Justice at Cardwell Ranch Read Online Free PDF Page A

of the waterfall. A few more steps and she could feel the mist coming off the cascading water. From here, the walkway carved a crooked path up through the pines to the top of the falls.
    There was no sign of any light ahead and the only thing she could hear was rushing water. Where was Jordan? She moved on, convinced he was still ahead of her. Something rustled in the trees off to her right. A limb cracked somewhere ahead in the pines.
    She stopped and drew her weapon. Someone was out there.
    The report of the rifle shot felt so close it made the hair stand up on her neck. The sound ricocheted off the rock cliff and reverberated through her. Liza dove to the ground. A second shot echoed through the trees.
    Weapon drawn, she scrambled up the hill and almost tripped over the body Jordan Cardwell was standing over.

Chapter Three
    “You have a baby? ” Dana said, still shocked when Stacy came back downstairs carrying a pink bundle. “I’m just having a hard time imagining you as a mother.”
    “You think you’re the only one with a maternal instinct?” Stacy sounded hurt.
    “I guess I never thought you wanted a baby.”
    Stacy gave a little shrug. “People change.”
    Did they? Dana wondered as she studied her sister.
    “Want to see her?” Stacy asked.
    Dana nodded and her sister carefully transferred the bundle into her arms. Dana saw that it wasn’t a blanket at all that the baby was wrapped in, but a cute pink quilt. Parting the edges, she peered in at the baby. A green-eyed knockout stared back at her.
    “Isn’t she beautiful? ”
    “She’s breathtaking. What’s her name?”
    “Ella.”
    Dana looked up at her sister, her gaze going to Stacy’s bare left-hand ring finger. “Is there a father?”
    “Of course,” her sister said with an embarrassed laugh. “He’s in the military. We’re getting married when he comes home in a few weeks.”
    Stacy had gone through men like tissues during a sad movie. In the past she’d married for money. Maybe this time she had found something more important, Dana hoped, glancing down at the baby in her arms.
    “Hello, Ella,” she said to the baby. The bow-shaped lips turned up at the corners, the green eyes sparkling. “How old is she?”
    “Six months.”
    As the baby began to fuss, Stacy dug in a diaper bag Dana hadn’t seen at the end of the couch. She pulled out a bottle before going into the kitchen to warm it.
    Dana stared at the precious baby, her heart in her throat. She couldn’t imagine her sister with a baby. In the past Stacy couldn’t even keep a houseplant alive.
    As her sister came out of the kitchen, Dana started to hand back the baby.
    “You can feed her if you want.”
    Dana took the bottle and watched the baby suck enthusiastically at the warm formula. “She’s adorable.” Her sister didn’t seem to be listening though.
    Stacy had walked over to the window and was looking out. “I forgot how quiet it is here.” She hugged herself as a gust of wind rattled the old window. “Or how cold it is this time of year.”
    “Where have you been living?”
    “Southern California,” she said, turning away from the window.
    “Is that where you met the father?”
    Stacy nodded. “It’s getting late. Ella and I should go.”
    “Where are you going? ” Dana asked, alarmed, realizing that she’d been cross-examining her sister as if Stacy was one of Hud’s suspects. She couldn’t bear the thought of this baby being loaded into that old car outside with Stacy at the wheel.
    “I planned to get a motel for the night. Kurt’s got some relatives up by Great Falls. They’ve offered me a place to stay until he gets leave and we can find a place of our own.”
    Dana shook her head, still holding tight to the baby. “You’re staying here. You and Ella can have Mary’s room. I don’t want you driving at night.”
    * * *
    L IZA SWUNG THE BARREL OF HER gun and snapped on her flashlight, aiming both at Jordan. “Put your hands up,” she