Chapter Ten
“So I was thinking about the set.” Shane held the
door open for Brooke, allowing her to go before him. It was late and he’d spent
the evening watching the rehearsal and then working on the light board while
Brooke finished up her fittings and Bay sat and drew. He had some nice sketches
of the cast now. “Everything is on wheels.”
The last few weeks had been damn near perfect except that
Brooke was still not talking to her brothers. It apparently had made the shower
her sister-in-law had thrown the day before the slightest bit awkward. Well,
not any more awkward than Nell protesting it since she was one of the guests of
honor and he’d been told all of the babies had been blessed by the beet, as
Cass called it. Still, Brooke seemed to be in a good mood, and he couldn’t wait
to get her home.
“Yes,” Brooke replied, moving out onto the walkway that ran
all the way up Main Street, connecting the stores and restaurants. Though the
actual buildings were mostly modern, there was an old-school Western flair to
the center of Bliss. The theater was at the end of the street, and the parking
lot across the way. It was one of the only parking lots in the town, and at
this time of night it was fairly empty with the exception of their truck and a
couple of SUVs. The only other lot was on the opposite end of Main behind the
Sheriff’s Department.
He hoped that one had better lighting.
The streetlamps had come on, but it looked like the ones in
the parking lot were out.
Bay seemed to see the same thing and moved to get in front
of Brooke.
Not that anything dangerous would happen in…
He reached for her hand, so she didn’t walk ahead. If there
was something going on, he wanted either him or his brother to find out first.
But it was most likely a burned-out bulb.
“It’s so they can move the set around quickly during set
changes. I think they’re keeping it fairly simple,” Brooke explained. “Kind of
like my wardrobe.”
He was fascinated by her and by the job she was doing, and
that included the set. He liked the theater, though he hadn’t had many chances
to go. In high school the drama class had put on a production of Our Town
and he’d gone to every performance since he volunteered to help with the props.
He liked the camaraderie of the theater.
He’d kind of liked that no one compared him to Bay there
since his brother fell asleep during the performances.
But he’d stayed so Shane didn’t have to walk back to the
group home in the dark alone.
He looked up and down the street. It was quiet, with only
the lights from Stella’s at the other end and Trio illuminating the night. “I
saw they had some artwork on wheels.”
She nodded, her fingers threading through his like they were
made to be together. She followed him as they began to cross the street. “Yes.
Several of the sets revolve around a drawing room. Originally it takes place in
turn-of-the-century Russia. Cleo wants to set it in the modern era with a
Western twist. So the location is outside an Army base here in the States, but
the house where the three sisters live needs to have touches of their former
life in Moscow. Though in this case Denver is substituted. Hence the nice tea
set and the artwork. It’s to show a longing for something they lost.”
There was a problem. “The desk hides the wheels well, but
the artwork looks like it’s on a chalkboard,” he pointed out.
Brooke winced. “Yeah, I thought it was clunky, too. I
understand the need to move things quickly and in the dark, but the paintings
look weird.”
He had a solution. “But the pulley system is right there.
And it’s in layers to accommodate four rows of curtains. Why not use one for
the artwork and the mirror? Then it would look like it was hung on the walls.”
She stopped in the middle of the street, her expression
going to what he’d come to think of as her thinking face.
He let her stop because it wasn’t like there were cars
coming.
“I like it, Shane.” She nodded as though she could see the
thing in her head. “You could hang them by strings so they’re fragile and could
break easily. Like the sisters. It’s a good idea, and it would move just as
quickly.”
“More.” A thrill of pride went through him, the kind he
always got when he solved a problem. “Because you move it from backstage.”
Brooke smiled, sending another kind of thrill through him.
“That is smart. You should talk to Cleo about it in the morning. I know she’s
got some issues with the set design. Is it weird that I’m kind of excited to be
working for very little money? I think I’m being paid in popcorn and free
passes.”
He squeezed her hand. “I think it’s wonderful that you’re
helping out.”
“Hey, guys.” Bay stood on the sidewalk opposite them. “We
seem to have a problem.”
Brooke’s expression fell. “What?”
Shane started to lead her toward Bay. “What’s happening?”
“Someone slashed our tires.” Bay frowned. “You know, I don’t
expect that here. We’re not even into high tourist season. Who’s going around
slashing the tires of a shitty old truck?”
A chill crept along Shane’s spine. He let go of Brooke’s
hand and went back to inspect the truck himself. Sure enough, all four tires
were done in, and someone had smashed the passenger’s side window and rifled
through the cab. Not that they had anything to steal.
“Hey, Elisa.” Brooke had her cell to her ear as she and Bay
joined him. “We’ve had our truck vandalized. We’re in the parking lot across
from the theater. Yes. We want to file a report at least. Sure. See you in a
couple of minutes.” She hung up. “Elisa’s coming. She won’t be long.”
“Why would…” Bay’s head shook. “Never mind. I know why.
People are assholes. Unless this is the work of the Sasquatches. Mel warned
me.”
“It wasn’t a Sasquatch.” Shane was worried it was something
else. Something tied to their past. It had been months and they hadn’t heard
anything. He thought they’d left it all behind when they fled in the night. “Do
you think there’s any way this is Kingman?”
Brooke’s head turned, like she’d scented an excellent story.
“Kingman? Like Kale Kingman, the rancher who owns a big portion of Wyoming? Why
would he slash your tires?”
“Well, I don’t think he would do it himself.” Shane’s gut
was in a knot. Had it taken the man this long to find them? They hadn’t talked
a lot during their short stay on the ranch, so it was definitely possible no
one knew about their connections here in Bliss.
Bay’s head shook. “Nah, he has people for that.”
“He has people to do crimes?” Brooke asked, her eyes wide.
“And you’ve seen this? You saw Kale Kingman’s ranch hands commit crimes for
him? I knew they got that show from somewhere.”
“I never watched the show. I have to deal with ranch shit
all day. I’m not going to sit around and watch it at night.” It was precisely
why he liked shows about other times in history. And action shows. And science
fiction. And anything but damn Westerns where they usually got shit wrong.
Ranch work was boring. Well, for the most part. Apparently not so much if the
rancher was Kale Kingman.
“We never saw that,” Bay countered, and there was something
about his sigh that raised Shane’s hackles. He sounded dismissive. “Of course
there were rumors, and Shane once thought he saw something, but it wasn’t
anything. There were always jokes about how if you found yourself on the wrong
end of Kingman, there was a nice canyon you would spend eternity in, but that’s
not real. Shane overheard some talk, but again, it was only talk. It was more
of an excuse to get us out of there.”
Brooke turned Shane’s way. “Bay said you saw something.”
He was surprised his brother didn’t believe him. “I
overheard something the night we left. They talked about handling the new guys.
We were the new guys.”
“See, I know he’s saying he doesn’t watch Yellowstone,
but I assure you everyone in the bunkhouse did, and I think that got into
Shane’s head and when he heard something about the new guys, his imagination
went a little nutsy,” Bay offered. “He was unhappy there. Hell, I was unhappy
there, but they paid well. He woke me up in the middle of the night and we took
off. It’s been more than five months. It’s not like anyone has come after us.”
“What if he didn’t know where you were?” Brooke seemed to
get into the mystery.
He was annoyed by his brother and the fact that he would
bring this up in front of Brooke. “I wouldn’t make that shit up.”
Bay sighed. “I didn’t say you made it up. I said you blew a
small thing out of proportion. Don’t make the same mistake now. I’m not calling
you a liar. Brooke, baby, this is a random thing. Probably done by kids who
were looking for money or something to sell, and when they realized they tried
to rob the shittiest truck in the county, they got upset and slashed the
tires.”
“Which kids would that be?” Brooke asked. “Because my niece
is all about shins. She is not into tires. The only young people who could do
it wouldn’t.” Her head tilted. “Unless they saw it as a way to force us to Fuber.”
“Fuber?” Shane asked.
“Yeah, I’ve decided it’s what I’m calling their business,
and I’ve got a design logo in mind. Not that it’ll go anywhere. The Farley
brothers are headed to college soon. So see, there’s not even a financial
reason for them to fuck with the truck.” She checked her watch. “Also, it’s
almost ten, so they are probably off the clock and safe from the devil. Which
begs the question of how we’re getting home. Because it’s not going to be in
that truck.”
The only truck they had. Damn. They probably had the money
to replace the tires, but it was going to be tight. He still had to buy Bay a
suit for the gallery show and shoes that had never stepped in cow shit.
“I guess I can call Trev,” Bay offered. “He can send one of
the other hands out to pick us up. I hate waking everyone up. The main houses
are both lights out by nine o’clock.”
Because they had young families, and at least Trev and Bo