B.J. Daniels - Atonement

She crossed her arms on top of her stomach and stared him down. “Then I have already put myself and my baby in danger by finding you, haven’t I?”

Dillon worried she might be right about that. “Still—”

“You don’t owe me anything. You can wash your hands of me right now. But I will find Ethan. As hard as he tried, he left me somewhat of a trail. You are only one of my leads.”

“Leads you aren’t going to share unless we do this together.”

She smiled.

He considered the woman. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her, there had been something in her demeanor that had gotten to him. Her story had been preposterous, and yet... And yet he hadn’t been able to let it go.

He’d thought she was trying to con him when they’d first met. The lawman in him reminded him that he might be falling for the worst con of all, because he desperately wanted Tessa to be carrying Ethan’s baby—and she would know that.

He recalled how Sheriff Frank Curry had never opened the DNA test that had been run on the girl claiming to be his daughter, Tiffany Chandler. Frank had said he didn’t need to. Tiffany was his daughter.

Dillon knew Frank wanted to believe Tiffany was his daughter. Just as Dillon wanted to believe this woman had known his brother and was now carrying his child.

“You still aren’t sure about me,” she said as if reading his thoughts.

Did he believe she was carrying Ethan’s baby or did he only want to believe it? He thought of the photograph that Ethan had left behind and how he’d used their mother’s maiden name.

“I believe you knew my brother, and if you’re telling the truth...” His gaze went to her stomach. He saw something move across the surface. Before he could react, Tessa took his hand and placed it on her swollen belly.

His eyes widened as the baby kicked his hand. He felt its little foot just below the surface. The movement awakened some primitive emotion deep inside him, because he felt an instant connection to this child she was carrying. Ethan’s baby.

Tessa smiled. “That’s your niece.”

He nodded, praying she was telling the truth, because it would mean Ethan was alive—or at least had been only months ago—and part of his brother lived in this woman. Being his brother’s identical twin, Dillon felt as if he was part of this child, as well.

If what she said was true, Tessa had been close to his brother, something he himself hadn’t been for years. If true, she, too, had loved Ethan. No doubt still did. Because of that, he couldn’t let her go after Ethan alone. The only way he could protect her and this baby was to keep her close. If it was true, she might know more about his brother than he did. Between them, they might stand a chance of finding Ethan—if he really was alive.

He couldn’t help being skeptical. It came with the job. He met Tessa’s gaze. His brother was alive. But where was he now? And how was Dillon going to find him? Ethan hadn’t used his real name when he’d met Tessa. That must mean someone had been looking for him.

“I’ll see what I can find out through regular channels,” Dillon said. “In the meantime, I don’t want you staying in a motel.” Before she could argue, he quickly added, “Come stay out at the ranch. I have plenty of room. You’ll be more comfortable there.”

“And you can keep an eye on me.”

“And vice versa.”

She pretended surprise. “Did you think I might suspect you’d go after Ethan without me?”

He smiled. “In the meantime, I want you to have this.” He began to fill out a check for five thousand dollars.

“I already told you—”

“It’s just a loan until we find Ethan and he can pay you back what he owes.” He held out the check.

She glanced at him and the check for a moment before taking it. “A loan. Only until we find Ethan.”

Part of him called himself a damned fool. He could be five thousand dollars poorer tomorrow—if she didn’t steal him blind at the house before disappearing as quickly as she’d appeared in his life.

But once he’d felt that tiny foot against his palm, Tessa Winters had had him.

* * *

THE FIRST THING Dillon did was check to see if anyone had disappeared around the time of Ethan’s alleged death in the desert. He found what he was looking for in a short police report about a wrangler who’d been reported missing from a dude ranch near Palm Springs. The man had left behind his truck and some of his belongings.

There was just the one mention of the missing man. No follow-up. The man’s name was Buck Morgan. His former address, though, was Wisdom, Montana.

Dillon had a bad feeling the man was now buried in the local cemetery under Ethan’s headstone. He remembered the day he’d laid his brother to rest. There hadn’t been a funeral. No one in the area knew Ethan, and Dillon wouldn’t have taken his brother’s remains back to western Montana. Too many bad memories there for both brothers.

Had Ethan been watching the day Dillon had placed the ashes in the container at the grave site? That thought made him both angry and incredibly sad—and even more determined to find his brother, if indeed he was still alive.

The last Dillon had heard, his brother was working on a ranch over on the Powder River near Ekalaka, Montana. But that had been two years ago, and Ethan had never stayed in any one place long.

Dillon put in a call to the ranch just in case the owner might have known where Ethan was headed next. Possibly Wisdom, Montana?

When the ranch owner answered, he introduced himself as Undersheriff Dillon Lawson of Big Timber.

“Ethan Lawson, oh, you bet I remember him,” the female ranch owner said, giving Dillon a bad feeling he knew what was coming next. “He left here owing me money. Any chance you’re a relative?”

“Brother. How much does he owe you?”

“Two hundred.”

“I’ll put a check in the mail today,” Dillon said, wondering how much it was going to cost him by the time he was through looking for his twin. “Do you happen to know where he went after he left your ranch?”

“Not likely, since he left in the middle of the night. The two of them absconding in the night like the thieves they were. The other one got me for five hundred. I don’t suppose you want to pick up his tab, as well?”

“The other one?”

“Luke Blackwell. Running with him, your brother was headed for trouble. I hired Luke against my better judgment, since when I checked the ranch he’d worked for I was warned that he’d gotten involved with the rancher’s granddaughter. Luke gave me some song and dance about the girl chasing him. I weakened. Big mistake. Last I heard, Luke did some hard time in Deer Lodge. Not surprised.”

“Do you know what he went to prison for?” Dillon asked.

“Felony theft. He was caught stealing a backhoe. The bum actually tried to get me to give him a recommendation before the parole board hearing, promising to offer him a job when he got out. Like I would ever let him back on my ranch. If you’re looking for your brother, he’ll be wherever Luke went after he got out. The two were thicker than thieves.” She chuckled bitterly.

Dillon asked for her address, thanked her for the information and hung up. He quickly checked to see how Luke Blackwell had fared with the judicial system.

Luke had done only eighteen months in prison before his release. He had gotten a rancher by the name of Halbrook Truman of the Double T-Bar-Diamond to promise him a job when he got out.

The Double T-Bar-Diamond was in Big Hole country over by Wisdom, Montana. Dillon felt his heart beat a little faster. He’d never trusted coincidences. As he started to place a call to the ranch, he changed his mind. He hadn’t been to that part of southwestern Montana in years. It was only a half day’s drive, one he wouldn’t mind taking.