by Barb Han
“I can’t think of a bigger announcement or lifestyle change than an avowed bachelor getting married,” he stated.
“You made your views on relationships pretty clear to me five months ago,” she retorted, wishing she could take the words back the minute she heard them coming out of her mouth. There was no reeling them in now.
He held up a hand in surrender. “I was talking about your father.”
It still stung and her pride wouldn’t let her admit that she’d ever wanted more from him than a casual relationship. So she shrugged it off, trying to come off as noncommittal. “Let’s just move on.”
“Fine by me.” His voice was deep and tight. She’d hit him in a sore spot.
“A few of us were speculating that he was going to take a step back from some of his day-to-day responsibilities,” she admitted, softening her voice.
“I’m surprised there wouldn’t be some kind of communication trail that would give away what he was thinking. Emails? Receipts for an engagement ring?” Rory’s tight grip on the steering wheel relaxed a notch, which was good. No matter what else was going on with them personally, they needed to be able to work together. Now, for her and the twins’ safety. Later, because the two of them would have to learn how to co-parent. Tension between them would affect their girls and Cadence didn’t want that.
“The sheriff didn’t uncover anything in his investigation. Honestly, I wasn’t all that surprised, considering how secretive my father was. We didn’t even know that we had two other siblings until he brought them to the ranch through Ed,” she stated. “All this time, we’ve had a sister and a brother and didn’t know it. Dad kept his secrets until he was ready to reveal them and he’d been keeping those my entire life.”
“I’m guessing that Sawmill didn’t find anything unusual in your father’s business accounts,” Rory stated.
“Nothing so far. He brought in a few experts to examine Dad’s accounts and then he sent them off to another agency for a favor. They’re still trying to untangle his relationships but there’s nothing obvious there.” She was already shaking her head. “You know my dad, Rory. His business, like his life, was complicated and private.”
* * *
“A MAN DOESN’T amass the kind of fortune your father did by keeping things simple or blabbering about his plans to anyone who would listen.” Rory should know. He’d spent more time than he cared to admit in the past five months trying to figure out how to do the same. After being with Cadence, he’d realized how lonely his life had become. In order to be able to go out and do the only job he was good at, he’d been forced to walk away from her for his own protection. He knew he was doing her a favor. But hearing the heartbreak in her voice when she talked about the breakup was a face punch.
“Ed’s been checking into all the paternity claims that have come up since my father’s death. And there have been quite a few.” He noticed that she couldn’t bring herself to say murder this time.
“Again, he must be drawing blanks or he would’ve arrested someone by now,” he said.
“Sawmill has interviewed everyone on the ranch. He put the ranch hands through hell. Carl and Dale have been with us the longest so they took the news hard. Anthony and Rupert were hired by my dad in the last year but they were both sick about the news. No one had any ideas of what could’ve happened. Of course, half the community thinks they know who would want my father gone but no one seems able to agree on a name,” she said. “Hence, the reason I balked when you said my father was a good man the other day. If he was, there wouldn’t be so many possible suspects.”
“On any given day, people will love or hate you. When it comes to your father, ask one of his ranch hands how they felt about him,” he stated after a thoughtful pause.
“They’re loyal to my father. They would never say anything bad about him,” she argued.
“True. But why are they loyal? None of them are stupid.”
“Because he gave them a job.” Her forehead wrinkled like that should be obvious.
“Have you ever worked for anyone who was a jerk?” he asked.
“I’ve only ever learned how to run a ranch,” she admitted, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “But I had a few pieces-of-work-type professors in college.”
“Tell me about one of them,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “My history professor was the worst. He would come to class and only want to talk about current events but all his tests were from the test bank from the book. There were never questions from class discussions. He’d tell us something was important but it wouldn’t show up on the test. It was infuriating.”
“How often did you complain about him while you were taking the class?” Rory glanced at her quickly before returning his focus to the road.
“Pretty much every day,” she admitted. “So I see your point.”
“Your father gave jobs to a lot of good men over the years and he treated them—us—better than any other owner we’d ever worked for,” he admitted.
“I think Rupert comes from a tough background. He’s young. I think Dad wanted to give him a chance to make something of himself,” she said.
“He might’ve been tough but we always knew where we stood with him. And he gave a few of us opportunities that no one else would’ve.”
“He fired you for making a mistake six months after you arrived,” she pointed out.
“True. And it was him who showed up after you left the bunkhouse and admitted that he was the one who’d made a mistake. Said he appreciated my honesty and gave me a raise because of it,” he stated.
“I thought he hired you back after I yelled at him that night.” An emotion flickered behind her eyes. Was it admiration for her father’s actions? He hoped so, because it would be wrong to look at the bad side of her father and ignore all the good. Okay, Rory bit back the irony of that statement when it came to his own family. As for his father or any other man who got physical with a woman, even if she started punching first or baited him into it, had no honor.
“Sorry to disappoint you or make you doubt your ability to throw a good temper tantrum at age twelve,” he said with a chuckle. “It was your father who showed me how to be a man and own up to my mistakes. It sure as hell wasn’t mine.” The last part came out with so much disdain it caught him off guard.
“Tell me something about your family, Rory. Why did you run away?” She turned the tables on him.
“My parents fought all the time. We couldn’t take it anymore—”
“Hold on a second. Who’s we?”
“Me and my sister,” he stated.
“You have a sister?” Shock echoed from her voice. “And you never told me?”
“Guess it never came up,” he admitted.
“I thought I knew you, Rory. How could I if I didn’t even know you had a sister?” Cadence turned toward the window and crossed her arms.
He released a heavy sigh. Talking about his family wasn’t easy.
“She’s two years older than me. Her name’s Renee. It was just the two of us growing up with our folks. I already said they fought nonstop. Mostly verbal but it got physical at times.” He paused, trying to deflect the feeling of knife stabs in his gut as he dredged up the past. “Renee and I tried to convince our mother to leave him.”
“And?”
“She refused. Said their fights were how she knew he loved her.” He took in a frustrated breath. “There wasn’t much we could do, so after a rough dust up Renee took off with a guy in a band she’d been sneaking around with. I didn’t last long without her there, so I was next to go.”
“Since you never mentioned this before and your family had trouble, I’m guessing you and your sister lost contact,” she said.
“Yep. I’m not much on technology and didn’t have one of these at fifteen anyway.” He held up his cell phone. “I still d
on’t have a social media account.”
“Easier to stay under the radar that way,” she guessed, and he nodded.
“I’m more of a light-a-fire-under-the-canopy-of-a-clear-night guy anyway.” He shrugged. “So, no, I haven’t spoken to my sister.”
“Why didn’t you look her up once you got older?” Cadence asked. It was a damn good question.
“I could say the same for her.”
“So it’s because you’re stubborn,” she said.
“You could say that. Last time I checked the phone rings both ways,” he countered.
“Do you miss her?” she asked.
“We were close once.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Cadence nodded toward his phone. “You know, it’s not hard to look someone up on the internet these days. I can show you how to do it.”
“I think I can figure out how social media works. What would be the point?” He pocketed his phone. “She could do the same thing and hasn’t.”
“You’re a little harder to find for one. You track people for a living, Rory. And part of your job is making it as difficult as possible to find you, and yet you’re mad at your sister because you think she hasn’t even tried. You don’t even know for sure and you don’t see the irony in any of that?” She was walking on dangerous turf. An annoying voice in the back of his mind reminded him that the truth often hurt.
“What would be the point of getting in contact?” he asked.
“Seriously? Did you just ask me that?” Her voice was incredulous.
“She walked out on me as much as she did them. We both put the past behind us.” It was easier that way. “What good would it do to dredge up those painful memories?”
“My father could be tough to deal with and he was especially hard on the boys. I don’t know what we would’ve done if we hadn’t banded together. We’d probably all be crazy by now.” She shot him a look. “Sorry. I’m not saying there’s something wrong with you.”
“Let’s talk about something else. Like who might be trying to kill you.” He needed to change the subject because this was hitting a little too close to home.
Cadence sat there for a long time without speaking. When she finally did, she said, “Rory, I’m sorry about your folks. That’s not fair to you or your sister. We didn’t grow up in a house full of fighting and I bet that was hard on you.”
Rory pulled into a pay-cash-as-you-go-type motel. The rooms-available sign had a couple of bulbs knocked out. “You’ll be okay in here for the night?”
“Of course. A warm shower sounds amazing right now.” Cadence sat there in the passenger seat as the sun dipped below the horizon.
“I’ll be right back.” He could keep an eye on the vehicle from the pay window.
He walked up to the thick plastic window, which looked like he was buying tickets for the state fair. A guy who was probably in his late forties looked up from the small screen he’d been watching.
“What can I do for you?” he asked.
“Need a room for the night.” Rory kept his chin tucked to his chest because he didn’t want to give away his identity. Not that—he read the guy’s name tag—Phil seemed to mind.
“That’ll be seventy dollars.” Phil pulled a key ring with a plastic tag and held it out in front of him.
Rory took money from his wallet. He always carried cash. Staying off the grid helped in his line of work. Tomorrow night they’d be back in Cattle Barge. Rory couldn’t deny that there was a certain feeling of rightness in thinking about being with Cadence on the ranch again. It was most likely because Hereford was where they’d met when they were just kids.
At fifteen, Rory might’ve thought he was grown. Experience had taught him a lesson about how much he had to learn before he’d be considered a man.
He slipped the exact amount through the metal slit at the bottom of a drawer.
When he returned to the vehicle, silence sat thickly between them. Rory didn’t want to talk about his family with her, with anyone.
“Speaking of sisters, we should give yours a call,” he said.
Chapter Twelve
Room number three had a metal door and a large window with royal blue curtains. There were two beds inside. One looked like it dipped in the middle and Cadence didn’t want to think about how many bodies it would take to create such a dent. There was a desk, a lamp and an old TV.
“This place isn’t much.” Rory handed her the throwaway cell phone.
“It’ll do.” She was determined not to make a big deal. Besides, a shower was a shower. The thought of a warm shower went a long way toward making this place seem better.
Cadence punched in her sister’s number. Ella picked up on the first ring as though she’d been waiting for the call.
“How are you?” There was so much worry in Ella’s voice.
“We’re good,” Cadence responded, hating that her sister and the rest of her family were going through this again. She knew what it was like to stand by helplessly when someone she loved was in danger and it was the worst feeling. “Rory’s taking good care of us.”
She didn’t look up at him when she said it because her cheeks flamed. She shouldn’t be embarrassed giving him a compliment. Trying to deflect her reaction she added, “It’s easy to see why he’s considered the best at what he does.”
Ella sighed in relief. “I’m grateful to him.”
“Tell me what’s going on at the ranch.” She put the call on speaker.
Besides, she needed to change the subject. Going down that slippery slope of feelings for Rory wouldn’t do her a bit of good.
“Preparations are being made for tomorrow night’s will reading. Terrell and his team are on high alert and we brought in reinforcements to secure the perimeter,” Ella supplied.
“That’s smart. We’ll need all the extra help we can get to keep everyone safe,” Cadence confirmed.
“Who did you hire?” Rory asked. This was his field of expertise and he would most likely know the players.
“The Janson Brothers,” Ella supplied.
“Good. They know what they’re doing,” Rory said. “How about the sheriff?”
“He’s sending reinforcements. We’re planning to get plenty of eyes on the ranch over the next few days. We also sent all our employees home to celebrate the holidays with their families. No one is even allowed on the property aside from May, of course.” Hereford was home to May and she’d been a mother figure to the Butler children. It only made sense that she would stay for the reading.
“How’d they react to that?” Cadence asked. Everyone had been on edge since their father’s murder.
“They were surprised at first, as expected. And then they were concerned. There were a lot of questions and speculation. You know how close we all are,” she continued. “Everyone’s worried about our well-being and no one wanted to leave. Ed did a great job convincing them that we’d all be safer if the ranch was cleared out over the holiday.”
Hereford was family to everyone who lived there. The ranch hands and Carl developed brother-like relationships. Many of them had worked on the ranch for years. It took time to develop bonds like they shared.
“Will extra security make it more difficult for us to come home?” Cadence asked Rory. She couldn’t imagine that they’d waltz through the front gate and announce their presence.
“We can postpone the reading if you can’t make it back safely,” Ella offered.
Cadence knew it would require skill.
“We’ll be fine,” Rory said and she could tell by the tone of his voice that he already had a plan.
Ella heard, too, because she said, “Let me know if that changes. Otherwise, we’ll plan to see you both tomorrow night at eleven thirty.”
“We’ll be there,” Rory stated.
“Thank you for taking care of m
y sister,” Ella said to Rory.
Normally, a comment like that would’ve been fingernails on a chalkboard to Cadence. In this case, she appreciated how many people were looking out for her because it was plain to see her sister was coming from a place of love.
“I love you, sis,” Cadence said. She didn’t say those words nearly enough to the people she cared about.
“I love you, too,” Ella responded.
Rory stepped back, away from the receiver as though he’d intruded on a private family moment. He tucked his chin to his chest and turned his face away. Was he thinking about his sister, Renee?
Cadence and Ella exchanged goodbyes before ending the call.
“Where are we headed next?” Cadence knew he had their next move mapped out and she figured they would need to be close to Cattle Barge if they were going to be at the will reading.
“To Hereford.”
“Right now?” She knew with one look in his determined eyes that he was serious.
“Ella said employees have been sent home. Anyone watching will expect us to show tomorrow close to the time of the reading.” He made a good point. “I know how to get in and out of that bunkhouse unseen. I spent ten years of my life there.” His jaw was set and his folded arms told her all she needed to know.
“Okay. Let’s go home,” she said with a certainty she didn’t feel.
* * *
THE BUNKHOUSE HAD a common living area and kitchen with four bedrooms. Each had locking doors. No one ever used the locks but they were there.
Rory knew the layout better than the back of his hand. He’d spent many a night there in his formative years.
Hereford had saved his life and he owed the ranch and its owner a debt of gratitude that he couldn’t make up in a lifetime. Where would he be if not for the ranch? Prison? Dead? And that’s the reason he could set aside his personal feelings about Mr. Butler telling him that he wasn’t good enough for his daughter. Hell, Rory already knew that. One look at Cadence told him all he needed to know about where he stood. He couldn’t figure for the life of him why she’d taken a shine to him when she could’ve had any male in the area at the snap of a finger.