by Talty, Jen
“Well, no one can say I didn’t warn you.” Ellie turned on her heels and sashayed off toward her convertible as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
Annette sat on the steps of the gazebo and watched as the convertible disappeared down the long driveway. “What the hell just happened?”
“I don’t know, but I need to get your brother and my sister back here right now because those pictures are really fucking damning.”
Annette’s heart pounded so hard she thought it would thump right out of her chest. “I didn’t do anything that she just accused me of.”
“I know that, but if those pictures get out, it’s not going to be good for any of us.”
* * *
“How could I have let this happen?” JD continued to pace in his office in front of the big picture window that looked out over the manager’s house. The porch light flickered in the darkness. He wished he could see Annette and Tony, or even his sister, but they were tucked away nice and neat inside.
“This isn’t your fault.” Luke sat behind the desk staring at the computer screen. “So, just stop the insanity.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” JD stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose. “If I hadn’t let her get in the pen in the first—”
“You really need to stop blaming yourself. This rhetoric is getting old.”
“I totally broke my own protocol, and because of that, Annette was shot at, a horse is dead, and now Ellie is making false accusations, and we don’t have a fucking clue as to why.”
“Other than she’s jealous,” Luke said.
JD shook his head. “This goes beyond her being pissed I ended things. Besides, whoever is behind this has been planning it for some time.”
“And that means you really can’t blame yourself for all the stuff that has been happening.”
“Like hell,” JD mumbled. He’d gone over it in his mind a million times, and it all came down to his bad decisions. His cell phone buzzed. He yanked it from his back pocket. “It’s the detective.” He hit the green answer button and set it on the desk. “JD Whiskey here,” he said.
“This is Detective Miller. I wanted you to know we’ve picked up your ranch manager, Ron, and his assistant, for questioning.”
JD let out a sigh of relief. “Where?”
“They were both holed up in a hunting cabin. You should know neither one is talking, and they have lawyered up,” Detective Miller said. “I also need to inform you that we received some interesting anonymous documents that don’t paint a pleasant image of Annette Hannah.”
“Those are all lies,” JD said with a sharp tone. “We’re working on hiring an expert to prove those pictures were falsified.”
“To be totally honest, Mr. Whiskey, while Annette is a person of interest in this case, she’s not a suspect. In anything. And we have sent the digital files to our lab, along with all the other evidence. All that said, we will need everyone to stay put. No traveling out of Buhl, and we’ll be needing to speak with all of you again.”
“Not a problem. We intend to cooperate fully,” JD said.
“I’m glad to hear it. There’s one other thing I’d like to ask you, and it has to do with your brother JW and Ron’s son, Bull.”
“What about them?”
“I found a report where locals were brought out to a local bar for a fight between your brother and Bull about three and half years go. What do you know about that?”
JD scratched his head. His older brother wasn’t one to use his fists very often. He didn’t have much of a temper, and JD couldn’t think of any reason that JW would have negative words with Bull. “Nothing. Why? And what does it have to do with this problem?”
“I’m not sure, yet. When does JW get back from his honeymoon?” Detective Miller asked.
“Monday.”
“Please ask him to give me a call. He might be able to shed some light on this situation.”
“I’ll have him call you first thing in the morning,” JD said. “He’ll want to clear this up now.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
JD tapped the screen. “You’re my brother’s best friend; what the hell do you make of that?”
Luke shut the laptop down and let out a long breath. “I don’t know what he’s talking about, and it’s not like JW to keep secrets.”
“Except for when he was dating Bella. Then he was the best damn fucking secret keeper ever.” JD cut his brother a lot of slack when it came to Bella. He told himself, if his brother loved her, then he’d have to accept her, but thank God JW saw the light and Kitty came into his life. “Hey Siri, call JW.”
“He’s on his honeymoon. Leave the man alone,” Luke said.
“He asked me to keep him in the loop and not to hesitate to call if we needed him, and Kitty was yelling at him in the background that they could go home if he wanted. Family first and all that good stuff.”
“Kitty is an amazing woman.”
“She’s pretty cool,” JD admitted.
“Hey, little brother, what’s up?” JW’s voice boomed over the speaker.
“Sorry to bother you, but things are getting weirder and weirder, and I need you to call that detective and tell him about some bar fight with Bull? But before you do that, I’d like to hear about it.”
“Oh. That. Well, long story short, Bella was there with Bull, and Bull was being a dick and treating her pretty shitty. At first I was thinking, it’s Bella, but then Bull said something really crude and put a hand on her, and that was it. I got in his face, he was drunk, he tossed a punch, the cops came, I took Bella home, and that started the shitshow that nearly destroyed us all.”
“I can’t believe Bella dated Bull,” Luke said. “That had to have pissed off her father.”
“Not sure her father ever knew, but when he found out, he was not pleased,” JW said. “Why are you asking about this?”
“All of the things that are happening to my sister, that we believe Ron is responsible for,” Luke started, “Ellie is doing a bang-up job of framing Annette for. She’s doctored pictures and painted this elaborate story that unfortunately doesn’t make any of us look good.”
“Ellie? As in JD’s booty call?” JW asked.
“She’s no longer that, or even a friend,” JD said, swallowing the bile that hit the back of his throat. “And we need to focus on how all this is connected and why the fuck anyone would want to do this to Annette. They aren’t coming after Luke, so it’s not an identity thing.”
“I agree with that,” Luke said. “Besides, the media, and even all the crazies, they always focus their attention on me, not my sister.”
“All right,” JW said. “We’ve got Ron, who has been threatened by Annette’s presence ever since she landed on the ranch. But he’s not talking. What about Larry?”
“He doesn’t seem to know much,” Luke said. “The emphasis is on the word, seem. The cops are still questioning him. But they can’t keep him and Ron forever.”
“We know that Bull isn’t a fan of yours, and Veronica doesn’t like Georgia Moon or JB much,” JD said, trying to connect the dots. “But where does Ellie come in with all of this, and how does it add up to Ron going nuts?”
“It all circles back to Robert and Bella,” JW said with a nasty tone. “Let’s not forget that Bella and Ellie are the same age, and they used to be friends back in the day. As a matter of fact, they were as thick as thieves in high school, but Bella started doing daddy’s dirty work, and Ellie, according to Bella, became white trash.”
Luke smacked his palm to his forehead. “I saw Ellie coming out of the jewelry store, the one that Veronica’s husband owns.”
“When?” JD asked. “And what were you doing at a jewelry store?”
“Yeah. I was going to ask the same thing,” JW said.
“Earlier today and I was there with Georgia Moon, because I’d be insane to pick out a ring without her permission. Now, drop that subject until we make an announcement, and let’s stick with t
he problem my sister’s facing, okay?”
JD held up his fist and gave Luke a little bump and a nod. His sister had her own way of doing things, and Luke was a good man for giving her exactly what she wanted.
If he didn’t, she’d kick him to the bull pen.
“So, putting this all together, it’s very possible Robert is still fucking with us from prison, using his daughter’s friendship with Ellie and exploiting Ron’s inadequate feelings and insecurities with Annette being here,” JD said. “God, saying that out loud, it sounds so lame and stupid. Why the fuck would anyone go to so much trouble?”
“I asked myself that for hours while I sat in jail staring at a picture of Bella’s smashed face,” JW said. “I still get sick to my stomach over the fact she paid someone to beat her up to ruin me. It’s something we all may never truly understand.”
“We need to grasp some of it,” Luke said. “And soon. My poor sister has been through enough.”
“I’ll call the detective,” JW said. “Keep me in the loop.”
“Will do.” JD snagged his phone and tucked it in his back pocket. He stood and turned toward the picture window. “Oh, fuck.”
“What is it?”
JD’s heart burst, bleeding out to the floor as he stared like a doe in headlights at red and orange flames stretching up like snakes slithering across the land for prey from the roof of the manager’s house to the sky.
10
“I don’t want to be the cause of any more problems here.” Annette set the baby monitor on the kitchen counter and poured herself a glass of wine before hobbling over to the table. Her foot throbbed, and her wrist had ballooned up again, but none of that mattered.
She was tired of being a burden to everyone around her.
“Trust me, you’re not the root of this issue. It all comes back to Bella and her father. We just don’t know how it’s all connected. But we’ll connect the dots, and don’t you worry, all that bullshit that Ellie was spewing will disappear.” Georgia Moon picked at a piece of string cheese and examined it before plopping it into her mouth. “I need to ask you a question, and it’s an important one.”
“Sounds serious.”
“It sort of is,” Georgia Moon said. “Luke and I said we’d take things slow, but it’s not working out that way.”
“So I’ve heard.” Annette welcomed a change in conversation, especially when it was something so positive and joyous. “But he’s been vague about the topic.”
“We picked out rings,” Georgia Moon said. “I didn’t want an engagement ring. I also don’t want to be engaged forever. I know it worked for Kitty and JW, but she had to finish school and everything. Luke and I are pretty settled already. I just kind of want to do it out at the gazebo with just family as soon as this bullshit passes.”
Annette jumped from her seat and raced, as best as she could with a bad foot, around the table and hugged Georgia Moon. “This is so exciting. Congratulations.”
“Well, don’t tell anyone. Luke really doesn’t want to say anything until your name is cleared and we know for sure there isn’t any danger lurking around a corner. But when it does happen, I was hoping you’d be my maid of honor?”
“Oh, my God. Of course. I’d be honored.” Annette snagged her glass. “Do you mind if we take this into the family room where I can put my foot up? It’s flipping killing me.”
“Works for me.”
Annette made herself comfortable on the sofa, grateful that Georgia Moon brought her an ice pack. “So, did my brother do a proposal or something?”
“I would have said no if he had,” Georgia Moon said with a laugh.
“I would have been shocked if he had. He’s not the most romantic.”
“Neither am I,” Georgia Moon said. “But he has his really sweet moments. Neither one of us wants this to be a big deal, but we know Kitty and JW would want us to have a small ceremony.”
“So would I,” Annette admitted. “I honestly never thought I’d see this day. For years, all I heard about was how amazing you were, yet Luke would never tell you how he felt.”
“I didn’t tell him either, so we’re making up for lost time.” Georgia Moon waved her hand in the air. “Did you know we all grew up in this house?”
“I did. JD told me some fun stories about when you were all little, like when he and JB used to sneak out by climbing down the lattice from their bedroom.”
“So, he told you about when he broke his leg in two places falling from the damn thing at two in the morning when he’d been only fourteen.”
“Oh yeah. And he had to show me the scar too.” Annette’s stomach sloshed and rolled. An image of JD’s devastated expression as he told her about his loss filled her mind. The Whiskey family had all had their share of pain, but what JD endured, most didn’t come back from, and JD was still a broken man.
He might not ever get to the point where he could move forward in his life. He held on to his past for the sole purpose to keep himself from truly living again because he was too afraid to take the risk. She understood that sentiment, but she didn’t agree with it.
Life was too short not to risk your heart. Her son had taught her that lesson, among many others.
“How are things going with you and JD?” Georgia Moon asked. Her bluntness was one of the many things that Annette appreciated about her future sister-in-law’s personality. But it was also one of the things that often caught her off guard.
Like right now.
“I honestly don’t have an answer to that question. He’s a very private man who has some pretty big walls he’s built up around him.”
“I wish I could tell you why, but I could never break that kind of confidence I have with my brothers. Not ever. Not for anyone.”
Another thing Annette loved about JD and his siblings. Family always came first. And it wasn’t just their family. Anyone that worked on their ranch, their families were part of the Whiskey family, which meant, they were dedicated to making their lives better and always being there for them.
But if you turned on any in the Whiskey family, watch out.
“JD told me about Susanne and Zannie.”
Georgia Moon spit out her wine. “Fuck. I’m sorry.” She quickly snagged a napkin and cleaned it up. “I didn’t expect that.”
“I don’t think JD expected to tell me either, but he feels responsible for what’s happening to me, as if it’s his fault someone shot at me and killed Coco.”
Georgia Moon waggled her finger. “You and JD are a lot alike in that sense.”
“Excuse me?”
“You constantly think you’re a burden when you’re actually carrying your own weight and then some. For as long as you’ve been on this ranch, you’ve been working without pay, until this week. Really, you’re far from a burden. And don’t start on this bullshit about what happened with Ron, because that would have happened with whoever we brought in.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain Ellie.”
“Jealous bitch. It wouldn’t matter who JD was interested in; she’d be all over that like flies on shit.”
“She has other men in her life so why would she care.”
“Because JD is a good catch,” Georgia Moon said. “She might not be a gold digger or even want a baby daddy, but she doesn’t like the men she thinks belong to her finding someone else before she dumps them.”
“We’re not an item.”
“And I’m not madly head over heels in love with your brother so much so that I’m willing to buy a fucking white wedding dress and have his babies.”
Annette tossed her head back and burst out laughing. “Please tell me you’re going to wear cowboy boots with your wedding dress.”
“Hell to the yes.” Georgia Moon pulled out her phone. “Want to see the dress?”
“You have one picked out?”
“I ordered it an hour ago.”
Annette snagged the phone. “It’s beautiful,” she said.
“I’m not showing th
at to your brother. All he knows is that it won’t be traditional.”
“Which I’m sure he’s totally on board with.” Annette turned her nose toward the staircase and sniffed. “Do you smell something burning?”
“I do.”
Tony let out a small cough and a cry.
“The monitor is in the kitchen,” Annette said.
“I’ll go get it, and I’ll check on the smell.”
Annette knew that she needed to stop thinking in terms of having to rely on people as being weak. That didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of taking care of herself. Not at all. And she knew that. It was just hard to change self-dialogue.
But getting JD to change his self-dialogue might be impossible, and that was something Annette needed to face, regardless of her feelings or how he behaved, as if he really cared.
The burning smell continued to tickle her nose. She sat up just as her phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen.
JD: Fire! GET OUT NOW!
“We need to get Tony and get out.” Georgia Moon skidded around the corner and started running up the stairs. “Luke texted. The house is on fire.”
Completely ignoring the pain in her ankle, Annette raced past Georgia Moon and took the steps two at a time until she reached the top where she came to a screeching halt. Thick smoke instantly filled her lungs. Heat prickled her skin. Flames filled the hallway, making it impossible to get to either bedroom.
“We have to get out.” Georgia Moon tugged at her shirt.
“Not without my son.” Panic gripped Annette’s heart. She covered her mouth and dropped to her knees. Crawling across the floor, she felt her way toward her son’s bedroom, ignoring the pleas of Georgia Moon, begging her to leave, letting the fireman, who were supposedly on their way, get her son out of the house.
Not going to happen.
She found the door to Tony’s bedroom. She reached up and twisted the doorknob. Gagging and coughing, she pushed back the door and made it into her son’s room. The roaring sound of the fire filled her ears. She glanced over her shoulder as the hallway walls were painted with bursts of red fire. Sucking in a deep breath, her lungs filled with ash and smoke. She squeezed her eyes closed. “Tony,” she whispered as she collapsed to the floor. Her chest hurt. Her skin stung. Smoke billowed around her head. “Tony,” she managed again before the world went black.