скачать книгу бесплатно
“There’s a guard posted outside Warren’s door. Egan is there, too. And so is Griff.”
Two lawmen and a security guard might not sound like a lot, but in this case, Warren was well protected.
“Good. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Court assured Thea, and he ended the call.
Since it was normally about a twenty-minute drive from the McCall Ranch to town, Rayna guessed that they’d be hurrying. And they did. Court didn’t waste any time getting her into the truck parked directly in front of the cabin, and they drove on the ranch road and then got onto the highway that led to McCall Canyon.
“It won’t be a good idea for you to go into my father’s room,” Court said several minutes later, and he didn’t give her a chance to disagree with that. “You can wait with Griff while I talk to him.”
Court was right. She wanted to know if Warren had hired the dead PI, but he was far less likely to own up to anything with her in the room. Still, it wouldn’t be a pleasant experiencing waiting with Griff. Yes, he would keep her safe, but he was firmly on the side of Warren when it came to anything, since Warren had practically raised Griff and his sister after their parents had been sent to jail for selling drugs.
“Keep watch,” Court reminded her.
Even though she was already doing that, it caused her pulse to jump. The attack from the previous day was still way too fresh in her mind. Plus, she was having some pain, especially where the idiot had injected her with that drug. The seat belt was pulling right across the tender bruise.
“Are you okay?” Court asked.
He was frowning and glancing at her midsection. That was when Rayna realized she was holding her side. She was probably wincing, too. She nearly lied and told him everything was fine, but Rayna knew he wouldn’t believe her.
“I’m hurting. I’m scared. And I’m mad. Yes, I messed up when I got involved with Bobby Joe. I should have never been with him in the first place, and I should have never stayed after the first time he hit me.”
She wasn’t sure how Court would react to that and expected him to dismiss it. He didn’t. Even though he only glanced at her, she saw something in his eyes. Sympathy, maybe. If that was it, she didn’t want it.
“I was a fool,” she added. That not only applied to her relationship with Bobby Joe. She’d also been a fool to choose him over Court.
“Why exactly were you with him?” Court asked.
The burst of anger had come and gone, and now Rayna got a dose of something else that was familiar. Shame. There were plenty of emotions that came with the baggage of being in a relationship with someone like Bobby Joe.
“Because I didn’t think I deserved anything better,” she said. She certainly hadn’t deserved Court.
He frowned. “What the heck does that mean?”
She hadn’t expected him to understand. “You’re a McCall from the right side of the tracks. You have a father and mother who love you.” Rayna didn’t have a clue who her father was, and her mother had dumped her at her grandmother’s when Rayna had been in first grade.
Court’s frown continued, and he added some profanity to go along with it. “You’re telling you think you deserved to be with a jerk because you had some bad breaks in life?”
“I know it doesn’t make sense to you.” She looked at him. “It doesn’t make sense to me now, either. I finally had, uh, well, an epiphany after Bobby Joe hit me the second time, and I knew if I stayed with him, the violence would only continue. Probably even get worse. That’s when I ended our engagement.” She paused. “And you know the rest.”
Whether he believed the rest was anyone’s guess, and there wasn’t time to ask him. That was because he pulled to a stop in front of the hospital. He didn’t use the parking lot. He left his truck by the curb, directly behind a cop car, and he hurried her inside.
Egan was right there to greet them.
One look at the sheriff’s face, and Rayna knew something was wrong. She prayed that Warren hadn’t had complications from the surgery. Or worse, that he’d died. She wasn’t a fan of his, but she didn’t want him dead. And that was partly because she knew how much Egan, Court and their sister, Rachel, loved him.
“What happened?” Court asked.
But Egan didn’t respond. He made an uneasy glance around the waiting room, where there were several patients as well as some medical staff, and he motioned for Court and her to follow him. They did, and Egan went in the direction of the patients’ ward, but he stopped in the hall. However, Rayna could see Rachel, Griff and Court’s mother, Helen, just outside the door. It was no doubt Warren’s room.
Egan looked at her as if trying to decide what to do with her. Clearly, he wanted to have a private conversation with his brother, but there was no way they could leave her alone.
“Dad didn’t stay awake for long before he lapsed back into unconsciousness. But he did manage to say something,” Egan said after he dragged in a long breath. He paused. “It’s bad, Court.”
And that was when Rayna heard something just up the hall. Something she didn’t want to hear. Rachel and Helen were crying.
Chapter Five (#udea1731e-d63d-5247-ac0e-9699744a5aca)
Court had already had a bad feeling before he saw his mother and sister crying, but that feeling went up a significant notch.
“Is Dad...” But Court couldn’t even bring himself to finish the question.
“He’s alive,” Egan assured him.
The relief came, but the bad feeling remained. That was because of the tense look on Egan’s face.
“In the few minutes that Dad was conscious,” Egan went on, “he kept repeating one thing. A woman’s name. Alma.”
Court shook his head. “You think that’s maybe the real name of the dead PI he supposedly hired?”
“No.” Egan took in another of those breaths. “According to Griff, it’s the name of dad’s longtime mistress.”
That bad feeling fell like an avalanche on him. “No. Dad wouldn’t cheat on Mom,” he insisted.
“That’s what I said, too, but Griff says it’s true, that Dad’s been carrying on an affair with this Alma for thirty-five years. Dad recently broke off things with her though.” Egan turned back to Rayna. “And that’s where you come in. It’s possible this woman hired someone to kill Dad and set you up to take the fall.”
“Hell,” Court growled, and that was all he could manage to say.
His stomach was in knots. His heart, in his throat. And he figured Rayna wasn’t feeling exactly great right now to hear confirmation that someone had set her up to take the fall for his father’s attack. That part made sense—especially since they’d found Hallie dead. But none of the rest of this was sinking in.
“Alma,” Court repeated. He glanced at Griff. “And he is certain it’s true, that Dad cheated on Mom?”
Egan nodded, scrubbed his hand over his face. “He apparently found out a few months ago and said he told Dad to come clean. Dad obviously didn’t do that, but he did break off things with this woman.”
“The woman who maybe tried to set me up. I want to see her,” she insisted.
Egan nodded. “You will. I’ll have her brought into the sheriff’s office as soon as I can arrange it.” He motioned toward Rachel and their mom. “Needless to say, they’re upset.” He paused again. “Griff also told me that Warren had a son with Alma. I didn’t say anything about that to Mom.”
Court hadn’t figured there’d be any other shocks, but that certainly was one. All of this was coming at him too fast. Of course, this wasn’t something he could absorb with just a conversation. And he was sure there would be backlash. How the devil could his father have done this?
“The son’s name is Raleigh Lawton,” Egan added a moment later. “He’s a year older than you.”
Court belted out another “Hell.” Because he knew the man. Sheriff Raleigh Lawton was from a small town just one county over. Warren and he had worked on a murder case about three years ago, and Raleigh had visited McCall Canyon several times. Court thought of something else that’d happened.
“Wasn’t Raleigh involved with Thea?” Rayna asked.
“Yes,” Egan confirmed. “But they broke things off a while ago. I’m not sure if Thea knew he was Warren’s son, but Griff says that Raleigh didn’t know. He thought his father died in the military before he was born.”
So, the lies had extended to not only their family but to Alma’s, as well. Yeah, he definitely wanted to talk to this woman. Wanted to talk to his father, too.
“Are you okay?” Rayna asked. She touched his arm and rubbed gently.
No, he wasn’t okay, not by a long shot, and Court figured things were about to get worse when he glanced at Rachel again. Griff had tried to put his arm around her, but Rachel practically pushed him away. She said something to their mom, something that Court didn’t catch, and then his sister started toward Egan, Rayna and him.
“Egan told you?” she asked Court. There were fresh tears in her eyes and other tears spilling down her cheeks.
He nodded, tried to hug her, but Rachel waved him off. “I just need to get out of here. Away from Dad and away from Griff,” she added. Her voice was shaking now. “He knew, and he didn’t tell me.”
“Maybe he didn’t know how,” Egan said.
“Then he should have found a way,” she snapped. “He definitely should have found a way before—” She stopped, waved that off, too. “I need to go. Please. I just need to leave.”
“I’ll drive you,” Egan volunteered. “Mom, too. Just wait here for a second until I can get her.”
Egan started toward their mother, and Court went with him. Rayna stayed behind with Rachel. Which was good. As upset as the woman obviously was, she might try to leave on her own. If she did, at least Rayna could alert them. It wasn’t safe for his sister to be out there alone.
Court went to his mother and pulled her into his arms. Unlike Rachel, she didn’t push him away. She dropped her head on his shoulder.
“Warren loves me,” Helen muttered. There was some anger in her voice now. “Why would he do this?”
Court didn’t know, and he wasn’t sure he’d get any answers from his father, either. “I’m sorry” was all he could think to say.
Griff was clearly sorry, too. The man was shaking his head and mumbling some profanity. Neither would help. But then, there wasn’t much that could help this situation right now.
Helen pulled back and looked Court in the eyes. “You think that woman could have shot him?”
“Maybe,” he admitted. “But we’re looking at Mitch for this, too. He hates Dad as well as the rest of us.”
Still, if his father had hired that PI, then he must have believed that Alma could be some kind of threat.
“Mom, I want to take Rachel and you home,” Egan insisted.
Helen didn’t argue with that. She didn’t look as if she had the strength to argue with anyone. In fact, she seemed broken.
“I’ll stay here and help guard Warren,” Griff offered. “Just tell Rachel that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he repeated to Helen.
But Court wasn’t sure his mother heard Griff’s apology. Even if she had, it wouldn’t be nearly enough to help her get through this. Still, it hadn’t been Griff’s place to tell them.
That blame was squarely on his father’s shoulders.
Egan slipped his arm around Helen to get her moving, and Court followed them. “Why don’t you take Rayna to the sheriff’s office?” Egan told him. “I’ll meet you there after I’ve driven Mom and Rachel to the ranch.”
Court was still feeling stunned, but he forced himself to get moving. The sooner Rayna and he got to the sheriff’s office, the sooner Egan and he could get Alma in for questioning. Not that Court was especially looking forward to meeting the woman, but this might be the start of getting those answers they desperately needed.
“Did you ever meet Raleigh or Alma?” Court asked Rayna as they walked toward the exit.
“No, but I remember the talk about Hannah Neal, the woman whose murder Warren and Raleigh were investigating. She was a surrogate who’d recently given birth, and she was killed around the same time Bobby Joe went missing.”
Yeah. Hannah had been murdered in McCall Canyon, but her body had been dumped in Durango Ridge, Raleigh’s jurisdiction. That was why both Raleigh and his father had been investigating it. All of that had happened just a few months before his father retired.
“You don’t think Alma could have been connected to Hannah’s murder, do you?” Rayna pressed.
He was about to say no, but then Court remembered that Warren had been very close to Hannah. She’d been the daughter of his best friend, a single-father cop who’d been killed in the line of duty. As Warren had done with Thea and Griff, he’d taken Hannah under his wing. So, maybe Alma had gotten jealous of that. After all, if she was the one who’d hired someone to shoot Warren, then it was possible she’d killed Hannah, too.
Yeah, he definitely needed to talk to this woman.
Egan led Rachel and their mother out the exit first, and he took them straight to his cruiser, which was parked just ahead of Court’s truck.
“Will your mother be okay?” Rayna asked.
Good question. But Court wasn’t sure. She’d already been teetering on shaky ground with Warren’s shooting, and now this. Court made a mental note to call her doctor and have him go to the ranch to check on her.
He motioned for Rayna to follow him. However, before he could even get the doors unlocked, Court saw the blur of motion from the corner of his eye. And he immediately pulled Rayna down with him.
Just as someone fired a shot at them.
* * *
RAYNA HIT THE ground hard, much as they’d done the day before in her house, and the pain from the fall sliced through her. It robbed her of her breath.
For one heart-stopping moment, she thought she’d been shot.
But no, it wasn’t that. The pain had come from the bruise on her side. It hurt, but it was far better than the alternative of having a bullet in her. Or in Court.
She checked to make sure he hadn’t been hit. He didn’t seem to be, but he dragged her beneath the truck and drew his gun. Ready to return fire.
Rayna took out her gun, too, from its slide holster. Not that she was in position to shoot back. She was on her stomach, and Court had positioned his body in front of hers.
Protecting her.
Something she wished he hadn’t done. Rayna didn’t want him to die because of her.
She waited, listening and praying. Rayna also tried to figure out what to do. If either Court or she reached up to open the truck door so they could get inside, the gunman could shoot them.
If there actually was a gunman.
There had only been the sound of that one shot, making her wonder if what they’d heard was a vehicle misfiring. That was what she wanted it to be anyway, and she hadn’t actually seen a shooter.
Вы ознакомились с фрагментом книги.
Для бесплатного чтения открыта только часть текста.
Приобретайте полный текст книги у нашего партнера: