“I’ll be ready and waiting.” She gave him a sweet smile and leaned back against the pillows.

As soon as Darien shut the door, she flew into action. Somehow, she had to sneak into his office downstairs and see if she could find anything of importance there. But first, she searched through his bedside tables, and her heart did a flip when she spied Larissa’s letter. She grabbed the letter and read through it, and nearly quit breathing.

I wished with all my heart to be who you thought I was. When I found the right man, it was too late for me to take back what I’d done to you.

Her sister had another lover? My god, no wonder Darien had been upset when he read the letter. But it confirmed what Silva had said about Larissa seeing some miner. Then the sickening thought swamped Lelandi. What if the triplets weren’t Darien’s?

Hospital records. She had to get into town and search for Larissa’s records and know for sure. Maybe the doctor said something about her depression, or gave some other clue that might aid her investigation.

She opened the bedroom window, letting in a gust of snowy wind, and peered out. A rose trellis clung next to the brick wall. If it could hold her weight, she’d make it. She searched in Darien’s closet and found a well worn leather jacket that smelled of him, and she took a deep breath and inhaled his sexy essence. He’d kill her for slipping away. But she was damned tired of being confined and kept in the dark. And if he was going to ignore her wishes to have Chester on the case…

She shoved on her boots and Darien’s leather jacket, the size overwhelming her. After searching through his closet further, she couldn’t locate any gloves.

Car keys.

Rummaging through Darien’s chest of drawers, she found spare keys for his SUV and something metallic hidden under a pile of socks. Shoving them aside, she gasped. Her gun! And the bullets. She reloaded it and made sure the safety was on, then tucked it in one of the big pockets of his jacket.

Looking out the window, she considered the drop from the second story. As long as nothing dangerous was hidden in the snowdrift beneath the window, she should be fine. She climbed onto the windowsill, then swung around, grasping the wooden trellis. The flimsy redwood gave way with a snap, her heart flew into her throat, and she fell on her butt in the pile of snow. She was having a very bad feeling about this.

The powdered snow cushioned her fall, and she let out her breath in relief. Once she was able to plow her way out of the snow pile, she rushed to reach his SUV. The door locks were frozen and it took longer than she liked to get the driver’s door open. After climbing in, she slammed the door, hoping Darien and his family hadn’t heard.

She planned to return before Darien even missed her, although she’d have to come in the front door, but at least she’d learn what she could about her sister.

As soon as she drove out of the drive and hit the road, she realized how bad the visibility and treacherous the conditions had become. Darien’s country home provided more privacy for lupus garou gatherings, but right now the two-mile stretch of country road seemed more like fifty. But she was free and she couldn’t stop now.

The wipers swiped across the windshield at full speed, but the snow piled up so fast, she couldn’t see a thing and wondered if she was even on the road any longer. Sheesh, that was an awful thought.

The SUV began to slide. Turn the tires into the slide? No, away from the slide. Hell, who could remember? The next thing she knew, the SUV sailed into the woods. She held her breath before the vehicle lunged into a steep embankment, taking a nosedive into something solid. The impact threw her hard against the steering wheel. Pain radiated through her chest. Bang! Something exploded. A blanket of white filled her vision.

For a moment, she sat dazed. I’m in heaven. Except for the pain in her chest and her throbbing head that jolted her back to reality. The air bag deflated like a parachute that had lost all its wind, but the scene in front of her was still cloaked in white. The snow blew through the windshield crumbling in a spider web of glass crystals, courtesy of the force of the air bag.

Snow swirled around inside the SUV, and a cold wetness dribbled down her forehead. Reaching up, she felt a gash on her forehead. Blood painted her fingertips red. Great. Just great. How was she to do her sleuthing? Not to mention Darien would really want to murder her now for turning his SUV on its nose in a pile of snow or rock, or whatever it had managed to slam into.

“Well, there’s bound to be hell to pay anyway,” she muttered under her breath, and jerked her seat belt free, then struggled to open the door. Wedged tight, the frame had crumpled with the impact. Super. She eased herself over the console and tried the passenger door. Same result. Growling under her breath, she leaned back in the seat and kicked through the remaining broken glass.

After crawling out of the SUV’s window, she slid over the hood, still warm, the snow quickly melting into a frozen glaze, which left her jeans wet. The cold wind whirling around her, turned the denim fabric into ice. Blowing snow blinded her. But she was probably closer to town than to Darien’s house at this rate anyway. No sense in trying to hike back. Although survivalists said, “Stay with the vehicle.” But town couldn’t be very far. And she had a mission to accomplish. She was certain the doc would have written about her sister’s frame of mind during the pregnancy, maybe some clue about what was going on. And after reading her sister’s letter about the affair she’d been having, Lelandi couldn’t block the feeling something more was wrong.

A little snow and cold wouldn’t stop her now.

Darien shook his head at Uncle Sheridan, while Tom and Jake looked on in the living room. “We’re not making an example of Ural. If he has accomplices intent on coming for Lelandi, they’ll come. We’ll deal with them then.

For now, he’s fine where he is. What I want to discuss is who was blackmailing Larissa, how she died, and who hired the gunman to kill Lelandi. But first, any word on Ural, Tom?”

“Still out cold. Nurse Grey had us move him to the hospital. He’s confined and Trevor’s pulling guard duty. Charlotte said she’d let us know when he came around.”

Looking unruffled, Uncle Sheridan set his pad of paper on the coffee table. “Here’s what I’ve learned so far. We’ve run ballistics tests on all guns purportedly taken out in the woods the day the shooter killed the gunman. No matches. Which means either the test rules out it was one of our men, one of them had a second gun and gave us the wrong one to test, or the shooter was one of our men, except none of us knew he was out there.”

“Or,” Silva said, walking into the living room, carrying a load of laundry, “… it was a woman.”

Darien wondered how Silva had learned of the news so fast. But she always knew the gossip well before anyone else did. His brothers and Uncle Sheridan gave him shakes of their heads or shrugged a shoulder, indicating they hadn’t told her. Trevor. “Only woman out there was you. And you were with Sam the whole time.”

Uncle Sheridan snorted. “As if any of our women could shoot that far or accurately.”

Silva’s back stiffened. “I did.”

Hell, what now? Darien motioned to a chair. “Have a seat, Silva. Tell us what you know.”

She plunked down next to Tom. “I didn’t say anything before because I knew you’d be mad that I’d killed him. I did it by accident. I swear it. We were sure the gunman was stalking us. So Sam told me to take his gun and go up on the ridge. If the bastard came after me, I was to shoot him. But he went after Sam and although Sam tried to tackle him first, the guy got a shot off, hitting him in the arm instead. I meant to hit the guy’s gun arm, but he bolted when Sam dove for him, and I struck the gunman in the head. I swear I didn’t mean to. When Lelandi said she figured the shooter killed the guy to tie up loose ends, I got scared. Sam didn’t want to say anything either because you’d given orders that we were to stick together. He assumed you’d learn who the guy was who hired the gunman without involving me. But it seems you already know the shooter’s a woman so…”She shrugged.

“Sam knows better.” Darien blew out his breath. “Did you have Sam’s gun checked, Uncle Sheridan?”

He looked peeved. “Hell no. The lunatic shot Sam. I thought he and Silva had stayed together. At least that’s what they led us to believe. I would never have guessed she killed the gunman.”

“Run a ballistics test on Sam’s gun. I want to know right away. And Silva, next time, tell the truth.”

“Yes, boss. I’m so sorry. I well, I couldn’t let you think some shooter was out there still gunning for her.”

More likely she figured she was about to be found out when Ural came to. “Damn it, Silva,” Darien said. “You knew how important this is.”

“I’m sorry, boss.”

“When you were up on the ridge, did you sense anybody else up there? Smell anyone, hear anyone?”

“I didn’t smell or see anyone either. But I was pretty worried about the gunman and Sam so I might have blocked everything else out. Once I shot the guy, I hurried down to check on Sam and see if the guy was alive.”

Uncle Sheridan said, “You made a fine mess of it. And although you’re probably not involved in this, it sure can make tongues wag.”

“I only meant to wound him. All right? I’m… I’m late getting back to the tavern. Can I go?” Silva asked Darien.

He bowed his head, but he still couldn’t believe Silva was the one who’d killed the gunman.

Looking dejected, Silva hurried to the front door. From the foyer, she yelled, “Have you guys seen how bad the storm is getting?”

Darien and the others joined her and considered the whiteout conditions. “You’d better stay the night. Call Sam and tell him I said so.”

She sighed. “All right. I’ll be in the den watching a show. If anyone needs me to fix something to eat later, just holler.” Silva headed for the den.

Itching to return to Lelandi and smooth things out with her, Darien and the others retook their seats in the living room and he asked, “Anything else?”