Renegade's Pride. B.J. Daniels

find the real killer.

      “I have to find out who killed Gordon. I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t stand Gordon or to have a motive for wanting him dead.”

      “But enough to kill him?”

      He knew what Johnny was saying. “Obviously, someone did hate him enough. I figure once I start digging into it, the killer is going to get nervous and then...”

      “And then you’re going to get yourself killed. Trask, I really wish you weren’t doing this. If you left again, maybe—”

      “I’m not leaving. I can’t keep running from this.”

      Johnny looked worried. “I heard the sheriff has an eyewitness who swore they saw you leaving the stables that night right before Gordon’s body was found.”

      “Since it wasn’t me, someone is either mistaken or lying. I’m going to look into Gordon’s friends, family, associates. Someone killed him and let me take the blame.” Gordon had been one of the original partners in Pyramid Peak Construction Company along with being a local rancher. “You were working at the construction company back when Gordon was killed. You would know if there were problems between the partners.”

      Johnny shook his head. “Remember, I was just a grunt helping build the houses. I was hardly ever in the office.”

      Trask nodded, knowing that this was a touchy subject given that Johnny was now one of the partners along with his father and Skip.

      “When I got your call today, I was shocked. I wish you’d told me you were planning to come back.”

      “So you could try to talk me out of it?”

      His friend met his gaze over the glow of the campfire. “I guess I don’t have to tell you how dangerous this is. I don’t want to see you get yourself killed.”

      Trask was touched. He hoped that was the reason Johnny was upset about his return. He and Johnny had had their problems nine years ago, but they’d been best friends for too many years to let one incident change that. “I have no choice. I have to clear my name. It’s the only way to get Lillie back. And right now it doesn’t look good.”

      “You’ve seen her!” Johnny guessed, sounding both shocked and worried. “What makes you think she didn’t call the sheriff on you?”

      “My charm?”

      “Good luck with that. You are taking a hell of a chance. What if she’s already notified her brother?”

      “She wouldn’t do that.”

      “I don’t know, Trask. If I were you, I’d either get out of town or turn myself in. Better than Flint finding out you’re back and coming after you.”

      “I just need a little time to follow a couple of leads.” He saw Johnny look at his watch. “You should get back to your fiancée. I’m looking forward to meeting her one day.”

      His friend nodded. He didn’t look hopeful. It was clear Johnny thought he was making a terrible mistake by coming back. “If there is some way I can help...”

      “You already have,” Trask said, seeing how uncomfortable all this was making his friend. “I don’t like putting you on the spot like this. I appreciate everything you’ve done. But I have it now.” He stepped to his old friend, took his hand and pulled him into a quick hug. “I’m going to keep you out of this from this point on.”

      Johnny couldn’t hide his relief. “Gordon’s killer could still be around. If you start digging into the past...” He didn’t have to finish. For a moment, he looked guilty for not wanting to be involved. Trask knew how much his friend had to lose.

      “Listen, if you need anything, call me on the burner,” Johnny said. “Don’t worry about getting me into trouble.” His old friend smiled. “You certainly tried to get me into trouble when we were kids.”

      “And succeeded.” After he’d left town on the run, Trask had contacted his friend, needing to know what was going on with the murder investigation. He’d felt bad afterward, realizing he’d put Johnny in a tough position. It had been Johnny’s suggestion to use burner phones to stay in contact.

      Now he realized just how worried his old friend was. But was it friendship? Or did Johnny know more than he’d told him? He hated the feeling that his old friend was hiding something.

      “Thanks for the food, for everything.”

      “Just be careful. I don’t want a bunch of trigger-happy deputies coming after you.”

      Trask nodded. “Me, either.” He watched Johnny disappear over the horizon before turning back to the fire. The flames had died down, making the night seem darker. Clouds scudded past the moon, leaving a break in the sky to reveal the stars. The light painted the forest around him in silver.

      He moved to his bedroll, thinking of Lillie. What if Johnny was right and Lillie was ready to move on with someone like Wainwright? Was he a fool for coming back here to clear his name? What if he couldn’t prove he didn’t do it?

      Trask let out a long breath as he lay down. The embers in the fire flared in the breeze. He could still feel the heat. A narrow ribbon of smoke rose, wavering before it disappeared into the dark overhead.

      He tried not to worry about Johnny and the feeling he had that all was not as it seemed. He closed his eyes, picturing Lillie earlier holding a gun on him. He smiled to himself. That was the woman he remembered. The woman he loved. The woman he didn’t want to live without any longer—no matter how much danger it put him in to come back here.

       CHAPTER FIVE

      LILLIE TOOK THE bottle of beer her brother handed her and put her feet up. It felt good to finally sit down after the bar closed for the night. They’d been busy all afternoon and evening, the time flying by. She’d hardly had time to think about Trask and speculate on where he might be. Or when he might show up again. A lie. He was all she’d thought about.

      It had made for a tense day, fearing that he might foolishly show up at the bar any minute. He hadn’t. She figured he’d probably left again. If he’d been arrested, she would have heard by now.

      “Does it ever bother you?” Darby asked as he joined her in their nightly ritual after the place closed. He took a drink of his cola and glanced out the window.

      Lillie didn’t have to ask what he was referring to. She followed his gaze to the far pasture of the Cahill Ranch and the eight-by-eight metal fence around the missile silo.

      “We don’t even know if there is a manned missile down there after the disarmament agreements,” she said.

      “That’s just it, neither do the Russians or the Chinese or whoever else wants us all dead. So when they decide to destroy us, they will fire at all of the missile silos. It will be Armageddon.”

      There were 450 active sites in Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota—two hundred of them in Montana alone. All of them were scattered around the state in pastures behind a chain-link fence much like the Cahills’. Their grandfather had been honored to do his part when it came to the nation’s security. He’d gladly given the military the land they wanted for the missile site.

      Everything about the sites were top secret. And that was the problem. If there was a malfunction, not even the sheriff could get involved.

      “Truthfully? I forget it’s even out there,” Lillie said, taking a drink of her beer. Today especially, since she had other things on her mind. She’d gone for a drive after leaving her father at his cabin. It had given her time to think about things. She’d felt better by the time she’d come back to work her shift at the bar.

      Now hours later, she and her brother were relaxing together. It was her favorite time of the day normally. Sitting there, she kept thinking of Trask. Worse,