Sovereign Sheriff. Cassie Miles
coming here.” Proudly, he said, “I have good contacts in Europe, and they told me about the COIN summit. I was one of the first on the scene. The publicity from the explosions and shootings were a bonus.”
“And you’ve been taking pictures ever since you arrived.”
“You know I have. That’s my bread and butter.”
“Huh,” Deputy Wheeler said. “Can you really make a living doing this?”
“I get decent bucks for pictures of royalty, especially in Europe. The COIN princes have a lot going for them—they’re handsome, titled and single.”
It dawned on Jake that Danny’s photos might come in handy. He might have caught something that would help the investigation. He went to the side table and picked up his sister’s laptop. “Show us some of these moneymaking photos.”
“With pleasure.” Danny rubbed his hands together, talking while he plugged his digital photo card into the laptop. “Right now, I’m on assignment from a British tabloid. They’re picking up my expenses. Whatever they don’t use, I’m free to sell elsewhere. Here we go. That’s from a couple of days ago.”
The first photo showed only two people. One of them was a woman who worked at the resort. With her was one of the twin Cavanaugh princes, probably Antoine. They appeared to be holding hands and didn’t seem aware of the camera.
Saida cooed. “That’s so sweet.”
Jake ignored the fact that Danny probably hadn’t gotten a release for this picture. It wasn’t his problem unless somebody pressed charges. “Let’s see a group shot.”
“Why?”
“You claim to be the best. Let’s see what you can do when there’s competition.”
Danny scrolled through several other pictures until he found one of both Cavanaugh princes standing with other people around. Jake recognized a couple of faces in the crowd. Burt Maddox, the former sheriff, was talking to one of the guys who worked for him. Chad Granger, a troublemaker who’d been in and out of jail, slouched at the edge of the crowd. Sheik Efraim was walking away. There were other faces he’d like to identify.
“That’s enough.” Danny removed the photo card. “If you want to see more, you need a subpoena.”
The little weasel knew his rights. Jake didn’t need to get embroiled in a lawsuit with a British tabloid. But he was short on suspects; Danny’s photos could help. “I’d appreciate your consent.”
“I’ll make a deal,” Danny said. “Let me use that photo of you and Saida on the porch. That shot is a moneymaker, worthy of front page in the tabloids. And on the entertainment TV programs.”
“It’s all right with me,” Saida said. “I can deal with it.”
“I can’t.” The most difficult part of Jake’s campaign for sheriff had been the publicity. Some of his Arapaho ancestors believed that when someone took your picture they captured a piece of your soul. “Print that photo, and I’ll sue.”
Danny backed off. “No need to get all self-righteous and litigious.”
Jake wished he didn’t have to care about public opinion. He wanted to be his own man. But he was sheriff, and that meant he had to hold to a certain standard of behavior. Not that the photo of him and Saida was porn, but he couldn’t afford to be front-page news in a tabloid.
The princess spoke up, “Danny, I have a question for you.”
“Shoot.”
Though her voice stayed calm, she betrayed her nervousness by twisting the black onyx ring on her pinkie. “How did you find out that I was coming to Wyoming?”
“I’ve got my sources,” Danny admitted. “And I’m staying close to the resort so I’m on top of things. It wasn’t hard to find out that you’d made a reservation. You’re a celebrity. Three or four of the staff mentioned your arrival.”
Jake believed him. The Wind River Ranch and Resort was a high-class place, but Dumont was a small town where gossip spread faster than wildfire. If the women on the staff were anything like his sister, they’d be excited about the princess. Unfortunately, Danny’s information wasn’t much help in pinpointing the men who came after Saida.
“You heard I had a reservation,” she said. “Then what did you do?”
“I was at the private airfield when your plane landed. I thought I might get some pictures, but you hustled into the rental car too fast.”
“At the airfield,” she said, “did you notice anyone else watching my plane arrive?”
He folded his arms across his skinny chest and leaned back in the chair. “Maybe I did.”
Now they were getting somewhere. Jake was tempted to step in and take over the interrogation, but Saida seemed to be asking the right questions.
“Tell me about these others who were watching,” she said. “What did they look like? What kind of vehicles were they driving?”
Danny smirked. “This is important, huh?”
She sat in the chair beside him. Though she didn’t actually touch him, she reached out with the full force of her personal charisma. “I must know what you saw and who you saw.”
Danny’s expression changed. Gazing at her, he seemed to be melting. An involuntary smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. His smug attitude disappeared as he leaned forward, wanting to be close to her.
And the princess reeled him in. Her left hand rested on the table, just beyond his grasp. With the other hand, she raked her shimmering black hair away from her cheek as she tilted her head to one side. She lowered her eyelids and slowly looked up at him.
A worshipful sigh pushed through his lips. “Oh, Saida.”
“Please tell me, Danny.”
“It’s a private airfield,” he said, “so there isn’t a lot of security. I parked in the lot and walked closer. I stayed in the shadows, out of sight. After you got into your rental car, I talked to one of the guys who unloaded your luggage. He told me you were going to see Sheriff Wolf.”
“Did you see him speak to anyone else?”
Danny shook his head. “I figured you were going to meet the sheriff at his office, and I wasted a lot of time driving into Dumont before I came here.”
“Other than the men who worked at the airfield, did you see anyone?”
“No, and I’m aware of other people. I try to be first on the scene with the exclusive photos.”
Jake glanced toward his deputy and gave a nod. They needed to add another item to their list of things to do: talk to the workers at the airfield and find out who else they’d talked to.
“There’s one more thing,” Danny said. “When I went to the parking lot, I almost got run down. This guy was hauling ass. He was in a black truck.”
That pretty much cinched it. Jake knew how the bad guys got their information. The real question was: Why? Why were they after the princess?
SAIDA WISHED SHE HAD gotten more from her interrogation of Danny. He had been in Wyoming from the start, snapping photos, and she wanted to look through those pictures and search for clues. She’d taken Danny’s card with the intention of arranging a meeting with him later at the resort.
Before Deputy Wheeler had escorted Danny from the house, Jake had insisted that he delete the photographs he’d taken of them on the porch. She was glad. The last time she’d been the starring topic of entertainment news, it had taken a toll on her privacy. A suggested romance with the handsome sheriff would distract from the important matter of finding her brother.
With Wheeler and Danny gone and Maggie still upstairs in her bedroom, Saida found herself alone