Cardwell Ranch Trespasser - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,6

view. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

Dee agreed, although she felt once she’d seen one mountain, she’d seen them all—and she’d seen more than her fair share today.

“Is the ranch far?” She was tiring of the tour and the drive and anxious to find out if this had been a complete waste of time. Lance Allen was looking awfully good right now.

“Almost there,” Dana said, and turned off the highway to cross the river on a narrow bridge.

The land opened up, and for a moment she had great expectations. Then she saw an old two-story house and groaned inwardly.

So much for fate and her luck finally changing. She wondered how quickly she would escape. Maybe she would have to use the sick-sister or even the dying-mother excuse, if it came to that.

Just then a man rode up on a horse. She did a double take and tried to remember the last time she’d seen anyone as handsome as this cowboy astride the horse.

“That’s Hud, my husband,” Dana said with obvious pride in her voice.

Hello, Hud Savage, Dee said to herself. Things were beginning to look up considerably.

Chapter Three

Deputy Marshal Colt Dawson got the call as he was driving down from Big Sky’s Mountain Village.

“Black bear problem up Antler Ridge Road,” the dispatcher told him. “The Collins place.”

“I’ll take care of it.” He swung off Lone Mountain Trail onto Antler Ridge Road and drove along until he saw the massive house set against the side of the mountain. Like many of the large homes around Big Sky, this one was only used for a week or so at Christmas and a month or so in the summer at most.

George Collins was some computer component magnate who’d become a millionaire by the time he was thirty.

Colt swung his patrol SUV onto the paved drive that led him through the timber to the circular driveway.

He’d barely stopped and gotten out before the nanny came running out to tell him that the bear was behind the house on the deck.

Colt took out his can of pepper spray, attached it to his belt and then unsnapped his shotgun. The maid led the way, before quickly disappearing back into the house.

The small yearling black bear was just finishing a huge bowl of dog food when Colt came around the corner.

It saw him and took off, stopping ten yards away in the pines. Colt lifted the shotgun and fired into the air. The bear hightailed it up the mountain and over a rise.

After replacing the shotgun and bear spray in his vehicle, he went to the front door and knocked. The nanny answered the door and he asked to see Mr. or Mrs. Collins. As she disappeared back into the cool darkness of the house, Colt looked around.

Living in Big Sky, he was used to extravagance: heated driveways, gold-finished fixtures, massive homes with lots of rock and wood and antlers. The Collins home was much like the others that had sprouted up around Big Sky.

“Yes?” The woman who appeared was young and pretty except for the frown on her face. “Is there a problem?”

“You called about a bear on your back deck,” he reminded her.

“Yes, but I heard you shoot it.”

“I didn’t shoot it. I scared it off. We don’t shoot them, but we may have to if you keep feeding them. You need to make sure you don’t leave dog food on the deck. Or birdseed in your feeders. Or garbage where the bears can get to it.” Montana residents were warned of this—but to little avail. “You can be fined if you continue to disregard these safety measures.”

The woman bristled. “I’ll tell my housekeeper to feed the dog inside. But you can’t be serious about the birdseed.”

“It’s the bears that are serious about birdseed,” Colt said. “They’ll tear down your feeders to get to it and keep coming back as long as there is something to eat.”

“Fine. I’ll tell my husband.”

He tipped his Stetson and left, annoyed that people often moved to Montana for the scenery and wildlife. But they wanted both at a distance so they didn’t have to deal with it.

As he drove back toward Meadow Village, the lower part of Big Sky, he thought about what Hud had said about a raft trip down the river. No way would Hilde go. Would she?

* * *

HILDE HAD BEEN watching Dee Anna Justice on the ride from the airport to Cardwell Ranch and fighting a nagging feeling.

What was it about the woman that was bothering her? She