At Wolf Ranch

“What the hell is that?” the detective asked.
“Lela called someone.”
Oh God, they found her phone.
“Shit. She called her sister

“What are you going to do with that?” The detective indicated the gold necklace her uncle tucked away in his pocket.
“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

ective 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 knelt 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 Ella’s. Ella reached up and wrapped her trembling fingers around the one against her chest and sighed. Lela’s ring came next. Ella had given 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 fulfill

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

“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. She ODs

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

“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

“You’re lucky she called me. That she saw me as a friend.”
“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?

Uncle Phillip knelt 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

“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 the suitcase Lela left in the middle of the foyer. Where had she been?
Ella shoved the cell phone in her purse and turned toward the voices coming from the other room.
“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 toward the open library doors. Her gaze locked on her un