“I’ll send him in.” Turning, she headed back to where Logan stood waiting, long legs braced slightly apart, turning his hat in his big, calloused hands. No question this guy was for real. She wondered what kind of help he needed.

She smiled up at him. A little under five-foot-four, she was at least ten inches shorter than Kade. “Go on in. Conn’s waiting.”

He gave her a cursory nod, then disappeared inside the office. She looked down at her skirt and blouse, the business attire she had chosen to meet a new client, and wondered if she should have worn a pair of jeans.

Ten minutes later, she found out.

“Kade, meet Eleanor Bowman.”

His eyes narrowed, forming tiny sun lines at the corners. “You’re Eleanor Bowman?”

“I’m Ellie.” She smiled and stuck out a hand. “Pleasure meeting you.”

His jaw tightened for an instant before he reached out and accepted her handshake.

He turned back to Conn. “Eleanor. With a name like that, I thought she’d be an older woman, someone with more experience. Either way, this is a bad idea.”

“What idea is that?” Ellie asked.

“Eight years ago, Kade’s wife was murdered,” Conn answered for him. “Her body was discovered in the mountains outside Denver, but the killer was never found. Two weeks ago, the car Heather was driving when she disappeared was discovered in a lake near Coffee Springs. That’s the town closest to the ranch. The police now believe she could have been picked up by someone who knew the area, someone who lived there or had ties to the community. It’s possible the killer abducted her, dumped the car in the lake, then drove her somewhere and murdered her. Afterward, he disposed of her body, then returned to Coffee Springs.”

“Maybe the killer wasn’t a local,” Ellie said. “Just someone passing through, someone who lived in Denver or a nearby town.”

Logan glanced off toward the window. “We were in the middle of a divorce when she was killed. I knew she was seeing someone, but I didn’t know who. He could have been local or someone from out of town. Either way, the sheriff was never able to figure out who it was.”

“And that’s the reason you want to hire me? To find out who murdered your wife?”

His gaze swung to hers. “First off, I don’t want to hire you. Conn thought it would be a good idea. He said your specialty is working undercover, but the last thing I need on my ranch is a woman snooping around. You’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”