Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
“Excuse me?” Ryan stared at everyone in shock. “How the hell did that happen?”
“We’re working on it,” Clark said between gritted teeth. “But that’s not all.”
“When I arrived,” Denver said, and they all turned to him. “I know Clark didn’t call ahead to tell them I was coming, because I didn’t know when I would arrive after leaving San Diego. You know I had to stop and take care of my parents’ affairs. Now that I was out of the service, I could devote more attention to everything I needed to do. It turned out my best friend from high school was renting my parents’ home, and I asked if he wanted to purchase it. He jumped on the chance. I know this isn’t pertinent to this story, but all the years he’d rented from me, I never touched the rent money. It went into a special account. I used that money as his down payment, and cut him a deal on the price. When I left there, he owned the house free and clear. His wife ran a second-hand store that specialized in vintage. My storage unit was full of antiques. She gave me a great price for everything. When I left, I only had a few boxes of memories.”
“Like I did when I left Karen’s house?”
“How did that go?” Reid asked between clenched teeth. He looked at Erin. “His sister is a fucking bitch.”
“Yeah, we can talk later, but let’s just say she was dragged from her house kicking and screaming with cuffs on both her hands and feet, with a hood over her head to prevent her from spitting any more. Kevin said she’d be served with divorce papers while she was in jail. And Caleb, their son, said he’d make sure her things were packed in boxes and set in the lawn, not at the road for the garbage to pick up.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, she even had the audacity to attack me because I survived being captured and tortured. She was counting on my death benefits to redo her house. Little did she know that I had left everything to Caleb. She was pissed.” Ryan reached up and ran his fingers over the scratches on his face.”
“Damn, so you’re finally done with her?”
“Yes, I have no reason to return to Seattle. Caleb and Kevin are good with this. Kevin mentioned that once the divorce is final, he might move, but he’s lived there his entire life and he doesn’t really want to leave his job.”
“What does he do?” Erin sat up with interest.
“He’s a homicide detective for the Seattle police force. Caleb, my nephew, is in his final semester at college. He’s majoring in sports medicine with heavy emphasis on physical therapy.”
“That’s what you did, isn’t it?” Clark asked his sister.
“Yes, does he have a job lined up?”
“Not that I know of?”
“Give him my number to call me. You’ll understand more when you walk the construction site with Clark.” She left it at that and it had Ryan’s curiosity piqued.
“Okay, but let’s get back to the story, why did they get bail? Isn’t cattle rustling a felony crime?”
“We’re working on it, and it turns out that they have someone with deep pockets on their side. This person hates Erin with a passion.” Clark shook his head at Ryan’s shock. “Like I said, we have people looking into it.”
“Anyway,” Denver said. “When I arrived, they didn’t know I was coming and Clark and the team had been called out on a mission.”
“I remember that.”
“Yeah, I finally arrived, and when I saw Opal with a clipboard, I got the immediate vibe of lockdown. Something wasn’t right. I asked to speak with Erin, but was told she wasn’t available. Then I asked for Reid, Lloyd, and Perry. Still not available. I got the impression I wasn’t wanted. I left, but when I got out to the road, I saw at least three trucks turn off their headlights, pulled to the side, and they exited with guns. I went back to tell Opal what I saw. She called Wendel, and then she had me come with her.”
“But not before I asked how you knew the men and Erin,” Opal spoke for the first time. “When I realized he was a teammate, I had him come with us. It was a gut reaction, but I thought if he knew the men it would be easier to keep an enemy close. Wendel called everyone to guard’s Erin’s Way, we women and Denver held down Broken. We didn’t know where Erin was, she and the guys had gone to check out the fence the cattle rustlers had gone through the month before. They were out of cell range, but we kept sending messages, hoping when they got within range they’d see them.”
“We also called Jake from Brotherhood.” Pru spoke. “We had help coming, but it was an hour away.”
“In my experience, as long as you know help is coming, you can endure anything.” Ryan rubbed the scar beneath his missing eye as he said that.
“Yeah, anyway, on the way to Broken, Opal gave me a quick ten minute run-down. It turned out that it was the Firth brothers and this time they had an agent from the SPCA with them.”
“See,” Reid said as he kicked back in his chair. “I had always wondered why Firth first showed up at Broken to get Katie back. He never even stopped here at Erin’s Way. The only way to get to Broken is to drive past here. It screamed inside job to me.”
“Turned out the agent from the SPCA had a beef with Erin from something she had done years ago and he was trying to get back at her.”
“Damn, you pissed a lot of people off, didn’t you?” Ryan laughed down the table at the woman.
“Yep, especially when they tried to steal what was mine.” She went on to explain how she’d been mailed foreclosure papers and how after some heavy investigating she’d been able to save the farm, along with others in the surrounding areas, and send the banker and his wife to jail.
“Let me guess, this agent with SPCA was related to them?”
“Their son. He was in college when this went down, and instead of applying for loans or getting a job to continue his education, he blamed me because Mommy and Daddy couldn’t keep him in his entitled lifestyle.”
“Damn. So he thought what? Revenge best served cold?”
“Yes. He was arrested, and is out on bail. Instead of being on administrative leave, he was fired and they are currently looking into all the cases he handled. There may be more possible charges brought against him depending on their findings.”
Ryan shook his head and looked at Denver. “Did you know any of this when you arrived?”
“No, Opal gave me a little information and I’m not knocking anyone, but I had my sniper rifle with me. The ladies had bean bag rifles.”
“Shit, did anyone get hurt?”
“Only me,” Naomi spoke then. “That fucker Philip Firth tackled me out of my wheelchair. At first I didn’t realize I was hurt, and I pressed charges of assault against him. It turned out to be a good thing, in the long run, but I’m still sticking to pressing charges. When we’re done with them, they’ll be serving life sentences, right along with the person with the deep pockets and the judge they have in their pocket.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of shit to deal with.” Ryan shook his head as he took in all the problems that had been going on at the Riceman ranch for the past year.
“That’s not all,” Clark said as he leaned his folded arms on the table where his plate had been.
“What the hell else could be wrong?”
“My father took out a gigantic life insurance policy on my life,” Naomi said. “The information came from a very reliable source and has since been substantiated by people we trust. So far, no one’s shown up to try to kill me, but we figure it will be only a matter of time. We’re getting our ducks in a row on that front. We’re hoping we can get the Firths and Miller dealt with before we go after my father.”
Ryan sat there in stunned silence for several minutes. When he finally got it in his head what was going on, he turned toward Clark. “Any plans?”
“We’re working on them.” Clark wouldn’t say anything more, and he looked at his sister several times.
Erin exhaled loudly at the other end of the table. “Clark, I know you have something in the works. I’m not stupid. You were the leader of these men for over a decade. You’re all former SEALs. You know your shit. I understand that. I know you’re all secretly planning something to set these assholes up. I only ask one thing of you.”
“What’s that?” All the former Delta team SEALs asked as one.
“Do not leave the women out.” She pointed to everyone around the table except for herself and Naomi. Then she turned her gaze to Ryan. “All the women except for Naomi and myself are former military. Don’t get me wrong, I can wield a gun with the best of them, but I prefer to stay back and let the professionals handle things.”
“Me too,” Naomi said. “Now that I’m vertical, I don’t want any harm to come to the progress I’ve made in being able to walk again.”
“I have a question about that,” Ryan said as he turned to look at her. “After being in a chair all these years, how are you able to walk now?”
“My father and the doctors at the hospital I was taken to after my accident lied to me. I have a fight on my hands, because the horse that stumbled and fell, injuring me, and dying in the process, was drugged. That horse was mine. Benson, my father, paid off the doctors and put me in a coma for several weeks. When I woke, I was told that I had hit my head and that’s why I was in that state. It wasn’t, it was drug induced. While I was out of it, Benson contacted the insurance company and claimed the money on my horse.”
“Let me guess, he didn’t tell you about the claim?”
“Correct, I have all the paperwork on Princess. When my grandfather passed, he left the ranch to me. I in turn made the foreman, a man I trust, in charge. Even gave him the power of attorney over the ranch. He’s had my back all these years. He was the one that told the ranch’s former trainer about the life insurance policy against me. In our research, we’ve found where Benson collected the five million insurance I had on Princess, my horse. I’ve contacted a lawyer here, and he’s looking into things. He will get me into contact with the proper person, and then we can take it from there. Right now, everything is being done on the down low. However, we’re forming a paper trail that will eventually nail Benson’s ass to the wall. Until then we’re trying to come up with a plan for the Firths before we can go after my father.” She shrugged as she looked at him sadly. “We all think it’s better to settle what’s in our backyard before going after someone in a different state.”
“What if you sold your ranch out from under him?” Ryan asked, and looked around the table. “If the person running it now is so trustworthy, what about selling everything, bringing him here, and letting your father flap in the breeze. Where would he be without that ranch?”
“Probably penniless.” Naomi giggled, and looked between Erin and Clark. “I can see that happening.
“Does your father know where you are?”
“No, at least not that I know of. It was a few days after Thanksgiving that I learned of the life insurance against me. Before you ask, no, it’s not something he would do out of concern for me. Benson was basically my sperm donor, my grandparents raised me to be the woman I am. Benson only receives a stipend from the farm. Not nearly enough for his lavish lifestyle. But plenty to support him if he lived like a normal person.”
“I understand.” Ryan nodded his head and watched as the others got up to finish clearing the table. He reached out and grabbed the last deviled egg Pru had brought before the plate was taken away. He chewed, closed his eyes and moaned. “These taste great.”
“Thanks,” Pru said, and grinned at him. “You had a hand in helping.” She turned to the table and laughed. “I had Ryan boil the eggs while I was at work.”
“Do you happen to have any extra eggs?” Virgil asked as he came to the table with a stack of smaller clean plates. Right behind him came Floyd and Wendel with two dishes each. Ryan saw there were desserts. As they asked what people wanted between the cobbler, and pie. Ryan listened to the conversation. He had opted to have a little cherry cobbler, and a slice of apple pie.
“Yes, I’m averaging about three dozen a day.”
“From the chicks you just got?” Erin asked in shock.
“No, from the hens I got at an auction. They’re still laying, and when the chicks start to lay, these ones will molt, so I’ll have eggs all year long. Please, if you need any, come get them. I dropped six dozen off at Gunny’s that night we met Ryan. Not that you guys didn’t already know him, but you know what I mean.”
“Yeah,” they agreed, and they became quiet as they ate their sweets.
Ryan noticed something, and turned to Clark to ask, “No pumpkin pie? I thought that was your favorite.”
“It is, but Naomi can’t stand pumpkin. She gags when I kiss her with pumpkin breath.” He grinned when Naomi reached out and slapped his upper arm. “I figure kissing her is better than the pumpkin pie, so I made a compromise.” He leaned forward like he was going to whisper a secret, but spoke in the same volume as before. “If I really want a piece of pumpkin pie, I come here to eat it, then brush my teeth before I go home.”
“You asshole,” Reid yelled, then laughed as he looked at Erin. “I told you I didn’t eat it.” He turned a glare onto Clark. “Your sister blamed me for eating it and wouldn’t believe me that I hadn’t.”
Clark only grinned, shrugged, and winked at his sister. They all shared a laugh and spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on their lives. By the time Ryan left later that evening, he finally felt like he’d come home. He hadn’t wanted to act like a spoiled child, but as the former members of Delta team had retired or been medically discharged, the military hadn’t felt the same. It had been months since he’d felt like he had a home again. He was glad he’d come to the Broken Wheel, even if he didn’t fully heal, at least he had his family back. That was all a guy could ask for, family.