Chapter 8 #2
His biggest concern was that Ben hadn’t recognized the danger until it was too late. The boy hadn’t understood the grunting sound as a warning. And worse, Ben hadn’t picked up on Royal’s reaction either. His K9 had set off the alarm, barking to alert Ben of the impending danger.
He glanced over to where the kid was watching television.
He and his siblings had grown up on the ranch.
Joel had learned about how to recognize and deal with wildlife at a very young age.
Chase had spent a lot of time hunting and fishing, eventually opening his own guide business.
Chase had learned everything he knew from their father.
Obviously, Ben hadn’t experienced a similar upbringing. Joel would need to spend some time with Ben in the woods, teaching him about the various signs of danger. Like the bear scat Joel had noticed once the danger had passed.
Finding fresh bear scat should have put anyone nearby on high alert. And if he’d been there to see it first, he’d have made sure Ben avoided that area.
When he finished browning the ground beef, he added the spaghetti sauce, then set about making noodles. His phone rang, and seeing Chase’s name on the screen, he silently groaned as he answered.
“Why haven’t you called me?” his brother demanded.
“Hey, Chase, how are you?” Joel kept his voice calm. He moved off to the side so his voice wouldn’t carry into the living room. “You talked to Griff, right?”
“Yes, but I’d like to hear what’s going on from you.” Chase’s sarcastic tone made him wince. “You told Anna you were helping a friend, not that you were smack in the middle of danger.”
“To be fair, Trina and her nephew, Ben, are the ones in danger, not me.” Joel knew his eldest brother was protective of them, especially the younger siblings. “I’m just trying to keep them both safe.”
“Which puts you in the middle of danger.” Chase’s voice rose in anger. “Come on, Joel, be straight with me. What’s going on?”
“I honestly wish I knew,” Joel admitted, cutting his older brother some slack.
“That’s why I called Griff for help. Trina’s sister died in a mountain bike accident at the end of May.
She has guardianship of her eight-year-old nephew, Ben.
At first we thought Ben’s father was the one doing this, but he happens to be serving a short stint in jail for assault and battery.
There’s another former boyfriend of her sister who the cops are still trying to locate. ”
“An eight-year-old, huh?” Joel knew his brother was thinking of his five-year-old son, Eli. “That’s not good.”
“Exactly why I’m here.” Joel sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t call; things have been a little hairy over here. Ben stumbled upon a mama grizzly protecting her cub.”
“Oh man.” Chase let out a low whistle. “Did you have to put her down?”
“No, but it was a close call.” He glanced over to where Trina was engrossed in her laptop computer. “Can’t say I’ve ever been that close to a mad grizzly before. Thankfully, everything turned out fine. I do think Ben could use some wilderness training.”
“Every kid should,” Chase agreed. “So you really have no clue who’s behind these attacks?”
“Not yet.” He filled his brother in on Peter Thomas. “He’s our top suspect. Hey, is Griff around? He was heading out to interview some of Trina’s former boyfriends.”
“Not that I’m aware of, but Rocky and I just got back from a search ourselves.” Chase sighed loudly. “It’s crazy how many calls we’re taking. Anna is worried we’re going to end up turning people away if things don’t calm down.”
“Sorry to be out of the rotation.” Joel kept an eye on the kettle of water that needed to boil. “I’m hoping Peter Thomas is our perp. If so, it shouldn’t take the Laramie and Cody PD to find and arrest him.”
“I hope so. But promise to keep me in the loop going forward.” Chase made the request sound like an order.
It was tempting to remind his brother that he was twenty-nine, not a kid. But he simply said, “Sure thing.”
“Oh, and call if you need more backup,” Chase said. “We’re busy, but our family comes first.”
“I will. We should be fine here at the cabin Kendra found for us. Later, Chase.” He ended the call and set his phone aside.
It was hard to stay angry at his oldest brother considering how Chase and his sister Maya had never hesitated to give up their personal lives and careers to return to the ranch after their parents died.
Joel knew the siblings had grown closer during that time, especially when Maya had come up with the idea of changing the luxury dude ranch into a mission of search and rescue.
Months of training had brought them even closer together.
Maya had already been a K9 cop, so she’d taken the lead on the dog training aspect of the plan along with the trainer she’d hired.
Chase had used his hunting guide skills to make sure every one of them could survive and navigate through the wilderness using a compass.
He was glad his oldest siblings were now married and having kids. They certainly deserved to be happy. Didn’t mean he was planning to head down that path.
Yet as he glanced over at Trina and Ben, he couldn’t deny the weird twinge near his heart. Giving himself a mental shake, he realized the water was finally boiling. He dumped spaghetti noodles into the pot and began to stir.
“Dinner will be ready in fifteen,” he called.
“Okay,” Ben said, his gaze focused on the television.
“Great, thanks.” Trina set her laptop aside, then came over to join him in the kitchen. “What can I do to help?”
“Nothing. It’s all under control.”
She opened the cupboards until she found plates and cups. “Thanks again for making dinner. I’m really glad I was able to get some work done.”
“I told you, it’s better for me to keep busy.” Her comment made him wonder if she hadn’t gotten support like this in the past. Not that he wanted details about her dating life.
“Who was on the phone?” She glanced at him questioningly as she set the table. “Did the Laramie police find Peter Thomas yet?”
“That was Chase. My oldest brother,” he added at her confused look. “Maya is the oldest of all of us, then Chase. From there, it’s Jessica, Shane, Alexis, me, Justin, Trevor, and Kendra.”
“You’re older than Justin?”
“By a full three minutes.” He’d often teased Justin about being younger. As if three minutes mattered.
“I can’t imagine having nine kids, but especially twins,” Trina murmured.
“Yeah, I have to admit, it was a lot.” He grinned.
“I sometimes wondered if our parents had more kids so they could make us work the ranch. Everyone had to chip in to do chores. Justin and I ended up spending a lot of time in the barn with the horses. On the bright side, we always had someone to hang out with. That part was fun.”
“You sound so close.” Trina tucked her hair behind her ears. “Evie and I were close while growing up but drifted apart a bit after her marriage.”
He nodded and tasted a noodle to make sure they were cooked before removing the pan from the stove. He dumped the noodles into a colander and ran cold water over them. “We grew closer after our parents died. Chase and Maya were great in keeping us together after that.”
“I wish I’d been closer to Evie over the past few years.” Trina sighed. “I should have moved to Laramie when she asked.”
“Hey, my older siblings lived in different cities too.” He didn’t think there was any reason for her to feel guilty over living her life. “I don’t think that’s unusual.”
“Maybe not.” She grimaced. “Still, it would have been an easier transition for Ben if I had.”
“Hindsight,” he reminded her. “There’s no way you could have anticipated your sister would pass away. Besides, Ben’s doing fine.” He gestured to the noodles. “Dinner’s ready.”
“Thanks.” She moved past him into the living room. “Come on, Ben. It’s time to eat.”
“Can’t I watch the end of this?” Ben barely glanced at her. “It’s almost over.”
“Five minutes,” Trina said firmly.
“Okay.”
He caught Trina’s gaze. “I need to get Royal’s dog food from the back of the SUV. I’ll be back in a minute.”
She nodded.
When Joel returned, Royal unfolded himself from the sofa, stretched, then trotted into the kitchen. Joel smiled. “You know it’s dinnertime, don’t you, boy?”
Royal wagged his tail, lifting his nose toward the container. Joel scooped kibble into a bowl and set it on the floor for his K9. He filled another bowl with water, then stood back for a moment. Royal sniffed the air again, then sat and stared up at him, waiting for the command.
Joel made him wait a full thirty seconds before telling him to go get it. Royal jumped up and quickly went over to eat.
“I’m impressed at how well behaved he is,” Trina admitted. She turned as if to tell Ben to hurry up, but the boy was already heading to the table.
“Royal is a good boy, isn’t he?” Ben reached out to stroke Royal. Thankfully, his dog wasn’t food protective and didn’t react in a negative manner.
Trina carried the spaghetti meat sauce and noodles to the table. Once they were seated, she looked at him expectantly. He nodded and glanced at Ben. “Put your hands together, Ben. We’re going to say grace.”
“Again?” Ben asked, as if confused.
“We say grace at every meal,” he explained. “And when we’re finished, we say, ‘Amen.’”
Ben glanced at Trina as if to ask why but then nodded. “Okay.”
“Lord Jesus, we ask You to bless this food we are about to eat. We are also thankful at how You protected us today when we stumbled across the grizzly bear. We ask that You please continue to keep us all safe in Your care. Amen.”
“Amen,” Trina and Ben said simultaneously.
Trina served Ben first, then spooned spaghetti and noodles onto her own plate. He waited to go last, making sure there was some left over in case Trina or Ben wanted seconds.
“Yum.” Ben twirled his fork in his noodles. Then he glanced up at Joel. “Do bears like spaghetti?”
“No, bears usually eat fish and berries.” He glanced at Trina, and added, “But you do need to be careful about leaving food outside. Bears love sweets and will come to eat whatever you leave out.”
Ben’s eyes widened. “You mean that big bear might come back?”
“Only if you leave food outside.” He was trying to walk the line between teaching Ben about animals and keeping him safe while not being afraid. “Normally, bears don’t bother people, unless there’s food nearby or if they’re protecting their cub.”
“A cub is a baby bear,” Ben said. “We learned that in school.”
“That’s correct.” Joel nodded. “I saw a bear cub nearby this morning, which is why that mama bear got mad at us for being too close.”
Ben’s expression turned thoughtful. “I didn’t see a baby bear.”
“I’ll teach you how to recognize bear scat,” Joel said. “That way you’ll know to avoid bears moving forward.”
Trina looked as if she wanted to argue, but when he held her gaze for a moment, she kept silent.
He sensed she’d rather keep Ben inside rather than risk him running into a similar situation as he had today.
The problem with that approach was that you couldn’t wrap kids in bubble plastic to keep them safe.
Ben frowned. “I don’t want to see another big bear.”
“Exactly,” Joel agreed. “If you knew how to identify bear scat, you’d know there was an animal close by and could head back home, rather than risk seeing one.”
The boy considered that and nodded. “Okay. I’d like to learn that.”
“Great.” He took a bite of his spaghetti. It wasn’t half bad, if he said so himself.
“You really think that will work?” Trina asked in a low voice.
“I do, yes.” He arched a brow. “I can show you too.”
She wrinkled her nose, then sighed. “Okay. I’ll learn, too, then.”
“We’ll take a look after dinner.” He figured the mama grizzly was long gone by now.
They ate in silence for several minutes. From the way Trina picked at her food, he sensed the talk about bear scat had ruined her appetite.
He was just finishing his meal when his phone rang. He rose from the table to grab the device off the counter. This time the caller was Griff, so he quickly answered, hoping for news. “Hey, Griff. How did it go?”
“Well, I was able to knock one guy off the suspect list.” Griff sounded weary. “I learned from Toby’s parents that he’s working the rodeo in Cheyenne. Just to be sure, I contacted the rodeo organizers. Toby absolutely is working there for the entire season.”
“Okay, that’s good news, I guess. But what about Robby or that other guy, Luke?” Joel was most interested in Robby.
“Luke Davenport works for a river rafting company during the summer. I’ve left him a message but haven’t heard back yet.
Robby Rawlings is supposed to be working as a bartender at the Horseshoe Saloon, but he called in sick for the past two days.
When I went to his apartment, nobody answered the door. ”
Joel frowned. “You think Robby is behind this?”
“I don’t know, but according to his fellow bartender at the Horseshoe, Robby had a big blow up with his girlfriend two weeks ago.
Sounds like the girlfriend told him off and that another guy had to grab Robby to keep him from slugging her.
” Griff’s voice was flat with anger. “Rawlings clearly has anger issues.”
“Just like Brian Ashland.” Joel frowned. He didn’t like knowing the guy hadn’t been at work for the past two days. Maybe it wasn’t too farfetched to think the guy was out to get revenge on those who hurt him.
Like Trina.