“Nemesio!”
“With Gray gone, Matlock has only one son. He’ll have to recognize Cash at last.”
“You speak as if Gray is dead,” Luna said.
“Would that be so bad?”
She gasped.
Cash was equally shocked by his uncle’s harsh words. Nemesio had hated Jasper Matlock with a passion since the truth had come out. Because Luna’s pregnancy interfered with Matlock’s plan to marry Marlene for the river property, he’d married his mistake off to his foreman. Luna hadn’t fought it. Knowing Zane had been sweet on her, she’d chosen to give her unborn child a father who’d promised to love them both.
Nemesio had talked about getting even with Matlock for years, but as far as Cash knew, he’d never acted on the threat. His being protective of the people he loved, holding a grudge against anyone who hurt them, was only normal.
What bothered Cash was that Gray had never done anything to earn Nemesio’s animosity. This was the heat of anger speaking, he assured himself. Anger and speculation. No more.
“I want nothing from Jasper Matlock save his spread,” Cash reminded them. “On my terms. Cold, hard cash.”
“Maybe now you’ll get your hands on it,” Nemesio muttered darkly as he headed for the door. “I got work to tend to.”
“I need to go, as well,” Luna said. “Cash, you’ll be home for supper?”
“I haven’t decided what I’m going to do.”
Not about the evening meal, at least.
FROM HIS VANTAGE POINT in the barranca, Cash looked down from the barren hill to the spread that he’d vowed would be his someday.
He didn’t give a damn about the century-old hacienda or the surrounding adobe buildings that were home to the household staff and ranch hands, horses and dogs. He didn’t care about the cattle scattered over the more verdant valley and hillsides.
The land was what mattered.
Horses and cars, paintings and sculptures, buildings and shopping centers—he collected them all. The harder something was to get, the bigger the challenge, the more he wanted it. He was practically salivating over Matlock Ranch and would continue to do so until it was his.
Then, undoubtedly he’d be bored with it as he was with his numerous other holdings.
Life was a game and he was a player, but he wouldn’t be a winner until he had all the pieces in his possession. A reporter had once asked him how much was enough. He’d said he’d give his answer when he got there.
But would he ever?
He’d spent the last decade making money and spending it at a proportionately increasing rate. One would think he’d be happier.
Happy? What did that mean? He barely understood the concept anymore.
But as he studied the land, remembered laughter echoed in his mind. And a big splash of water. He cut his gaze well beyond the compound and imagined he could pin the spot where creek and river converged.
Twenty years ago...
He’d been fifteen, Gray fourteen, Reine twelve.
The rains had come with driving force, swelling the banks of every waterway in the valley. Tired of the long dry spell when rivers trickled down to creeksize and creeks dried up altogether, they’d ridden out to see. He and Gray had dared Reine to shed her clothing and skinny-dip just to make her blush. They wouldn’t actually have gone through with it, her being a kid and all. But she’d gotten her dander up, had told them off and had pushed Gray into the water.
Gray had looked so comical when he’d come up for air that Cash couldn’t help but laugh. He’d been so busy making fun of his best buddy that he’d never seen it coming—his turn into the drink. Shy little Reine had gotten them both. Then it had been her turn to laugh.
They’d all laughed.
They’d all been happy.
He’d been happy then.
REINE DECIDED A RIDE would serve double duty, beginning with clearing her mind. She’d slept only in fits and starts and she was feeling a little loose around the edges.
Unsettled. Unfocused.
She saddled up Gold Mine, a Palomino her aunt had bought for her some dozen years before—as if she’d needed a lure to get Rcinc to drive the half hour from Santa Fe to the ranch....
The Matlocks had taken Reine in when her mother, Marlene’s younger sister, had died in a freak drowning accident. Her father had skipped out on them years before, when her mother had stopped giving him access to her trust fund. He’d been a charmer, her mother had always said, but he’d also been a cheat. Reine couldn’t even remember what Laurence Kendrick looked like—she’d ripped up the photos her mother had kept of him. Nor did she care.
As far as she was concerned, Marlene, Jasper and Gray were the only family she needed....
Poor Aunt Marlene had been up and pacing all night. She’d been awake forty-eight hours straight. Exhaustion and stress had finally claimed her around dawn.
Thankful that she wouldn’t have to worry about the heartsick woman for a while, Reine figured she would take this opportunity to get a lead on her cousin’s kidnapper.
That meant finding Tobiah Hill—her second purpose in taking out Gold Mine.
The foreman of Matlock Ranch was here with his men, rounding up and moving cattle—an undertaking that had been interrupted by Gray’s disappearance. Yesterday, nothing had been done on the spread unless it had been absolutely necessary. Gray had been everyone’s focus. The search parties had come up with nothing, however, and Uncle Jasper had reluctantly sent his ranch hands back to work first thing this morning.
Reine knew they would put in a long day, and she couldn’t wait until supper to get started.
Who knew how long Gray had before something unthinkable happened to him? The longer he was gone, the more likely that would be.
Why couldn’t Cash have shown some concern? she wondered. How could he be so cold? As boys, he and Gray had been inseparable, and not from Uncle Jasper’s lack of trying. How many times had the man warned Gray to stay away from the hired help’s “whelp”?
She shook her head sadly. Uncle Jasper could be so cruel. He’d known Cash was his natural son all along, and he’d treated him as if he were worthless.
And look how Cash had fooled him.
Reine figured Cash could do. anything. he set his mind to. He’d proved that, day in and day out. His wealth far exceeded her uncle’s and Jasper Matlock wasn’t a poor man, by any means. Why couldn’t Cash have set his mind to repairing the chasm between them? Instead, he’d chosen to compete.
He was wealthier.
More ruthless.
Greedier.
He was not a man she could like. But she didn’t need Cash, Reine told herself. She’d done without him for seventeen years and she could do without him for another seventy.
Besides, she had Tobiah Hill.
Nothing went on around Matlock Ranch that the foreman didn’t know about. She meant to question him thoroughly. He was a quiet one, but he didn’t miss a thing. He’d be able to name every person who had it in for Jasper.
Or for Gray, for that matter, though she really didn’t want to think it possible. Everyone liked her cousin, she reminded herself. He didn’t have onemies—none she knew of, anyway.
If only she could believe that Gray’s disappearance was simply about money....
This had to be about something more, or the kidnapper would have put a price on Gray’s head from the first. Whoever had taken her cousin wanted Uncle Jasper to suffer. The sins of the father were being visited on the son.
How unfair.
Reine was considering how cruel life could be when Gold Mine snorted and threw up her head as if in greeting to another horse. Reine heard hoofbeats coming up rapidly behind them.
“Whoa,” she murmured, slowing and turning in the saddle for a look.
Expecting to see one of the ranch hands heading out from the compound, she was startled by the familiar figure riding an Appaloosa straight at her, hellbent for leather.
Cash!
&
nbsp; Her pulse raced and her stomach knotted the second she recognized him. She only hoped Uncle Jasper was nowhere around, or there would be more trouble.
What was Cash doing on Matlock land?
Chapter Three
Cash slowed Akando as he caught up with Reine. Rather than bringing the horse to a full stop, he let him dance around the mare and show off some.
“Are you crazy?” were the first words out of Reine’s mouth.
“Could be,” he agreed.
“If Uncle Jasper catches you—”
“He’ll what?” It took all his resources to keep his expression neutral. “Beat me and throw me off his land? Oh, that’s right—he already did that. And his trying it again is highly unlikely. I’ve learned a thing or two about taking care of myself over the years.”
“Don’t even joke about it, Cash.”
“I never joke.”
Her blue eyes were inexplicably sad when her gaze meshed with his. “Did he beat that out of you, too?”
Too? Wondering what she meant by that, Cash wouldn’t dwell on it. Instead, he concentrated on her.
This was more like it. When she’d come to his place, Reine had been buttoned-up, almost prim. Beautiful, yes, but as if all the life had been sucked out of her in comparison to the way she looked now.
Wearing jeans and a butter-cream shirt open at the throat, her face free of makeup, her long hair swept up into a ponytail and tied with a yellow ribbon, she reminded him of the spirited girl he used to know.
Well... not quite.
Her features had matured. As had her breasts, he thought appreciatively, biting back a smile. She’d finally gotten some. He remembered that had been her main concern at fifteen.
“Thought you’d be with your aunt.”
“She’s finally getting some rest,” Reine said tersely. “Do you ride this way often?”
“Often enough.”
Her expression was disapproving. Maybe she’d changed more than he’d thought. A wave of regret swept through Chase, and he wondered if she would go straight to Matlock with the information.
Suddenly she said, “You don’t scare me, you know.”
Cash started. “I didn’t know I was trying.”
“You did yesterday.”
“Scared you?”
“You tried to.”
When he gave her a challenging expression, her cheeks flushed the way he knew they would. The way they had the day before. The way they had all those years ago. She’d always flustered easily. He’d always enjoyed the fact.
That hadn’t changed.
“So, are you going to tell me what you want or what?” she demanded.
Not ready to make any concessions, he kept stringing her along. “What if I said, ‘You.’”
Her deepening color pleased him more than all of his possessions lumped together—maybe because it was so elusive, something he couldn’t buy.
“Could I have you?” he asked softly and only half in jest.
“Dream on, Cash.”
He shrugged. “Don’t have dreams anymore. Just bank accounts.”
Again, her eyes were sad. “Poor you,” she murmured.
His laugh was humorless. “Not exactly.”
“Yes, Cash,” she insisted. “Exactly.”
Without warning, she started off. Ticked at her attempt at pity, he reined Akando in close and paced her. She cut alongside a pasture where cattle grazed peacefully.
Who was she to make judgments on his life choices? Reine Kendrick had always had everything she’d ever wanted. Her mother, aunt and trust fund had all seen to that.
He rode in silence, following her lead. She took him through a patchwork of fields, edged with willows and cottonwood where the acequias cut through, bringing much-needed water to the entire spread.
“So where are you headed?” he finally asked.
“Where you don’t want to go.”
“How can you be sure of that?”
She arched her brows and asked, “Have you changed your mind, then?”
“About what?”
“Gray. Why else would you be on Matlock land?”
He wasn’t ready to make any admissions that would give her the upper hand. “Maybe I’m just taking stock of what’ll be mine soon.”
“Lusting after what you can’t have?”
“Everything has its price.”
“What’s yours?” she asked.
“Mine?” He frowned at her. “I don’t get it.”
“For helping me find Gray before it’s too late. What would it cost me?”
His gut clenched. Too late? Surely not. Though she continued to keep her tone light, he caught a glimpse of anguish in her gaze.
Cash realized they’d reached the creek near the old chile mill. Reine picked her way around the rocks and boulders and along the trickling stream. She was headed straight for the box canyon and their youthful haunt. He hadn’t been here in decades, but he remembered every inch of the way.
From the stream, they followed the ditch that once fed the water to the mill. They rounded a bend and there it was. The foundation posts appeared precarious, yet what was left of the weather-beaten building still managed to stay upright.
The abandoned gristmill had made a perfect “clubhouse” for him and Gray when Matlock had discouraged an open friendship. And later, for Reine, too, after they’d allowed her into their secret society.
Cash wondered how much she remembered about the place where Jasper Matlock had found them together that one time they’d made love.
He decided to keep his own counsel on that matter.
Reine dismounted and led the Palomino to a struggling cottonwood, where she flung her reins over a low branch. Cash followed suit.
Only then did he ask, “What have you learned so far?”
“Nothing yet.”
“What about the kidnapper?”
“We haven’t heard from him again.” She shook her head. “And that really scares me.”
“But you believe Gray’s alive.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “And I want him to stay that way.”
Her certainty gave him some measure of relief. The three of them had been closer than true siblings by the very nature of their proscribed friendship. Surely one of them would sense it if Gray was dead.
“So what’s your price, Cash?” she asked again.
“I have everything I could possibly want—”
“Do you really?”
Her gaze was measuring, making him shift inside.
He didn’t have her.
Was that what she was offering?
Tension radiated between them as it had the day before, and not only because she’d come to ask help for a Matlock. She looked at him as a woman looked at a man she was attracted to. That little show he’d put on for her benefit yesterday hadn’t disgusted her quite as much as she’d wanted him to believe.
“Well, there is one thing I don’t have,” he admitted.
“Which is?”
Cash hesitated for only a second before saying, “This spread.” He couldn’t quite bring himself to open old wounds.
“The land’s not mine to offer.”
“Then what are you suggesting?”
He was close enough to see the way her eyes changed—her attempt at veiling her thoughts from him. All right, then. Let her be the one to bring it up.
“How about... a big donation to your favorite charity?”
He should have known she wouldn’t have the guts to give voice to her real thoughts.
“Sounds good,” he said smoothly. “By the way, my favorite charity is me.”
She rolled her eyes. “You haven’t changed. You’re still impossible.”
“Not impossible. A challenge.” One he wanted her to take. Why not?
She’d grown into a very desirable woman. He’d spent years forgetting her. Years building his fortune. Years attending social events to which he’d brought companions who reminded him of her. All ha
d been blond, beautiful, smart.
But none had been Reine.
This bit of game playing—maybe this was her way of approaching him. Maybe she was offering herself as payment. Subtly, of course.
Why else would she have brought him here, of all places?
GRAY STRUGGLED AGAINST the haze that held him captive every bit as much as the ropes binding his hands and feet together. They must have drugged the food he’d been spoon-fed. He couldn’t do for himself, not trussed up like a heifer. They’d dumped him here on a bedroll and left....
How long ago?
He’d lost all track of time.
“Why don’t you just admit it?”
He heard the voice from afar. A woman’s.
“You’re as worried about Gray as the rest of us, ” she was saying. “Admit he’s the reason you’re here. ”
That was Reine’s voice.
She was talking about him to someone. They must be searching for him, then. He tried calling out to her, but tape over his mouth prevented him from doing more than making some unintelligible sounds.
“lf that’ll make you happy, ” came a familiar male voice, “go ahead and believe whatever you want. ”
Gray made a concerted effort to move himself so he could see outside. He managed to work himself into a sitting position. Managed to focus long enough to get a glimpse out the window.
Cash!
He knew he’d recognized the voice.
Cash and Reine had come back to their hideaway to find him. He tried harder to call out, but only succeeded in making low, garbled sounds.
And then it was too late.
He saw them move toward their horses.
In his mind, he shouted, Wait! I’m inside!
But of course they couldn’t hear his muffled plea. They would leave and he would be alone once more. Not that it was likely he’d be alone for long. Surely one of the men would be back to check on him any time now. Then, who knew what would happen?
Desperate, Gray fell to his side and rolled. Then he wriggled until his feet were aimed at the wall. Lying on his back, he pulled up his knees and struck out as hard as he could. His boots went right through the rotting wall without making much noise. He angled himself and aimed at another spot. It was just as weak. Even a third effort—this one more solid, the results louder—brought no response.
Cowboy Justice Page 4