“That sounds like a good plan. How about I drive everyone when you’re ready to leave?” Brody said. Emotions she tried to suppress—sadness, fear—flitted across Rebecca’s face, and Brody wished they were alone so that he could discover what she was thinking. He cared about her as a friend, but any chance they had for a relationship beyond that had passed ten years ago. She’d moved on; he’d moved on.
“I would like that.” Relief spread across Rebecca’s face as she took the bowl with the scrambled eggs from Hattie. After spooning some onto her plate, she handed the bowl to Kim.
“Where is Tory? Will she be going with us?” Aubrey asked, then shoved some eggs into her mouth.
Rebecca shot a glance at Brody. “I’ll check with her. She wasn’t feeling well last night.”
“I should go tell her I’ll pray for her, too.” After taking another huge bite of her breakfast, Aubrey pushed back her chair.
“Honey, I’ll talk with her. You need to eat. Let’s give Tory some extra time to sleep. That’ll make her feel better.”
Aubrey settled back onto her chair, bowed her head, and whispered loudly, for everyone to hear, “God take care of Tory, too. Make her feel better.”
“Amen,” Rebecca added, followed by everyone else chiming in.
Aubrey looked up. “She’ll be better now.”
There had been a time when Brody had wanted a family—a wife and children—but that time had passed. He was thirty-seven and now dedicated to his work. Being with Thomas’s girls, however, made him wonder what his life would have been like if he’d married and had children. He’d even thought he would get married after leaving San Antonio and dating a woman named Emily, but that hadn’t worked out.
Brody’s cellphone rang. He rose and said, “Excuse me,” then walked into the hallway. “Calhoun here.”
“You told me to call you first if there were any problems on the ranch.”
Hearing the urgency in Jake’s voice, Brody quickened his pace and walked onto the porch. “What’s happened?”
5
Brody moved toward the far end of the porch, where he could see the stables and barn in the distance.
“Some cattle in the far north pasture are missing,” Jake said, anger filling his voice. “Probably went missing yesterday. One of the guys went out to check on the herds early this morning.”
“How many are gone?”
“About eighty. I’m heading out there now. Wanna come?”
“Yeah, I’ll be down there after I tell Rebecca what’s going on.” Brody started toward the front door.
“Do you think somehow this is connected to Thomas’s accident?”
Jake’s stress on the word accident brought Brody to a halt. He scanned the yard and the pastures nearby. “I don’t know. They could be two different incidents. Or it’s possible the cattle rustlers heard about Thomas’s accident and saw an opportunity. They would be counting on things being chaotic for a while, especially since Thomas is a hands-on owner. Have there been any problems with cattle rustling in the area?”
“Not for the past few years. We patrol our herds almost daily.”
“In any sort of pattern that someone watching the ranch could figure out?”
“No. We’ll take the Jeep to that part of the ranch. I’ll swing by and pick you up in a few minutes.”
Brody slipped his cellphone back onto his belt. As he surveyed the ranch, he couldn’t rid his mind of the question: Did the cattle rustling have something to do with Thomas being injured?
Where’s Brody? Rebecca took her dishes to the sink, then excused herself for a moment to go look for him. What if it’s something to do with Thomas?
Brody had gone down the hall. To the foyer? When she reached the entry hall, there was no sign of him. Her stomach clenched. What if the sheriff had discovered something concerning Thomas’s accident?
As she glanced into the living room, the front door opened and Brody stood in the entrance. A frown creased his face. “What’s wrong?”
He stepped into the foyer and grabbed her hand, then tugged her out onto the porch, closing the door behind them. “I don’t want the kids to overhear. They’re worried enough.”
Dread captured her next breath, to the point where she couldn’t speak.
“Jake called to tell me that about eighty head of cattle have gone missing from the northernmost pasture.”
“When?”
“He thinks sometime yesterday afternoon or night.”
“Could Thomas have caught them and . . .” She couldn’t finish her question. She would have helped the cattle thieves take the whole herd if that meant Thomas would not now be lying in a hospital, fighting for his life. “I—I—No amount of cattle are worth what has happened to my brother.”
Brody took her hands and held them in his. “Listen, Rebecca. The cattle rustling might not be related to what happened to Thomas.”
“But they happened at the same time.” Although he clasped her hands, they trembled from the force of her anger at the phantom rustlers.
“News travels fast around here, especially since so many outsiders who were here last night heard about Thomas. Someone might have taken that opportunity to steal your cattle.”
She opened her mouth to protest his logic, needing someone to blame for her brother’s accident. But she didn’t. Instead, she clamped her teeth together and tried to see the recent events from a calm perspective—as she did when reviewing evidence during a trial.
“Is Jake going to check the north pasture?”
“Yes, and so am I. I can go to Dry Gulch to see the sheriff later.” Brody peered at the Jeep coming from the barn toward the house. “I’ll be back to take you to the hospital.”
“I’m coming with you two.”
“Don’t you think you should stay here and be with the girls and Tory? They need you right now.”
“I want a report when you get back.”
Brody gently squeezed her hands and then released them. “I will.” When the Jeep came to a stop in front, he hurried to the passenger side and climbed in.
Rebecca watched Jake and Brody leave, heading north. When they disappeared from view, she went back inside and ascended the stairs to the second floor to check on Tory. She knocked on her sister-in-law’s door and waited for a long moment. As she turned away, the door swept open to reveal Tory dressed in navy blue linen slacks and a white silk blouse, her long blonde hair pulled back in a severe bun at the nape of her neck. Dark circles, barely hidden by makeup, drew Rebecca’s gaze to Tory’s green eyes.
“I was worried about you. Are you all right?” Rebecca asked to break the silence that had fallen between them.
“What do you think? No. Thomas is in the hospital. He might not make it. He might be permanently disabled. He might never wake up.” Her voice rose with each sentence.
“Shh. The girls might overhear.” Rebecca wouldn’t put it past Kim to eavesdrop if she thought it would get her some information about her dad.
Tears immediately welled up in Tory’s eyes. “What am I supposed to do? I don’t know how to handle this. I—I—” She snapped her mouth closed.
Rebecca quickly guided Tory backward into her bedroom, shut the door, and led her sister-in-law to her bed. Scanning the area, Rebecca saw touches of her brother—one of his cowboy hats, a tan one, on a table; his dress boots by the chair; a wallet on the dresser. But mostly the room reflected Tory, from the pink and green bedspread to the pictures of ballet dancers on the walls. Tory loved ballet. She’d even talked Kim into taking some lessons that would start soon, which had surprised Rebecca, since Kim had always been a tomboy, devoted to riding.
Rebecca sat on the bed beside Tory and laid her hand on Tory’s shoulder. “You’ll take it one step at a time. We don’t really know anything yet. Thomas hasn’t even been out of surgery twelve hours. They’re keeping a close eye on him, and we haven’t heard anything bad. That’s a good sign. If the doctor says it’s okay, I’m taking the girls to the
hospital to at least see their dad.”
Shrugging away from Rebecca, Tory blinked, and one tear ran down her pale face. “Do you think that’s a good idea? Seeing him like he is might scare them.”
“Maybe. But if we don’t allow them to see him, they’ll imagine worse things than the way he looks right now. Believe me, both Kim and Aubrey have very creative minds.”
“I agree.” Tory pressed her fingertips into her forehead. “I just hate to see them so upset. I don’t know if I can take that on top of everything else.”
“We’ll be there for them.”
Tory took a deep breath, then released it slowly. “I’ll try my best not to . . .” she turned toward Rebecca, “not to let them see me cry.” With a quick brush of her fingers across her cheeks, she erased any evidence of tears. “I don’t want to do anything to make it harder for them. Can you give me a half an hour to get myself together a little better? Touch up my makeup so they don’t,” she waved her hand at her face, “see my dark circles.”
Rebecca stood. “You take all the time you need. It would worry them if you didn’t go with us. We can wait. Besides, Brody is driving us, and he has gone to the north pasture with Jake.”
“Why?”
“Some cattle are missing.”
“What?” Tory bolted up from the bed.
She shouldn’t have said anything, but Tory would find out soon enough. “Nothing to worry about. They’re going to check the situation out.”
“But—but—”
“Tory, while Thomas is injured, I’ll take over running the ranch. Jake’s a wonderful foreman. I can handle it. I’m going to stay here for a while to help the girls and you. You won’t have to worry about the ranch.”
“I appreciate that. I don’t know anything about running a ranch. So that’s one thing I won’t have to deal with. If you’re sure . . .”
“I am. I grew up on this ranch and used to help my dad and Thomas. It’s second nature to me.” She hoped. It had been years since she had worked on the ranch, but it was half hers so she was the most likely one to take over. “See you downstairs when you’re ready.”
Rebecca left her sister-in-law’s bedroom and escaped to hers to make the call to the doctor. She didn’t want the girls overhearing what she said to Dr. Henderson. When he came on the linee, she asked, “How’s my brother doing?”
“He didn’t have a good night. We’ve been keeping a close eye on him, but his blood pressure is high. I’m afraid on top of everything he’ll have a stroke.”
“The girls need to see their dad. It doesn’t have to be long. Just a few minutes.”
“That’s all I’ll allow. We have a lot of machines hooked up to him. You might prepare them for that. And of course, he hasn’t woken up yet. This first twenty-four hours will be tough. I don’t want too many people visiting, and the ones who do can only stay for a short time. Okay?”
“Yes, I understand.” No, I don’t. I want to be with my brother, hold his hand, talk to him. “We’ll do whatever is needed.”
“I’ve got some hands coming out here to repair the fence. It looks like the rustlers cut the barbed wire and then brought their semis through here.” Jake indicated the tire tracks in the softer dirt of the north pasture.
“This isn’t too far from the highway. Probably one of the better locations if you’re looking to steal cattle. Isolated. Easy to get to.” Brody walked his horse in the direction of the tire tracks until they stopped. All around were hundreds of hoof prints. “They led them right up a ramp into the truck. Modern-day cattle rustlers.”
“Yeah, there were two semis. If they’d had more, we would have lost the whole herd in this pasture.”
“I would suggest you bring the cattle closer to the center of the ranch, away from easy access to the highway, and then post a guard, out of sight. I would like to get these guys if they decide to come back.”
“That should take care of them stealing the Circle S cattle. Can’t speak for our neighbors. I’ve already made some calls to alert them.”
“If the cattle rustlers are smart, they’ll leave the area.”
Jake took off his cowboy hat and smacked it against his leg. “Until we let down our guard again.”
“True. We’ll just have to make it more difficult for them. Let’s head back. I’ll let Rebecca know.”
“I’ll drop you off at the house, then start moving the cattle.”
As Brody climbed into the Jeep, he surveyed the pasture. Had someone been casing the ranch out? Could there be a connection between the missing cattle and Thomas’s accident? Logically, he didn’t think so. The two areas weren’t near each other. But he didn’t like coincidences—two unusual events happening the same day—not many hours apart.
The noise of the machines beeping, the sight of the blinking numbers, the antiseptic scent that dominated all other smells meant nothing to Rebecca. The tears of Aubrey and Kim as they looked at their dad in the hospital bed in the ICU overrode every other sense. She wrapped an arm around each child.
“Honey, I told you he was bandaged and bruised.” Rebecca’s teeth dug into her lower lip as she too tried to control her sorrow at seeing Thomas so helpless and vulnerable. He was her older brother—her protector, the one person she could go to with a problem and he would be there for her. “You heard the doctor say he was doing okay.” Which translated as Thomas was holding his own. He hadn’t deteriorated, but he hadn’t improved either.
“Why doesn’t he wake up?” Kim asked, turning her gaze, shiny with tears, on Rebecca.
“He needs to sleep to get better. His body is doing what it needs to do. He’ll wake up when he’s ready.” I hope.
“I want him to wake up now.” Aubrey reached out slowly and touched his hand.
So do I. “No matter how much we want something, it doesn’t always happen when we want it to. We have to be patient and let his body repair itself.”
The nurse came into the ICU cubicle. “It’s time for y’all to leave. We have some tests we need to run.”
“But—but—” Kim moved closer to the bed.
Aubrey clasped her dad’s hand. “I don’t wanna.”
“We’ll visit him every day we can. But we’ll need to leave when the staff asks us to. Okay?” Rebecca grasped her nieces’ shoulders and gently tugged them back.
Kim came with no resistance, but Aubrey clung to her father, tears running down her face.
“Go outside, Kim. I’ll get Aubrey.”
The nurse stood to the side while Rebecca took Aubrey’s arm and swung the child toward her. She knelt and grasped Aubrey’s hands to keep her niece from turning away. “Aubrey,” she waited for the child’s attention, “I know this is hard, but if we want to come back to see your dad, we have to do what the nurse says. You do want to see your daddy tomorrow, don’t you?”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. The five-year-old stared at her father for a long moment, then nodded.
Rebecca took out a tissue and wiped the girl’s face. “I know it’s hard to understand why you can’t see your daddy anytime you want, but the staff is working hard to make him better.” Rising, she hugged the child to her, then left with Aubrey dragging her feet but moving slowly forward.
Outside the ICU Tory and Brody were waiting. When Brody saw them, he pushed off the wall and came toward them. “I bet the girls could use an ice cream cone. They have a cafe across the street that serves delicious ice cream, or so the nurse told me.”
Aubrey brightened. “Can we, Aunt Becky?”
Rebecca looked toward Tory. “Do you want to come? They’re running some kind of test, so it may be a while before you can go in.”
“You all go ahead. I’m not very hungry. They may get through before you’re finished, and then I can go in and see Thomas.”
“Can’t we go back in with Tory?” Kim asked.
“Yeah, Aunt Becky. I don’t hafta have ice cream.”
Tory smoothed Aubrey’s hair back from her face. “Baby, you go w
ith your aunt. You can come back another time.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Aubrey dropped her head.
Brody started for the elevator. Both girls followed.
“Rebecca, can you wait a moment?” As soon as Aubrey and Kim were out of earshot, Tory continued. “I’m staying here at the hospital. I know the doctor said there isn’t much we can do right now, but I need to be here. Can you take the girls back to the ranch? I heard Aubrey crying. It’s hard for them to understand what’s going on.”
With a protest on the tip of her tongue, Rebecca mentally counted to ten. “I can take them home, then come back and stay with you.”
“I’d rather you watch the girls. They love you and need to know you’re there for them. They shouldn’t be at the hospital until Thomas is much better. As a child I went through something similar with my mom. No matter how much my father tried to explain what was happening to Mom, I didn’t understand, and it was very hard on me seeing her every day, hurt, wasting away. I don’t want that for Kim and Aubrey.”
There was some wisdom in Tory’s request, but Rebecca wanted to be the one staying by Thomas’s side.
“The girls and I are getting closer, but you three have such a special relationship. They need you right now. Thomas needs me.”
“I told them if the doctor said it was all right they could see their dad each day for at least a few minutes. I’ll bring them.”
“What about school? What about your trial?”
“We can work it out.”
“I think the girls need as normal a schedule as possible. I could pick them up from school and bring them to the hospital, then you can take them to the ranch when you get off work.”
Aubrey waved to Rebecca to come. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. “I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later about what schedule we’ll have concerning Thomas.”
Tory’s eyelids slid halfway closed, and she stared at the floor. “Fine.”
Rebecca hurried to the elevator, which Brody held for her. “I think I’d like a double dip. No diet today.”
Scorned Justice: The Men of Texas Rangers Series #3 (Men of the Texas Rangers) Page 6