Chapter 34
“You can’t be serious?” Dillon stared in shock at Chet Thompson as they stood in the stable. “Hank stole my horse.”
The ranger sighed as he briefly looked at the ground before returning his gaze to her. “I’ve searched every inch of his property.”
“You’re one man. Did you really think you could find Legacy on your own? Of course, Hank was moving him around so you wouldn’t find him.”
Of all the shit that had gone wrong over the last couple of weeks, this was one that Dillon honestly believed would be resolved in her favor.
Then again, that was when she’d thought that Cal was on her side.
It seemed that life hadn’t done enough to her.
But it seemed it wasn’t just going to kick her when she was down.
It planned to stomp all over her.
“Wait,” she said, suddenly remembering something that Chet had said. “I thought you told me you weren’t out here alone. That you had help.”
He nodded once. “I do.”
“And?”
“We found nothing.”
Dillon threw up her arms and turned, taking a few steps before letting them slap against her legs. “He can’t get away with this.”
“If he has the horse, he’ll never be able to sell him.”
She rolled her eyes, her hands on her hips as fury simmered. “Oh, that makes me feel so much better.”
“I’m sorry, Dillon. I really am.”
She couldn’t even look at him.
Chet cleared his throat. “I’ve submitted my report. My advice is to call your insurance agent and get things rolling with that.”
Dillon already figured that with the insurance money and drawing some out of her savings, she would be okay.
But for how much longer? If she bought another stallion, would Hank steal that one, too?
Would she be fighting him for the rest of her life?
The ranch was her sanctuary. She didn’t want to lose it.
But she didn’t have the wealth to go up against Hank and his cronies.
However, all of that hinged on whether she was alive to fight him.
“Have you heard anything from the sheriff’s department regarding their investigation into who shot at you?” Chet asked.
Dillon shook her head. “I’m sure the evidence will lead nowhere, and it’ll become a cold case. Up until they do manage to kill me.”
“I think I know the answer, but why don’t you sell?”
She turned to look at him. “This is my home. I shouldn’t be bullied—in any fashion—to sell what is legally mine, all because some wealthy jackass wants it. Someone has to stand up to him.”
“And that has to be you?”
“Who else will do it? Hell, even you’re leaving.”
Chet’s chest deflated. “If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to call me.”
Dillon didn’t respond. The ranger had been the one person she could trust, and now he was leaving. She was irate with him for not locating her stallion, and incensed with Hank for everything else.
“Take care of yourself, Dillon,” Chet said as he touched the brim of his hat and walked away.
She didn’t move until his truck was down the lane.
She looked around, trying to figure out what to do next.
Her gaze went to Legacy’s empty stall. Then she walked to Cupid and rubbed her hand down his forehead to his velvety nose.
She rested her cheek against the sorrel stallion’s head as tears threatened.
“Good news for you, boy. You won’t have to share the mares with anyone now.”
She stayed like that for a moment more and then lifted her head. Cupid’s soulful, dark eyes watched her. She got the feeling that he recognized the myriad emotions within her and was offering what comfort he could.
“This is why I prefer animals to people,” she said and kissed his cheek.
She gave him a scratch behind his ears, his favorite, before heading to the house.
Dillon didn’t say anything to Dusty or Emmett when she spotted them.
She wasn’t in the mood for anyone that morning.
The last thing she wanted to do was get on the phone with the equine insurance company, but it was better to get that out of the way and move forward.
Especially when there was no other place for her to go.
Thirty minutes later, she hung up the phone and sat back in her chair. She wasn’t motivated to do anything. Unfortunately, the ranch didn’t care about her emotional or mental state. Just as she was about to get up, her phone rang. The instant she saw Les’s name pop on the screen, she answered.
“Tell me you found Dr. Maxwell,” she said.
“Hi, yourself.”
Dillon lifted her face to the ceiling and clenched her free hand. Then, she lowered her head and calmly said, “Hey, Les. How are things this morning?”
“I found her.”
“Her?” Dillon asked with a frown. “Dr. T.M. Maxwell is a woman?”
“Yep. Her final month of practice was the month that Dolly went in. Terry retired to Cabo San Lucas right after that.”
Dillon blew out a breath. “But you got ahold of her?”
“I did. We just got off the phone. When I told her how Dolly died, she thought the call was a practical joke from one of her friends. Apparently, they play some pretty wild pranks on each other often. Anyway, once I made her understand that my call was serious, she wanted to see the medical examiner’s death certificate.
I emailed it to her. She wasn’t happy that an autopsy hadn’t been done. ”
Dillon placed her elbows on the desk. “Emmett was with Dolly when it happened. He saw her collapse and called the ambulance. They pronounced her dead once they arrived.”
“And the medical examiner noted on her report that the cause of death was natural, giving no need for an autopsy.”
“What did Dr. Maxwell say to all of that?”
“She said that had she known about this, she would’ve demanded an autopsy. She went on to say that tests and screenings can’t find everything, but she had discovered nothing that would’ve suggested your aunt was in poor health.”
Dillon swallowed. “People die all the time.”
“Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?”
“Emmett told me she died of a heart attack.”
“Without an autopsy, the ME couldn’t have determined that. Only an external examination was done, and no toxicology tests were administered. The ME made their ruling of natural causes and a heart attack based on what they discovered.”
Dillon began to shake from fear or anger or a combination, she wasn’t sure. “Is there a chance that Dolly was murdered?”
“No one could make that determination without an autopsy.”
“But?” Dillon prodded.
Les sighed heavily. “It can’t be ruled out, either. If Hank wants the ranch, chances are he tried to buy it from Dolly before you inherited the land.”
“There won’t be a record of that.”
“Sadly, no. Not unless he made a formal offer as he did for you. But my guess is he didn’t.”
Dillon slammed her fist on the desk. “I know less than I did yesterday. I feel like the walls are closing in on me.”
“Get out. Right now. Don’t even pack a bag. Just leave, Dillon.”
She loved the ranch, the animals, and the house. But was it worth dying over?
As if sensing her indecision, Les said, “I’ll make sure you don’t lose the land. There are some legal things we can do. I’ll go over all of them with you. First, you need to get to safety. Because I don’t know about you, but I don’t think you can trust anyone there. I’m scared for your welfare.”
“I know.” Her gaze moved around the office. She couldn’t help but feel that if she left, she would never return. Yet, she could only fight for her ranch if she was alive. “I’m getting in the truck as soon as I hang up.”
“Oh, thank God,” Les said, relief in every word. “Don’t say anything to anyone. Just get in your vehicle and get on the road.”
“Where do I go?”
“Come to Dallas. My girlfriend is moving in with me. You can stay at her place.”
Dillon had to admit that it sounded like a good idea. “I never thought it would be my lawyer who saved my life.”
“Hey,” Les said with a chuckle, “we can be heroes, too.”
“I’ll call you from the road.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
She hung up and glanced at the desk. Dillon briefly thought about putting things in a locked drawer, but if someone came in, they’d just bust the lock. She turned to the computer, intending to set the password so they couldn’t get into that, at least, when she spotted Cal on camera.
“What the hell?” she murmured.
Cal didn’t want to be here, but he had no choice. Ever since Hank had informed him at breakfast where they were headed, Cal had been trying to figure out how to get in touch with Dillon to warn her.
He hadn’t been given a moment alone to text or call anyone. His stomach churned. He couldn’t look at Hank or Isaac. They were no longer human beings to him. They were monsters. That was the only explanation for men who could so coldly and callously plan someone’s murder.
They fact that they were smiling and laughing about the riches that would soon be theirs as they rode in Hank’s truck to the meeting spot with Emmett only confirmed to Cal the greedy, demented men they were.
“You’re quiet,” Isaac commented to him from the front seat.
Hank looked over his shoulder at Cal in the back seat as he drove. “He’s thinking of all the things he’ll be able to do with his share of the money. Wouldn’t surprise me if he got himself a ranch of his own.”
Isaac chuckled. “We’ve waited long enough for our payday. It’s about time we got it.”
Thankfully, Cal didn’t have to reply as the two stroked each other’s egos, talking about how great they were to have put such a plan together. It made Cal sick. It also caused dread to settle uncomfortably within him—a feeling he feared wouldn’t leave anytime soon.
Cal’s hands were clenched in anger when they arrived at the same section of fence line that he had tracked Legacy to that first day.
Emmett was there, waiting with the UTV. The old cowboy didn’t wear a smile as he watched them alight from Hank’s truck.
His expression was stern, his gaze hard as he ordered the three of them to get into the UTV.
“You don’t need to tell us to hurry,” Hank said with a laugh. “I didn’t sleep at all last night I’m so excited about this day.”
Emmett said nothing as he started the vehicle and put it in drive.
Cal’s mind raced, trying to find an opportunity to get word to Chet or someone else for help. Then he thought of Dillon’s other employee. “What about Dusty? We don’t want witnesses.”
“Don’t worry about him. He’s on the southwest portion of the ranch. He’ll be too far away to see or hear anything,” Emmett replied.
Cal inwardly grimaced. His last hope had been Dusty. He wouldn’t give up, though. He couldn’t. Dillon’s life was on the line.
“Where is she?” Isaac asked.
Emmett glanced at the lawyer in the back seat beside Cal. “She’s been in the house ever since the ranger came this morning.”
Isaac rubbed his hands together. “Everything is going as planned.”
“Of course, it is,” Hank replied, his chest puffed up with vanity. “Enough things have gotten in our way. There will be no more obstacles after today.”
All too soon, they arrived at the barn. Emmett parked behind it so the vehicle couldn’t be seen from the house.
Cal reached for the handle and opened the door, slowly pushing it wide as he thought about making a run for the house to alert Dillon.
He stepped out and found himself standing before Emmett. They stared at each other silently.
How had he not seen Emmett’s true nature?
If Cal would’ve discovered the man’s involvement sooner, then Cal might have been able to stop things from reaching this point.
He didn’t want to go to the barn. Didn’t want to do anything but run to the house and pull Dillon into his arms. Cal wanted to stop the madness, but he hadn’t figured out how yet.
It would be just him and Dillon against Emmett, Hank, and Isaac.
The odds were stacked against him every way he looked.
“Here I thought I was the master of deception,” Emmett said.
Cal shrugged, doing his best not to pound the old man into the ground and send him to Hell as he deserved.
Emmett smirked, his mustache tilting slightly. “You don’t remember me from that night, do you?”
“Nope.” No use lying. Hank had offered very little to fill in the blanks of the night Cal had gotten drunk. It was better if he didn’t try to pretend otherwise.
Emmett snorted and walked even with him. “You’re a cold bastard to have gotten Dillon to fall in love with you.” He smiled. “Good going. You fooled even me.”
Cal’s heart dropped to his stomach the minute he heard that Dillon was in love with him. He spun around and watched Emmett walk to Isaac and Hank. The three men stared at him, observing him carefully. Cal realized that they were trying to determine if he was really with them.
That’s when he knew. If they thought for even a second that he wasn’t on their side, they would kill him. That couldn’t happen. He had to be able to help Dillon.
He shoved aside his fear for the woman he loved and went to them. “What now?”
“Open all the gates,” Hank ordered.
Cal didn’t argue as he walked past them and through the stables.
He didn’t go to the paddock nearest him.
Instead, he walked across the lawn where he knew the camera was and headed to the gate farthest away.
All Cal could hope for was that Dillon had the screen up on the computer and saw him.
If she was smart, she’d call Chet for help.
Hell, even the sheriff’s department. No one could make a 911 call disappear.
“Come on, darlin’. Come and find me so I can get you to safety before the psychopaths find you,” Cal whispered as he opened the first gate.