Page 74 of Meant for Her
“Let me ask you,” Malia said. “Do you really want to tip your hand to Pete? What do you think he’d say if you told him you know your father was shot and that he didn’t die from having his throat ripped out?”
“He’d probably say he was so upset when he saw all the blood that he assumed Dad’s throat was ripped out,” Ryan said.
Luke nodded. “When he buried Dad, you’re telling me he couldn’t see his throat wasn’t torn to shreds? I don’t buy it.” He looked over at Malia. “Sorry”
“It’s okay.”
“If by some chance Pete was responsible for Dad’s death—which I’m tending to believe he was—I doubt he’d still have the rifle,” Luke said.
Malia was thankful they were being realistic. “You’re probably right. What’s your plan regarding Pete owning a lot of ranch land? Is it possible he inherited some money?”
The men looked at each other. “Whatever happened, we need to figure this out.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Malia was right. He and Ryan shouldn’t just rush over to Pete’s new place and demand answers. “I think we should start by taking this evidence to the sheriff,” Luke said.
“Will he believe this is Dad?”
“We’ll show him the belt buckle. It belonged to him,” Luke said.
“They can extract the DNA from the bones and compare them to your DNA to make sure,” Malia said.
“I’m thinking the sheriff will believe us.”
“Do you think he’ll wonder why we dug him up after three years though?” Ryan asked.
That was a tough one. “We’ll tell him the truth—or close to it,” Luke said.
Ryan shook his head. “Pete showed him a falsified death certificate to prevent the world from learning about our kind. What if Pete is innocent?”
Pete might be. “Okay, for the time being, we’ll say that we were clearing an area under the trees when I noticed some bones.” He turned to her. “Would that happen in real life?”
“Bodies that are not in caskets have been known to shift in the soil, especially with the way the land experiences extreme cold and then heat in Montana,” Malia said. “You often can tell where a body had been buried because the soil changes in composition.” She held up a hand. “You don’t want to know why. I would tell Sheriff Hanson that you spotted the different type of grass in that area and then you saw what looked like a bone sticking out of the ground. A cow could have been sniffing around there and partially dug it up. That’s when you decided to investigate.”
“I like it, but once I show him the bullet, he’ll want to ask Pete about it,” Luke said.
“For sure,” she said. “The sheriff will know that a real medical examiner wouldn’t have missed a bullet—especially if your father had a gaping hole in his chest. I’m thinking that no doctor actually saw your father.”
“I’m betting you’re right,” Ryan said.
“Do you know the name of the doctor who filled out the form?” she asked.
Luke shrugged. “I never saw the death certificate. I’m thinking the sheriff or the county courthouse would have it on file.”
“Pete will have a hard time explaining that to the sheriff,” Malia said. “If Pete is questioned, he’ll want answers from you guys. And if he is behind the cattle theft, he might retaliate. Even if he isn’t behind the theft, he might want to retaliate. Falsifying a death certificate is against the law.”
Someone knocked on the door, and Luke was almost happy for the interruption. “Food’s here.”
“I’ll get it,” Ryan said.
As Ryan was paying, Malia went over to the cabinet and grabbed a roll of paper towels. Luke was pleased that she didn’t need fancy napkins.
“What are you going to do?” she asked him.
“I’m not certain. It seems likely that Pete killed my dad. My father never treated him well. I imagine my dad only promised to pay Pete at the end but never did. Pete might have become too frustrated by the lack of money.”
“That wouldn’t give him the money that was owed him though, would it?” she asked.