Ready for the Rancher

by Zuri Day

  “No one is being looked at to be fired, yet. But some of you will be questioned and all of you will be monitored. If you’re guilty and come forth voluntarily, come to my office and talk face-to-face, there may be a chance that any criminal charges that we’re considering might be taken off the table. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances, a right reason for something done wrong. If you come to me, admit what you did and tell me why, and agree to the terms I’ll require regarding your termination, you’ll still be fired. But you might remain free.”

  The meeting ended with the employees somberly filing out of the office. Finally only Adam and Dennis remained.

  “This is all my fault,” Dennis said with a heavy sigh.

  “More than forty people help to run this operation. If one person is at fault, it’s me.”

  “I manage the operation. It happened on my watch!”

  “Have you ever seen a situation anywhere similar to this?”

  “No, but I haven’t worked at a plant with this quality of meat, either.” He placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “I had your back in high school. I’ve got it now. We’ll get to the bottom of this, bro. Hang in there.”

  Adam nodded and walked out of the room with Dennis, heading to his car and a meeting at CANN. But his mind stayed on Breedlove Beef Processing, and the person trying to ruin what he’d built.

  Eighteen

  As had become her practice, Ryan walked her latest client to the door and gave her a hug. This time she continued outside.

  “Are you leaving?” the client asked.

  Ryan shook her head. “Just getting a breath of fresh air.”

  “I don’t know how fresh it is, but...see you next time!”

  “Okay,” Ryan said, while laughing. “Have a beautiful rest of your day.”

  Ryan watched the tall, gorgeous redhead walk to her car. She closed her eyes, stretched and performed exercises that allowed her to release the energy absorbed when working on others, especially important when the client was troubled and shared with her aspects of their dark lives. Practitioners such as Ryan often became pseudo-counselors and therapists as well. Ryan hoped she’d gain the courage to leave a man who was verbally abusive and make room for one who deserved her.

  That wasn’t the only conversation that required another deep breath, but that would come later. Ryan walked back inside. Her next appointment was for a massage, a new client named Fred. He’d booked through the phone app so his first name was all she knew about him. That was fine, because once he was on the table his body would tell her everything else she needed to know.

  Ryan stopped by the restroom, then entered her room and began preparing it for the appointment. She changed the music from the Asian-influenced sounds currently playing to a list with more classical tones. She switched out the sheets, sprayed them with lavender and had just picked up oil for the diffuser when the door buzzed. She walked over and pushed the intercom button.

  “Fred?”

  “Yes,” he mumbled.

  “When you hear the buzzer, turn the knob and have a seat in the foyer. I’ll be right out.”

  Ryan lit the diffuser, raised the dim lights a notch and went to greet her client. She opened the door and turned toward the chairs. They were empty.

  Where is he?

  She turned to the other side of the room. “Adam?”

  “Um,” he said in that same muffled voice. “Call me Fred.”

  “Oh my God, are you...” She burst out laughing and ran into his arms. They kissed, softly at first and then another, longer exchange.

  Ryan ended it and led the way down the hall. “You nut!” she said after they’d entered the room and she’d closed the door. “I can’t believe you’re back so soon. And what’s with this Fred act?”

  Adam shrugged. “The unexpected makes life more fun.”

  “Sometimes...”

  “Right. Sometimes.”

  Ryan chuckled again. “So, Fred, I will leave the room as you get undressed, and comfortable on the table, and return in two minutes.”

  Adam began unbuttoning his shirt. “I wouldn’t think of it. In fact, why don’t you take off your clothes, too. We can massage each other.”

  “That sounds incredibly tempting. You surprising me like this is a definite turn-on. But these walls are thin and the rooms are full. Suyin is performing acupuncture next door. Hearing grunts and moans from the other room could have her poking needles in the wrong place.”

  Having sat to remove his shoes and socks, Adam stood to take off his pants and boxers. “Fine,” he said, strolling over in all of his naked glory and pulling Ryan into an embrace. “I wouldn’t want anyone getting poked in the wrong place. But will you let me poke something later?”

  Ryan hugged him, choking back a laugh as her hands skimmed his bare skin. “I can’t with you,” she whispered. “Get that fine ass up on my table.”

  He smiled, got on the table and tried to pull her on with him. She jerked her arm away. “Will you behave?” she asked through clenched teeth. “Now, over on your stomach, please.”

  He huffed, and Ryan caught a childlike expression that had probably gotten him out of trouble more than once. “You’re no fun.”

  “Perhaps, but you’ll feel better.”

  “Does that mean this appointment has a happy ending?” Ryan smacked his butt, then kissed it, before covering the firm gift of nature with a thin sheet and beginning her work.

  For several minutes she worked in silence, starting with his feet and moving methodically upward. She was a naturopathic doctor who worked on bodies for a living. Being dispassionate should come naturally but with this particular client, being a woman came first, followed closely by being a lover of fine male specimens. Still, she worked with quiet efficiency, paying attention to physical knots and energetic blocks and clearing both before moving on. When she reached his thigh and massaged out a particularly tight muscle, he groaned aloud.

  “Having fun yet?” she asked.

  “Best time of my life.”

  She chuckled. “Which business is all of this stress, tension and nervousness from, the ranch or the hotel?”

  “Yes.” They both laughed. “Remember me telling you about that weird incident when Miguel received a package of beef with our label that was not from my ranch?”

  Ryan’s hand slowed, but for only a second. “Yes.”

  “I was hoping it was a onetime fluke. It wasn’t.”

  “He got another package of the same meat?”

  “Not Miguel. Another customer received it. This time it wasn’t the ground Wagyu but a steak.”

  “How is that happening? I don’t understand.”

  “Someone is stealing the prime Wagyu and replacing it with cheap stock. As to how it’s happening, I don’t understand that, either. Not yet. But we’re working on it.”

  “We?”

  “Me and management. Your brother, Dennis, and Rusty, the assistant manager. Changes were made that are going to make it very difficult for more thefts to occur. If the culprits get past all of the security we’ve set up, then I’ll personally give them the same amount that they stole.”

  Later that day, Ryan called Dennis on his office line. He hadn’t answered calls from her cell phone but now he picked up.

  “Breedlove Beef, Dennis Washington.”

  “Is it Breedlove Beef?” Ryan asked, her voice deadly calm. “Or is it the beef you and Luke somehow switched out to make big bucks on the black market?”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Look, I’m busy and can’t talk right now.”

  “What was the figure I overheard that night? A couple hundred thou—”

  Dennis hung up on her. Ryan was livid. She was barely able to make it through the rest of the day. After her last appointment she got into her car and pulled out of the p
arking lot with one destination in mind, the Breedlove estate. She needed to have a conversation with Dennis, have him prove that he was not behind what was happening at the plant. She couldn’t know what was going on and stay quiet. It just wasn’t right.

  Ryan reached the gates to the Breedlove property with no clear plan. She didn’t want Adam to know she was there, but knew the guard might call and announce her arrival. Fortunately, the guard had been there on one of her previous visits. He opened the gate and waved her through. What she hoped was her biggest hurdle had just been jumped. Now all she had to do was get through to her brother. Ryan pulled into the plant parking lot. She kept an eye out for either Adam’s sports car or truck as she hurried up the walk and reached for the door. If she saw Adam, she’d tell him the truth. That she was there to speak with her brother. Hopefully he wouldn’t ask what about.

  It wasn’t until finding out the door was locked that Ryan noticed the bell on the door frame. She rang it. A young man came to the door.

  “Yes, may I help you?”

  Ryan poured on the charm. “Hi, I’m Ryan, Dennis’s sister. I need to speak to him.”

  The man hesitated before opening the door wider. “Sure, come in.” He led her to where a security guard leaned against a stand. “This lady says she’s here to see Dennis.”

  Ryan introduced herself, then remembered her client, Olivia. “If you’ll let her know I’m here she can help me if he’s preoccupied.”

  Mentioning Olivia did the trick. Her client was surprised to see her but brought her up to the offices on the second floor. When told Ryan was there to see her, Dennis said he was busy. That if she wanted to speak to him, she’d be waiting awhile.

  She waited. By the time Dennis finally opened his door, Olivia and most of the other workers had gone home. A good thing, since Ryan’s patience had ticked away with the time. She saw Dennis and lit into him.

  “You’ve made me wait an hour, so I’ll tell you what. You’ve got five minutes to convince me that you’re not guilty.”

  “You’ve got five seconds to get out of here before I call security.”

  “Fine, call security. They’d be very interested to hear what I overheard, the scheme to make big money on high-priced beef.”

  “You’re crazy, kid. Making stuff up.”

  “I can’t keep quiet, Dennis,” Ryan said, working to calm down. She tried another tactic, hoping to find an ounce of compassion in her brother’s cold heart. “Adam and I are dating. I’m falling for him. Things might get serious. How can I know what’s going on and not say anything about it?”

  “Because I know things I haven’t shared with him about you,” Dennis said. “You’re standing there in your moral dress, as if your life is perfect. Have you told Adam your secrets, little sister? About how you’re adopted? And how your birth mother ended up in jail after committing fraud to get drugs?”

  He went on about how lucky she was to have been raised in a “normal” household, and how different it could have been.

  “I’m not ashamed of my past and in time will tell Adam everything, including what I know about—”

  “What?” Dennis interrupted. “What exactly do you think you know? I’d really like to hear it.”

  “So would I.”

  Ryan whirled around to see Adam standing in the doorway. Dennis had obviously seen him first. That’s why she was interrupted.

  “Is there something either of you need to tell me?” he asked.

  “It’s a sibling squabble, Adam,” Dennis said. “Nothing to do with you.”

  “The fight sounded pretty serious. I heard the yelling from downstairs.” He looked at Ryan. “Are you okay?”

  Ryan fought to hold it together. “I will be,” she answered. “Sorry to bring this kind of drama to your business.”

  She pushed past him, ran out the door and wondered what all Adam had heard.

  Nineteen

  A week had passed since the confrontation, since he’d gone back to the office and found Dennis and Ryan locked in a heated argument, had overheard talk about family and keeping secrets. Dennis had sworn it was about Ryan. Later, Ryan said it involved Luke. But she wouldn’t say anything else, and that bothered him. What had Luke done to her and why wouldn’t she share it? At the mere thought that he could have hurt her, Adam’s hands balled into fists. That following Monday Adam had met with Dennis outside the office, had first invited him to go riding (Dennis didn’t do horses), then to a round of golf (he didn’t do clubs, not iron ones, anyway), then finally settled on drinks on the bar side of BBs restaurant. When asked the reason for them getting together, Adam had been purposely vague.

  “There’s been a lot going on,” he’d casually replied. “Between CANN and the ranch I’ve spent too much time in offices. Plus, you and I haven’t had a chance to just hang out since work started. Thought it would be good to kick back for a minute, off the clock.”

  Of course, there’d been more to it. The more relaxed the environment and in turn, Dennis, the better the chances he’d slip up and say something Adam needed to know. Unlike Rusty, he didn’t think his old high school friend was the one stealing the Wagyu. But he believed Dennis knew more than he’d shared. Adam couldn’t figure out what that was, which was why in addition to hiring a private investigator, he’d called an impromptu meeting with his brothers to beat their brains about it.

  “I think he’s lying,” Nick said, after Adam had caught them up with what had happened since last Friday. He cracked another peanut, tossed the shells on the concrete, before throwing up the nut and catching it in his mouth.

  The brothers were out on Adam’s massive patio, their chairs haphazardly placed around the roaring firepit. Shells littered the floor around Nick and Christian, a stainless steel bowl filled with peanuts on a table between them. Bottles of beer were scattered about. Adam carefully snipped a cigar.

  Noah stood and leaned against a thick wooden beam anchoring the pergola. “I do, too. I think he’s in on it.”

  “So does Rusty,” Adam replied. “He spent the weekend and a lot of hours this week glued to a split screen running back surveillance video, hours and hours of tape from cameras mounted inside and outside. He was looking for Dennis specifically.”

  “What did he find?” Christian asked.

  “Nothing.” Adam reached for a lighter on the table in front of him and began toasting the cigar from a box he’d recently received as a Christmas gift.

  “It’s frustrating because until the renovation last weekend our focus regarding theft was for the actual cows. Heck, when it comes to the pastures, especially West Wagyu, there are probably more cameras than birds.”

  The brothers laughed.

  “I remember you telling me about the company’s humor at your request,” Christian said. “What was the line you said the owner kept saying?”

  Adam placed the cigar in an ashtray and stroked his chin. “Oh, man, don’t make me hear it again.”

  “He said Adam was after bird-gulars.”

  Nick burst out laughing. In stark contrast, Noah slowly shook his head. “That was so bad.”

  Adam finally gave in and smiled. At the time, it had been funny. Not now.

  “We put cameras by the doors to catch anyone walking out with large boxes or packages. If anyone were to steal, which I honestly doubted would happen, we thought it would be a steak or two here, or maybe a slab of ribs there. We didn’t have cameras in the cooling room, or in the chop area right outside. So far, no one I’ve questioned has raised a red flag. They are good, honest, hardworking employees. That’s what their résumés and references showed. That’s why I hired them.”

  “Obviously there’s a bad apple,” Christian said.

  “Obviously,” Adam agreed. He pulled on the cigar, the circles he blew dissipating in the night air. “But we’ll find him and we’ll cut him out...before he s
poils the whole bunch.”

  One by one the brothers dispersed and headed home. Adam walked into the house and turned on his big-screen TV, looking for sports. He found a tennis match but was too restless to watch it. He decided to head over to BBs, and had just reached for his jacket when the phone rang.

  “Ryan.”

  “Hey, Adam.”

  “Babe, what’s going on? I’m giving you the space it seems you need but we’ve got to talk, and soon.”

  “You’re right, Adam. We do need to talk. I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting lately, about the argument at your office and that I’ve been pretty much silent since then. There is a lot that I need to share with you, especially now.”

  Adam perched on a barstool. “What’s going on now?”

  “All of the tests have come back. I’m a perfect match. Six weeks from now, I’m going to give my dad a kidney.”

  “You were hoping to help him. I’m so glad things turned out as you wanted.”

  “Me, too. And with the surgery scheduled, I don’t want any secrets between us.”

  “Are you at home, Ryan? I can come over now.”

  “Not tonight. I’m working on a time-sensitive project. But soon, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Adam?”

  “Yes.”

  “I...I’ll see you soon.”

  Adam ended the call, placing the phone in his pocket as he reached for his jacket and headed to his truck. He was glad that Ryan called him, but what she’d shared had him very concerned. The research he’d done on kidney transplants and donors had left him feeling better about that operation. But what else did Ryan have to tell him? What were the secrets that she needed to share? Did they involve Luke or Dennis? Were his brothers right that Dennis was lying? Was one of Ryan’s secrets that she was lying, too?

  Twenty

  Ryan sat cross-legged in her bed, staring at her cell phone. She’d already picked it up and placed it back down several times. Somehow she felt these moments, right now, were the last of the world as she knew it. Once she opened the application, accessed the information and printed it out, her life would not be the same. She couldn’t say all of the different ways that it might change, but it could not return to the way it was now.