Setup on the Montana Ranch

Chapter One

Esther felt the fear deep in her old bones.

It was an alien feeling, one she resented since she’d spent her life making people afraid of her—not the other way around.

A bitter smile curled her lips at the irony.

She’d heard the whispers purposely loud enough for her to hear.

“Esther Mason has to be the meanest woman ever born.” Now they would say she was getting what she deserved.

She scoffed, knowing it wasn’t karma. It was her dirty little secret that would bring a killer to her door tonight. That, and the person here at the Shady Rest Retirement Home for the elderly who wanted her to take a fall.

Since she was a child, she’d never been able to resist other people’s things, especially something small she could easily slip into her pocket.

She never took anything that was worth a lot of money.

She was too smart for that. Instead, she took trinkets that might have meaning for the person she stole from, but worthless otherwise.

Moving to Shady Rest in Grass Range, Montana, had made her thievery too easy. Elderly residents often thought they’d simply misplaced whatever it was. Some claimed they’d been robbed. But no one, maybe especially those in charge, took the elderly very seriously.

The sharper residents knew she’d taken their things, but Esther’s ugly disposition kept them from accusing her, let alone confronting her. Everyone at the Shady Rest had learned quickly not to get on the wrong side of Esther Mason.

At a sound, her gaze shot to the window and the dense darkness that had moved in with the storm.

Too black to see anything. Was the person she had to fear out there waiting to strike?

She realized with a start that maybe her would-be killer wasn’t outside at all—but had always been inside this facility and closer than she’d thought.

Soon most everyone at Shady Rest would be asleep. Everyone but her—and whoever was coming for her. The place was locked up at night, but everyone knew how to get in and out undetected.

She thought she heard her apartment door creak open.

She’d left it unlocked so she could get this over with as quickly as possible.

A floorboard creaked. Esther tried to still her frantically thundering heart.

After bagging up her most recent illicitly acquired baubles, she had gotten rid of them.

Once she explained that they were no longer in her possession—but she knew who had the jewelry—the person threatening her would go away if they knew what was good for them.

Another floorboard creaked, much closer this time. It would all be over soon—at least for her. Pity the person who now had that bag of cheap jewelry, but that wasn’t Esther’s problem anymore.