Soldier's Duty

by Elle James

  “The best we can do is run a DNA test on it,” the sheriff said. “But that will take time.”

  “Even if they can identify it as my father’s, what does that tell us?” Duncan asked.

  The sheriff’s lips thinned. “That he was in the canyon and might still be.”

  “Under the snow and rocks,” Angus said, his tone flat, his expression harsh.

  Bree tried to suck air into her lungs but couldn’t. She pressed a hand to her chest, suddenly overwhelmed with what was happening. She stumbled over to the pasture where the mare lay on the ground and slipped through the fence rails.

  When she knelt on the ground beside the mare, she could tell before she touched the animal that she was dead.

  Tears slid down Bree’s cheeks. She sat back on her heels and sobbed silently. It was all too much. Her mother could have died, the animals had, and James McKinnon could be lying beneath an avalanche of snow and rock, trapped and dead or dying. Bree couldn’t undo what had happened.

  A hand settled on her shoulder.

  Angus dropped to his haunches and pulled her into his arms. “We’ll take care of the body before your mother comes home,” he promised.

  “Who would do this?” she whimpered. “This is nothing short of murder.”

  “You’re cold and tired. Let’s get you home.”

  She looked up at him through a swell of tears. “I am home.”

  “My home,” he corrected. “You can’t stay here. This place isn’t safe until someone figures out how to decontaminate the water.”

  “A representative of the CDC will be out in the morning.” Sheriff Barron leaned over the top rail of the fence. “They’ll want to determine the extent of the damage and come up with a plan for containment and cleanup. In the meantime, Angus is right. You can’t stay here.”

  Bree let Angus pull her to her feet. She cast one last glance at the dead mare and left her lying on the cold hard ground.

  Her fingers clenched into a fist. She’d find who’d done this and make them pay—before she turned herself in for killing her stepfather.

  Chapter 6

  When Colin and Sebastian returned to Wolf Creek Ranch with empty trailers, it took Angus and everyone else to load the remaining horses as quickly as possible.

  The jet stream continued to blow icy air down from the north, making them all cold and miserable. Sheriff Barron and the veterinarian left after all the horses were treated and accounted for.

  Though Angus had suggested Bree wait in the truck cab with the heater on, she’d insisted on checking all the nooks and crannies of the barn and outbuildings for any other animals that might have been affected.

  When the last horse was loaded, Angus asked. “Who’s riding with me?”

  Colin, Sebastian and Duncan all shook their heads and silently walked to the Iron Horse Ranch truck without looking at Bree. Parker Bailey was already in the driver’s seat.

  “Guess that answers that question,” Angus muttered. He helped Bree into the front seat of the Wolf Creek Ranch pickup. “Don’t let my brothers’ rudeness bother you.”

  “I can’t say that it doesn’t bother me, but I don’t hold it against them,” she said softly. “They care about you, and I hurt you.”

  Angus forced a shrug. “That was a long time ago. We’ve both grown up and moved on.”

  She looked out the side window, her face turned away from him, but her sad expression perfectly reflected in the glass. “Yeah. Moved on,” she whispered.

  “Where did you end up? My mother said you’d moved to Alaska.”

  Bree nodded. “I’ve been in Juneau.”

  He shot a glance her way. “What made you want to go there? I thought you wanted to see the world and travel to exotic places. Alaska, maybe, but not for thirteen years.”

  She shrugged. “I just did. What does it matter, anyway?”

  Her response was clipped and guarded. Apparently, she didn’t want to talk about it.

  Which was fine with Angus. They would only be together until the contaminants had been cleaned up. In fact, he didn’t have to hang around her once they got to Iron Horse. His mother would welcome her with open arms. And taking care of Bree would give his mother something to do to keep her mind off her husband.

  Angus didn’t try to strike up another conversation. The rest of the drive to the Iron Horse Ranch was completed in silence.

  When they arrived, the lights were shining in the barnyard. His brothers jumped down from the truck and went to work unloading the horses from the trailer into a small paddock close to the barn.

  Angus pulled in beside the other truck and trailer and shifted into park. He turned to Bree. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need to. I won’t bother you, and if my brothers are rude, let me know. As it is, I’ll have a talk with them.”

  Bree shook her head. “No. Don’t say anything. I can handle it.”

  His jaw firmed. “The point is, you shouldn’t have to handle it. You’re a guest. They should treat you with respect.”

  She glanced down at her hands. “Really, I would rather you didn’t talk to them. Please.”

  Angus frowned and hesitated. “Okay, but if they pull any bullshit in front of me, I’ll call them on it.” He pushed open his door and dropped down from the truck.

  Before he could get around to the other side to open her door for her, Bree was down and hurrying to the trailer.

  Colin joined Angus at the side of the truck. “Why did you bring her here?”

  Angus glared at his brother. “It’s what neighbors do.”

  “After what she did to you?” Colin’s brow furrowed. “Are you crazy?”

  “What did she do?” Angus asked, keeping his tone low so that Bree wouldn’t hear their conversation. “So, she didn’t stick around for my return. Perhaps she saved us both from making the biggest mistake of our lives. We were too young to get married. Too young to make that kind of commitment.”

  Colin’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I was here when you came home from training and she wasn’t here. You nearly went AWOL. She messed you up, dude. Don’t let her do it to you again.”

  Angus grunted. “Don’t worry. I’ve been around that block. I know what I’m doing.”

  Colin shook his head. “Do you?”

  Bree appeared, leading a gelding around the side of the trailer toward the barn.

  Angus gritted his teeth and waited for Bree to pass. “This conversation is over,” he said. “Don’t bring it up again.”

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Colin said and walked to the back of the trailer.

  Once the horses had been situated in the paddock, Angus hooked Bree’s elbow and led her up the back porch and into the house. She held back a little, as if she didn’t want to cross the threshold.

  Angus didn’t give her the option to back out. “Mom, we have a guest.”

  His mother appeared wiping her hands on a dishtowel. “Bree, honey, come on in. The boys told me you’d be staying the night. I have a room prepared, and supper’s on the table.”

  “Please. I don’t want you to go to all the trouble. I’ll be gone as soon as Wolf Creek is safe for my mother and Ray to return.” Bree’s bottom lip trembled.

  Hannah McKinnon wrapped her arms around Bree. “I’m so sorry for what happened to them. I called the hospital to check up on them. The nurse’s station wouldn’t give me details, but the nurse on duty did say they were recovering. Thank the Lord.” Angus’s mother pushed Bree to arm’s length. “You look exhausted. Let’s get some food into you and get you to bed.”

  Hannah McKinnon was a force to be reckoned with.

  “I need to wash up before I get anywhere near a kitchen,” Bree insisted.

  “Come with me.” Angus took her elbow and led her to the first-floor bathroom. He turned on the water and let it run until it warmed. Then he handed her a bar of soap. “Need help?”

  She shook her head but stood for a long moment, holding the soap and staring at
the water running into the sink. “All those animals…dead.”

  Angus took her dirty hands in his. “You need to stay strong to work through this. Your mother is depending on you. We can help, but she needs you, too.” He guided her hands beneath the water and rubbed soap into her palms.

  Finally, she scrubbed at her fingers, taking control of herself. “I’m okay,” she said. “I’ll be fine. I’m just tired.”

  He rinsed his own hands, dried them on a towel and then handed her a dry towel for herself. “You’re allowed to be tired. It’s been a grueling day. Now, come on. We can fuel our bodies. Tomorrow might prove to be as much of a challenge as today. We need to figure out who put that poison in the creek.”

  Bree dried her hands

  When Angus turned to the door, Bree reached out. “You don’t have to get involved. You and your family have already done enough.”

  Angus stared down at the hand on his arm, his pulse pounding. Every ounce of his being begged him to take her into his arms and kiss the worry lines from her forehead.

  But she wasn’t his to kiss. She’d chosen not to be with him thirteen years ago. Kissing her now might get him slapped in the face.

  He cleared his throat. “We have to find out who did this to Wolf Creek. What if he tries the same tactic on the Iron Horse Ranch? None of the people in this area will be safe until he’s found and put in jail.”

  Bree nodded. “When you put it that way, it makes sense.”

  “It’s not just your problem. It’s a problem to all of us.”

  “Dinner’s getting cold,” Angus’s mother called out from the kitchen.

  Angus’s lips twitched. “We can’t keep my mother’s pot roast waiting.” He turned and waved Bree past him then fell in step beside her, his hand naturally resting at the small of her back.

  Like old times.

  But these weren’t old times. Those times were long dead and gone.

  * * *

  “Thank you for supper,” Bree said as she helped carry dishes to the sink.

  “Don’t you worry about the dishes. Molly and I can handle them. You look exhausted. Get a hot shower and go to bed.”

  Bree shook her head. “You have to be as tired as I am. I can’t imagine what you’re going through with your husband missing.” She set the dishes on the counter beside the sink and hugged Angus’s mother. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m sorry my family was less than hospitable to you,” she said.

  “They were fine,” Bree lied. Dinner had been awkward and stilted. None of the McKinnons, except for the matriarch, had much to say to Bree. Colin, Sebastian, Duncan and Molly either glared at her or avoided her altogether.

  “They weren’t fine,” Mrs. McKinnon said. “If they were still children, I’d turn them over my knee and swat them good.”

  Her words brought a smile to Bree’s face, which quickly melted away. “They’re worried about their father.”

  “It’s more than that. You and I know that,” she insisted. “But the past is in the past. We have to deal with the present. We’re all living through a difficult time. We shouldn’t be fighting with each other. We should be working together to figure out what’s going on.”

  Molly brought a stack of plates into the kitchen, skirted her mother and Bree, and set them in the sink and returned to the dining room.

  Mrs. McKinnon shot a glance at her daughter and back to Bree. “Case in point.”

  Bree touched her arm. “Really. I’m fine. I’m not here to change anyone’s mind. I just need a place to stay, and then I’ll be out of your lives.”

  “Oh, sweetie, you’ll always be a part of our lives. You don’t live in such a small community and forget those you’ve watched grow up from the moment they were born. Your mother and I have been friends for a long time. That hasn’t changed.”

  Bree’s face hardened. “Even when she was married to Greg?”

  Mrs. McKinnon stared into her face, her own growing still. “She wouldn’t accept my help.”

  Bree touched her arm. “Don’t… She wouldn’t accept mine either. Greg was a bastard. He convinced Mom she was to blame for his violent mood swings.”

  “Your mother is a saint. How could she believe she was the reason for his abusive behavior?”

  “He was a master manipulator.”

  “But you saw through him?”

  Bree’s gut twisted. “Not at first. But when I did, he lost his control over me.”

  “I can imagine he didn’t take it well.” Mrs. McKinnon hugged her. “I hope he didn’t hurt you.”

  Bree didn’t respond.

  Angus’s mother gripped her arms and stared into her eyes for a long moment. “I was glad when he died in that barn fire. I think the entire community was glad. Mostly for Hannah. She deserved so much better.”

  Bree’s pulse thumped hard in her veins and her gaze fell away. “I’d better get a shower and get some sleep. I need to meet with the CDC tomorrow to figure out what has to be done to decontaminate the water. And I need to mend a fence to keep our cows from getting back onto Wolf Creek Ranch until the toxins are removed.” She drew a deep breath and looked at Angus’s mother again. “I hope they find your husband alive.”

  Mrs. McKinnon nodded, her eyes filling. “I’ve never been long without my James.” She rubbed her hands over her arms. “I know he’s out there somewhere. I feel it in my bones. We just have to find him.”

  Bree hugged the woman she’d always hoped to have as a mother-in-law. Then she left the kitchen and climbed the stairs to the second floor.

  Molly met her at the top, her mouth pressed into a thin line. “Mom wanted you to be in the yellow room.” She turned and led her to the second door to the right of the staircase and flung open the door. “Let me know if you need anything.”

  The youngest McKinnon left Bree to figure her own way around the bedroom and down the hallway to the bathroom. Which suited Bree fine. She needed time to herself to digest all that had happened.

  She sat on the bed with its soft yellow comforter and stared around at the room.

  Thirteen years of self-imposed exile and she’d come back to Montana only to end up under the same roof as the man she’d loved for as long as she could remember. The man she could never have without ruining his life.

  She’d destroyed her own life all those years ago. She had no business devastating his.

  A knock on the door made her jump and her heart pound. Was it him? “Yes?” she squeaked, cleared her throat and forced out a more normal, “Come in.”

  The door swung open and Mrs. McKinnon stood in the doorway with a stack of clothes in her hands. “I didn’t see you carry anything into the house. I assume you need some night clothes and something to wear while I wash the clothes you’re wearing.”

  “Mrs. McKinnon, that’s very kind of you, but I can’t impose on you. You have enough on your hands not to be bothered with washing my clothes. I can do that when I get back to Wolf Creek.”

  The older woman smiled and set the clothes on the end of the bed. “Your being here is keeping me busy.” As she straightened, her smile disappeared. “I need to be busy.”

  Bree could understand her desire to keep moving. When Bree had left Montana, she’d taken what little money she had, which hadn’t been much, and had driven to Seattle where she’d purchased a ticket on a ferry headed for Alaska. The ticket had taken the majority of the cash she’d had left.

  When she’d arrived in Juneau, she’d only had enough money for one week’s rent. Thankfully, it had been summer and the tourism season had been in full swing. She’d obtained a job as a waitress in one of the cafés and had earned enough money in tips to pay for the next week’s rent and then the next.

  The days had been long and exhausting. Her heart had hurt for leaving her home, but she’d kept busy. Making a living had proven to be a challenge in the small city, but she’d done whatever it took to keep a roof over her head and food in her belly.

  Days went by, years pa
ssed. She’d never gotten over the pain of leaving Montana and not being there for when Angus had returned. Eventually, the ache had dulled into a numb awareness she could never forget.

  So many times she’d wondered how he was. She’d called her mother at least once a month to check on her and get the gossip. Sometimes, she’d spoken of the McKinnons and what she’d learned of Angus. But Bree had never asked about him. She wasn’t sure how she’d feel if she’d heard he’d married and had half a dozen children who looked just like him.

  They’d always dreamed of having a large family. Bree had wished him all the happiness but hadn’t wanted to know about it. Hearing about his life would’ve made her life so much more incomplete and depressing.

  Mrs. McKinnon laid the pile of clothing on the bed and stood for a moment, looking at Bree. “I wanted you to know…” She stared down at her hands and then back up. “I don’t hold grudges. The past is in the past and should remain there.”

  Bree’s eyes welled with tears. “Thank you.”

  Angus’s mother turned toward the door, stopped and faced her again. “All I ask is, please, don’t break his heart again.”

  Bree nodded, unable to voice anything past the lump clogging her throat.

  Mrs. McKinnon left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

  Tears slipped down Bree’s cheeks. She buried her face in her hands and let the storm of feelings wash over her. The day had been hard physically and emotionally.

  Coming home had been more difficult than she could have imagined.

  Her best bet would be to get her mother’s ranch back up and running, her mother well and then get the hell out of Montana. Staying would only cause her more heartache.

  But now that she was back, she couldn’t abandon her responsibility to her family and to the truth. Running was no longer an option. She prayed she’d have enough time to help her mother before the law caught up to her and figured out what she’d done.

  Chapter 7

  Angus paced the bedroom that had been his growing up. Nothing had prepared him for losing his father and seeing Bree again.