The Cowboy's Claim Read Online Free PDF Page A

sight.
    “Terrible thing about Shirley Cook,” Grant said as they lingered over coffee. “I heard she was killed the same way Candy Bailey was... In bed with her throat cut.”
    Courtney wrapped her fingers around her coffee mug, seeking warmth as she thought of the unsolved murders. “Sheriff Evans was in and out of the café all afternoon, interviewing each of us to see if we might know who Shirley was seeing, if anybody was giving her problems or anything that might point in the direction of a potential killer.”
    “Were you able to give him any information?” Grant asked, his brown eyes sympathetic. He was a nice-looking man with light brown hair and mildly handsome features.
    He didn’t make her heart beat any faster. He didn’t stir the crazy passion that Nick always had. But that was okay. What she needed most in her life right now was stable and responsible, and it was ironic that Grant was that kind of man with the kind of job that her parents would have approved of.
    “No, I couldn’t help him at all,” she replied to his question. “Shirley was a bit older than me. We didn’t run in the same crowd and didn’t socialize much at work and not at all outside of work. She was a quiet woman who minded her own business and always showed up for work on time.”
    A bubble of grief welled up inside Courtney’s throat as she thought of the woman who had died before her time, died so violently...like Candy before her.
    “Have you considered quitting your job?”
    She looked at him in surprise. “Why would I do that?”
    He shrugged. “Two women murdered and both were waitresses at the Cowboy Café. What if somebody is specifically targeting the women who work there?”
    “Sheriff Evans thinks it’s more likely that maybe Kevin Naperson killed both women.” Kevin had been Candy Bailey’s boyfriend at the time of her murder, and despite the fact that his father had given him an alibi for that night, Courtney knew he’d never dropped off the top of the suspect list for Candy’s murder.
    “Kill another woman who he has no ties with and take the heat off himself for Candy’s murder. It’s an interesting theory.” Grant picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, then carefully set the mug back on the table in the precise position it had been in originally.
    “Either that or somebody else is a killer and both women were vulnerable,” she replied.
    “And you don’t feel vulnerable?” Grant asked with a quirk of his neatly trimmed eyebrow.
    She gave him a rueful smile. “I live in a motel, Grant. There are nights I hear somebody drop their soap in their shower, or the snoring of a man who has rented the unit next door for a night. I feel perfectly safe there. I’m completely surrounded by people.”
    “You know, I could arrange for you to be in another place...a better place for you and Garrett. All you have to do is ask me.”
    “I know, but really we’re fine where we are.” She wasn’t at a place in her relationship with Grant that she wanted any favors from him. She wanted to be beholden to nobody, taking care of herself as she should have years ago. “And it’s probably time for me to go pick up Garrett. I told Sophie before we left that it wouldn’t be a late night.”
    “Then let’s go pick up the munchkin,” he agreed easily.
    Within half an hour they were at Courtney’s room at the motel. “You want to come in for one last cup of coffee?” she asked as she held a sleeping Garrett in her arms.
    “Sure, that would be great,” he readily agreed.
    It had become their routine on Friday nights after dinner for him to come into the motel room and share a cup of coffee before he headed home.
    She never worried about things getting intimate. So far their physical relationship had consisted of a couple of chaste kisses when they said good-night.
    With Garrett to consider, she’d been reluctant to date anyone, but Grant had been persistent and she’d finally agreed to go out with him