Something More Read Online Free PDF Page B

that was from, Ima Jane?”
    Seconds ticked without an answer, a sure sign to everyone that she knew something. Her smile widened as she took note of her suddenly rapt audience.
    â€œThey did more than that.” She paused again, deliberately allowing the suspense to build while she set the drinks on the tray for the waitress. Finished, she wiped her hands on a towel. “They’ve identified the body.”
    There was an instant of silence before she was bombarded with questions from a dozen different directions.
    â€œWho is it?” asked one.
    â€œHow did you find that out?” another asked.
    â€œWhen did you hear that?”
    â€œAre you sure?”
    â€œAs sure as I’m standing here,” she confirmed.
    â€œHow come you never said anything before now?” Joe Gibbs demanded, a bit huffy.
    She gave him a big-eyed look of innocence, a betraying twinkle of laughter in her expression. “You never asked, Joe.”
    â€œWell, I’m asking now!” he exploded in exasperation. “Who is it?”
    Ima Jane sighed in exaggerated regret. “I don’t know.”
    â€œYou don’t know?! But you just said—” the rancher sputtered.
    She held up a calming hand. “I said . . . they had identified the body. Unfortunately, Beauchamp won’t release the name until the next of kin have been notified.” She glanced again at Luke.
    â€œDon’t look at me.” He drew back, shaking his head, denying he had any knowledge. “I haven’t heard a word from Beauchamp in weeks.”
    â€œYou must have some idea who this guy was, Ima Jane,” Doug insisted.
    Disappointed in Luke’s answer, Ima Jane shrugged. “All I know for sure is that the man was from out of state.”
    â€œI knew all along it had to be a stranger,” Joe declared. “Didn’t I tell you that, Hank? It just makes sense. No one from around here has come up missing.”
    â€œYeah, but . . . who was this guy?” Doug argued. “What was he doing here? And how did he end up getting buried on the Ten Bar?”
    Ima Jane lifted her hands, palms up, an infectious smile spreading across her face. “As they used to say on the old radio serials, ‘Stay tuned for the next installment. ’”
    Her comment drew a round of laughter from the men at the bar, the honest, belly-laugh kind. But it satisfied them that she had no more information to relate. With feigned casualness, one by one they drifted away, taking their drinks with them, to spread the news.
    All except Luke. He remained at the bar, nursing his drink. He smiled into it as the idle hum of voices behind him grew to an excited buzz.
    Temporarily without a drink order to fill, Ima Jane poured herself a cup of coffee and wandered to Luke’s end of the bar. Her glance traveled over the room, ending its arcing sweep when it reached Luke.
    â€œI was certain Beauchamp would have talked to you about his findings.” The probing search of her bright eyes told Luke that she wasn’t convinced he hadn’t spoken to the sheriff.
    â€œWhy do you think he would?” he countered, amused rather than annoyed by her persistence.
    â€œThe body was found on the Ten Bar.” Her tone made it clear that she regarded the answer as obvious. “It’s only logical that once Beauchamp discovered the man’s identity, he would check to see if the name meant anything to you.”
    â€œWhy should it?” A slow smile softened the scoffing response. “If Joe Gibbs is right in his figuring, that body was in the ground long before I was ever born. It isn’t likely the name would mean anything to me, especially if he wasn’t from around here. I’m sure Beauchamp knew that.” He downed another swallow of his drink, welcoming the whiskey burn in his throat.
    â€œJust the same, I’m surprised he didn’t check. His name might be somewhere in the ranch