With a breath of resignation, she forced her thoughts back to the murder case she was supposed to be working, crossed the kitchen, then went down the hall to her bedroom. Her laptop perched on the little Victorian writing desk in the sitting area. Ellie sat down and went to work.

Starting with Rance Sullivan, she dug around on Google and checked half a dozen places where his name might pop up. He had no criminal record that she could find. On his Facebook page, she learned that Sullivan was a member of the Elk Foundation, an organization that supported wildlife habitat and hunting. Also the NRA, so he undoubtedly owned a gun, but so did half the men in Coffee Springs, and Heather had been strangled, not shot. He definitely had a lot of women friends.

Zoe would be able to go deeper, but Ellie didn’t see any red flags where Sullivan was concerned. At eleven o’clock that morning, she heard a car pulling up behind the house. Since most visitors came to the front door, she went to the window to see who it was.

A silver Mercedes convertible gleamed in the sunlight, steam rising from the engine in the cold. A stylishly dressed woman in designer jeans and a cashmere sweater got out. Early thirties, sleek, shoulder-length blond hair turned under, no tell-tale dark roots, a face bordering on beautiful, eyebrows perfectly plucked, lips full and painted a sexy red.

Ellie’s insides knotted. She headed for the kitchen, opened the door, and stepped out onto the porch. “May I help you?”

“I’m Grace Towers. I’m a friend of Kade’s.” Her gaze ran over Ellie in her worn jeans, scuffed boots, and red-plaid flannel shirt. “You must be the cook.”

That and a whole lot more. “I’m Ellie Bowman. Is Kade expecting you?”

“I thought I’d surprise him. Would you mind telling him I’m here?”

“I’m afraid he’s out with his men. He usually comes in around noon to work in his study for a while, but not always. If he’s in cell range, I might be able to reach him on his phone.”

Grace flashed a perfect white smile. “That would be lovely. Thank you, Ellie.”

“No problem.”

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Ellie punched in Kade’s contact number. He picked up on the second ring.

“Ellie. What’s the problem?”

With all the trouble that had been happening, and since she rarely called, he had to figure it was urgent.

“Everything’s all right. I just wanted to let you know you have a visitor.”

“Who is it?”

“Your friend Grace Towers. She drove out to surprise you. Surprise.”

“Very funny. Tell her I’m fifteen minutes out.”

“Will do, boss.” Ellie hung up the phone.

* * *