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Soed to hold her temper in check “Stella said I could cos You can call her if you need to”

“No need You can’t take anything related to the business But since he lived here a while, you et it for you”

He disappeared into a back rooh with dirty clothes and bedding With a rin, Lute shoved it across the desk toward her “Here you go It’s all yours, lady”

Fighting the urge to fling the laundry in his face, Natalie took the box and walked out to her vehicle Facing Lute had been aexperience, but as she pulled out into the street, she reminded herself that she’d made some important connections Stella had taken over Slade’s business Slade, who’d hated Beau, had hired Lute, who hated Beau, too

Now Slade was dead and Lute had taken over his job There was no way these events could’ve been random They had to be connected to Slade’s murder

Since Lute had worked on the ranch, he would have knohere Jasper kept the rifle And he could easily have sneaked into the shed and taken it

What would the sheriff say to all this when she told him? Natalie wondered

CHAPTER 13

With Beau’s arraigned to meet both Beau and Will at the ranch instead of her office Co phone calls, and she could spend tial business was finished

Will studied her from his armchair She sat curled on the couch, one foot tucked beneath her and her laptop balanced across her knees Today she was dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a soft cotton shirt with an open collar that framed her creamy throat Her hair was loosely twisted and pinned to the crown of her head with a silver clip She looked exactly the way Will had always liked her to look Not that it made any difference Even in jeans and sneakers, Tori was all business

Will had suggested that Beau hire a big-name trial lawyer from someplace like Dallas But Beau had chosen to stay with Tori It had been a good idea, Will conceded Tori was invested heart and soul in saving the hter’s uncle, her ex-husband’s brother, and her own lifelong friend

“So what did the sheriff say when you told hi to the fact that the shots from Jasper’s rifle appeared to have been fired from directly above, most likely into a dead body

Tori shook her head “I’o as well as I’d hoped He said it was an interesting idea, but the medical examiner’s report was inconclusive The only way to prove our claim would be to find evidence that Slade had died some other way”

“Evidence we don’t have,” Beau said “But that doesn’t ht noith Axelrod set on closing his case against me, it may be our only choice”

“Let’s get back to that after I go over what Natalie told me” Tori scanned the notes she’d typed in earlier “Stella Rawlins has evidently been pulling Slade’s strings for the past couple years Last year she bailed hi business when he couldn’t pay her back”