The Suspect Groom

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader,

One of the greatest rewards for writing for Harlequin Intrigue is the chance to travel in your mind to places you would never dream of going. Like Alaska. Since I live a quiet life in Denver, where we usually get plenty of snow, a trip to glacier land wasn’t my number-one priority. However, after working on The Suspect Groom, a MAIL ORDER BRIDE book, my priorities have changed. I envy the two main characters in this story, Trina Martin and David St. John.

The country near Juneau is remarkable and beautiful, a wonderland filled with incredible wildlife. Just think of being caught in a blizzard with a gorgeous, rugged male, like David St. John. Think of snuggling in front of the fire with nothing to do but share bodily warmth. Of course, Trina Martin has to worry about solving a couple of murders and surviving when the killer comes after her. But David and Alaska make her struggle worth it.

I wouldn’t mind being Trina. I’m tempted to respond to one of those ads for MAIL ORDER BRIDES!

Sincerely,

Cassie Miles

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Trina Martin—She came to Alaska as a mail-order bride, but the marriage license included more than she bargained for.

David St. John—He didn’t own the Stoddard Hunting Lodge or the vast acreage that came with it, but he kept everything running. Until murder intervened.

Ivan Stoddard—This cruel and wealthy man thought he could buy anything, even a wife.

Maybelle Ballou—The housekeeper’s main responsibility was to keep Ivan happy. How far would she go to please him?

Jacob Poynter—An Olympic champion in the shoot-and-ski event, the biathlon, he was the consummate hunter, dangerous to his prey.

Sheriff Reuben Kittridge—His job was to solve the crimes, but he had an unfortunate tendency toward poaching.

Bradley Winkle—This jealous newlywed came to Alaska to investigate environmental violations. Did his accusations lead to murder?

Phyllis Winkle—She loved horses, almost more than her new husband, and she wasn’t very good at dealing with people.

Victor Stoddard—As Ivan’s only living relative, he stood to inherit a magnificent estate, if only his uncle Ivan were dead.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

Prologue

A bitter wind from the Alaskan coast mountains tore through the night. Black velvet skies, studded with crystal stars, loomed over the stark snow-covered horizon, but Darien Greenlee saw only the glare of headlights in his rearview mirror. Like the glowing eyes of a predatory beast, the lights had tailed him for the past eight miles on this desolate road that led to Ivan Stoddard’s hunting lodge.

From a distance, Darien heard a timber wolf howl at the waning February moon, and he shivered. His grip tightened on the steering wheel of his rental car. This idiot behind him was following too closely, tailgating as if they were in a traffic jam instead of being the only two vehicles for miles and miles. Darien hadn’t seen another car since he passed through the main street of Osprey and circled the edge of Crowberry Lake. What was wrong with this guy?

Darien lessened his speed by five miles per hour, so that the other car could pass him. But the driver stayed tight on his tail. Swinging wide on a curve that was rimmed by ice-covered berry thickets, Darien slowed even more. The vehicle behind him did the same. They were creeping along the dark road. Was the driver Ivan himself? Was this his idea of a joke?

Suddenly, without warning, the headlights behind Darien came close. The other car nudged his bumper, and the studded snow tires of Darien’s rental car skidded on the icy road.

“Hey!” The exclamation burst through his lips. What was going on? This wasn’t funny! Darien stomped hard on the accelerator and shot forward. He’d driven this route often enough to be familiar with the twists and turns in the narrow road that led through an old-growth spruce and hemlock forest. Beyond the trees, a two-lane road shot straight as a harpoon. The lodge was only a few miles farther away.

With satisfaction, Darien saw the headlights fall behind.

He chuckled. Try to keep up with me. Just try it.

His rental car burst past the trees. Far away, Darien saw the glow of lights from the lodge. Up close, too close, there was an obstacle in the road. A log. A fallen tree. He pumped frantically on the brakes and came to a stop only inches from the jagged pine boughs.

The car behind him halted.

Outraged, Darien flung open his car door. He charged toward the other vehicle, a Jeep, ready to confront the person who was stepping out. “What the hell were you doing? I could have been killed. I have a good mind to—”

His words stopped when he saw the shimmer of starlight on the gunmetal gray barrel of a Winchester rifle. The raw wind, the Taku wind from the mountains, sliced through his parka and chilled his heart.

The driver of the other car raised the night sight and aimed at Darien’s chest. The voice was a whisper. “Seems that you’ve fallen into a trap.”

Though the shape was well-padded in winter gear, Darien recognized the person. “You!”

“I’ll give you a sporting chance, my friend. I’ll count to one hundred before I come after you.”

“Don’t be absurd. I won’t play games with you. It’s freezing out here.”

“Twenty-eight below zero.”

“Come on, now. Enough is enough.” Darien fought the terror that rose in his chest. “Let’s get this road cleared,” he continued reasonably. “We can use the winch on your Jeep.”

“I’ll make it even easier for you. I won’t use the rifle with the night sight.” The rifle disappeared into the Jeep. “I’m only armed with this handgun. A Colt .45. That’s fair.”

“You’re insane!”

“One. Two.” The whisper was firm. The cadence of the count was steady. “Three. Four.”

“You’ll never get away with this.” Searching for a way out, Darien stared at his rental car, neatly hemmed in by the log and the Jeep. There was no way he could escape, but his own rifle and hunting gear were in the trunk.

“Don’t even think it” came the low whisper. “Touch your car and the game’s over. You die right now.” The count resumed. “Five. Six.”

“It would be more fair if I was armed.” Darien tried another tactic. “You said you wanted to be sporting, didn’t you?”

“Seven. Eight. You’re talking yourself to death, my friend. Nine. Ten.”

Darien started running. He had two choices—into the trees or toward the lodge. The trees would provide shelter and make him a more difficult target, but he couldn’t hide there long. It was too cold. Still running, he zipped his Gore-Tex parka and pulled up the hood. There were bears in the forest. And wolves. Night hunters.

Still, he chose that direction.

The lodge was nearly two miles away, and the landscape was flat white with nowhere to hide.

He heard the echo of the first shot ring out. The stillness of the Alaskan night shattered like glass.

Chapter One

He was exactly the way she’d imagined. Trina Martin peered through the window of the single-engine Cessna at the tall, long-legged man in a shearling coat who stood beside the Osprey airstrip. Behind him, the glacial landscape of Alaska, north of Juneau, glistened in the midday sunlight. The sparkle of crusted snow matched the two-carat diamond in the ring she wore on her fourth finger, left hand.

Trina couldn’t believe she was actually here, couldn’t believe that she was finally going to meet him. Though the brim of his black Stetson obscured his features, she had the impression of a strong jawline. What would he look like? Was his hair blond or brown or red? Was it streaked with silver? She knew he was in his mid-forties. She knew he was healthy and fit. But, in all their correspondence, she hadn’t seen a photograph, hadn’t been brave enough to ask. Was he handsome?

The plane taxied forward and she could no longer see him. She leaned back in her seat, trying to catch her breath and to calm the tremulous quiver of anticipation in her stomach. Finally, she thought. Finally, she would be face-to-face with her future husband, Ivan Stoddard.

“We’re here,” the pilot announced from the cockpit.

Trina was the only passenger in the small plane, and she was struck with a sudden reluctance to disembark. What if Ivan didn’t like her? What if he thought she was plain or clumsy or boring? Worst of all, she thought, he might take one look at her and discover the lie she’d perpetrated since the very beginning of their correspondence.

“I got to tell you,” the bush pilot said as the plane slowly glided to a stop. “I’ve transported a lot of weird stuff to people out here. A pair of matched apricot poodles. A frozen cheesecake from New York City. And the skull of a prehistoric man to some archeologist. But this is the first time my cargo has been a mail-order bride.”

“I’m nowhere near as interesting as those other things.”

“Beg to differ, ma’am. You’re plenty more exciting than a poodle or a prehistoric head.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“Oh, that was a compliment, ma’am. You mind if I ask you one thing?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why? Why would a pretty woman like yourself agree to come up here and marry a man she’s never even met?”

The answer wasn’t easy. When Trina first replied to the advertisement for a mail-order bride, she might have been undergoing the first prickles of an uncomfortable mid-life crisis. She was thirty-five, unmarried and stuck in a dead-end job. Taking off for Alaska appealed to her, and she’d started a correspondence with Ivan Stoddard.

Over the course of a month, he wrote to her almost daily, and she fell in love with his letters. Maybe not in love, she thought now, but deeply in like. He was witty, honest and sensitive. His occasional attempts at poetry, though perhaps not brilliant, were charmingly sincere. Most of all, his letters showed that he loved his life-style, without reservation and fear. Trina wanted to share that excitement. She was tired of petty whining and complaining. She longed to embrace her future, and Ivan seemed to be the man who could show her how to live. When she received the engagement ring by special courier, she slipped it on her finger, quit her job and made her travel arrangements.

“Well?” the pilot prodded.

“Adventure,” she said.

“You’re surely going to have that wish come true. If there’s one thing we’ve got more of than snow in Alaska, it’s adventure.”

While he jostled the switches and shut down the engines of the Cessna, Trina lifted her large canvas purse onto her lap. Digging through her makeup, she found a small compact and checked her appearance. Her cheeks were flushed, which deepened the blue color of her eyes. Her minimal makeup was okay, but her long brown hair, pulled back in a single braid, was something of a mess. She tried to tidy the straggles that had come unfastened, then gave up, pulled out the rubber band at the end of the braid and shook her head. The untamed thickness cascaded halfway down her back. Her long hair was her best feature, but right now it seemed too wild. Should have had a trim, she thought. Should have had a hairdresser add russet highlights to the dull brown color. It was too late now, and Trina didn’t expect to find stylists in attendance at the secluded game preserve where they were headed.

She took off her gold-framed glasses and stashed them in their case. Perhaps her vision of Ivan would be an unfocused blur, but she didn’t want his first impression of her to be of a bespectacled former secretary. Besides, she needed to look younger, and the glasses added years.

The pilot flipped down the exit hatch. “Here you go, ma’am. Best of luck to you. Many happy returns.”

Too excited to speak, she nodded her thanks and stepped from the Cessna. The ridged rubber sole of her boot crunched on the hard-packed snow beside the tarmac runway. An icy wind coiled around her and nipped the tip of her nose. She shivered. This would be her home now. Alaska.

The man who stood waiting held his hat in his gloved hands. His eyes were a deep, moody brown. Sunlight sparked golden reflections in his dark blond hair.

She tried not to stare, not to squint myopically to bring his features into clear focus. Truly, she didn’t need to look too hard to see that he was wonderfully masculine, as strong and rugged as the land he called his domain. It was nearly impossible to believe that this virile man had written the twenty-eight thoughtful letters she’d received.

“Afternoon, ma’am. I’m David St. John.”

“You’re not Ivan?”

“He sends his regrets. There was a crisis this afternoon, and he couldn’t get away.” David stuck out his hand. “I’m the foreman at the hunting preserve.”

Her red mitten disappeared into his thick leather glove, and she gave a firm handshake, suppressing her disappointment. Throughout this long journey, she’d been anxious to see Ivan, to finally meet him. It didn’t seem like she could hold off for one more minute. But there was no choice. “I guess an occasional crisis can’t be avoided.”

“Afraid not.”

She forced the smile onto her face. Trina needed to be strong, to be prepared for anything. In his letters, Ivan had explained, several times, that life in Alaska didn’t follow the predictable rules of politeness.

“I’m sorry,” David said, and she detected a note of sympathy in his voice. “I’m sure if Ivan was here, he’d tell you that you were some sight when you were coming off that plane. You looked like Alice, taking her first gander at Wonderland.”

“That’s how I feel. This land is so beautiful. Last night, when my plane landed in Juneau, it was too dark to really see anything. But this morning we flew over the Mendenhall Glacier. It’s so amazing and it looks blue. There’s so much water, too! And the Cathedral Peaks. And the forests. I can’t wait to see the green fjords in the springtime. I’ve read all the books on Alaska that I could get my hands on, but this is...well, it is like Wonderland.”

“And Ivan would probably tell you...” He cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind me saying it, Trina, you’re prettier than your photograph.”

Her eyebrows arched in disbelief. The picture she’d sent was from ten years ago when she was twenty-five, and that little white lie had prevailed throughout her correspondence with Ivan. In his advertisement for a mail-order bride, he’d said he wanted a young, healthy, strong woman to be his wife. Trina fulfilled the requirements, except for the youthful part. “That was a posed photo,” she said, hoping that explanation would cover the ten extra years. “With makeup and special lighting.”

“I like you better this way. You look real.”

With the pilot’s help, he loaded her two suitcases and steamer trunk into the back of a four-wheel-drive Jeep Cherokee. Then he turned to her. “Is this all of it?”

“Yes.” Those few cases held all her earthly belongings. Trina had been ruthless in discarding everything that wasn’t absolutely essential. She’d sold all her furniture, had given away her trinkets and mementos.

In Alaska, she wanted a completely fresh start. A brand-new life, full of promise and adventure. And maybe she’d even find love.

David held open the door on the passenger side. “Let’s roll.”

She fastened her seat belt and settled back for the ride, noticing that he peeled off his heavy leather gloves and wore only a light thermal pair for the drive. “How far are we from the lodge?”

“Not far.”

“In terms of miles?”

“Time and distance don’t mean much out here. In a blizzard, it can take an hour to go a mile. In clear weather, like today, we’ll be at the lodge before your eyes get accustomed to the glare off the snow. Have you got sunglasses?”

“Yes.” Prescription sunglasses! These would be the perfect thing to wear. Not only would she be able to see clearly, but the dark lenses would disguise the faint traces of laugh lines around her eyes. She fished them out of her canvas bag and put them on.

The snowy panorama, though muted by the sunglasses, was spectacular. She scanned in all directions, absorbing the view, then turned her gaze to the man who was driving. She’d been right about the strong jawline. His profile appeared to have been chiseled from granite. He was remarkably good-looking. “Have you lived up here long, David?”

“I was born near Skagway at the foot of the Yukon Trail. I left for a while, but I came back home. It’s funny how that happens, how the place where you have roots calls you back. No matter how far you roam, there’s one place on earth where you really belong.” He smiled. “What about you, Trina? I know you’re from Colorado, but is that where you were born?”

“I was born in Los Angeles, but I don’t consider that home.” Her father had been in the military, and they had lived in dozens of places. She wasn’t fond of her personal history and preferred not to remember her family’s unsettled life-style, ruled by a dictatorial father. She changed the subject. “So, David, what does a foreman on a game preserve do?”

“It depends. Mostly I take care of the livestock.”

“The moose and the bear?”

He laughed. “They take care of themselves. We have domestic animals. Horses, a couple of beef cattle. We tried sheep and chickens, but the wolves found them too appealing.”

“Appealing?”

“Succulent,” he said.

Aware that she was in a different land with different rules, Trina swallowed the automatic exclamation of disgust that rose in her throat. Succulent? Yuck! Though she knew the food chain was a part of nature, she’d never been a farm girl, and she hated to acknowledge the natural fact that meat came from a living creature. Rather, she liked to believe that it grew on trees in prepackaged cartons, which were then available in the butcher’s section of her local supermarket.

“Also,” David said, “I maintain the property. Do some carpentry, some building, some repairs. Mostly, at this time of year, I run the snowplow. And I handle the hiring and firing when we need help. During slow times, I do a lot of the paperwork for Ivan, setting the appointments for the hunters who stay at the lodge.”

“The hunters.” There was another source of possible conflict. Trina had tried not to dwell on that part of her future husband’s business. His land wasn’t a pristine game preserve where the Alaskan version of Bambi and Thumper scampered free. The lodge was a hunting operation.

She had reread the letter several times wherein Ivan told how he had stalked and killed a bull elk. Though he described the skinning and processing of the venison in detail, she had sensed an obvious admiration for the magnificent animal that provided its meat. He’d mentioned another hunter who’d accompanied him on that expedition—David St. John. Though Ivan didn’t say much about him, it made Trina feel more familiar with the foreman. “Ivan mentioned you,” she said. “In his letters.”

“Did he?’ David pointed to a fence post. “That’s the beginning of Stoddard land.”

She peered along the fenceline that stretched farther than the eye could see. “All this?”

“It’s a big place. Over two thousand acres.”

“Why is it fenced?”

“Mostly to keep the poachers out.”

“Well, of course.” She tried to make sense of this vast, bizarre land. “I don’t suppose a scrawny little bit of barbed wire would hold something as big as a moose.”

“You’d be surprised. There are two things you need to remember about moose, Trina. They’re a whole lot more dangerous than Bullwinkle. However, they are just exactly as dumb as they look.”

He turned and they drove through a gateway that stood open. “Not much farther,” David said. “The lodge is over this ridge, just through the forest and straight on from there.”

They entered a corridor between tall spruce trees, so thick that the forest blocked the sunlight. The branches started high on the trees, and the dark trunks seemed to surround David and Trina in an ominous, impenetrable fortress. Amid the trees, there was silence and so much less snow that patches of the narrow road’s surface were visible. “Taming this land is quite an accomplishment,” she said.

“Alaska is never tame. At best, we puny humans have momentary control. But the environment is king. The Haida Indians understood that. They always made peace with the local spirits of trees and wind and water. But nobody ever really expects to conquer the land. No more than they can change the weather.”

“If it was that bad, no one would live here.”

“There are rewards. The sight of the first snow. Ever held a snowflake on your glove and watched it melt?”

She shook her head. “Never have.”

He continued, “There’s a special smell in a winter camp fire. No sparkle of a diamond mined in Africa is as beautiful as sunlight on a waterfall or the northern lights. And the springtime? It’s heaven. You can taste spring in the air. In the melting snows, the fjords are lush and inviting. You want to run across the remaining ice floes and roll around in the green. But then, crack! The ce breaks. And you’re stranded. Trapped.”

He glanced over at the woman who sat so primly beside him. Her full lips were slightly parted. Her head was cocked slightly to one side, like a curious fawn. “Stop me, Trina. I’m beginning to sound like a damn poet.”

“Like Ivan,” she said.

“Oh, yeah.” David couldn’t keep the sarcasm from his voice. “Ivan’s real poetic. A regular bard.”

“In his letters, he is.”

He didn’t want to argue with her. It wasn’t right for him to be thinking about her at all. She was Ivan’s woman. Not his. “Just remember, Trina. Southeastern Alaska can be very beautiful, but it’s dangerous, too.”

When they came out of the trees, their way was blocked by several four-wheel-drive vehicles and pickup trucks. David pulled to the side of the road and parked. “Let’s check it out. This must be the big crisis.”

“Is that a police car?” She gestured toward a beat-up truck with police lights on top and a sheriff’s star painted on the side.

“Belongs to the sheriff from Osprey.”

“Fascinating,” she said. Though he started around the Jeep to open the door for her, Trina opened her own door. She needed to assert her independence.

David escorted her toward a burly man with a dark walrus mustache. He was huge, as tall as David and half again as wide. Was everybody extralarge up here? Or was it just the padding of parkas and snow gear? Though she was above average height at five feet, eight inches, she felt positively petite as David introduced her to Reuben Kittridge. “Reuben’s the sheriff.”

The big man shook her hand. Beneath eyebrows that were nearly as bushy as his mustache, he studied her with penetrating eyes. “You’re the mail-order bride,” he said, “and I’ll be doggoned if you aren’t a pretty little thing.”