For a very long time.
A tremor raced through her, but Delaney shook it off. Wasn’t gonna happen. Jack was a liar and he would not prevail. Gavin Shore might not have given her an open-minded reception when she tried to give her statement about Jack’s attack, but a jury would. They’d hear every word she had to say, provided Jack didn’t drop this stunt of his beforehand. Delaney scooped the day’s schedule from her desk and perused it. A good chunk of her believed dropping the case was his plan, going to trial a ruse. He had no intention of going through with it because he knew he would lose. Doubt fluttered in her belly. He had to lose. Too much was riding on it.
Checking the time, she plunked the schedule back to her desk and left the office. She only had an hour between now and the first ride, and she had yet to check in on Albert. Since Uncle Ernie died, Albert had no one to look after him. Not that he did a whole heck of a lot to “look after,” but Delaney swore the man wouldn’t eat if someone didn’t set a plate of food in front of him. Blowing strands of hair from her face, she set out for the trail to his place. Nick had a small cabin built for Albert near the river restaurant, accessible by a small winding road and wooded trails for those who knew their way around the property. Albert spent most of his time sitting on a front porch rocker, watching the water as it rushed over and around the boulders. When he wasn’t outside, he was indoors watching the cable television Nick had installed. It was a lonely existence but one Albert insisted he enjoyed. Mentally preparing herself for the endless conversation about squirrels and trees, she entered the forest and headed downhill for her “visit.”
Cal dialed the number for his family’s ranch, calculating the odds of someone running off with Blue and Spirit. He doubted either happened. Spirit was too cagey to allow anyone near him—anyone but Troy—and Blue was as loyal to Felicity as the stripes on a flag. No one had ridden the horse but Felicity, and Cal would bet no one would ride her now. Like Delaney said, Blue knew this land. She could escape a horse thief without effort.
“Misty Mountain Ranch.”
“Beau, it’s Cal.”
“Hey, Cal. What’s up?”
“Nothing good at the moment.”
“Come again?”
“We’ve had a problem here at the hotel. Someone unlocked our horse stalls setting loose the animals.”
“What? You’re kidding?”
“Wish I was. We’ve found most of them but two are still on the run and I need your help.”
“Name it.”
“I want you to be on the lookout for two Quarter Horses, a dark brown stallion about eighteen hands and a black mare approximately sixteen-five.”
“Will do.”
“Delaney seems to think someone might try to sell them.”
“But you’re not so sure.”
“I’m not sure they’re gone. One of them belongs to Felicity and knows the land. The other hasn’t been mounted in two years and I doubt that will change with a stranger.”
“Gotcha. Either way, I’ll keep my eyes open, make a few phone calls.”
“Thanks.” Cal paused. Beau was a good man. Faithful, smart, a horseman to the bone. He ran the ranch for Daddy and did a damn fine job. Cal’s other brother, Clint, worked at the bank alongside their father. Daddy was grooming him to take over in a few years, maybe sooner. The way Jack and Momma were causing friction, Gerald Foster might up and retire tomorrow to escape the town scrutiny. Daddy was a fine man, a decent man. But he wasn’t above falling victim to his past, a past his wife seemed determined to unearth and throw in his face. “How’s Daddy?” Cal asked.
“Hanging in there, but with the trial barely two weeks away, Momma is packing heat like a wildcat, lickin’ her chops for the kill.”
“What’s Daddy say?”
“Nothing much. He’s been pretty quiet, pensive. I’m afraid this might be the end of their marriage, if she keeps pushing.”
Cal agreed. Victoria Foster was a proud woman, a society woman, but she was acting anything but these days. Cal chalked it up to Jack’s seedy influence. He was her youngest, her baby, and she was using his problems with Delaney to dig up problems of her own, rehashing a past affair that had no bearing on her present-day life and family—other than what she was creating out of thin air. Susannah Ladd and Gerald Foster had been an item in high school. High School. Over forty years ago they shared feelings for one another and for some reason, Cal’s mother was letting those old feelings tear her family apart.
But the more serious concern remained Troy. If Jack was successful at trial, Troy’s life would end. A new baby, a new wife, a promising career at Hotel Ladd would all be sucked away.
It was criminal what Jack was doing. Raping and plundering all over again. Cal had been there the night of the assault. He’d seen Delaney, witnessed the fear and shock in her eyes. Troy had jumped in and saved her from a horrible fate. Two, in fact. Attempted rape and her near killing of the man. Cal clenched his jaw as anger knotted in his gut. Would have served Jack right, treating a woman like that.
“Let’s hope Jack comes to his senses before it’s too late,” Cal said. When Beau didn’t respond, he added, “Yeah, I know. Wishful thinking.”
“Whatever, I’m here for you brother.”
“Thanks. We’ll talk soon?”
“You got it,” Beau replied.
As Cal ended the call, he glanced around the hotel manager’s office. Small, private, located off the front desk in the hotel lobby, this space had become his lifeline, his salvation. Leaving Arizona one year ago with nothing to his name but a bank account, Cal had returned to Tennessee to start over. He’d come home to prove himself worthy of his daughter’s love. Newspaper headlines lit up in his mind’s eye, dragging him back to those dark days of the accident, the lives he changed, irrevocably marring them forever. Cal had crashed his truck into another man’s car because his reflexes were slowed. It had been raining, but not hard enough he couldn’t see. He’d missed seeing the other car because he’d been drinking.
A man had lost the use of his legs because of Cal. His family had faced near financial ruin because of Cal. Didn’t matter that Cal tried to help out by offering money. They didn’t want his help. They wanted nothing to do with him. Same as Cal’s daughter and wife. Despite the fact he gave up the bottle, his family had cut him from their lives.
But that had all changed when Malcolm Ward offered him the position as General Manager of the new Hotel Ladd. More than redemption and the chance to prove himself to his ex-wife Caroline, his daughter Emily, this job gave him purpose. Then he married Annie and his world grew more complete. They built a home together, forged by a bond strong enough to heal the past. Emily was on the road to forgiveness. With his ex-wife’s help, Cal was going to see his daughter this afternoon for the first time in almost two years. Ribbons of nervous anticipation threaded through his belly. She was coming to visit him and Annie in their new home. If things went well, she’d be able to spend summers with him in the future.
Cal couldn’t give voice to the gratitude he felt. Without a sense of purpose, the love of family, a man could be reduced to self-destruction. Troy faced the same battle. Drinking had cost him more than one job and nearly cost him his life with Casey. But like Cal, he’d given up the whiskey and focused on family. With the threat of criminal conviction hanging over his head, the missing horse that he’d worked so hard to retrain, Cal feared Troy might fall hopeless and give up. Cal had been there himself. Soon after the accident, he’d been tempted to hit the bottle. He’d been tempted to give up. Only thoughts of Emily kept him sober. With a looming trial and without a job with the horses he loved, Troy had no purpose to his days. Sure, he had a wife and daughter to care for, but a man needed more. He needed to provide for his family. He needed to be strong, reliable.
He needed to be needed.
Chapter Five
Travis took the lead for the morning search, intent on finding the animals before Felicity became totally unstitched. All evening
she’d been consumed with the loss of her mare, a loss they didn’t even know for sure was the case. She hardly touched her food during dinner, barely said a word afterword. Even when he left her house, the peck to his cheek felt like a bullet to his skin. Probably didn’t sleep a wink by the looks of the bluish-black marks beneath her eyes, made worse by the navy blue of her shirt. It was unusual to see her look anything but fresh and bright, yet today she looked tired and worn.
But Travis understood. Felicity was a woman, and women tended toward the emotional. They worried and fretted and worked themselves up over stuff that hadn’t even happened yet. Not him. He dealt in facts. “Okay, we’ve covered the river banks by the swimming hole, made the hike around the hotel, the old stables, the original homestead. The staff covered the back side of the stables and reported no sighting. What’s left?”
“We haven’t gone to the gold site,” Felicity offered.
“Way over there?” Troy asked. “Don’t you think that’s a bit far?”
“Not at all.” She looked between the two brothers, gaining momentum as she said, “Blue knows the way. We’ve walked through there a hundred times. Why wouldn’t she go that way?”
“I guess Spirit could have ended up over there, too,” Troy said, gloom coating his tone.
“It’s a possibility,” Travis agreed. At this point, he’d take any suggestions. The second day of searching needed to be successful. Leading the trio out of the stables and into open morning air, he cut around toward the back end. “We need to split up. Felicity and I will search the opposite side of the bridge, the forest along the lower river banks while you take the trail up to Zack’s Falls,” he told Troy. “Check the woods in and around the excavating sight.”
He nodded. “I’ll go all the way to the property line and into the USFS if I have to.”
Travis hoped he didn’t have to go that far. The USFS was public land. If one of the horses ventured into that area, they could have run into hikers, squatters... There were people who hid and lived in the forest and would like nothing better than to stumble across a horse and for any number of reasons. Several had been stolen of late; a fact that didn’t bode well, under the circumstances. “Okay, it’s settled then. We’ll meet somewhere in the middle. You have your cell?”
Troy tapped his front pocket. “Got it.”
“Okay. If you see anything before then, give us call. You might need help.”
“Spirit ain’t comin’ to no one but me,” Troy said, irritating Travis with his cockiness. Whatever. Troy wanted to run solo, let him. “C’mon, Felicity. Let’s go.” Setting off on their separate ways, Travis took two steps and stopped, his attention snagged by a shiny flash on the ground.
“What’s the matter?” Felicity asked. Troy hung back, waiting for a response.
Travis walked over to the spot and bent over. Scrutinizing the grassy ground, clumps of hay here and there, he picked up the object. It was a lighter. Flipping it backward and forward in his hand, he turned to the others. “Someone lost a lighter.” The slim silver body was rimmed in gold where the top part opened. “An expensive lighter.”
Felicity zeroed in on it and burst, “That’s my father’s lighter!” She yanked it from Travis’ grasp and scrutinized it more closely. “It is, I’m sure of it.” Her eyes rounded. “What would it be doing here?”
Troy was by their side in an instant. “Maybe Jeremiah wasn't the one who let the horses free. Maybe it was Jack.”
“Don’t you think it’s more feasible that he lost it that night?” Travis posed, then directed to Felicity, “He hasn’t been around here lately, has he?”
“No. He wouldn’t dare come around here.”
“Unless he was tryin’ to cause trouble,” Troy interjected.
Felicity looked to Troy and her gaze sharpened, as though she were connecting the dots. “It is our horses that are missing. Do you think he did it? To get back at you and me?”
“How would he know anything about Troy’s training Spirit?” Travis asked.
Felicity became defensive. “I don’t know what he knows, but it’s possible. Who else?”
“Jeremiah?” Travis proposed. “That’s who your momma thinks is responsible.”
“Why would Jeremiah care anything about my horse?” She slanted a glance to Troy and said, “Troy’s maybe, but not mine.”
Travis took the lighter from Felicity and shoved it in his front pocket. “Jeremiah has a motive for revenge against you, your momma, the hotel...”
“So does her father,” Troy snapped.
Travis didn’t like the way Troy was taking Felicity’s side when it made no sense. He was only doing so to cause trouble between Travis and her. “Yes,” Travis said pointedly, “but he’s already pursuing his revenge. You have a court date in less than two weeks, remember?” Glancing between the two, avoiding the obvious displeasure radiating from Felicity, he continued, “Jeremiah is the more reasonable assumption.”
“Don’t give me that ‘reasonable assumption’ business,” Troy shot back. “Jack Foster is here and has plenty of motive. When I find those horses, I’m gonna show him exactly what he can do with that motive, too.”
Travis stared at his brother. The bulge of his neck vein was a sure sign Troy was going down his usual path. If he wasn’t careful, the hothead was going to land himself in even more trouble.
“Really?” Travis mocked. “Your answer is to add to his list of charges? Why don’t you learn to use the proper channels and bring the perpetrator to justice instead of settling everything with your fists? You might not be in the predicament you’re in if you’d learned your lesson the first time.”
“I didn’t have a choice but how would you know? You weren’t there. As usual, I was solving problems in the real world instead of throwin’ fancy words around like I was already some kind of lawyer man—which you aren’t. You’re just a—”
“Guys, stop it!” Felicity exclaimed. “This isn't a competition!”
Travis and Troy retreated to their respective imaginary corners. Troy’s nostrils were flaring and Travis knew he wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face. Well, go ahead. Bring it on, brother. I’m in the mood to belt you one back and good.
“It could be Jack or Jeremiah,” Felicity insisted, her aggravation thinly veiled. “Both have reason and both could have done this. But at the moment it’s irrelevant. We need to find those horses.”
Travis clenched his jaw. “Agreed.”
Troy gritted his teeth and put as much space as possible between himself and Travis, storming down the mountain to the trailhead that led into the forest and up to Zack’s Falls. Located across a grassy meadow, it was a good forty-five minute hike from here to the rock, a time he would cut in half, his pace fueled by anger. Travis was a jerk. Everything had to be his way, like he knew best. He always had to be in charge, always had to be right. Well, he wasn’t. Troy knew a thing or two when it came to people, and Jack Foster could easily have been responsible for letting the horses free. He was the one with motive to hurt Felicity, hurt him. Those horses that were missing were theirs, weren’t they? They were, which should be proof enough.
Stomping over a field littered with purple and yellow blossoms, Troy needed to forget Travis and focus on Spirit. The animal would respond to him and him alone. Not Travis, not Felicity—not even Miss Delaney. Spirit would come to him because he was the one who’d invested the time and energy, the only one qualified to do so. Travis might know how to ride but he didn’t know nothin’ about working a horse. He was too busy sticking his nose in books.
Entering the shaded trail, Troy scanned the forest around him. Roughly a car width wide, the clay-packed terrain was burnt orange in color with grooves carved out in various sections by fast-flowing water racing down from the mountaintop. The ground was layered with rocks and roots, fallen twigs and decomposing leaves, the air laced with musky earth. If Spirit was around here, he’d have to be on the trail. There wasn’t enough room for him otherwise.
Up ahead was a different story. In about hundred feet the trail would narrow, opening into a valley to his right. If Spirit had wandered off the trail and hung by a tree, he’d be hard to spot. Dark brown, the horse would blend in with black trunks, the mass of branches and the occasional boulder. Troy cupped his hands to his mouth and called, “Spirit! Spirit, you here?” Watching for signs of movement—response—Troy sharpened his gaze and slowed his step. If he wasn’t careful, he might miss the animal. “Spirit!”
Troy continued the process for the next fifteen minutes, passing a flat wall of rock, a sure sign that he was nearing the excavation site. Nick and Delaney had authorized an outfit out of Johnson City to come in and cut the gold from the rock, mine as much as they possibly could so they could have gold pendants made. Wishing wells. They’d hired the local jeweler to make them and sold them in the hotel gift shop as souvenirs. Felicity said they were supposed to represent eternal hope and spiritual fulfillment. Crazy, if you asked him. Wishing wells were supposed to represent wishes for dreams to come true. Where did they get spiritual fulfillment out of that?
Troy froze. Glimpsing movement up ahead, he stopped, but rather than call out, he simply searched for the source. No sense in spooking Spirit into bolting. He was already out of sorts in unfamiliar territory. Troy needed the animal to remain calm if he was going to be successful in retrieving him. At the moment, he saw no sign of him.
Inching closer to the trail’s edge, Troy narrowed in on the landscape, specifically the midway point on the forest floor. Setting a hand to a nearby stone, the surface cold and grainy beneath his skin, Troy slowed his breathing.
“Those greedy bastards took it all!”
“What?”
“That ain’t no horse,” Troy muttered to himself. That’s a man!
Troy crouched behind the boulder, noting there were three men, not one. Two black-haired men with beards dressed in jeans and T-shirts next to a lighter brown-haired guy dressed in a red button-down.
Losing Ladd Page 4