Montana Sky

out some music? We might even squeeze in a dance before anyone comes.”
    “I haven’t danced in a long time.”
    “You’ll dance tonight,” he promised, and led her into the great room.
    They’d no more than made their initial selections and filled the CD player when the first headlights glanced off the window.
    “Promise me the midnight dance,” he said, twining their fingers together again.
    “Of course. I’m nervous,” she admitted with a quick smile. “Stay close, won’t you?”
    “As long as you need me.” He glanced over as Tess and Willa came down, sniping at each other. Because it was expected, and warranted, Adam let out a heartfelt whistle. Tess winked. Willa scowled.
    “I’m going to want a drink, as soon as possible.” Hissing through her teeth, Willa strode to the door and greeted the first guests.
     
    W ITHIN AN HOUR . THE HOUSE WAS FILLED WITH PEOPLE and voices and clashing scents. Apparently no one was too weary to attend another holiday party, too jaded to drink another glass of champagne, or too restrained to refrain fromdiscussing politics and religion. Or their neighbors and friends.
    Willa remembered why she didn’t care for socializing when Bethanne Mosebly sidled up to her and began to pump her for details of the murder.
    “We were all shocked to hear about what happened to John Barker.” Bethanne inhaled champagne between sentences with such fervor that Willa was tempted to offer her a straw. “Must have been a terrible shock for you.”
    Though Willa didn’t immediately snap to John Barker and Pickles being one and the same, Bethanne’s greedily excited eyes tipped her off. “It’s not an experience I’m looking to repeat. Excuse me, I’m just going to—”
    That was as far as she got before Bethanne’s hand clamped down on her arm. “They said he was cut to pieces.” She toasted the fact with another gulp of champagne, leaving her small bird’s mouth wet and gleaming. “Just hacked to ribbons.” The long needle fingers pinched harder. “And scalped.”
    It was the glee that sickened her, even more than the image that burst full-blown into her brain. Even knowing that Bethanne had no harm in her other than an overly well-developed affection for chatter and gossip, Willa had to fight off a shudder.
    “He was dead, Bethanne, and it was brutal. Too bad I didn’t have my video camera for pictures at eleven.”
    The disgust and sarcasm couldn’t puncture the avid interest. Bethanne inched closer, giving Willa an unwelcome whiff of wine, Scope, and Obsession. “They say it could have been anyone, anyone at all who did it. Why, you could be murdered in your own bed any night of the week. Why, I was just telling Bob on the drive here how much it’s been on my mind.”
    Willa forced her lips into a thin smile. “I’ll sleep easier knowing you’re so worried about it. You’re out of champagne, Bethanne. The bar’s that way.”
    Willa ducked away, then kept moving. Her one thought was to find air. How could anyone breathe with so many people gulping up the oxygen? she wondered. She pushedher way into the hall and didn’t stop until she reached the front door, wrenched it open, and found herself face-to-face with Ben.
    He gawked at her, and she fumbled. Recovering before he did, she shoved past him and strode over to lean on the porch rail. It was cold enough now to send her breath steaming in clouds, to make the chill bumps rise on her skin. But the air was fresh as a wish, and that was exactly what she needed.
    When his hands came to her shoulders and turned her around, she ground her teeth. “The party’s inside.”
    “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.”
    No, he thought, she was real enough. Cool, bare skin shivered a bit under his hands. Those big doe eyes seemed even darker, even larger. The bold blue of the dress gleamed in the starlight and clung intimately to every curve and angle before it stopped dead, teasingly high on long, firm thighs.
    “God Almighty, Will, you look good enough to eat in three quick bites. And you’re going to freeze your pretty butt off standing out here.”
    His coat was already open. He made use of it by stepping forward and wrapping it around her, enjoying the added benefit of having that tight little body pressed up hard to his.
    “Turn me loose.” She squirmed, but he had her caught, arms pinned, body trapped. “I came out here to be alone for five damn minutes.”
    “Well, you should’ve put on