“A better question might be what happens next? With Keller dead, are your troubles over? What if Frank’s beef with you wasn’t personal? What if it never had anything to do with payback?”

His jaw tightened. “You’re thinking he might have been working for someone else. Someone who paid him to cause me trouble.”

“That’s right. Maybe the person who hired him wasn’t satisfied with the job Frank was doing. Or he was afraid Frank was about to get caught.”

Kade nodded. “We found Keller. Which means the sheriff would probably have found him fairly soon. The killer could have shot Frank to keep him from talking.”

“Could be, and if Keller was murdered to silence him, whoever hired him might not be finished. You and your people could still be danger.”

Kade’s hands tightened around the steering wheel. “We can’t afford to let down our guard. Not yet. I’ll keep the security guys on the payroll and warn the hands to stay alert till we figure out what’s going on.”

“With any luck, Sheriff Fischer will come up with something.”

Kade grunted. “Or Carver will. He’s been looking for the shooter from the beginning.”

As they got closer to the ranch, Ellie phoned Zoe to tell her to forget about Frank Keller, that they had found him dead. Zoe promised to call on Monday with updates on the rest of the info Ellie wanted.

By the time Kade parked the truck behind the ranch house and Ellie walked through the back door into the kitchen, supper was in progress. The men had already loaded their plates with steaks off the big stainless grill, baked potatoes, salad, and French bread. It was Saturday night. Sunday was a well-deserved day off for most of the men.

Ellie recognized a couple of guys from the security detail. There were always one or two men who showed up to eat at the end of their shifts.

Maria was still working, getting ready to serve dessert. “Sorry I’m late,” Ellie said to her.

Maria flashed a proud smile. “Everything went smoothly. Turtle helped, and the steaks turned out very good.”

“Better than good,” one of the men called out. “Maria did great.”

Ellie looked over to see Alejandro among the hands seated around the table. His arm was in a sling, his shirt unsnapped partway to make room for the bandage around his shoulder. Maria blushed at his compliment and looked away.

Kade hung his hat on a peg and strode toward the injured man. “You sure you ought to be out of bed?”

“The doctor says I should move around if I want to get well.”

“You look a little better. How are you feeling?”

Alejandro flashed his bright white smile. “Much better. Maria’s a very good nurse.”

Kade flicked her a glance but returned his attention to Alejandro. “All right, but don’t press too hard. Just take it easy.”