Westin Family Ties

by Alice Sharpe

  The rest of the men—and Dennis—had spent the day before getting the cattle grouped in the lower part of the pasture. As they approached now, Cody could hear the lowing of the herd, a sound that never failed to rouse him.

  The next couple of hours were spent directing the herd in the right direction. Jamie and Birch rode point while Adam and Pete worked the back, crisscrossing each other as they applied steady pressure to move forward. Uncle Pete, a little rustier than the rest of them, rode on ahead.

  It was dirty work. All those hooves churning the new snow made mud, and half that mud seemed to get kicked back onto Adam and Cody, where it mixed with the falling flakes and made a cold, glorious mess.

  CASSIE WANDERED AROUND the house, unconsciously rubbing her stomach. The twinges she’d first experienced on their trip home from Cherrydell were back.

  Pauline wasn’t in the kitchen, which meant she was probably in her own room taking a well-deserved break. Echo had said she’d come over to stay with Cassie toward noon. Even Bonnie was outside, presumably with Mike. It was strangely quiet in the house, and a little isolated.

  The baby was relatively still, but occasionally Cassie felt a faint flutter, and that served as a reminder she soon would have little time to feel lonesome. Still restless, she wandered into the living room and built up the fire. She admired the tree and the falling snow outside the window, but she wound up in the office, which had become one of her favorite rooms since her return.

  The furniture was big and masculine and there was too much of it, but it was also a smallish room compared to the rest of the house, with one window looking over the mountains and a door that closed. There was a feeling of security in this room the rest of the rambling log house couldn’t duplicate.

  She chose her favorite wing chair and sat down with a sigh. The light sparkled on the diamonds of the ring Cody had given her the night before, and she smiled as she recalled everything he said when he gave it to her.

  No, these stones weren’t as big as the Priestly emerald. And the diamonds weren’t as brilliant white, either. So what?

  And yet the Wild Iris didn’t fool around with lesser-quality stones.

  Curious now, she went to the safe and opened it. Before she touched the box and the brick to which it was still attached, she fetched her gloves from the coat closet and put them on, then hurried back into the den.

  The diamonds were all but blinding in the reflection of the desk light. It was the emerald she was after, though, and once again she marveled at the size and the clarity of the central stone. Holding her ring next to it, she was stunned at the difference between her stones and the Priestly emerald.

  She dug around in the desk drawer until she found the powerful magnifying glass Cody had kept from the days he collected stamps as a kid, and she looked at her stones.

  Each was a lovely grass-green color, although one was a little murkier than the others, and all had tiny irregular patterns or flaws. Then she looked through the magnifying glass at the Priestly emerald. Not a single imperfection.

  Didn’t all natural stones have flaws?

  Was the Priestly emerald a fake? Was that possible?

  She set the ring down and picked up one of the diamond necklaces and looked at it through the glass, too, and this time her heart kind of accelerated.

  These were supposed to be top-quality diamonds set in platinum, and yet the metal appeared to be tarnished. Platinum doesn’t tarnish, even she knew that. And the diamonds themselves, those beautiful crystal-white stones, why, they were absolutely flawless, each and every one of them.

  There was a glass blotter on the desktop. She chose the largest Priestly diamond and dragged it sharply across the surface. Then she angled her own ring and did the same with one of the diamonds…?.

  Diamonds are harder than glass. Hers left a scratch. The Priestly gem, twenty times as big, didn’t make a mark.

  She sat back in the chair and stared at the pile of glitter. She felt pretty sure she was looking at a whole lot of crystal and maybe sterling silver…?.

  There was no way to know for absolute sure, not without a jeweler testing the stones, but she would be willing to bet the whole lot were fakes.

  So, it appeared Donna and her husband had been taking the jewelry, replacing the real stones with fakes.

  As she put it all back into the brown box, she noticed the other bits and pieces Cody had mentioned. The pencil and paper, shard of glass and rubber band—the kind of things that seem to always turn up in old boxes and drawers.

  They would return all this to the police via their lawyer. The Banners would no doubt claim she and Cody switched the jewels, but a good investigator would discover the real culprit.

  The office computer sprang to life at a touch and she researched fake gemstones versus real ones for a few minutes until she realized she’d done all she could for now. She checked out Kevin Cooke next and read an article in the Cherrydell newspaper about an anonymous tip uncovering the murder of a local businessman. There were few details pending investigation, but there was a picture of Kevin taken sometime earlier with Donna at his side.

  They looked happy.

  Then, more or less out of habit, she typed in the drowning victim, using his name this time—Bennie Yates.

  The newest article came with an old photo taken a year before.

  He looked familiar.

  She stared at the blurry head shot as her mind immediately skipped to the report of the snake tattoos. There was something reptilian about the man’s features. A small head, slicked-back hair, flat nose, eyes a trifle slanted and oddly colorless…

  Okay, this was giving her the creeps. She’d seen this man somewhere…

  With shaking hands, she opened the safe again, fumbling the lock before finally yanking the door open. This time she snatched the box without thinking about gloves and fingerprints. She dumped out the jewelry and stared down at the old razor blade.

  At the piece of glass. No, not glass, mirror. She kept thinking of it as glass because it was so small. But there had been a fragment of the same material on the ground at the base of the pillar, too.

  A razor and a mirror, a drug dealer named Bennie Yates and a riverside hidey-hole—

  Cassie grabbed the phone, her intention to call the Cherrydell Police Department. The line was silent. The phone must be off the hook somewhere else in the house…?.

  She heard a noise outside the office. Chills splattered her skin like cold drops of rain as the door slowly opened.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It took a long time to move the animals down the slopes to the meadow. When they were close enough, Cody and Adam rode ahead to open the gates on either side of the two-lane highway.

  Even though Open Sky land was only two miles away, that was by highway and they couldn’t drive the animals down the road. The path would be three times as long.

  Cody was dismayed to find steady traffic. The weather wasn’t as bad down at this elevation and people were out and about.

  Adam got off Solar Flare as they both became aware of a horseman galloping toward them on the shoulder of the road. As he got closer, they discovered it was Dennis Garvey.

  He was dressed in a bulky jacket against the cold, and it made him appear twice as big as he really was. But there was color in his thin face for a change, and he had a coil of rope tied to his saddle.

  “You’re late,” Adam said, as he rolled back the wood-framed barbed-wire fence onto itself to form a gate. “I don’t have much need for a man who doesn’t show up when he says he will.”

  To his credit, Dennis got off his mount and tied the horse to a post. He tugged on leather gloves and gave Adam a hand with the fence. Cody paused to hear what excuse the boy would come up with for his tardiness.

  “They let Tommy out of rehab last night,” Dennis said. “He’s back at the house expecting me to take care of him until his trial. I wasn’t sure what to do ’bout this morning.”

  “So you blew us off.”
<
br />   “I guess. Then Tommy wanted me to go buy him beer using his ID, and he started making fun of me working with you guys and saying I had to do what he said ’cause he was boss. I’ve had it with him. If you’re willing to give me another chance, I’d sure like to take it.”

  Adam made a show of thinking about it. “You get on that horse and ride back there and help keep the herd in one spot while we finish getting the fences ready.”

  “Yes, sir,” Dennis said, and was back on his horse and trotting away before they knew it.

  “You’re going to make a good dad,” Cody said.

  “So are you if you ever stop being an idiot,” Adam said, but the words were delivered with a grin.

  Cody moved across the road and uncoiled the opposite fence, then started back to the herd he could see was a quarter mile up the meadow and coming fast toward the first gate.

  Dennis turned out to be a pretty good horseman, which came as a surprise to nobody but Cody as the others had all worked with him the day before. They moved the cattle toward the fence, keeping two riders in front.

  Cody waited for a long gap in the traffic, then he and Uncle Pete rode out onto the road. Still astride their mounts, they brought the north-south traffic to a standstill while the others guided the herd through the makeshift corridor.

  Everything would have been okay if some impatient jerk a car or two back hadn’t honked his horn. It spooked one of the cows, who jumped out of the pack and tore off down the verge next to the fence.

  The rest of the herd picked up on the renegade’s escape. There were a few anxious minutes keeping the rest from making a break for it. At last Cody was able to signal Adam his intention to go after the stray, turning Bandido just in time to see Dennis take off.

  An oath of frustration died on Cody’s lips as the kid produced a lasso while riding lickety-split. He put the rope around the animal’s head and brought it under control just about as slick as anyone could want.

  As the herd disappeared safely up the slope beyond the fence, Cody rode off to help Dennis. They straddled the cow, who, feeling the presence of the two horses and men on either side, continued to calm down. “Good thing you showed up,” Cody told the boy.

  “Yeah. I wasn’t sure what to do when I went by the ranch and everything was all closed up, but then I remembered Adam saying you guys planned to cross the highway and I figured you’d need help.”

  “Wait,” Cody said. “What do you mean everything was all closed up? Mike was there, and Cassie and Pauline and the dog—”

  “I didn’t see no one and I never heard no dog.”

  “Oh, God,” Cody said, imagining the most obvious scenario. Cassie had gone into labor and they’d all rushed her to the hospital.

  Without calling him?

  But there was another possibility. Donna Cooke seeking revenge…

  As the boy released the lasso and swatted the cow on the rump to send it back to the herd, Cody made a decision. “Put that fence back together. Make sure you do a good job. Then tell Adam what you just told me about the ranch. I’m going back the fastest way, and that’s the way you came. I’m counting on you, Dennis.”

  And before the kid could respond, Cody took off down the side of the highway, his heart beating in time with the thunder of Bandido’s hooves against the earth.

  Eventually he calmed down enough to use his head, and slowing the horse, took out his cell phone and called the ranch. The line was busy, and when it switched to call waiting he left a hurried message. He tried the hospital next, but Cassie hadn’t been admitted. She could have been in transit. He called Echo at Adam’s house, and she answered immediately.

  “I was just on my way out the door,” she said. “I’m going over to stay with Cassie.”

  “Then you haven’t heard from her? I can’t reach her, and Dennis Garvey said the ranch looked deserted.”

  “I haven’t heard a word. I’ll hurry over.”

  “No,” he said. “I’m not far away. Call the sheriff, get him over there, but you stay home.”

  “Why? She may need help.”

  “Mike is there and Pauline. I can’t imagine why they haven’t called you unless there’s some kind of trouble. Just keep trying to contact Cass, but don’t go to the main house unless she tells you it’s okay. You don’t want to walk into a trap. I’ve got to go.”

  He stuck the phone back in his pocket and urged Bandido forward. A few minutes later, he approached the ranch from the top of the hill and paused, looking for some sign of turmoil.

  From this vantage point, he could see Adam’s truck right where he’d parked it the night before. Pauline’s car was pulled around near her room in the back, as it usually was. There was no sign of Bonnie and none of Mike, nor could he see a vehicle that didn’t belong at the ranch.

  He took a fast but circuitous route, taking cover behind the first building he came to, which happened to be the maintenance barn. His plan was to leave Bandido tied up inside and go on alone. There were huge rolling doors on the opposite end of the building to allow tractor access, but he chose a small side entrance. It came as a surprise when he found the big doors wide open.

  A hay truck had been pulled toward that front, facing out as though in the process of leaving. A black sedan with Idaho plates was parked in front of it at an angle. Banner!

  No sooner had he seen the car than he heard a dog whining. He looped Bandido’s reins around the bumper of the hay truck, grabbed his rifle and hurried toward the sound, which was very close by.

  He found Bonnie standing in the space between the hay truck and the car. She moved away when he tried to touch her, trotting around toward the front of the building until she stopped by a prone shape. She sat down as if guarding it.

  Mike. Lying on his back. Rigid and deathly still, but alive.

  He was at Mike’s side in a second, kneeling on the dirt floor. The ranch hand had been shot in the leg, but there wasn’t a lot of blood, at least not enough to support the horrific way his face contorted in pain.

  No need to ask what had happened. Banner had driven into the barn and attacked when Mike chal lenged him. Cody stripped off his coat and covered Mike. “Where’s Cassie and Pauline?”

  “I don’t know,” Mike said through gritted teeth, as additional beads of sweat popped out on his pale forehead. His breaths were shallow and gasping.

  “Are you hit somewhere besides your leg?” Cody asked as he took out his phone.

  “No. Back spasm. Bastard shot me. My back went out when I jerked. Can’t move. Can’t hardly breathe.”

  “I’ll leave the phone,” Cody said, folding it in Mike’s hand. “How many?”

  “One.”

  Bonnie lay down beside Mike as Cody ran toward the doors. Why hadn’t he brought Adam?

  There were plenty of structures between the barn and the house, which was about twelve hundred feet away. Cody took advantage of each. As he darted between buildings he considered the best way to enter the house and decided on Pauline’s room. It was located in the rear, and a stranger probably wouldn’t think of guarding it like they might a front or back door.

  He knew their housekeeper liked to sleep with an open window no matter what the weather, and much to his relief, he found it unlatched. Carefully, he slid the casing up and pulled himself into the room.

  Pauline lay across the bed as though she’d fallen there, the telephone receiver in her hand. A knot the size of a golf ball and a mass of oozing flesh on the back of her head explained her unconscious condition and brought back a vivid image of Kevin Cooke’s bashed-in skull. The wound looked relatively fresh. Cody paused to check her breathing.

  Her eyelids fluttered open. She looked confused. “Ssh,” Cody told her, taking the phone out of her hands. “Don’t replace it on the cradle,” he said, afraid it would ring and alert the intruder that someone else was inside. “Are you okay for a few minutes?”

  “Where’s Cassie?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. He shifted t
he rifle to his other hand. “I’ll take care of her. You stay here.”

  “Hurry, before it’s too late.”

  CASSIE STARED AT THE MAN in her doorway with a sense of inevitability she couldn’t deny. She should have known all along—maybe she had.

  “So, you found my stash,” Robert said, as he stepped across the threshold into the office and gestured at the heap of fake diamonds.

  Her gaze traveled from the gun in his hand to his wild eyes. He was coming unglued from the inside out, had been for days, maybe weeks, and now she was pretty sure she understood why. It wasn’t his family falling apart or fear for his business. It wasn’t his sister or his brother-in-law or anyone else.

  “I saw you come out of the garden last night,” he said. “I knew you and Cody had snooped around and discovered my secret.”

  “We discovered something else, too,” she said softly.

  “Ah, and isn’t it ironic that you should have been the one to come across Kevin. What an imbecile.” His free hand twitched at his side. “He ran off with some stripper and then she ran off with someone else. He came to me to help him get back into Donna’s good graces.”

  “So you took him over to the mansion and instead of acting as a mediator, bashed him over the head and planted your father’s gun on him to make him the scapegoat. Was that before or after you shot at Sally?”

  “After, obviously,” he said. “But I didn’t know I’d hit the wrong person until I called here to make sure you were dead and you answered the phone.” He laughed too loud and too long, then clamped his mouth shut and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. As he walked closer, waves of tension crackled the air around him. He was so wired his voice vibrated with anxiety. “So, did you figure it all out?”

  “I think so. Your grandmother saw you kill Bennie Yates, didn’t she? You dumped him in the river, then ran back inside and came out again pretending to help me.”

  “Detective Taipan, as you knew him, got a little impatient when I couldn’t pay what I owed him.”