Her gaze met his and didn’t move away. “From what I’m hearing around town, you definitely had motive. But I doubt you’d be dumb enough to hire two different detectives to find Heather’s killer if you were the guy who did it.”

He relaxed back in the booth, more relieved that he should have been. He thought of the way she had looked at him in the barn last night. He wasn’t an expert on women, but he was pretty sure the attraction was mutual.

“All right,” he said. “Then we’ll go to the Elkhorn on Friday night, and I’ll introduce you around.”

Ellie just nodded, obviously not excited at the prospect. If she really wasn’t interested, he’d find out Friday night.

She went back to work on her salad. “What did Sheriff Carver have to say?”

“I asked him if there were any other reports of cattle being killed in the area, but so far, there haven’t been any.”

“So maybe the shooting was personal.”

That’s what Kade had been thinking, though he hadn’t come right out and said it, didn’t really want to believe it. “You could be right. I was hoping it was just some bastard who got a kick out of shooting a moving target, but it could be he’s zeroed in on the Diamond Bar.”

“Or you, specifically. You’re a powerful man in the area. You must have enemies. You need to make a list, Kade.”

He nodded. “You’re right. I wish you weren’t.”

“Maybe whoever you pissed off will consider two dead steers enough of a payback.”

“I sure as hell hope so.”

They finished the meal, and he followed her out to his truck. They were just driving out of town when his cell phone rang. The call came out through speakers on the dashboard.

“Kade, this is Will Turley. We’ve got a problem out at the mine.”

“Since when do you call me about a mining issue?”

“Since someone blew up one of the shafts and damn near killed one of my men. You’re the leaseholder, so I figured you’d want to know.”

Kade’s hand tightened around the steering wheel. “You’re right. I’m on my way.” He turned to Ellie. “Phone Maria and tell her to go ahead and start making supper. You’re going to be late getting back.”

Ellie pulled out her cell and made the call, then settled back in the seat. “I didn’t realize you owned a mine. I guess I should have done a little more research.”

“The mining operation is owned by Red Hawk Mining, which is part of Mountain Ore, a big international conglomerate. They lease the mine, but the claim sits on the original Diamond Bar homestead, 619 acres south of Copper Mountain down in Summit County. Dad moved the ranch headquarters when he bought the acreage up near Coffee Springs.”