“Were the images as vague?”
“Distant. And the wolves were even more so. Something overhead. Blood on the ground. The one I treated was injured sometime ago.”
“Someone shot it?”
“No, I think it was kicked by a horse or trampled. The bone was out of the socket, but I’m not certain how the injury actually occurred or how long ago. The poor thing had really suffered.”
“All this time I thought my father’s death had something to do with his fortune or the ranch or Jase. I couldn’t figure out why he was murdered and how anyone other than my uncle would profit and only if he was named guardian, which he wouldn’t be. Besides, he wouldn’t want the responsibility.”
“So if your father wasn’t murdered for the inheritance, what was the reason?”
He shrugged, a small sigh escaping. “I’m not actually certain, but I think your animals were trying to tell you something. I’m working on a time line. Tell me how preposterous this sounds. I think your cat, the owl, and the wolves were showing you something that happened a while ago.”
“Maybe. It was vague.”
“Exactly. The memory wasn’t fresh.”
Excitement flared. “You’re right. When Wally showed me the images of Jase as a boy being beaten, the memories weren’t nearly as vivid as when he showed me how he was driven into the fence. I had a very difficult time making out the images from the owl and the wolves, but the mountain lion’s images were much clearer.”
“You’re certain she was shot the day Wally was injured?”
“The wound would have been infected if more time had gone by. Yes, it was definitely fresh.”
“Could she have been shot from someone in a helicopter?”
Maia shook her head. “No, she was above the shooter, at least that’s the way the angle of the wound appeared to me.”
Satisfaction edged his expression. “That’s what I thought too. So the event in which the helicopter was flying overhead could have taken place when my father was still alive.”
“Well, of course there’s no way of knowing for certain, but it’s a realistic possibility,” Maia said. “I’m lost, Cole. You obviously have an idea where all of this is leading, but I haven’t a clue.”
He kissed her, a brief hard kiss, his eyes alive with excitement. “That’s because you don’t think a like a criminal.”
“I suppose that’s a compliment. You have such a sweet tongue on you.”
He showed her he did, kissing her again and making a thorough job of it.
Maia caught his shoulders and pushed him back down to the bed. “Talk. Explain.”
“I think my father brought something onto the ranch, most likely something illegal. Some of the ranch hands were probably involved. They would have had to be. Most people didn’t know it, but the old man could fly a helicopter. He employed a full-time pilot, but only because he liked to feel superior to everyone and give orders. He thought flying was a menial task.”
Maia reached for his hand again. Cole didn’t seem to realize how agitated he became when he talked about his father. It wasn’t overt, but more a subtle tension rising, building and building until she felt he might explode with the force of a volcano. “I’m not certain I understand.”
“Suppose he brought in something worth a fortune, and some of the hands were in on it and expected to get a share. The old man goes out with his pilot and moves it from wherever it was originally stashed.”
“You’re thinking of a shipment of drugs.”
“I always think in terms of drugs or weapons. It’s my job. But yes, suppose the old man was running drugs out here. He has a few thousand acres. The ranch backs up to a national forest. Parts of our ranch are on the border. He could bring in drugs, and no one would be the wiser. Or diamonds. Anything. An illegal shipment worth a fortune.”
“The horses and packs. The helicopter overhead. Maybe. It’s a stretch.”
“Not that big a stretch if you knew him. He would revel in working outside the law. He thought he was smarter and more cunning than anyone. I could easily see it. And if some of the hands were in on it and knew he had the shipment and he suddenly announced he was cutting them out, it would be a damned good reason for someone to kill him.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he could. You would have had to know him. He liked the power of it all. Suppose he went with his pilot and moved the shipment somewhere the hands wouldn’t know about it, and then he killed the pilot and left him behind with the stash.”
Maia shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“You said someone was killed. I checked, Maia. The pilot went missing a few weeks before the old man was murdered. He was actually considered a suspect. No one’s heard from him. The rumor was, he and the old man had a falling out, and he quit.”