Page 73 of Meant for Her

As soon as he closed the door, he pressed her against the wall and kissed her. Her purse was in the way of fully enjoying his embrace so she leaned back. “Let me get rid of a few things.”

Luke came in from the kitchen. “No lovemaking until after we talk.”

That sounded serious. She looked up at Ryan. “What’s that about?”

“It isn’t pleasant. We need to show you something.”

Malia took off her coat and placed it on the sofa. She then dropped her purse on top of it before following him. As soon as she spotted the bones on a blanket that they’d placed on the table, she stilled. “What is this?”

She hoped it wasn’t their father. That would be too creepy.

“It’s Dad. Luke needed closure. To be honest, so did I.”

“Okay, but why bring him inside?”

Luke motioned her over to the table. “We need your expert opinion.”

Malia studied the mass of bones, few of which were in the correct spot. “What am I looking at?”

Luke picked up a bullet. “We found this under my dad’s body. It appears as if Pete lied when he said some wolves attacked my father and tore out his throat.”

“And you want to know if I think that’s true?”

“Yes.” Luke shifted his weight from his right foot to his left.

She’d never seen him even remotely this nervous. “I’ll try.”

Malia took her time, looking for a rib that might have been grazed by a bullet on its way to Mr. Lattimore’s heart. In theory, there should be two hundred and six bones here, but they might not have found all of them.

One by one, she located the ribs, but only found twenty-two of the twenty-four. However, she didn’t need the other two. Malia held up a bone. “See this crack?”

They both leaned in closer. “Is that where a bullet might have hit him?” Ryan asked.

“Yes, but to make sure, let me locate the hyoid bone. I doubt a wolf could rip out a person’s throat and not destroy at least that bone.”

“That’s what I mentioned to Luke.” Ryan glanced up at his brother and smiled.

That bone’s unique U-shape made it easy to find. Malia waved it. “This is intact. While I am not a doctor, I would say that your father was shot in the heart.”

“Motherfucker,” Luke said.

“Why would Pete lie?” Ryan asked. “Was he guilty, or did he know who did it?”

“Let me wash my hands, and I’ll tell you something about your Pete Rizolli,” she said.

When the men didn’t say anything, she bet they were telepathing to each other. Once she dried her hands, she turned around.

“Before I tell you what I learned from Mason, has anyone given any thought to dinner?”

“We have you covered. I just called in an order.”

That worked. She proceeded to tell them that Pete Rizolli had not been honest about being kicked out of his rental because the owner wanted to tear it down. He owned the place. “But the interesting part was that Pete just purchased two thousand acres of ranch land.”

The men looked at each other. “Holy shit. Where did he get the money?”

That was the big question. “I have the address of the property. I highly doubt your missing cows will be on the property, but you can always look. It’s dark now, so maybe you can check tomorrow.”

Luke’s hands fisted. “I really want to beat the truth out of him, but he won’t break. He’s a tough bird.”