The Nymph's Curse: The Collection (38 page)

“You think my wife cheating on me with you was my choice?”

“If you wanted her, you should have fought for her. You gave her up at the first sign of trouble. Long before I started sleeping with her.”

After their moment of shared passion, Aura wanted to hear exactly what had happened between Dane and Angela. Yet, she didn’t want to know … at least not like this or right now. If Dane wanted to tell her what had transpired between him and his ex-wife, he could do it in private, not prompted by his brother’s narcissistic rampage.

Dancer pranced around the stall nervously as the brothers raised their voices. Dancer hated the confrontation just as much as Aura did.

“Knock it off.” Aura slammed her fist down on the stall’s half door. “You are brothers. Stop fighting. You are both acting like children. Besides, you’re scaring Dancer.”

Dancer stuck his head over the door of the stall. She ran her hand down from his soft forelock to the tip of his nose. His nostrils flared as he took in her scent. His eyes softened and he leaned into her hand as she reached around and scratched behind his ear.

“You seem so goddamned worried about that horse. Why don’t you buy him from me?”

“What?” Had she heard Zeb right?

“He won’t work with Pat and he’s nothing but another horse to feed over the winter. I don’t see why I need him.”

She eyed him with distrust. “How much do you want for him?”

Zeb crossed his arms over his chest and stood silent for a moment, thinking. He eyed her like he was assessing exactly how much she was worth, and how much she would be willing to pay. “How about this … You and Dane find whoever killed Angela. When you do, I will sell him to you for five thousand.”

Five thousand?
She ran her hand down Dancer’s neck, letting her fingers feather through his thick mane. He was worth more than five thousand as a rodeo horse, but she didn’t want him for that. She wanted him as a friend, a horse that she could saddle and take on long trail rides with Natalie in her horse form at their sides.

Something about the offer struck her as fake. This was a man who loved the best things in life, from his brand new camel color boots to his pristine, fresh-off-the-lot truck — what was Zeb hiding? Did he think that they’d never solve the crime? That they’d never find the killer? Or Natalie?

She dropped her hand and turned to Zeb. “What happens if we don’t find whoever is behind Natalie’s disappearance?” She hated to say it. She even hated to think what would become of her if she didn’t find Natalie, but she hated the thought of Pat beating the horse as well.

“Then there’s no deal.”

Aura stuck out her hand. “You have yourself a deal.”

Zeb smiled as he took her hand and gave it a firm shake. He looked back over his shoulder to Dane. “I was going to send that little bastard to the meat auction anyway.”

She dropped his hand and stepped back. The man was an asshole. How could he even be related to Dane? They seemed so different. Dane was strong, spontaneous, sweet, and caring. Zeb was strong, but in another way — almost as if his show of outer strength was only a cover for his inner weakness. Was he attempting to make up for his poor decisions by being arrogant and condescending? Was it his way of ridding himself of guilt?

What was he guilty about? Was it only his feelings of guilt for taking Angela away from Dane or was there something more? Could Zeb have had something to do with her death? With Natalie’s disappearance?

If that was the case, why would he offer her a reward?

Dane suddenly pushed past her, toward the large stack of hay bales that sat at the end of the corridor. “What is this?” he growled as he pointed to the blue tarp that covered the top layer of hay.

“It’s a tarp.” Zeb laughed. “What’s wrong with you?”

Dane picked up the end of the blue tarp up with his fingertips and stared at it for a second. He glanced up, and for a fleeting moment Aura could see something in his face. Was it anger? Or was it something else? “Why is there blood on it?”

Zeb’s laughter stopped abruptly. “What are you talking about?”

“Right here.” Dane pointed at a brownish spot on the plastic. His face went stoic, the Dane she’d known earlier in the night was gone, only to be replaced by the no-nonsense deputy.

Aura and Zeb rushed to Dane’s side.

Zeb’s face lost its color. He leaned down and stared at the spot. “That’s not blood … It can’t be.”

“Sure as hell looks like blood to me.” The blue plastic moved as Dane sat it back down on the hay. The dried blood cracked and a small fleck fell to the floor. “Before the police show up, is there anything you need to tell me, Zeb?”

“No … ” His pale face turned green.

“You didn’t have anything to do with Angela’s death, did you?” Dane reached to his front pocket, like he was reaching for his notepad, but his fingers merely patted his jacket.

Zeb stepped back and leaned his back against the wooden wall. “I loved her, Dane … You know that.”

“I never assumed you didn’t. But you already admitted you were having problems. Then she shows up dead. Now this.” He pointed at the blood. “It’s hard to discount the evidence. So, either you had something to do with her and the other women’s death and disappearance, or you know who did.”

“I swear I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Save your statements until you have a lawyer present.” Dane pulled his cell phone from his pocket. The phone beeped as he pushed the numbers and pressed send. “Hi. This is Dane. You need to send a patrol car out to the Diamond. We have a suspect in custody.”

The sun had started to rise over the tops of the mountains, flooding the valley and the ranch with light. The horses were getting restless in their stalls, stomping and neighing as the group of officers and investigators filtered through the stable. They hadn’t found much besides the tarp, which the investigators had taken for samples and evidence.

Zeb was planted in the back seat of Officer Grant’s patrol car, waiting to be taken back to the station for questioning. They could hold him for forty-eight hours before they had to let him go; which they would have to, unless he admitted having a part in the murders. There was nothing conclusive that proved Zeb was responsible. At least not until the results of the blood sample came back from the lab. If the blood proved to be from Angela or the other woman, Dane’s brother would have a hard time proving that he was innocent.

There would be a lot of work to do to figure out exactly what had happened. Some things still didn’t seem to fit. Zeb hadn’t appeared to know anything about the second woman. Sure, he had motive and means to kill Angela, but it just didn’t make sense why he’d kill two women and take a third. And if he did take Natalie, then where was she?

Dane’s sergeant stepped up beside him and put his thumb in his utility belt. “Did your brother give you a confession?”

“No. Not yet.”

The sergeant shuffled some of the hay on the floor with the toe of his boot. “We need to figure out who’s behind all of this. The newspapers are beginning to go crazy. The
Missoulian
even made mention of a possible serial killer. It would be a real egg-on-the-face to have another murder. We can’t risk what that would mean for the department. To say nothing about your standing within the county.”

The man didn’t need to verbalize what he was already thinking. Of course people were talking … calling them, and him, incompetent. “I’m trying to follow all the leads, Sarge. You know how this is. One step at a time.”

“I’d appreciate it if you could start taking two. I even got a call from the governor this morning. We’re starting to make national headlines.”

Federal investigators were the last thing they needed. Sarge wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know. They needed to get this under control. And they needed to put an end to the killing.

“Hopefully we have it taken care of.” Sarge gave a tight nod toward Zeb in the patrol car. “I’ll push on the crime lab. See if they can get the investigation wrapped up. Maybe we can get something more from the bodies and the tarp to pin this to Zeb. That would quiet the media’s talk about us if we could confirm that we have the killer in custody.”

His brother was crass and tough, but did that really make him a killer? Dane couldn’t come to terms with it. He and Dane had been close growing up. When they’d been boys, their dad had brought home a puppy, Charlie. It was about the cutest damn thing he’d ever seen. He and Zeb had played with it all day long, running around the fields, throwing sticks for him, and letting him swim in the creek that twisted through the ranch. At night, like any ranch dog, their dad made Charlie stay outside in a little doghouse he’d built.

One night, Dane had woken up to the dog yelping and screaming with pain. Zeb had been the first one out the door, carrying his little .22 caliber rifle. There, outside of the doghouse, two coyotes had attacked the puppy, tearing at him like he was nothing more than a chicken. When Zeb finished shooting, the coyotes lay dead in the yard, but Charlie was saved. Zeb had wrapped the dog in his coat and carried the little pup inside. He’d spent every minute with that dog, nursing him back to health.

Zeb couldn’t be a killer. He was just a rancher and a man, who’d, in the past, wanted the best for his animals.

But then again, he’d let Pat beat that damned horse in front of Aura. Had he changed? Was he capable of killing Angela?

“We’ll get this figured out,” Dane said. “I’ll make sure the real killer comes to justice.”

Sarge’s eyebrows rose. “You don’t think it’s Zeb? He’s not a real saint, you know.”

“I’m more than aware.” Had the sergeant forgotten what had transpired between him and Zeb? They were brothers, but they’d never again be friends. Not since their father’s death and everything that had gone on with Angela.

Aura pushed past an officer who was knelt down by the door, pushing through the hay that littered the floor.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Dane called after her.

She kept walking. “I’m not done with him yet.”

Sarge glanced over to him. “She seems like your kind of woman. Won’t take shit from anybody.”

The man kneeling down by the door laughed, but Dane didn’t see anything funny.

“Why don’t you just worry about watching out for horse shit?”

The man’s smirk disappeared. Dane smiled as he jogged out the door after Aura.

She threw open the door of the patrol car and thrust her phone in Zeb’s face. “Do you know Natalie? Have you seen her?”

Zeb looked down at the screen. The rancher’s eyes widened and his mouth opened like he wanted to say something.

“Please, if you have, tell me. I just want to find her.” There was a desperate edge to her voice that made Dane’s skin prickle. He’d been on so many cases throughout the years, but there was something about this one that was different. All families were desperate to help their loved one, to find answers, but it was as if Aura’s life was on the line, not just Natalie’s.

“Answer me!” She jabbed the phone at him.

Zeb twisted in the seat, readjusting his handcuffs. “There was a guy here last week.” He squirmed as he was talking, as if he was trying to think of lies as he spoke. “The guy said he needed a job. That woman, your sister, was with him. But I think they said they were headed back to Arizona or something.”

Dane walked to the door and leaned over the top, looking down on Zeb. “Wait. You saw her? She was still alive?”

Aura looked up at him like he was guilty of some crime just because he’d let his thoughts slip out. She couldn’t have thought Natalie was alive. Especially since they’d found the blood-covered shirt and her deserted pickup. And hell, as much as he’d like to hope, there was nothing to say that she was still alive
now
. A lot of things could have happened in the last week. It only took a second to take a life.

“The last time I saw her she was,” Zeb said. “But like I said, they mentioned they were leaving Montana.”

“Who was the man she was with?”

“His name was Shawn something … I don’t know much about him. I guess I’d seen him around town before … maybe at the ranch store. I can’t really recall.”

Aura gasped. “Shawn was the man from the video … ”

Dane reached over the top of the car door and took her hand. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll find Shawn. We’ll find her.”

The news of the murders had hit the town and the papers. If Shawn had anything to do with the murders he would be hiding out. Where would they be? If he were a man on the run, where would he hide? Or had Zeb been telling the truth? Had they left the state?

“Zeb, another officer will meet you at the station and will have some questions for you. I’ll make sure to let them know that you’ve been helpful.”

No matter what had happened between them in the past, Zeb was still his only brother. And no matter how much evidence pinned him to the murders and disappearance, Dane simply couldn’t swallow the fact that Zeb was capable of killing his wife or anyone else. Yet, he was a sheriff’s deputy and he had to follow the letter of the law. He would do his best to protect his brother, but he needed to do his job and follow all the leads wherever they led him. Time would tell whether or not his brother was guilty of any crimes.

“Thanks.” Zeb relaxed into the plastic seat and laid his head back.

“And hey, Zeb, I’ll try to contact the crime lab and see if they have anything more about the cause of death.”

“Just so you know, I didn’t have anything to do with Angela’s death. And as much as you don’t want to hear about it, I loved her. I don’t know what I’m going to do without her.”

It had been a long time since his brother had been so candid … so honest and it made his suspicion grow. Zeb was lying about something — but what?

“I know, Zeb. I know you loved her.” He slowly pushed the door closed. “I loved her too.”
She just never felt the same for me.

The door clicked shut.

“Are you okay?” Aura looked at him — in her eyes there was a look of honest concern, almost as if she could sense his wavering emotions.