whoever had been in here wouldn’t have been able to read them.
Josie had learned shorthand from her grandmother, who’d worked as a secretary before marrying and moving to the farm. It had been the way she and Gram could converse without anyone else knowing what was being said. Amy Sue had tried to learn, but didn’t have the patience.
