Rough Rider

But she did lower the gun, tucking it into the waistband of her jeans—just in case.

“Thanks. Now, if you could please tell me where I can find him...”

“Day after tomorrow he will be in Rosemont Cemetery.”

He’d been looking around the office, but now his gaze shot back to her. “Cemetery?”

“He was killed by a hit-and-run driver three days ago.” Her voice cracked. It still didn’t seem real, but it always came with a wave of grief and pain.

“A hit-and-run?”

She wondered if he planned to keep echoing everything she said. She really didn’t have time for this.

“Clearly you’re too late. Not that Hank could have known anything about the kidnapping case.” Picking up one of Hank’s files, she shone the flashlight on it and then began to thumb through the yellow notebook pages inside.

Not that she didn’t watch Boone McGraw—if that was really his name—out of the corner of her eye. She’d learned never to take anything at face value. Hank had taught her that and a lot more.

The cowboy swore as he looked around the destroyed office. His expression said he wasn’t ready to give up. “If you’re his partner then why is the Knight Investigations phone disconnected and this office without electricity?”

“Hank was in the process of retiring. I have my own office in my home. I was taking over the business.”

“So you hadn’t spoken for a while?” He was guessing, but he’d guessed right.

“We were in transition.”

“So you can’t be sure he didn’t know something about the kidnapping case.”

She gritted her teeth. This cowboy was impossible. “Hank would have told me if he knew something about the case. I’m sorry you’ve wasted your time.” She just wanted him to leave so she could get back to what she was doing.

Since Hank’s so-called accident, she’d been hard-pressed to hold it together. All that kept her going was her anger and determination to find his killer. She was convinced that one of his cases had gotten him murdered. All she had to do was figure out which one.

The cowboy moved, but only to step deeper into the room. “You said he was killed three days ago? Is that when he returned from his trip?”

“His trip?” Now she was starting to sound like him.

He frowned and jammed his hands on his hips as he looked at her. “My father’s lawyer talked to him over two weeks ago. Your partner told him that he was going to be away and would get back to us. When we didn’t hear from him...”

She shook her head. “He didn’t go anywhere.”

“Then why did he lie to our lawyer? Unless he had something to hide?”

C.J. threw down the files in her hands with impatience. “Mr. McGraw—”

“Boone.”

“Boone, you didn’t know Hank, but I did. He wouldn’t have lied.”

“Then how do you explain what he told our lawyer?”

She couldn’t and that bothered her. She studied the cowboy for a minute. Had Hank gone on a trip—just as he’d told the McGraw lawyer? C.J. thought of how distracted Hank had been the last time she’d seen him. He hadn’t mentioned talking to anyone connected to the McGraw kidnapping and for a man who loved to talk about his cases, that was more than unusual.

A case like that didn’t come along every day, especially given Knight Investigations’ clients. But it also wasn’t the kind of case Hank would be interested in. If it was true and he’d called the McGraw lawyer, he must have merely out of curiosity.

She said as much and picked up more files.

“It wasn’t idle curiosity.” Boone stepped closer until only the large cluttered desk stood between them. He loomed over it. His presence alone could have sucked all the air out of the room. Fortunately, all he did was make her too aware of just how male he was. He didn’t intimidate her, not even for a moment. At least that’s what she told herself.

“I guess we’ll never know, will we?” she said, meeting his steely gaze with one of her hard blue ones.

“If there is even a chance that he knew the whereabouts of my sister, Jesse Rose, then I’m not leaving town until I find out the truth. Starting with whether or not Hank Knight recently left town. It should be easy enough to find out. How much?”

C.J. stared at him. “How much what?”

“How much money? I want to hire you.”

Chapter Three (#ud8aa55e5-1064-5278-937c-b2e70e3406a8)

Boone was surprised by the young woman’s reaction.

“Sorry, but I’m not available.” She actually sounded offended.

“Because you’re too busy going through dusty old files?”

She looked up from where she was leafing through one and slowly put it down. “The reason my partner is dead is in one of these files. I need to find his killer.”

“Wait, I thought it was an accident?”

“That’s what the police say, but they’re wrong.”

He shook his head. He’d run into his share of stubborn women, but this one took the cake. “You seem pretty sure of yourself about a lot of things.”

She put her hands on her hips and looked like she could chew nails. “Hank was murdered. I’d stake my life on it.”

“If you’re right, then there is probably a good chance that’s what you’re doing.”

“He would have done the same for me. Hank... Everyone loved him.”

Well, not everyone, but he knew now wasn’t the time to point that out. He could see how hard this was on her and told himself to cut her some slack. But if he had any hope of finding out if Hank Knight had known where his kidnapped sister was, then he needed this woman’s help.

“I’m sorry. Apparently the two of you were close,” he said, which surprised him since Waters had said Hank Knight was elderly. She’d just said the man was in the process of retiring.

Hank’s advancing age could be the reason he had such a young partner. In the ambient glow of the flashlight C.J. didn’t even look thirty, though given her confidence, she could have been older. Her long curly hair was the deep, rich color of copper, framing a face flecked with freckles. Both made her brown eyes look wider and more innocent. She had her unruly hair pulled back into a ponytail and wore an old Cubs baseball cap. His father had always been a huge Cubs fan. Boone wondered if Hank had been.

C.J. West was a slight woman but one he knew better than to underestimate. He needed her help because the more he thought about it, the more he felt the answers were here in Butte, here in this office.

“I’ve known Hank since I was a child playing in this building,” she said. “My mother had a job on another floor. I used to hang out with him. He taught me everything I know about the investigative business plus much more. He was like a father to me.”

Boone nodded. “I can’t imagine how hard this is for you. I hate that I have to add to your problems at a time like this, but let’s say you’re right and your partner was murdered. Why an old case? Why not the McGraw kidnapping? One of the kidnappers is still at large. If your partner knew something and made inquiries that alerted the kidnapper...”