Cowgirl Up by Ali Spooner Page A

pocket.
    Mary Leah rushed to the kitchen to get the coffee as Melissa walked across the yard.
    Inside the bunkhouse, the crew was just finishing breakfast as Melissa stepped inside. Coal saw her enter and noted the serious look on her face.
    “Morning, boss,” Harley said.
    “Morning, boys,” she answered. “Coal, can I see you outside for a minute?”
    “Sure, boss,” she said and picked up her cup of coffee before following her outside. Coal saw the sheriff’s cruiser and looked at Melissa. “What’s up?”
    “Bobby Poole is here and he asked to speak to you. Other than that I have no idea.”
    “Well, let’s go find out what this is all about.”
    Mary Leah walked from the house and handed Bobby the cup of coffee.
    “Thanks, Mary Leah.”
    “You’re welcome,” she said then smiled when she saw Coal and Melissa walking across the yard.
    Melissa stepped onto the porch followed by Coal. “Good morning, Deputy.”
    “I hate to bother you all so early, but I have some questions for you,” he said.
    “Would you like us to leave and give you some privacy?” Melissa asked.
    “No, boss, I have nothing to hide,” she said as she sat down on the top step and took a sip of coffee.
    Bobby set down his cup of coffee and flipped open his notepad. “Ms. Bryan, can you tell me where you were between the hours of ten and two this morning?”
    “I was right here all night,” she answered.
    “I assume you have someone who can corroborate that for you?”
    “I can,” Melissa said. “I was talking with her until almost eleven out at the corral. Then I heard her come inside and go to bed close to midnight.”
    “So you can alibi her until midnight, but not after?”
    “No, I can alibi her up until three,” Melissa said. “I’m leaving for a trip later today, and I was up packing until about one, and then I couldn’t sleep until almost three.”
    “Is there any way she could have left the house without you knowing?”
    “Not with these creaky old wooden floors,” Melissa said.
    “What is all this about? Am I being accused of something?” Coal asked.
    “I think everyone in town knows that you and Billy Ray have had a few altercations by now,” Bobby said.
    “That’s true, but what happened last night?”
    Bobby took a deep breath and looked at Coal. “Billy Ray was shot and killed last night.”
    Her face blanched white. “You think I killed him?”
    “Honestly no, I don’t, but with the history between you two, I had to verify your whereabouts last night.”
    “I never left here last night and I don’t own a gun,” she said. “Where was he killed?”
    “Just outside his home,” Bobby said.
    “I don’t have a clue where he lives,” she said, “although I don’t think it would be hard to find that big truck of his.”
    Bobby nearly choked on the sip of coffee he had just taken.
    “It wasn’t me,” Coal reiterated.
    “With his reputation, I would think Billy Ray had many enemies,” Melissa said.
    “Well, one thing’s for certain, one of them did him in last night, filled his body with three rounds from a large caliber gun.”
    Bobby placed his cup back on a small table and stood to leave. “Thank you for the coffee,” he told Mary Leah.
    “You are very welcome.”
    When he approached where Coal was sitting, she stood. “Don’t make any plans to leave town anytime soon,” he told her.
    “I have no intentions of going anywhere,” she replied, “unless Melissa plans to can me.”
    “Not a chance of that,” Melissa said.
    “Thanks, and have a great day, ladies,” Bobby said. He tipped his hat and walked back to his cruiser.
    Coal leaned against the support post on the porch steps. “Well, that was interesting. Thanks for backing me up, boss.”
    Harley walked out of the bunkhouse in time to see Bobby pulling away and rushed over to the porch. “Is everything okay?”
    “For us it is, but Billy Ray got himself shot and killed last night,” Melissa said.
    “And they