Chapter Nine
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the female rancher and her hired gun.” Parker Lee circled Mona and Reed sitting in the sheriff’s office, both cuffed. “Interesting that Miss Grainger was the one caught holding the smoking gun.”
Mona bit hard on her lip to keep from spewing the scathing remarks she wanted so badly to say. Now wasn’t the time to tell Parker Lee exactly what she thought of him. The way it looked out at the granary made her appear like the shooter.
“She didn’t shoot the man I found.” Reed stood, his brows drawn in a deep frown. “Someone in a car did. She was shooting at the man who did the killing.”
“Sit down, Bryson.” Sheriff Lee shoved against Reed’s chest.
Reed stood solid, glaring at the sheriff, in a staring standoff. When Parker Lee looked away, Reed took his seat.
Mona’s heart swelled at Reed’s defense. She had to admit, on the surface, the evidence was damning. One man dead and she was the one holding a rifle that had been fired recently.
Lee leaned into Reed. “No one reported a car, and you were the only other person there. Does that mean you shot the man?”
Reed glared back at the man. “There was a car and if you do a ballistics report on the bullet, you’ll see that Mona didn’t kill that man. You’re wasting your time arresting us.”
“You can go, Bryson, but Miss Grainger has to stay until the judge sets bail. Not that she can post that bail. Can you, Mona?” He touched a finger to her chin and lifted her face. “Told you that ranch was too much for you to handle.”
The touch of the sheriff’s finger on her chin made her skin crawl and her rage burn. “Up yours, Parker. Rancho Linda has been in my family for a long time. It’s staying in my family.”
“Kinda hard to run a ranch from the inside of a jail cell.”
Reed stood. “Look, you can’t put her in jail, she’s pr—”
“Leave it, Reed.” She stared hard at him, willing him to understand and not say anything about her pregnancy. Not now. The only people who knew were Fernando, Rosa, Catalina and now Reed. She’d never bothered to tell Jesse or Dusty, and she sure as hell didn’t want Parker Lee to know anything about the child growing in her belly. The man was vindictive and would use the knowledge against her.
Two portly, gray-haired men stepped into the sheriff’s office. One wore a short-sleeved pullover and khaki slacks, the other a wrinkled oxford cotton shirt rolled at the sleeves and gray suit slacks.
The man in the oxford shirt went straight to Mona and engulfed her in a hug. “Mona, Maria called as soon as she saw what was happening.”
“Oh, Mr. Wallendorf, I’m so glad you’re here.” Greg Wallendorf had gone to high school with her father, and had been one of his fishing and poker buddies for the past thirty years. He was also an attorney. She quickly gave him the lowdown.
“That’s pretty much what Maria said. I brought the judge with me to set bail.” He leaned into Mona and whispered, “You were in luck. It was our poker night.”
Mona didn’t feel so lucky, but given the circumstances, she counted her blessings.
“Judge Stevenson, glad you could make it.” Sheriff Lee held out his hand to the man, looking less than glad the judge was there. “Miss Grainger is the prime suspect in the murder of an illegal alien.”
“What kind of hooey is this?” Judge Stevenson had stood by while Mona gave her attorney the details. Now he moved around Sheriff Lee to stand in front of Mona.
Surely this man who’d been another of her father’s friends for years would see reason. Hope sprang in her chest. “Sir, I didn’t shoot the man.”
Parker Lee pulled Toby Braxton in from the outer offices. “Tell him what you saw.”
“I got a call from dispatch that gunshots were fired near the old granary. When I got there, I found her—” he poked his finger in Mona’s face “—holding a rifle standing over the dead man. She was the only one around holding a gun, the gun had been fired and the man was dead. I arrested her on suspicion of murder and read her the Miranda rights.”
Judge Stevenson turned to Mona. “I’m sorry. Based on the initial evidence, they had a right to arrest you.”
Sheriff Lee stepped forward. “We request that you don’t set bail. She could be dangerous to the community, possibly go out and shoot someone else.”
The judge snorted. “I have no doubt Miss Grainger didn’t shoot the man, but given the evidence, I’ll have to set bail at one hundred thousand dollars. Contact my secretary tomorrow to schedule the court hearing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m late getting home.” With that, the judge left.
Bile rose in Mona’s throat. One hundred thousand dollars? She couldn’t come up with fifty thousand to save her ranch, how the heck was she going to post bail? Even though she knew she’d be cleared of the charges, how would the banks look at her credit application when she’d been arrested on suspicion of murder?
Parker’s smug smile grated on Mona’s last nerve. “Let Bryson go, Miss Grainger stays until bail is posted.”
Toby unlocked Reed’s cuffs, jerking them off his hand with more force than necessary. “Get out of here.”
“Not until I’ve talked with Miss Grainger.”
“Sorry, gotta lock her up.” Toby’s brows rose in challenge. “Unless you got one hundred thousand to bail her pretty little butt out.”
Reed stared across at Mona, the muscle in his jaw twitching. “I’ll get the money.”
“Uncle Arty is the only family I have left.” She’d sworn she’d never talk to her uncle, least of all beg him for money, after the way he’d treated her mother and father all these years. Unfortunately, Uncle Arty might be her last hope.
“I’ll get the money.” Reed turned to Parker Lee. “You hurt her and…”
“And what?” Parker sneered. “She’s a murderer. I might have to defend myself against her.”
Toby tugged her arm, propelling her to the back of the sheriff’s office where the jail cells were located.
Greg Wallendorf stared across the linoleum-tile floor of the sheriff’s office, first at Toby and then at the sheriff. “Either one of you hurt her, and I’ll have you both locked up so fast, you won’t know what hit you.”
The last Mona saw was the killing look Reed gave Sheriff Lee before he stormed out behind her attorney.
The metal clank of the bars being closed and locked behind her brought home the depth of her troubles. Mona sank to the cot, her knees no longer capable of holding her up.
Now what?
* * *
“M R . B RYSON .” What did he call a man who wasn’t his real father? “It’s me, Reed.” Coming to his stepfather in the middle of the night wasn’t something he relished, but he didn’t have many choices.
After the attorney dropped him off at Mona’s truck, Reed had tried to find a bail bondsman, but the closest one was in Amarillo. The thought of spending an hour on the road to and from was more than Reed could stomach. Every minute Mona was in that jail was a minute too long. He knew how much she hated going to Arty for the money, thus his plea to the only other man he knew who might have that kind of money lying around.
“Reed?” Will Bryson opened the door, his graying hair standing on end as though he’d just risen from his bed. “What’s the matter?”
“I need help.”
“Come in.” He motioned toward the living room. “Your mother’s still sleeping. I’d like to keep it that way, if we can.”
“Good, I’d rather not worry her.” Reed took a deep breath and launched in. “My boss, Mona Grainger, has been arrested and I need one hundred thousand dollars to bail her out of jail tonight.”
In the process of taking a seat in the leather armchair, Will Bryson sat down hard, his eyes wide. “What did you say?”
Reed’s gut twisted. “Miss Grainger’s been arrested and I need money to bail her out. I’ll pay you back as soon as she’s cleared of the charges.”
“On what grounds was she arrested?”
Here it went. Reed stared across at his stepfather. “Suspicion of murder.”
The man’s face paled. “Did she kill someone?”
“No.” Reed stood. Coming here was a mistake.
“How do you know she didn’t? How do you know that if you bail her out she won’t kill again?”
“Because I know. Mona Grainger is not a killer.”
“Did you see who killed the man?”
“No.” Reed pushed a hand through his hair and dropped it to his side. “Never mind. Thanks for letting me in. I can show myself out.”
“Reed.” His stepfather followed him to the door and laid a hand on his arm when he reached for the knob. “I’m just trying to understand.”
“That’s just it. Sometimes you can’t understand everything, you have to go with your heart. You have to care enough about someone to believe in them. Even in uncertain circumstances.” Reed shook off William Bryson’s hand and left, closing the door behind him. As far as he was concerned, his stepfather had failed him yet again.
Which didn’t solve his immediate problem.
Reed turned his truck toward the nearest convenience store, where he borrowed a phone book and looked up Arty Grainger’s number. With his last bit of change, he dialed from the pay phone on the corner.
* * *
S OMETIME AFTER ONE in the morning, Mona must have fallen asleep on the dirty bare mattress. Even before she heard the metal jingle of keys, thunder woke her, banging loud enough to rattle the light fixtures in her cell.
“You can go.” Parker Lee held the bars open, a sneer curling the edge of his lip all the way up to the flare of his nose. “Just don’t leave town. If I had my way, I’d keep you locked up until your trial.”
Mona ignored him, too tired to care enough to form an appropriate response.
Reed stood on the other side of the room, his lips pressed together in a tight line.
Even during the darkest hours of her despair, she’d known he’d somehow come through for her.
Tears welled in her eyes and clogged her throat. She collected her belongings from the deputy and walked outside into a blasting wind, hanging on tightly to her control and the hem of her dress.
When she normally would have taken the driver’s seat, she knew better and headed for the passenger side.
Reed was there before her to open the door and hand her up into the seat.
On the verge of bawling her eyes out, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and stared straight ahead, focusing on the single streetlight illuminating the sheriff’s office parking lot. Let me hold on until we get away from Parker Lee.
The wind blew against the side of the pickup in blustering gusts. Reed’s fingers turned white with the amount of strength he used to keep the vehicle on the road.
Half a mile out of town, Mona said, “Pull over.”
One look at her and Reed slowed to a halt on the wide shoulder.
Mona jumped down from the truck and bent double, emptying the meager contents of her stomach on the Texas prairie grass, pushed over by the wind.
A hand gathered her hair up behind her and out of the way. Another reached around her shoulders and held her until she was completely empty.
Lightning illuminated the sky, thunder booming with every strike. “We can’t stay out here for long,” Reed shouted over the roar of the wind. “This is tornado weather.”
When she could stand straight again, she looked up into Reed’s eyes, tears streaming from her own. “Thank you for coming.”
“I wouldn’t let you stay there.” He smiled, and dabbed at her eyes with a crisp white handkerchief. “Come on. Let’s get you out of this storm.”
She let him help her back into the truck, where she laid her head back against the seat and drifted in and out of sleep, the rocking motion of the truck being buffeted by the wind more comforting than frightening.
When they arrived in front of the house, Jesse ran out onto the porch, flinching when a flash of lightning lit the darkened sky. “The cattle are moving!”
All remnants of sleep vanished with a spurt of adrenaline and Mona dropped to the ground, running. She ducked into her bedroom and emerged minutes later wearing jeans and a soft blue, cotton shirt, tugging socks and boots onto her bare feet.
Reed was first to the computer. A blinking dot moved across the screen in a steady motion. With a few quick clicks, Reed brought up the next cow’s number and it too was moving in the same direction, northeast toward the Palo Duro Canyon and, from what he could tell, on the outside border of Rancho Linda. Rough country for a vehicle.
A brilliant flash lit the window, followed closely by an earsplitting bang, and the lights blinked and then extinguished inside the house. The computer screen faded to black in a few short seconds.
“Damn.” She fumbled inside a desk drawer for matches, lighting the scented candle on the shelf above the dark monitor. “How can we follow them without the computer?”
The soft candle glow encased Reed in warm light. “Jesse and I will ride out.”
“The terrain out there is too rough for trucks and we only have one four-wheeler. There’s a gravel road near the canyon, but to get to it would take an hour by road. It’ll only take thirty minutes by horseback,” Mona said. “Let’s go.”
With one step to the side, Reed blocked her exit. “You’re not going anywhere. You’ve already been through enough.”
Mona bristled. “I’m the boss, in case you haven’t heard.”
Reed glanced over his shoulder at Jesse, hovering in the doorway. “Saddle up our horses and grab a rifle.”
Once Jesse left the house, Reed reached out, gripped Mona’s arms and shook her gently. “Be reasonable.”
“I have to go, Reed. That’s my livelihood out there. They’re threatening my property. I’m being as reasonable as I possibly can.”
“And you’d risk your baby?”
For a moment Mona couldn’t say anything, she’d never considered losing the child. She’d had the crazy notion she could ride, fence and ranch up to the day she delivered. An image of her at nine months along trying to climb onto a horse found its way into her mind and the ridiculousness made her mouth quirk. But the thought of someone making off with her herd made her hackles rise. “Okay, I’ll take it easy, but I’m going. I’ll even let you carry the gun. I haven’t had much luck with the law and guns lately.”
“I’d rather you stayed here.”
She wiggled, trying to get free. “You’re just like the rest of the men who want to run my life for me.”
He refused to let her go, increasing the pressure on her arms until her chest bumped up against his. “No. I think you—of all the women and men I’ve ever known—you can handle ranching better than any of them.”
“You’re just saying that to get me to stay.” She squirmed, the movement only aggravating her awareness of him standing so close their thighs touched. Her body was on fire, not with anger but desire. And that scared her more than a pit full of diamondback rattlesnakes.
“No, I’m not just saying that to get you to stay, but if it helps, good. You have to start thinking about yourself and your baby.” He wrapped her in his arms.
Mona told herself she couldn’t breathe because of how tightly he held her, but the truth was, her breathing was short and shallow because of her reaction to his body against hers. He made her body burn. “Why do you care?”
“Hell if I know. I just do.” Then he was kissing her, hard and long. Before she could begin to think, his hands were combing through her hair, bringing her lips impossibly closer.
Mona’s lips parted and Reed’s tongue delved in, past her teeth to tangle with and taste her tongue.
When his lips tore free, she stared up at him, her eyes wide, her breathing ragged. What had he just done to her? He’d made her completely forget for a moment anything to do with Rancho Linda and her heritage. For a moment all she wanted was for him to kiss her again.
The baby kicked against her belly hard enough to make her jerk.
Reed jumped back, moving her to arm’s length. “Was that the baby?” A look of wonder spread across his rugged face.
“Yes.” Grasping at her chance to regain control of her emotions and the situation, she backed away from Reed. “He wasn’t too happy about being squashed between the two of us. And he’s just as determined to protect his heritage as I am. So if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to get moving.” Before I go back for seconds on that kiss. Her mind and lips numb, she stumbled for the door.
He grabbed her arm, his fingers firm but gentle. “You’re staying.”
“I’m not, so let’s quit wasting time and saddle up before they get away with the herd.” She didn’t give him a chance to argue. Instead, she shook off his hold and left the house, striding toward the barn in long desperate steps, her thoughts as tumultuous as the stormy sky.
Jesse must have known she’d win the battle, because he had her horse saddled and waiting next to two others. They stamped in the dust, eyes flaring with each strike of lightning and rumble of thunder. Chewy whimpered beside Jesse, staring up at him, awaiting his command and determined not to be left behind.
Wind blasted across the prairie like a freight train, pushing the grass flat and forcing the riders and horses to lean against it to remain upright.
Crazy to leave the relative safety of the house in such wicked weather, Mona gritted her teeth and moved on, tired beyond words, but determined to save what was left of her cattle.
Halfway out to the north pasture, Mona sent Jesse and Chewy to the central pasture to check the herd there. She kept Reed with her, suspecting the cattle in the north were the only ones targeted in this run.
In silence, they rode over hills and down into rugged gullies to get to the far northeast corner of her property. Uncle Arty’s ranch bordered on the northeast and the Palo Duro Canyon lay due north of Rancho Linda.
On the border of her uncle’s property, close to a gravel county road, they found the fence down and no cattle in sight.
Damn, had they already loaded them and taken off? A lead weight hit the pit of Mona’s stomach. She couldn’t lose again. She’d be ruined.
Reed shone his light on the ground where the dry earth had been sifted by hundreds of hoofprints. The wind lifted the dust and sandblasted Mona’s skin. “They can’t have gone far and they didn’t have enough time to load them yet.” Reed stared out over the prairie.
Mona nudged her horse forward. “Come on, we have to find them.”
The cowboy jabbed his heels into his horse’s flanks, causing the animal to rear up in front of Mona. “No.” In the sporadic light from the flashes of lightning, he looked like the legendary Zorro ready to ride for justice.
An unexpected thrill raced through Mona’s chest. One she quickly tamped down. “Cute.” Her shouted sarcasm was lost in the raging wind. “But it’s not stopping me.”
“You can’t charge into a pack of rustlers. Most likely, they’re armed and prepared to shoot.”
“I can’t let them take my cattle.” She dragged in a breath of dusty air and let it out. “I’ll hang back. But we have to see who’s doing this in order for us to catch them.” When he didn’t move, she planted her fist on her hip and ground out, “I didn’t hire you to stop me. I hired you to help me.”
For a moment more he hesitated, then he jerked his reins, aiming his horse in the direction the hoofprints led.
When Mona moved forward she could swear she heard Reed mutter something along the lines of “Lord save me from stubborn women.” She could have been mistaken, but she didn’t think so.
A smile tilted the corner of her lips as she set her horse into a gallop. “Women? Or woman?” she tossed over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of his stern face in a flash from the heavens above.
His lips set in a firm line, Reed caught up with her and moved ahead, providing a barrier between her and any danger they might encounter.
As they neared a rise in the terrain, Reed reined in and slipped from his saddle. “We walk from here.” He reached up and helped Mona from her horse, setting her gently on her feet. He stared up at the sky. “Won’t be long before the sky opens up. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some hail and maybe a tornado out of that front moving our way.” A brilliant flash lit the sky and thunder cracked nearby.
Both Reed and Mona ducked instinctively. The horses reared, dragging them away from the top of the hill, apparently having more sense than the humans for being out on a night like this.
Reed walked ahead up the small hill, Mona tagging along behind. When they topped the ridge, they peered down into the entrance to a canyon, probably a branch of the Palo Duro.
“There they are.” Reed grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to the ground, pointing to the shadows at the base of a cliff.
She had to wait for another flash of lightning before she could see what he pointed at.
A ring of portable corral panels had been erected and her cattle were penned inside, their frightened bellows rising into the night air.
Rage ripped through Mona and she fought hard to control her first inclination to charge down there and tear down the panels. No, she had to keep her cool.
Reed’s head turned right then left, his brows furrowing. “Where are the rustlers?”
For the first time, Mona noticed the cattle were there but the rustlers weren’t. A chill swept down her spine that had nothing to do with the cool wind slashing her hair against her face.
Her eyes wide, she stared across at Reed. “You don’t suppose they went back to get the other herd in the central pasture?” Jesse could be riding into a trap, while she and Reed sat there staring at a captured herd. “Come on.” Mona ran toward her horse, grabbed the reins and attempted to stick her foot in the stirrup. It took her two tries with her belly getting in the way. When she finally had her foot anchored, she prepared to swing her leg over the top. Strong hands lifted her from behind and set her in her seat.
Reed swung up onto his horse in one fluid motion.
As Mona spun her mount back in the direction of the central pasture, the sound of multiple small engines alerted her to the fact they were no longer the only humans there. Half a dozen small headlights raced across the empty prairie, bumping over the dried clumps of grass and sage, headed directly toward them.
At first, Mona thought to ride right past them and back in the direction of the house. She pulled the revolver her father had given to her out of the holster strapped to her thigh and aimed at one of the lights. Before she could pull the trigger, the sharp crack of gunfire ripped through the air. Her horse reared, the revolver flew from her hands and it was all she could do to hold on and not be dumped in the midst of a pack of rustlers. Mona yanked the reins, turning the horse in the direction of the canyon and dug her heels into its flanks. As she raced across the prairie, the first fat drops of rain splashed into her eyes.