From the Shadows (Buckhorn, Montana #2) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,26

mistake as she’d made ten years ago, she told herself. “You’re a lot stronger than you think you are.” She heard her grandmother’s voice so clearly that the woman could have been standing next to her. Casey smiled, realizing it was true. She wasn’t that shy girl Megan had manipulated. Nor would she be manipulated now by whoever had sent out the invitations.

As they neared the gathered group, she could see Jason with his back to them and heard him talking. She couldn’t make out his words, but suddenly he broke off in midsentence to look over his shoulder. Someone had warned him of her approach.

“Are your ears burning?” Finn whispered to her. “Mine are.”

Casey didn’t answer. She was looking at the familiar faces around the campfire and remembering. They were all looking back at her.

Except for Patience Riley. She was looking into the woods as if she’d heard something, an odd smile on her face.

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE FIRE GLOWED bright orange in the growing darkness as Casey and Finn reached the group. Jason hurried to the cooler, coming back with two beers. He handed one to her and one to Finn. Several of the others had been talking among themselves but now stopped to listen.

“This reunion was a great idea!” Patience said, lifting her beer can in a salute. “I didn’t think you had it in you, Casey.”

“I didn’t send the invitations. I had nothing to do with this. In fact, I can’t imagine why anyone thought this was a good idea.” She looked around the campfire. They’d all changed little except for Ben. It could have been ten years ago, the campfire, the beer, almost all of them gathered out here.

Ben rushed forward to hug her. Casey was surprised by the gesture and shocked by how much he’d changed. “It’s good to see you,” he said. “I’m so sorry about your grandmother.” The others quickly added their condolences. “I knew this wasn’t your doing.” All she could do for a moment was nod and smile. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Good to see you, too, Ben,” she said lamely, since who in their right mind would want to be a part of this?

“It’s Benjamin now. I’m a doctor. I specialize in viruses. You probably saw me on the news during the pandemic.”

“Of course,” she said quickly. She had seen him, but she hadn’t recognized him nor even put the name together with the Ben from that summer. “I always knew you would do well.”

“Thank you.” He smiled, reached for her hand and squeezed it before going back to his spot by the campfire.

The roar of a car engine made them all turn. The sound was followed by the flash of headlights as a vehicle sped into the parking lot behind the hotel. The lights blinked and went out, and moments later Shirley Langer and Jennifer Mullen stumbled out, laughing. They walked up carrying a bottle of wine, sharing a joke.

“You started the party without me?” Jen demanded loudly, verifying what Casey had suspected the moment they’d driven up. Both had already had a few drinks. “Wow, you really did all come back to Buckhorn,” the attractive brunette said as she looked around the campfire. Her gaze stopped on Finn and she frowned. “Who are you?”

“Casey brought a date,” Jason said.

Before Casey could correct him, Finn said, “I received an invitation, like I suspect the rest of you did.”

Jen’s gaze swung to Casey for clarification.

“Casey didn’t send out the invitations,” Benjamin hurriedly told her. “It seems she isn’t any happier about this than some of the rest of us.”

“Does it really matter who invited us?” Jason demanded. “We’re all here. Why not make the best of it? I, for one, plan to have a good time.”

* * *

FINN DISAGREED. It did matter who had invited them. It mattered a whole lot.

While the atmosphere around the fire had a party look to it, he picked up on the tension. None of them trusted each other, he realized, and probably with good reason. Not only was Megan’s murder unsolved, but also these people had been the last to see her alive. All were suspects.

He found himself studying their faces, wondering if one of them was responsible and what that person hoped to accomplish by being here, even if they hadn’t sent out the invitations. He couldn’t help worrying that the one person who didn’t get an invitation—Casey—might be the target.

“So, Casey,” Jason said, “I’ve been catching up with everyone else. Claude’s a famous surgeon,