At Wolf Ranch
By Jennifer Ryan
Published February 24, 2015
Synopsis
After years on the rodeo circuit,
Gabe Bowden wants nothing more than land of his own and a woman who will claim
his heart for more than one night. When he has the chance to buy the
enormous Wolf Ranch spread, he snaps up the incredible deal.
Everything is set, until Gabe rescues a woman on the deserted, snowy road
leading to the property, and the half-frozen beauty changes everything.
Ella Wolf rushes to her family’s
abandoned Montana ranch after her twin sister is murdered. She knows
she’s next…unless she can uncover a secret hidden somewhere
at Wolf Ranch. The last thing Ella expects is to be rescued by a
rugged rancher with his own agenda. A man who almost makes her forget
how dangerous love can be…
As an unlikely partnership sparks into something
so much more, and a killer closes in, can Ella and Gabe learn to trust one
another before it’s too late?
~ Review by Erin ~
*** WARNING: SPOILER ALERT ***
This story was heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. These characters are beautiful. They have real guts and determination. They have been heartbroken and come out better on the other side. I love Gabe's family dynamic and hope to read about the brothers soon.
Gabe has known what he thought was heartbreak, after all, he was left at the altar. His fiancée decided the ranch life wasn't for her and left. Now he is planning life for himself. He has a good deal to get Wolf Ranch and no one is going to hurt him again. Then he meets Ella Wolf. Boy he didn't see her coming. He knows right away that there could be more with this girl. But is he ready to hand over his heart to someone that is going to throw it back at him for the city life?
Ella has lost her parents. She just witnessed her twin get murdered by her uncle. What is she supposed to do now? She hears his plan to come after her and decides to follow her sister's trail to see if she can figure out why her sister had to die. The trail leads her to their childhood getaway in Montana, Wolf Ranch. She doesn't bargain on meeting Gabe Bowden. He is everything she wants for herself. But first she has to get to the bottom of her uncle's schemes.
With Gabe's help, Ella gets what she needs to put her uncle away. She also gets the love of her life in the process.
About the Author:
Jennifer Ryan is the New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of The Hunted Series and The McBrides Series. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary small-town romances featuring strong men and equally resilient women. Her stories are filled with love, family, friendship, and the happily-ever-after we all hope to find.
Jennifer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children. When she isn’t writing a book, she’s reading one. Her obsession with both is often revealed in the state of her home and in how late dinner is to the table. When she finally leaves those fictional worlds, you’ll find her in the garden, playing in the dirt and daydreaming about people who live only in her head, until she puts them on paper.
Connect with the Author:
Chapter 1 Excerpt:
Chapter One
Three long days without a word. No
call. Not even a text. Ella stared at her phone, willing it to ring. She tapped
her finger on the screen and stifled the urge to call Lela for the hundredth
time that morning.
The coffee shop buzzed with activity.
People headed off to work with their lattes and scones. She sipped at her
caramel macchiato, reading over the newest projections for the cosmetics line
debuting in March on her laptop. The numbers looked promising.
Ella jumped when her phone vibrated on
the table. She snatched it up and read the caller ID.
“Finally.” She swiped the screen to
accept the call. “Lela—”
“Where have you been?” Uncle Phillip’s
demand surprised her.
Why did Uncle Phillip have Lela's
phone?
Ella opened her mouth to answer her
uncle's question, but he spoke first.
“I oversee the estate. You answer to
me.”
“Twisting the truth again, Uncle. Ella
and I sign off on everything,” Lela said, her tone unusually sharp. “You’re
just a watchdog, there to ensure we adhere to the terms of the will. You have
no real power, but you’ll do anything to steal it away, won’t you?”
What? Ella had
never heard her sister talk to their uncle in such a disrespectful and spiteful
way, or anyone for that matter. Why did her sister call and not say anything to
her? Maybe she'd pocket dialed?
“Lela, it's me. What is going on?”
Ella got no response. Uncle Phillip continued to speak over her.
“You have no idea what you’re talking
about, my dear.” Uncle Phillip’s soft voice belied the steel in his words.
“Don’t make me ask again. Be a good girl and tell me where you’ve been?”
This time, her sister answered, but
didn’t explain a damn thing. “Uncovering your dirty secret. I know what you
did,” her sister accused.
Secrets?
Butterflies in Ella's stomach
fluttered like a flock of birds taking flight. The uneasy feeling she’d carried
with her these last days intensified.
Ella gathered up her laptop and
notebook, stuffing them into her oversized tote. She dumped the dregs of her
coffee in the trash on her way out the door. The apartment was only a block up
from her favorite café she had breakfast at every Tuesday when the
house staff had the day off. She kept the phone to her ear and headed home to
find out what the hell was going on.
“You won’t get away with this,”
Lela’s voice raised in pitch. It took a lot to rile her sister. Whatever Uncle
Phillip had done touched a nerve.
“Whatever you think you know doesn’t
amount to anything without proof.” Her uncle used that chilling, yet utterly
calm voice.
Ella picked up her pace, sensing the
escalation of the situation into something more than just an argument about
company business. She pulled her bag close to her side under her arm and ran
for her building, knocking elbows and shoulders with other pedestrians. No time
to apologize, she ignored their outraged remarks.
“Oh, I have the proof.”
Proof of what?
“You’re lying.” Uncle Phillip let out
a nervous laugh.
“You wish.”
Ella past her building's doorman and
ran for the elevator, pushing the button three times, frantic for the doors to
open.
“Where is it? Show me.”
Come on. Come on. The elevator
doors finally opened and she rushed inside and pressed the button for the
penthouse. Ella prayed she didn't lose the cell signal and drop the call. She
only ever got one bar in the elevators.
“You think I’d be fool enough to bring
it here. To you? I’ll see you in jail before this day is over.”
“I’ll see you in a grave first.”
The ice in her uncle’s tone frosted
Ella’s heart. The evil laced there erased all trace of the man she knew. He
meant those ominous words.
Lela gasped and let out a startled
shriek. Ella didn't want to believe her uncle actually struck Lela, but that’s
what it sounded like.
“What. Did. You. Find?”
“Everything,” Lela sputtered.
What? What are you
talking about?
“If you’re lying to me—”
“Let me go. It’s over. There’s nothing
you can do. I can prove you did it.”
Did what?
“Don’t look at him,” Uncle Phillip
snapped.
Him? Who else is
there?
“Please, do some—”
“He’s not here to help you, you stupid
girl. He works for me. Everyone works for me. You should have left well enough
alone.”
Lela shrieked again. Ella's heart
dropped into her stomach.
“This is your final chance. Tell me
where it is and I’ll make this quick. Refuse and I'll take my time. You'll know
the meaning of the word pain when I'm done with you.”
Touch her and I
will make you pay.
“Go to hell.”
“Where is it, you little bitch?”
“You will pay for what you’ve done.
I’ll never cave.”
“Tell me what I want to know,
and maybe, I’ll show you mercy.”
“You won’t...get...away...with this,”
Lela stammered, something choking off her words. “The truth will...roll out.
Come out.”
Something about the way she said it
the first time struck Ella, but her mind couldn’t process anything right now.
She slammed her palm against the elevator doors, wishing the damn thing would
hurry up.
Please, Lela, get
out of there.
“Last chance. Where did you hide it?”
The intensity in his voice sent a
shiver up Ella's spine.
The elevator doors finally opened. She
ran down the hall to her door, shoved it open, and nearly tripped over Lela's
suitcase. Where had she been?
“If you won't help me, I'll find
someone who will.”
Who is she talking
to?
“Uncle Phillip, please. Put the gun
down.”
“Where. Is. It?”
“I'll never tell you where I hid it.”
Ella ran across the living room. Her
gaze locked on her uncle's outstretched arm, the gun in his hand level with her
sister's chest. Her father's blood red ruby pinky ring winked in the morning
light streaming through the windows.
“Tell me,” her uncle yelled.
“Never.”
“Then you're of no use to me anymore.”
The crack of the gunshot stopped Ella
in her tracks. Her sister's eyes went wide when the bullet plowed into her
chest. Blood blossomed over her cream colored sheath dress, like some gruesome
poppy. Lela wilted in slow motion into a heap on the floor. Her legs kicked in
a quick jerk, and she never moved again.
Ella stood frozen, rooted to the spot
just outside the library doors, her gaze fastened on her sister's lifeless
green eyes.
“Damnit, we needed her alive.” A man
she couldn’t see said from inside the room. It took her a second to place the
voice. Detective Robbins.
What is he doing
here? Why didn't he help?
Self preservation kicked in and she
scurried to the side of the door. Hands shaking, her stomach in knots, a
whirlwind of thoughts circled her mind, but nothing explained why her uncle
killed her beautiful sister. It couldn't be, she denied the stark reality. She
leaned over and spied through the crack in the open door.
Uncle Phillip kneeled next to Lela and
touched his finger to her bloody neck. “If I’d had more time, I could have
gotten her to talk.”
“You mean if you hadn't lost your
temper.”
Ella’s heart broke into a billion
sharp pieces that slashed her soul to shreds. Her other half — gone. The
emptiness engulfed her. She covered her mouth with both hands to hold back the
scream of pain rising up her aching throat. Her eyes filled with tears and
Lela’s face, the same one Ella saw in the mirror each morning, swam in front of
her.
Uncle Phillip stood, tugged at one
shirt cuff and then the other to straighten his crisp white shirt. Her father’s
ruby cuff links sparked with a glint of light from the overhead chandelier. He
ran a hand over his more gray than dark brown hair, smoothing it back. Composed
again, he turned to the door. Her breath hitched and stopped. She thought he
saw her. His next words startled her even more.
“The stupid girl doesn’t know when to
quit.” He pulled a handkerchief from his gray slack’s pocket and wiped his
sweaty face, devoid of wrinkles thanks to his many trips to the dermatologist
for Botox injections.
“You’re lucky she called me.”
“Did she tell you what she found?”
“No. She asked me to meet her here.
Her confidence in whatever she had on you convinced me to take her seriously.
If she actually had something and shared it with anyone, you’ll go down for
everything.”
“Don’t think you won’t fall with me,”
her uncle threatened.
The detective moved forward, blocking
her view of her uncle, and stared down at Lela. “What do you want to do with
the body?”
Lela was a body. Bile rose in Ella's
throat.
Her uncle clinked open a crystal
decanter at the bar across the room, pouring himself a drink of the expensive
bourbon he preferred. She prayed he choked on it.
“Give me a minute to think.” The ice
in his voice melted and turned less definitive and more hesitant.
“We need to find that evidence. If it
falls into the wrong hands—”
“Shut up.” Her uncle sounded as out of
control as she felt. Her insides in chaos, not a single thought of what to do
taking shape in her mind.
“We need to retrace her steps over the
last few days. Find out where she went. Who she saw. We’d have the state
attorney and FBI banging down the door if she gave the evidence to anyone. She
hid it somewhere. We need to find out where and get it.”
“Easier said than done. She was
smart.”
“Not smart enough to pull this off.
She contacted you without ever considering your association with me. She was
naive.” He toed Lela’s still body with his Italian leather shoe.
“Our business arrangement has been
mutually beneficial, but if you think I’ll be your patsy, you’re wrong. So,
think, damnit, where would she hide the evidence?”
“I don’t fucking know.” Her uncle
slammed the empty glass down on the desk. “But Ella might.”
“Do you think Lela told her what she
uncovered?” Detective Robbins asked.
“No. Ella asked me and the staff
several times if Lela came home or called. I’m almost certain Lela worked this
out on her own and left her recalcitrant sister out of it.”
“Almost certain isn’t good enough. Why
the hell didn’t you cover your tracks better?”
“I did.”
“If you did, we wouldn’t be here right
now.”
Ella needed to call the police and
have them arrest these two for killing her sweet, gentle sister. But the police
were standing right there, helping destroy her life.
The room was silent for a moment, and
Ella was certain they’d hear her ragged breathing. She jumped when her uncle
spoke again.
“Detective, let me tell you a story.”
Uncle Phillip’s voice was eerily calm. “Our studious, prim, Lela earned her
master’s degree and worked as an executive at the company to satisfy the terms
of the will and earn her place at Wolf Enterprises. Sadly, her Princess Party
Girl twin sister barely made an effort, working in the mailroom and every other
odd job at the company. While it satisfies the general terms of the will,
Lela's carried the weight and shouldered all the responsibility for the
business.
“Lela finally had enough and
confronted her sister right here in this room. Ella, party girl that she is,
had been out all night and was high, not at all in her right mind. The fight
escalated. Ella knows I keep a gun in my desk drawer. She grabbed it and shot
Lela. She panicked, but somehow had the wherewithal to try to cover it up,
making it look like a robbery gone wrong. With Lela gone, she will inherit the
company and other Wolf assets.
“It’s heartbreaking, isn’t it? Such a
pity. Lela had such a promising future. I couldn’t be more heartbroken.
“Set the scene, Detective, and then
find Ella. Take her to a hotel. Not a dump, but not extravagant either. She's
hiding out. Make the place look like she's been on a bender, drinking, doing
drugs. The pain and grief send Ella over the edge and she ODs. No one will
question it. Use your contacts in the police department and morgue to prove
what happened...make the evidence show Ella murdered Lela.
“This is more than I signed on for,”
Detective Robbins said.
“Don’t think you’re so indispensable.
There are plenty of others on my payroll in this town, higher up the food chain
than you, that would do my bidding without blinking.”
“I’ll get it done. I’ll need to use
some of those contacts to pull this shit off.”
“You know who to use to make this
clean. I want all the evidence, reports, and public perception to corroborate
the scenario I’ve outlined.”
Uncle Phillip kneeled by Lela and used
his handkerchief to remove her diamond stud earrings. The ones their mother
always wore. He unclasped Lela’s bloody necklace with the pendant of a heart
made out of roses that matched hers. Ella reached up and wrapped her trembling
fingers around the one against her chest and sighed. Lela’s ring came next.
Ella gave her the emerald encircled with diamonds for their twenty-first
birthday. The night they shared a quiet dinner in an exclusive uptown
restaurant and planned their future and fulfilling their parents' wishes and
dreams for them.
She took a step forward to snatch the
ring and everything else her uncle took from them back. She wanted to claw his
eyes out and see him in a grave. Not her sister. Not Lela.
“What are you going to do with that?”
The detective indicated the handful of gold and gems.
“Don’t worry about it. Do your job.
The one I pay you extremely well to do.”
Her uncle went to the bar, grabbed a
towel, and wiped down the gun. He wrapped it in the towel and handed it to the
detective. “The household staff knows I keep this gun in the top drawer of my
desk. Unlocked. Easy enough for Ella to take it and use it on her sister. Plant
it, along with the drugs and alcohol at the hotel room. Make sure the report
shows Ella's prints are on the gun and it is a ballistic match to the bullet in
her. Tomorrow morning the staff will arrive for work and discover the body.
You've got until then to find Ella and kill her.”
Ella had wasted enough time. She
needed to get away. Fast.
Her gaze fell on her dead sister. Her
soul pleaded with Lela to wake up and make this all just a bad dream. But Lela
remained motionless on the floor.
Ella backed away from the door,
turned, rushed back to the foyer, and grabbed her sister’s suitcase, coat,
purse, her own tote, and walked out the door, closing it with a quiet snick of
the latch. Maybe she'd find a clue in her sister's things.
She took the elevator down and walked
through the lobby and out the door in a daze. The doorman took the coat draped
over her arm. “Let me help you with that, Miss Wolf.”
She mechanically stuffed her arms in
the sleeves of Lela's favorite cobalt blue coat. Her sister's scent brought
tears to her eyes. She blinked to keep them at bay. The doorman hailed her a
cab and she tossed her stuff in the backseat and slid in.
“Where to?”
Ella couldn’t think past the fear and
grief eating away at her insides. She didn’t know where to go or who to turn to
that she could definitely say wasn’t in her uncle’s pocket. Detective Robbins
would check with all her friends. She couldn’t risk going to one of them and
putting them in danger.
Her gaze fell on her sister’s suitcase
and the baggage tag still on the handle. She didn’t know the BZN airport code.
The purse lay on her lap, her fingers clutching it in a death grip. She made
herself relax and unzip the bag. She found the airline ticket voucher inside.
Bozeman.
Why did you go to
Montana?
They hadn’t been back to the family
ranch since her father died in a plane crash when they were fourteen.
“Where are we off to?” The driver
asked again, pulling her out of her dark thoughts. A plan started to form.
“Airport.” She barely choked out the
word.
She’d retrace her sister’s steps, find out what she’d been doing
the last three days, where she went and who she saw. She’d find the evidence
Lela died for, and God help her uncle when she did.
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