Scrubbing a hand over my face, I groan. “We need to leave. I don’t want Beth knowing about this. I don’t want her worrying. She’s got enough to deal with.”
I stand and walk into my room at the back of the house. It takes me no time to put all of my clothes into a duffle. When I come back out, Angus has the folder under one arm and the leftover beers in his hand. “You ready?” he asks.
I walk into the kitchen and notice the breakfast dishes are all done. “Did you do this?”
Angus’ face goes red. “Yes.”
“You’ll make a good housewife one day,” I tease.
“Fuck you. Let’s get going.”
“I need to leave Beth a note.”
Quickly, I write on some paper near the house phone and leave my keys to my bike on top of the refrigerator.
Taking one last look around Beth’s house, I promise myself, I will find out who killed her father, and she will have the justice she deserves.
Beth
It’s late afternoon by the time I put the ATV back in the barn. The horses were still out, so I lead them back into the barn. I know I’m simply killing time before I have to face Sean because I realize I’ve hurt his feelings. My ego didn’t like being told I was like a sister to him. I mean really? What woman wants to hear that?
Sean’s bike is parked in the same position it was this morning. I thought he might have gone for a ride to blow off steam, but upon entering the house, there’s no noise at all.
“Sean?” I say loudly, and silence greets me in return. “Sean, you here?”
Still nothing, so I walk toward his bedroom and knock on the door.
“Sean?”
Opening the door, I look in. The closet is open, and all of his clothes are gone. Moving further into the room, I check under the bed, and his duffle is not there.
“Fuck it all to hell,” I whisper.
I stumble my way back into the kitchen and find a note on the bench.
Beth,
I’m sorry, something came up. I’ll make it up to you.
The keys to my bike are on top of the fridge.
Only ride it if you have to.
Sean.
That’s it.
Nothing else.
Something came up?
Great.
So the only ranch hand I could find has up and left and all because I couldn’t control my damn temper. Well, at least I know he will be back to get his bike. Tears prick behind my eyelids, but I shake my head to stop the flow.
Scrunching up his note, I toss it in the garbage, only to pull it out again and try to flatten out the creases. It’s then I notice he’s done the dishes and cleaned up from this morning. How can a man who is so thoughtful leave me such a short, impersonal note? Did he think I thought worse of him because he told me he killed the man who murdered his sister? If I could do the same thing to the person who killed my daddy, I’d do it in a heartbeat. There’s no judgment from me, maybe I should have told him I understood, maybe then he wouldn’t have left.
I look around at my home. Suddenly, it feels lonely and too big for me. Maybe I should sell it? There are too many ghosts haunting these walls.
I open the freezer and pull out dinner—the packet says ‘Tastes like home cooking,’ but I bet it doesn’t. I open the microwave and throw it in. While waiting for it to heat, I sit on the bench seat near the back door and pull off my boots. I’m tired, hot, and more than a little pissed off. As I make my way back through the house, I hear someone knocking on the front door, so I continue walking and swing it open wide, hoping Sean’s come back.
“Hey, Beth, you look good.”
Standing there, looking all clean, fresh, and handsome is Myles Graham.
“Myles?” I’m surprised, and then anger takes over. I push open the screen door, and he takes several steps back from me. “What the hell are you doing here?”
With his hands raised, he continues to retreat down two porch steps, so we are at the same height. “Now, Beth… calm down.”
“Calm down? Don’t you dare tell me what to do on my property! What do you want, Myles? Hmm? Come to gloat at how you deceived me? Or how you drove a wedge between my father and me before he died? And for what exactly? So you could get more land? I could’ve convinced him to sell, Myles, you didn’t need to kill him!”
Myles’ face goes white, and he stumbles down another step.
“Beth, I didn’t. I wouldn’t. I… I love you, Beth. How could you think I’d kill your dad? Yes, I wanted… want your land, but I’d never go to those extremes to get it.” He takes a step toward me. “Is that what you think? Do you really think I killed him?” His mouth is hanging open, and the color has drained out of his face.
“Y-Yes.”
Myles comes up the porch steps, and I retreat until my back hits the closed screen door.
“I wouldn’t do that to you. To us. Beth, you have to know how I feel about you.”
“You knew who I was when you met me in Billings, didn’t you?”
Myles nods. “Yes. I’d already approached your dad about selling, and he’d given me a hard no, so I went looking for another angle. My private detectives found you and tracked you down. You have to believe me… I only wanted to talk to you, to find out why your dad wouldn’t sell, but I met you, and you’re beautiful, funny, and smart as a whip. I found myself falling for you. Does it matter how we met?”
“You lied to me.”
“No, I didn’t. I just didn’t tell you I knew who you were. I’ve never lied to you, Beth.”
Tears stream down my face, and he takes another step toward me.
“Don’t,” I hiss as I hold up a hand.
Myles runs his fingers through his hair and frowns. “I never meant to hurt you. I love you, Beth, but I swear to you on my life, I did not kill your dad.”
As much as I want to disbelieve him, I don’t. The look of shock on his face when I accused him told me everything I needed to know. I should have confronted him when it all happened. Instead, I retreated within myself and pushed him away.
My hands drop to my side.
I’m tired—of everything.
The ranch, my life, everything.
“Why are you here, Myles?”
“I was upset when I saw you in town with your new ranch hand. It was then I realized some things needed to be said, so here I am.”
“Sean? You’re here because of him?” Laughter bubbles up out of me, hysterical, nonstop laughter, which turns to tears and sobbing.
Myles closes the gap between us and holds me close, stroking my hair and telling me everything’s going to be okay. But it’s not, it’ll never be okay again. And standing here in his arms, I wish it was Sean, and that makes no sense. Myles and I dated for a year, and I’ve known Sean for a few days. I shouldn’t be feeling this way, but Myles doesn’t make me feel safe, protected, or loved. He’s another ghost in my life I need to be rid of.
I push him away and take two steps to the side.
“Sorry. It’s been a rough few months.”
“I still love you, Beth,” he replies earnestly.
“I know.” I nod and put more distance between us. “Do you still want the ranch?”
“Not like this. I want you.”
“You can’t have me, Myles.” I turn and lean on the porch railing. “But you can have my ranch for a fair price.”
“What will you do?”
I smile and shake my head. “I have no idea. I might visit my mom in San Francisco or have a holiday or…” I pause and think about it, then look him in the eyes. “I don’t know.”
“Is there any way I can make it up to you? I’ll do anything, Beth.”
I shake my head.
Myles nods and drops his gaze to the ground. “I’ll get my lawyer to draw up some papers. Read them over. I won’t cheat you, Beth.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
With nothing else to say, I wish he’d just leave.
Myles pulls me into an embrace, kisses the
top of my head, then jogs down the stairs and into his shiny new truck. I watch him drive away until I can’t see him anymore and then go into my family home with all my ghosts and cry for a very long time.
Sean
The closest person on the list to visit is Buck, who supposedly died in a car accident. It’s too many years to count since the last time I saw him. Buck made a life for himself, got married, had a son. I wish he was still with us, so I could get to know the man he had become after our time in the Marines.
Angus waits in the car as I walk up the brick path to Buck’s house and knock on the door. I’m nervous, and I’m not sure what to say. The door opens, and a pretty woman with short brown hair is standing there. It’s Buck’s wife, I recognize her from the photographs Angus has in his file.
“Good afternoon, ma’am. My name is Sean—”
“MacKenny. You’re one of Buck’s old Marine buddies.” Her smile is genuine as she steps to one side and ushers me inside. “I’m Sabrina, Buck’s wife.”
I stand there. “Yes, ma’am, I know. I wanted to come by and—”
“Please come in,” Sabrina says, cutting me off again.
I enter the house. Sabrina walks ahead of me, and I follow her into the kitchen, which is a large space with a dining table at one end. The whole house is immaculate, not a thing out of place. As I move through the kitchen toward her dining table, I see a child’s playpen with a toddler sitting in it, playing with a toy. He gives me a toothless grin and holds it up for me to inspect.
“Hey, little man, that’s one fine-looking truck you’ve got there.”
The kid coos at me and tosses it to one side only to pick up another toy and hold it up too. I grin at him, and he nods then goes back to playing on his own. When I look up, Sabrina has tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I should go.”
“No!” she says a little loudly. “Buck said if I ever needed anything, you’d be the one to ask. He wanted to have you come to our wedding, but I kind of railroaded the event. We were pregnant, and I didn’t want to be waddling down the aisle, so I sped everything up. We had a civil ceremony. It was only the two of us with my best friend and her husband as witnesses. He’d be glad you were here to meet Buck Junior.”
“How old is he?”
“He’s seven months old and starting to teethe. Coffee?”
“Yes, please, ma’am.”
“Call me, Sabrina.”
I sit at her table and look around the room. The walls are adorned with photographs of her and Buck—all smiling, all good times.
“How’d you meet Buck?”
Sabrina puts a cup in front of me. “Do you need milk? Buck always drank it black.”
“No, ma’am. Black is fine.”
“I’ve known Buck forever. He was the wild one at school, and at the time, I wouldn’t have anything to do with him.” Sabrina smiles softly as she recalls her husband. “It was only after he got out of the Marines that we began to date. He was different, more settled. I miss him.”
I nod and look around the room. There are about a dozen questions I want to ask this woman, but I don’t want to cause her any more pain. Choosing my words carefully has never been my strong suit because I tend to bulldoze most people.
“Why are you here, Sean?”
I shift uncomfortably. “It seems Buck isn’t the only one out of our unit to have passed. I guess I wanted to pay my respects and ask how he died.”
I’ve read the reports on Buck and know he was killed in a car accident. Supposedly, he skidded into a tree, and his head went through the windshield. The airbags didn’t go off, and he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, all of which makes no sense for a man with a new wife and child.
Sabrina takes a sip of her coffee. “It was a car accident. It’d rained only moments before, and he must’ve lost control and hit a tree. The airbags didn’t deploy. Buck died instantly. Broken neck.” With tears in her eyes, Sabrina smiles, shakes her head, and takes another sip of her coffee.
I say nothing for a moment, but the silence is broken by Buck Junior, who squeals loudly and throws a toy over the pen. I stand, pick it up, and hand it back to him.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have done that.” Sabrina laughs. “Now he’s going to do it until you leave. Kind of like fetch. Please ignore him.”
The woman knows her son, for as soon as I turn my back on him, he lobs the toy back over the pen and laughs at me loudly. I pick it up and hand it back.
“Buck, I’m not picking this up again. So if you throw it, you ain’t getting it back.”
The boy laughs, and I go back to my seat.
Sabrina is staring at her son, lovingly. “It kills me Buck won’t get to see him grow up and become a man. I think he would have been the best father.” A single tear rolls down her cheek, and she brushes it away. “Buck knew about the others. He went to Harry Shaw’s and Steve Knudsen’s funerals. After Steve died, Buck was different. Secretive. It wasn’t like him. Do you know Steve killed himself? Buck never believed it. Told me Steve had found God, and there’s no way he’d have done it.”
“I know Harry was killed in a hit and run.”
Sabrina nods. “They never caught the driver. No one even saw the accident happen. Apparently, Harry used to jog in the morning, and one day, he didn’t come home. His wife, Becky, came to Buck’s funeral. Nice woman, we keep in touch.”
“There’s only myself and Scope left.”
Sabrina looks at me sideways and narrows her gaze. “Are you here for the envelope?”
“Envelope?” I ask.
“Buck said if anything happened to him, one of you would come looking. He thought it’d be you. Said you were the lucky one of the unit. That you should have been killed a dozen times overseas, but you beat death every time. I wish some of your luck had rubbed off on my Buck.”
“Sabrina, what envelope?”
She stands and looks at her son. “Can you watch him for a moment? I’ll be right back.” Without waiting for me to answer, she walks out of the room.
Buck junior throws a toy at me, and I grin at him.
“I’m not a dog, buddy. I don’t fetch.”
The boy crawls to the side of the playpen and uses the bars so he can stand. He points to the toy and yells.
“Nope. You should have kept it. I’m not doing it.” I grin at him and shake my head.
Buck begins to gibber at me and laugh. I nod at him. He gets louder then turns around and falls back on his well-rounded rump and crawls back to his toys, happily gibbering away.
Sabrina walks back into the room with a white A4-size envelope. I stand and move around the table as she clutches it to her chest.
“Will you find out who killed my Buck?” Her eyes are pleading.
“Yes, ma’am.”
With a sad smile, she tentatively hands over the envelope.
“He deserved better than that.”
“Yes, ma’am, he did.” I glance at Buck Junior and ask, “Are you two well taken care of?”
Sabrina reaches out and touches my arm. “Buck had life insurance, and the car company paid us out as well. I’ll never need to work, and Buck Junior will have enough money to go to any college he chooses.” She pauses and then says, “I want my Buck back.” Her eyes fill with tears, and she turns her back on me and walks over to her son. “You see yourself out, Sean. Come back to me when you’ve got justice for my Buck.”
I nod and leave, making my way through her home and out the front door.
Angus is sitting on the hood of the car waiting for me.“You okay?”
“Yeah. She’s a nice woman. She doesn’t believe her husband died of an accident, and she gave me this.” I hold up the envelope.
“What’s in it?”
“No fucking idea, brother. Let’s go find a place to stay, get food, and take a look.”
After we’re settled in the motel, I hand Angus the envelope. Inside are details on each of us, and after Angus reads every page, he gives them to me. Most
are written in Buck’s handwriting, but he has the occasional printed piece of paper in there too. When I get to the information on me, there’s a question mark, and underneath are the words, ‘It can’t be him.’
I’m glad Buck didn’t suspect me of killing off the members of our unit. Scope’s details have the words, written in red, ‘Gone underground. Possible threat.’ This makes me uncomfortable. Scope was always a little on the weird side, but he was loyal to the unit and to his country. It looks like Buck could find all of us except for him. Apart from that, there’s no reason to believe Scope is involved. Buck tried to find him, but the man had turned into a ghost.
The last sheet of paper has the name ‘Lewis Towell’ on it and a brief biography. He’s a US senator headed for the White House. After I’ve read it all, I look at Angus.
“What does it all mean?” I ask.
“I think Buck thought that Scope had something to do with the deaths in your unit. As for Senator Towell, I have no idea. I’ll need to do some digging. You need to go out for a while. Let me do my thing. I need privacy and quiet.”
“Brother, can I please sleep for a bit?”
“Sure, do it out in the car.”
I give Angus dead eyes and a frown. “Sleep in the car? For fuck’s sake, Angus, I promise not to interfere with your process.”
“Sean, I talk aloud, I pace, I scour the internet looking for information. There’s no way you can sleep through all of that. Trust me.”
“Fine, but you owe me.”
Angus smiles. “Thanks, brother. Give me three hours. If I find something before then, I’ll ring you.”
I stand and leave the room. The car is parked in the shade, and I open the driver’s side door and slide in then recline the seat. It’s not an ideal way to sleep. In the Marines, you sometimes had to sleep when and wherever you could. This is one of those times.
I close my eyes, and within moments, I’m out.
“Sean, we need to go!”
“What?” I ask as I sit up.
“Sean, unlock the door and start the car. We need to be gone. Now.”
I do as Angus asks and am halfway down the freeway when I pull over and look at him. “What the fuck?”
Spark of Vengeance: MacKenny Brothers Series Book 2: An MC/Band of Brothers Romance Page 6