Chapter 13
Crystal had to admit she was keeping an eye out in case Ashton came outside again. He’d looked world-weary and tired when he had dropped her off at the barn. As soon as she saw him step out and head toward her, she walked over and said, “Hey, you look like hell.”
Khan bounced forward, giving Ashton a huge greeting.
He smiled at the dog’s antics, as he cuddled Khan. “Thanks so much, Crystal.”
She chuckled at the way he said it. “Well, I didn’t really mean that as bad as it sounded.”
“No, you meant it exactly the way it was. And that’s okay.”
“What are you up to now?” she asked, as he stopped halfway between the barn and the house.
He shook his head. “I was going to ride over, but I guess I’ll just take the truck.”
“Take the truck where?” she asked.
He started to walk, as she raced up beside him.
“I have to go take care of Oliver’s horses, and he has dogs, and we don’t know if he’ll be kept overnight at the jail,” he shared.
“So, I’ll go fork them some hay, check on their water, and give the dogs some dry food.
Oliver’s not sure they’ll eat and probably won’t be very happy because they’ve been locked out because of all the first responders’ presence.
I want to take Khan with me.” He whistled, and Khan came running and jumped into the back of the truck.
“Is Oliver okay with you being over there?” she asked.
“I talked to him and have an okay from him and the sheriff to do chores.”
She nodded. “I’ll come with you but will bring my dogs with us this time.”
“You don’t have to,” he said, shooting her a sideways glance.
She opened the passenger door. “No, I don’t.
And, given the circumstances right now, you’re right.
I mean, his animals need to be looked after.
And Piper and Joe have been left alone enough these last few days.
They can sense the unrest, just like the rest of the animals.
This will be good for them and Oliver’s dogs too.
Besides, Khan shouldn’t get all the fun. ”
“I also don’t think Oliver had anything to do with this,” he added.
“I was thinking the same thing, but that leaves very little in the way of options as to who did have something to do with it.”
“I know,” he agreed. “I was hoping I could go back in and take another look at where Grandpa was being held and see if I might have missed something.”
She didn’t say anything but settled into the passenger side of the truck.
When they got over there, she looked around and suggested, “Horse barn first?” They walked into the barn, dogs barking in a pasture to the side, several of the horses nickering.
Oddly enough, Khan was also wandering nearby the main house, as if searching for something.
They both patted him, gave him some treats, and he walked around the barn, staying close but seriously interested in the house. Not the stables. Not farther back where the equipment was parked.
Ashton kept an eye on Khan while checking the horses’ water, then grabbed the grain. Crystal’s dogs, instead of following Khan around, stuck closer to her.
As Crystal grabbed a hay fork, she shared, “We’re doing the right thing, and, with any luck, at least the animals will feel that life is continuing as normal, as it should.”
He looked at her and asked, “How long ago did Max die?”
“Oh gosh. Last year, I think? Not all that long ago.”
“Do you know what he died from?”
“Cancer,” she said, “at least that’s what the rumor was.”
“Cancer?”
Something odd was in his tone that she was not getting. “Ask Oliver about it.” She stared at him, and he was lost in his thoughts. “You don’t think he had something to do with his brother’s death, do you?”
He turned to her and shook his head. “No, I don’t. I mean, unless somebody tells me that Max was murdered, then that would be something else entirely.”
The rest of the time, they both worked in silence, taking care of the horses, putting water in the pens. Khan stuck around, watching them but staying close to the main house. Finishing off the chores, they both stepped out into the yard.
“So, the other issue,” he began. “We know what happened with the Wilfords—that Sean was knocked down and they took the War Dog.”
“Yes, and your point is?” Crystal asked.
“We got Khan back. We got Grandpa back. What we didn’t find,” he said, turning to frown at her, “was Sean.”
She stopped in her tracks. “Surely that’s not connected.”
“I don’t know,” he replied, frowning at her. “Obviously we found Grandpa, and I’m delighted for that. But where the hell is Sean?”
She groaned. “And you feel responsible for that too, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t feel responsible,” he corrected, as he walked closer, reached out, and cupped her face.
“Yet I came here for the War Dog. I came here for Grandpa. I’ve got the dog.
I’ve got Grandpa. We still have a big mystery as to where Grandma is hiding—or off doing whatever she’s doing. And we still have to find Sean.”
“Shouldn’t the sheriff be doing that—finding Grandma and Sean? Don’t you have enough problems to deal with already?”
“I don’t like things that are not tied up in neat bows.”
She smiled, leaned in, and whispered, “I’m really glad you’re back. I mean, things were so boring before you got here.”
He burst out laughing, dropped a kiss on her forehead, and muttered, “You knew I was coming back.”
“Yeah, I knew you were coming back,” she quipped, “but not when, and I sure as hell was getting damn tired of waiting.”
He shot her a look and shrugged. “I did say five to six years.”
“Yeah, and it feels like I’ve been counting every day since five years came and went,” she muttered, half under her breath.
He nodded. “Me too, but the recovery was a whole lot worse than anticipated. And, I have to admit, I was a little worried about how you would handle it.”
She shot him a look.
“And I know Grandpa told you about it, so that’s obviously not an issue.”
She snorted. “Maybe not an issue,” she began, “yet I didn’t know that much. I mean, in terms of details. He told me that you’d been injured, that you were in rehab, and that you apparently didn’t want any of us to show up.”
“It’s not that I didn’t want any of you to show up,” he corrected. “I just needed to get into a better state first.”
“That makes sense too, knowing how hardheaded you are,” she snapped, “but it was pretty damn hard on us. I kept getting every detail from Grandpa, but it was always secondhand.”
“And yet you sent me birthday cards, Christmas notes,” he teased, “all very impersonal.”
“Sure, it was always like that. We shared a kiss and nothing else. Everything you did was impersonal,” she pointed out.
“Except for the last time,” he noted, with a twinkle in his eye.
“Yeah, except for our last reunion, six years ago. And you saying you would be back for me, but then you didn’t come back, so what the hell was I supposed to do with that?”
“You were supposed to move on with your life. And have a chance to find somebody to move on with in your life,” he explained.
“I was trying to give you time and space. After the accident, Grandpa told me that you weren’t dating anybody.
So, I worked harder than I even thought possible to try and get myself whole again, just so maybe I could be here before you found somebody else. ”
“What else did he tell you?” she asked playfully.
“He told me about your stepbrother asking to marry you.”
“Yeah,” she grumbled, “that was a shock and a half. And I still don’t quite understand what was going on in his mind.”
“I suspect what was in his mind was the thought that you might end up with part of the property,” he suggested. “John’s always thinking ahead if it suits him.”
She stopped to consider that. “Jesus, does anybody do anything for the right reasons?”
“Sometimes,” he replied, with a cheerful grin in her direction. Just then came a sharp bark from Khan.
He turned to Khan, staring at the dog.
Khan barked again, spinning to stare at the house. Piper raced over to stand beside Khan whereas Joe stood at Crystal’s side.
Something bothered the dog, and, even as Ashton stared closer, the hackles on the back of Khan’s shoulders slowly rose. The growl in his throat deepened.
He stepped forward, placed an arm around her.
She muttered, “Okay, I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Neither do I,” he confirmed.
“Oliver’s dogs are in the back pasture,” she noted.
Sure enough, Ashton heard dogs howling in the back. “So, they sure don’t like something either.” He nodded. “Okay, we’re done with the horses.” He called Khan over, and he came but reluctantly. Ashton snapped a lead onto Khan’s collar and announced, “We need to go check this out.”
“Are you sure?” she asked in a quiet tone. “For all you know, whoever is involved in Grandpa’s kidnapping is there too.”
“And maybe Sean is there.”
“Given his reaction,” she said, pointing to Khan, “we don’t know what’s going on.”
He turned to her. “You’re right. I want you to go back to the truck and stay there.”
“Yeah, no. Last time you left me with the horses, Oliver came up behind me and scared the bejesus out of me,” she shared. “No more spooky stuff like that. I’m coming with you.”
He frowned, obviously not liking it.
She shook her head. “Too bad. Let’s go.” With that, she strode off, with much less confidence than she hoped she was showing, as she headed toward the front door of Oliver’s house. They stepped inside and were met with an odd and eerie silence.
She looked at him and asked, “Weren’t you in here before?”
“Sure. Same time you were. And then we came out when the deputies got here.”
“Right. So, we were in the living room, but we weren’t anywhere else.”
“No, we weren’t.” He walked around the main floor and called out, “Everything looks okay here. Nothing out of place.”
“Let’s go check on the dogs out back. Maybe that’s the whole purpose of Khan’s disgruntlement.”
Khan’s nose was on the ground, focused, sniffing around.