Endangered Heiress

by Barb Han

  Chapter Ten

  Dinner came and went, and Madelyn decided it was time to clue her boss in since she might not be returning to work for a while. Harlan picked up on the first ring while she was still debating how much she should share.

  “What’s the story at the Butler farm?” he immediately asked, a sense of anticipation coming through in his tone. She recognized it immediately because she’d felt it a pair of days ago.

  “Ranch,” she corrected, and she was mostly stalling for time. He knew the difference and was most likely trying to be funny.

  “Is it big or a waste of time?” He skipped right over her comment.

  “Turns out, I’m the focus,” she said with as even a voice as she could muster.

  “A story with Maverick Mike Butler starring you?” he questioned. “I’m not sure that I follow.”

  “He says I’m his long-lost daughter.” The words sounded distant as she spoke them.

  “Hold on a damn minute. Are you telling me that you’re heir to one of the biggest fortunes in the South—no, check that, in the United States—and you just found out?” Harlan said with more than a hint of admiration.

  “It would seem so,” she admitted without much enthusiasm.

  “And this upsets you because?”

  “I haven’t checked it out yet. Maybe I don’t want to get my hopes up,” she lied. The truth was that she wished for the life she believed was true before. Even though she and her dad didn’t have a perfect relationship, she’d always known that he’d loved her in his own way. Her life made sense to her and was all she’d ever known. There was simplicity in that. Stability. Now the earth had tilted, shifting underneath her feet and throwing everything off balance.

  “So how did your mom know Mike Butler?” he asked.

  “Good question.” She knew more about her so-called father than she did about her own mother, and this revelation put even more distance between her and the truth. In fact, Madelyn had been so wrapped up in everything, she hadn’t gotten in touch with the rage she felt at Mike Butler. What little she did know about her mother was that she’d died while giving Madelyn life. That fact had always burdened Madelyn because she’d felt like her mother’s death had been her fault. Her mother had died because, being young and broke, there was no insurance. She couldn’t afford to give birth in the good hospital in town. She’d had to go to the county hospital where the machines weren’t reliable, nurses were overburdened and she’d bled out.

  If Madelyn could believe the story she’d been told, her mother had forced Charles to follow the baby because she didn’t trust the nurses. Meanwhile, she’d hemorrhaged and it had been too late by the time Madelyn’s father had returned to check on her. Madelyn had always believed that her father had blamed himself...but now? She had to wonder if he blamed her instead.

  If she stuck around town and found the truth, could she learn more about the mother she’d always wanted?

  “Needless to say, I need time off in order to figure this whole crazy ordeal out,” she said.

  “Keep reports coming and I’ll continue your salary,” he stated. He wasn’t a bad guy so much as a persistent journalist. This news would be huge if it panned out.

  “I’ll think about it but what I told you is between us for now.” She had to consider whether she wanted her life splashed across all the papers. Which was a good point, actually. Had the news leaked? Someone inside the Butler camp had to know, right? “Give me your word you’ll keep this quiet until I say.”

  His hesitation didn’t exactly make her feel warm and fuzzy.

  “File a story. It can be about anything you want. Just give me something decent to put into print. And, yes, you know that I would never go behind your back.” His tone was softer, the human side of Harlan peeking through the hardened reporter who’d seen pretty much everything in his two decades on the job.

  “Okay, Captain.” He’d said that he didn’t like her calling him that and she knew down deep that he’d been kidding. He loved the attention. Wow, she knew her boss better than her own father. What did that say about her relationship with Charles Kensington?

  “Madelyn,” he said quietly, as though suddenly realizing the implication. “You want me to do a little digging on the family? They have a lot going on over there in Cattle Barge and I’m not sure I like you being there given the news you just shared.”

  “I share your concerns. I’ll be careful.” She decided this wouldn’t be a good time to fill him in on what had happened to her since arriving in Cattle Barge, noting the rare fatherly side of Harlan coming through. He was divorced with three children, and by his own admission he’d been too busy chasing stories to watch them grow up. He also said that he had divorce papers documenting how he’d failed his wife, too. Relationships always came with a hefty price tag.

  “That jerk leaving you alone, at least?” he asked, and her heart stuttered. And then it quickly dawned on her who he was talking about.

  “Owen’s been quiet,” she admitted. Thankfully.

  “Make sure and lock your doors,” he warned, his fatherly instincts ever present. He might not have been there for his own kids but he seemed to be making up for it with his reporters. She thought about how little people really knew about each other. She’d worked for Harlan three years and only knew him on paper. Divorced, father of three, boss. Strange when she thought about how many hours she and her high school friends used to spend getting to know every detail of each other’s preferences from favorite ice-cream flavor to whether one would pick quitting school over getting to be a rock star.

  “I will. Can you dig around into the background of Hudson Dale? He owns a ranch on the outskirts of Cattle Barge and I’m pretty certain he used to work in law enforcement,” she said, a feeling of shame washing over her. She should wait until he was ready to talk but had half convinced herself that she deserved to know given that she was staying in his house. She knew the cop-out immediately. “Actually, hold off on that research for a minute.”

  “You sure about that?” Even though they were in the same state, he sounded a million miles away.

  “Yes. Definitely.” Was she? She was sleeping in the house of a man she barely knew, but then, based on recent revelations, how well did she know anyone? “Harlan, what’s your favorite color?”

  “What?” The query was out of the blue and his reaction said she’d caught him off guard.

  “Just curious.” She found it odd that she knew so little about the man she worked for and yet trusted implicitly. She knew him about as well as Brayden knew his roommate, Trent, and the two lived under the same roof.

  “Orange, I guess. Why the sudden interest?” he asked.

  “No reason.” She paused a beat. “But thanks for telling me.”

  A soft knock at the door had her ending the call.

  “Dinner’s ready,” Hudson said, and the familiar sound of his voice settled her taut nerves.

  “With everything going on today, we forgot to pick up my car,” she said after opening the door.

  “We can go after we eat,” he said as she passed him.

  Another fantastic meal courtesy of Hudson Dale and she had no idea how or where he’d picked up his culinary skills. Curiosity was getting the best of her. She wanted—no, needed—to know more about him even though she kept her questions at bay on the ride into town.

  One look at her car as he pulled beside it and she gasped. The driver’s-side window had a hole in it the size of a brick. And that was exactly what had been flung, she realized as she jumped out of the cab of Hudson’s truck. Her presence in town might not exactly be welcome, but damaging her property was a whole other issue. Her thoughts shifted to Owen for a split second. Could he have tracked her down?

  No. She’d been careful to make sure that only Harlan knew where she’d gone. And she trusted her boss with her life. Literally, countles
s times, and he’d come through. A little voice reminded her that if she didn’t know her own father she couldn’t know anyone else, not even her boss. She shushed it and figured half the reason she was sticking around was to find out more about her mother. More lies. They were mounting. Because she needed to know the truth about so many things in her life.

  Mike Butler obviously knew about her. Was he even sad when he learned that her mother had died? Relieved? Did he get her pregnant and back out of a relationship, not wanting to take responsibility for Madelyn? Had he sat idly by while she and Charles struggled financially? His legitimate kids growing up with every advantage at their disposal? Money. Education. Respect. If he’d offered to pay for medical expenses, and he’d had plenty of money to cover them, would her mother still be alive?

  Anger raged inside her.

  “Someone’s obviously been here,” Hudson said, studying her.

  Her hands were fisted at her sides. Frustration nipped at her and she wanted to scream. “It’s shocking how little people value others’ hard work. I mean, I had to save a long time to come up with the down payment and this is the second time it’s been vandalized.”

  She glanced over in time to see his dark brow shoot up. He deserved to know what he was getting into, so she told him about Owen, the threats and the horrible word he’d scribbled across her car’s hood.

  “I can certainly see you’ve had a rough go lately,” he said sympathetically. “Is your ex the reason you don’t trust people?”

  His comment scored a direct hit and she wondered what in his past made him the same way. Of course, every time she tried to get him to discuss anything about himself, he shut her down or changed the subject. It was such an odd feeling, too. Because she barely knew him, he’d scarcely told her two things about him, and yet she felt so at ease with him. “He’s one in a long line.”

  Electricity hummed and sensual shivers raced up her arms every time they touched but that didn’t throw her off, either. It felt...natural. Which pretty much proved the mind could trick itself into believing anything it yearned for. Like her belief that her mother had been a decent woman. Seriously, what kind of person cheated on her longtime boyfriend, got pregnant and then came back to let him help bring up the child?

  Okay, dying couldn’t have been part of the plan, so Madelyn could give her mother a break on that count even if there was a bit of residual anger still there. It hadn’t exactly been her mother’s choice to leave her, but all these revelations explained so much about why her “father” had never been attached to her emotionally. He’d been in love with her mother, had married her and stayed beside her even with a bastard child. And then the woman had gone and died on him, leaving him to bring up...what?...the constant reminder of her infidelity.

  Was Madelyn being too hard on her mother? On the man she knew as her father? On herself? a little voice asked.

  “Can you handle driving a pickup?” Hudson broke through her heavy thoughts.

  “Yeah.” She just stared into the night, the wind knocked out of her. It was only a car window, she reminded herself, something that could be replaced. Why did it feel like someone had shattered her soul?

  The internal scars racking up wouldn’t be so easy to fix.

  “Good, because I want you to take my vehicle home and I’ll drive yours,” he said.

  She turned to him. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Fire away.”

  “Why are you helping me? I mean, you don’t have to. No one seems to want me around and that can’t be good for your social life once I’m gone. Besides, you don’t even know me. I’m a total stranger,” she said, the words rushing out.

  “This will most likely sound strange, it does even to me, but in some ways, I do feel like I know you,” he said with a slight shrug.

  “What? Like kindred spirits?” she asked, because she felt the same way even though she was too worked up to admit it right now.

  “Something like that. You have a familiar lost look,” he said.

  “I don’t need your pity,” she shot back, more affected by those words than if she’d been struck.

  “It’s more of a kinship. I had that same expression when I came back a year ago,” he admitted.

  “Did buying a ranch chase away your demons?” she pressed, needing to know more. Heck, anything about the man who’d been her link to sanity.

  “Not as much as I’d hoped,” he said honestly.

  “I should pack up, go home and forget all of this happened. Ever since I arrived in Cattle Barge things have only gotten worse.”

  “Being on my land, taking care of my animals, is a good distraction. Makes me feel like I’m doing something good,” he said with such sincerity there was no way he was lying. “But the nightmares still wake me up. No matter where I go, they follow. And yours will, too.”

  “Then what do you suggest because I feel like I’m running out of options here,” she blurted out on a frustrated sigh.

  “Stick around. Follow this thing through. Based on what you said earlier about your ex, going home won’t give you a break.” He paused a few beats. “Besides, there’s a way to find out what the Butlers are thinking.”

  She caught on to where he was headed with this and she wasn’t sure she liked it. “I’m the last person they’ll want to see.”

  “You need to talk to them face-to-face. I’ll be there and we can put our heads together after and see what we come up with.”

  She suddenly felt embarrassed. Talk about unwanted—the Butler children certainly wouldn’t welcome their father’s illegitimate child with open arms and she wasn’t sure how much more rejection she could take. “I don’t know.”

  “The best way to conquer an enemy is to look him in the eye.” Hudson was right; she knew that. It was also harder than she imagined.

  “What makes you so good at investigating crimes?”

  Hudson didn’t answer. He asked for her keys and told her that his were still in the ignition.

  She took the driver’s seat and then rolled the window down on the passenger side as he cleared it. “So, we get to talk endlessly about my life but I still don’t get to know anything about yours?”

  “I’m the one helping you, and knowing the details of yours might just break this case open,” he stated, and she could tell that a wall had come up between them.

  “Well, then I’m going home in the morning,” she said.

  “Suit yourself but that’ll hurt you a helluva lot more than it will me.” Was that true?

  Examining his expression, she decided that it was. And that was exactly why she needed to go.

  * * *

  THE DRIVE HOME alone in her car was too quiet, Hudson thought as he contemplated what Madelyn had said. She’d be crazy to leave now and she didn’t strike him as such. There was too much at stake here and they still hadn’t tracked down Trent or Kelsey.

  Hudson missed the sound of Madelyn’s voice but it was dangerous to admit it to himself. He couldn’t allow himself to care about her more than he already did. He didn’t care, he corrected. His law-enforcement instincts had kicked in and he missed the job, the excitement.

  Being on a horse ranch, on his land, was good for him. Right?

  Rather than go round and round about his career choice again, he focused on Madelyn. It would be easy enough to schedule a service to swing by and replace the window. Helping her, feeling useful to someone else, was nice. That was what she provided, a welcome reprieve from the doldrums of routine. His life had become too monotonous and the sexy curve of her hips offered a different kind of distraction. He’d dated since returning to Cattle Barge but he was restless. There was a shortage of interesting women and he told himself that Houston had offered more variety and that was why he’d gotten bored here. He’d been going through the motions. But then, didn’t that wrap up his life in general?


  His personal motivation had waned and he’d thought about selling the ranch, moving Bullseye to a place closer to the city and settling in Dallas or Austin. A change might do him some good. The only thing stopping him was the thought of not spending 24/7 with his horse. He could admit the land held a pull that the city could never have. Moving to Cattle Barge had been meant to stop the nightmares. It hadn’t. He still heard Misty scream as the bullet pierced her barely pregnant belly.

  As partners, they’d been keeping their relationship a secret from their supervising officer. To say the pregnancy had been a shock was a lot like showing up to a bullfight only to find an empty ice rink. Hudson hadn’t been ready to become a father. The guilt for that would haunt him the rest of his life. Not that it mattered. He’d convinced himself that he loved Misty and had stepped up to ask the big question.

  She’d said yes.

  The rest was history.

  At some point, he thought he’d be ready—excited, even—for the marriage. He’d adjusted to the idea of being a father faster than he’d expected. Love for a child could be so instant and required no work on his part.

  He and Misty would’ve made a good family for the child’s sake. They got along and shared the same sense of humor. He’d figured it would be a good foundation. She’d been waiting for her transfer to come through so they could make the big announcement and then get married. He’d been the one to suggest holding off until they’d secured their jobs. Dating coworkers was frowned upon by the department, so the news of a pregnancy and quickie marriage would have hurt both of their careers.

  That was what he’d been thinking about and not the fact that Misty had said a million times that she didn’t want to be pregnant and unmarried. That her mother had done the same and she’d feared having her mother’s hard life and bad choices. Every day as a child, Misty had been told how much of an inconvenience she’d been to her mother. Physical bruises could heal and there’d been a few of those. But words left the biggest marks—marks on the heart.