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camera. Marshall was nowhere to be seen.
    â€œHey there. Annie, isn’t that your name? Aren’t you a Bennett?”
    â€œYes.” She kept walking.
    â€œJust saying hi.” Chuck seemed to be talking to the man at his side, not to her. “I heard she used to be a snow bunny up in Aspen. Bet she likes this weather.”
    The stupid comment was too annoying to ignore. She gave him a withering look instead of an answer and ran up the stairs to the town hall entrance, going inside to find her parents.
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    Marshall rejoined the two other men, coming back around the hidden side of his truck. Annie had to have heard Pfeffer refer to her father as an old buzzard. The hell of it was he couldn’t have said anything or argued with the man.
    Not without tipping his hand about the ongoing investigation of Pfeffer’s new best friends, Joe Gitterson and Shep Connally. Chuck was only a side note to the real-estate fraud Connally intended to pull off in Velde, a scheme very similar to one in Arizona that he’d gotten away with. Or had until now. The FBI was still putting the pieces of the puzzle together and tracking the money.
    One wrong move and Stone would go in front of a judge and request an arrest warrant for Connally. So far, Joe Gitterson hadn’t officially made the list of bad guys. Stone just hoped Annie would believe him when the time came.
    He felt guilty for giving in to the temptation of her lush mouth and incredible body. But the way she’d looked up at him once she got him alone had shredded his self-control. That kiss had blown him away. It was a rash act that could get him taken off the case and fired in a heartbeat.

Chapter 4
    â€œW hat are you worrying about? The snow is
    mostly melted. The road won’t be icy.”
    Tyrell Bennett stood by the window, looking out over the fields. “I suppose you’re right. The way it was coming down after we got home from the meeting, I was thinking we might need to get the snowplow onto the truck, and then I started thinking about how best to fix the roof again.”
    â€œZach said it would hold through for the winter,” his wife reminded him.
    â€œWell, I hope so. At least we got the horses boarded out and the cattle to market,” he mused. “But then I started thinking about—”
    â€œJust stop thinking,” Lou admonished him. “Everything will get done eventually, as soon as we can afford it.”
    She went into the pantry and came out with a long white receipt from the supermarket that Annie had tacked to a bulletin board, waving it at him.
    â€œWe’ve got a freezer full of beef, but everything else we have to pay for. You can add it up yourself.”
    â€œNo, thanks. I sure wish the boys were coming home for Thanksgiving,” he muttered. “Annie does what she can, but her leg ain’t fully healed yet. I still see her limping when she’s tired.”
    â€œI know.” Lou was quiet for a moment. “She did last night when we were coming in from the truck.”
    â€œWell, that’s why I need Zach and Sam for the heavy jobs. I’m not sending her up a ladder.”
    â€œThey promised us a whole week at Christmas. I’m not going to complain. And speaking of the holidays, we need to buy flour and sugar and whatnot in bulk for baking.”
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    The discussion floated up to Annie’s bedroom, where she lay under the comforter, her head cradled on a pillow. She watched the morning light move across the ceiling. Bright as it was, it did nothing to improve her mood.
    She felt like she’d been had. The worst part was that she’d wanted so badly to be had by Marshall Stone, that snake. But wallowing in bed wasn’t going to help her figure him out. It sounded like her mom could use her help anyway.
    Annie sat up and let her feet rest on the smooth wood floor. Then she stood and stretched and did side bends, and threw in a couple of