Chapter Twenty-three – Good News #2
It wasn’t just dread now but fear that crawled through me. It felt like I was sitting in the interrogation room of the San Diego police station all over again, faced with people thinking I was the worst kind of human. A thief. A drug dealer. And now an attempted murderer.
My brain whirled, trying to pull the pieces together, trying to figure out who would do this.
Who would try to frame me while taking the ranch down at the same time?
It couldn’t be JJ. It didn’t make sense.
Wylee had said the car had been stolen a whole week before Mom’s accident, and that was just after JJ had proposed.
He’d wanted to marry me. So what would he have gained in running Mom off a cliff?
A memory tugged at the back of my brain—something I wasn’t sure I would have ever recalled if I wasn’t faced with all these quiet accusations.
“The alarm at the stable in San Diego went off one night. The owner called everyone out to check on our horses and the equipment we had stored there. The only thing I was missing was a sweatshirt.”
Wylee frowned. “That’s pretty damn convenient.”
“Convenient!” Parker exploded. “What the hell would her motive be to do any of this?”
Wylee ran a hand over his jaw. “That’s the piece I can’t quite put together, and it bothers me. You were already set to inherit the ranch, not your mom, so you’d have no reason to get rid of her.”
Anger broke through the panic and fear. “Go to hell.”
I stood, and the world spun. I had to grab on to Parker’s arm so I wouldn’t fall into the glass coffee table.
Wylee stood as well. Again, he looked momentarily ashamed, but then his face went blank again.
“I’m glad to see that reaction out of you, Fallon.
I want to believe the fierce kid I knew is still the woman before me, but the facts are piling up in ways that don’t match.
And the truth is, we haven’t seen much of you in the last six years. I don’t know who you are anymore.”
It tore at my insides that I wasn’t sure I knew myself either. But I’d be damned if I let him see that.
“If you think, for even one second, I could do any of this to my family, my staff, and my guests, then you never knew me at all,” I spat. “Get the hell out, and don’t come back until you can apologize and give me the name of the person who did this to me and mine.”
Wylee headed for the door, snapped his hat on his head, and said, “I’ll validate the break-in with the stable owner in San Diego, and I’ll give you a list of the components of the timing device with your prints on them.
Maybe you can figure out how you came in contact with them.
But we have the video showing you at the cabin the night before it blew, so if you have a lawyer, you might want to think about contacting them. ”
He closed the door quietly behind him, and I just stared at it with a vision gone blurry with tears. More damn tears.
Parker tugged me to him, and I went with ease. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my cheek against his chest. His warmth bled into me. His strength held me up.
A sob escaped before I could catch it.
He sat, pulling me into his lap, and I let him.
He grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.
His was steel glazed with fire. “We’re going to figure this out.
We need to widen the list of suspects, anyone in San Diego who you might have had a beef with, not just JJ and Ace.
Whoever this is doesn’t just want to hurt you.
They want you arrested. They want you to lose everything. ”
“Celia.” Her name was out before I’d really even thought about it.
But once it was, I realized it was a very real possibility.
“No one has seen her in months, but she stalked me, Parker, everywhere, including the stables where I kept Daisy. She was nearly feral when I testified against Ace. They had to remove her from the courtroom.”
Parker was quiet for a moment. “I’ll ask Cranky and the guys to find out what Ace knows about her whereabouts when they have their conversation with him and JJ.”
“Excuse me?” I frowned, pushing up so I could see his face. “You can’t have them beat up. If you do, everyone will definitely think I was involved and that you’re my accomplice.”
He guffawed. “My guys won’t leave a mark, but we’ll get what we need out of those two douchebags.”
Parker wiped the tears from my face with gentle thumbs, and it made my stomach bottom out. Not only from the tenderness of the move but from the look in his eye. The one I’d always wanted to see that was full of promise. Full of much more than just affection.
I dragged myself away from him, and he watched me with narrowed eyes.
“Fallon—”
A knock on the door had us turning in that direction.
The room spun with it, and I had to grab onto the arm of the couch to stop myself from falling.
I hated it. Hated the weakness almost as much as I’d hated the nausea swamping me for days now.
I needed it to stop. I needed full use of my faculties to figure out what the hell was going on.
Through the wavy glass on the front door, I caught a glimpse of Teddy. I made my way over and opened it with Parker grunting his disapproval behind me.
Theo ran in first, straight for Parker, his face all smiles.
“I rode a pony!” he screamed, dancing around. The tiny voice smashed into my skull, but I still smiled. How could you not when faced with so much excitement?
Parker picked him up, and his lips broke into a smile as large as Theo’s. “Did you? I can’t wait to hear all about it.” Then, he stuck his nose in Theo’s neck, snuffling, and the little boy laughed. “Man, do you smell like a horse or what? I think you need a bath.”
“Teddy says if you don’t smell at the end of the day, you didn’t do your job right.”
Parker looked over at Teddy, who barely hid his smile. “Maybe Teddy needs to be the one to dunk you underwater and do your laundry.”
Teddy had left the door open, and I watched as the ranch van pulled up behind him—the one we used to transport guests back and forth to the airport.
Kurt was behind the wheel, and Lance was in the front passenger seat.
As the vehicle came to a stop, the side door slid open, and more of my management team, including Andie, Francois, and Olivia, piled out.
I hadn’t figured out what to say to them yet.
I’d been sideswiped by Wylee and his accusations.
I needed to get my arms around all of this before it blew up in ways that were more permanent and lasting than the loss of a cabin.
Before it ended the legacy my parents had worked so hard to save for me.
My head hurt. But the pain in my chest, the throbbing in my heart, was worse.
For the first time in as long as I could remember, I didn’t want to face any of it. I wanted to tuck my head under the covers and forget everything that had happened since graduation.
? ? ?
Somewhere in the last fifteen minutes, my body had started to give out. The angry spike of adrenaline Wylee’s visit had given me had disappeared, leaving me even more exhausted. I felt like I was drowning, an undertow pulling me under.
Except, I didn’t have the energy to fight it. I just wanted it to take me under.
“With the resort shut down, what will happen to the Fourth of July festivities?” Andie asked. I hadn’t taken a bullet today, but I still felt as if I had a hole in my heart that grew with every decision we’d made since my staff had arrived at the house.
We’d agreed to officially close the resort for the next two weeks. It was in the middle of our busiest time, but it was the only thing to do. I wouldn’t keep guests on the ranch if I couldn’t guarantee their safety.
With a gut clenched tight, I’d also told Andie to refund all the current guests their money and offer them a future complimentary stay.
For those on the excursion with me today, we’d provide additional compensation for pain and suffering.
Some of the guests had already left, and I’d call each of them tomorrow.
For the guests who were still here while rearranging their travel plans, I’d meet with them before they departed.
The hole inside me grew, knowing we’d also have to break the tradition we’d started eight years ago.
Since the resort opened, we’d hosted the town’s Fourth of July events.
Rivers’s residents and guests had mingled on the ranch, participating in various sporting competitions, shopping at craft and food booths, and dancing in the twilight by the lake.
The night always ended with a fireworks display watched from temporary bleachers assembled on either side of the lake.
Calling the celebration off was just one more failure weighing me down.
“I’ll call the mayor tomorrow,” I said. “We might be able to move everything downtown and hold some of the events at the county park.” I watched while Andie took meticulous notes and then met each of the staff’s concerned gazes.
“We’ll need a skeleton crew to maintain the resort and care for the animals. Any suggestions?”
If none of the staff agreed to stay, I could handle most of the priority tasks myself.
I’d done it before. After Spencer had died, Mom and I had handled all the animals and the crops for months before Dad had shown up and rehired our ranch hands.
Worst case, I could call Dad, and he and Sadie would show up to help.
But the idea of bringing them and my siblings into this mess, into possible danger, made the sour taste in my mouth return.
“You’ve already agreed to continue paying the entire staff while we’re closed, all the way through the end of July if needed,” Kurt said dryly, as if the fact they were still getting paid should be enough for folks to show up when they might be used for target practice.
“We can offer a bonus to anyone who agrees to stay,” Kevin suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” I responded. It would be yet another hit to our bottom line, but I’d cover it from my personal accounts.
I could take the loss, but not indefinitely and not if I ever wanted to get the large animal rescue up and going without turning to Dad for help, and he’d already provided me enough.
My job was to manage what I’d been given, not keep running back to the well for more.
“We’ve got additional guards arriving tonight and tomorrow.
They’ll be setting up more cameras and instituting some other undisclosed security measures.
Hopefully, that will reassure any staff who agrees to stay,” Parker said, speaking up for the first time.
He’d mostly just sat, watching me with those intense eyes, waiting for me to stumble. I was almost there.
“Speaking of staff,” Lance said, clearing his throat.
“There was a man at the lake earlier who rescued a swimmer with a cramp. He was wearing an outfit that looked a hell of a lot like one of our security uniforms but wasn’t.
” Lance showed Parker a photograph from his phone. “He isn’t your shooter, is he?”
Parker shook his head. “No. Too short. And his hair is too light. What was his excuse?”
“Said he was hired to watch over things and then shut down tighter than a clamshell,” Lance said.
“Where is he?” Parker demanded.
“Had to let him go. Really didn’t have anything to hold him on, especially seeing as he’d just rescued a guest,” Lance said. “I did send his name and details to Wylee, and he said he’d pull him in for questioning.”
“Send me what you got, and I’ll dig into it on my end,” Parker said.
Silence settled down, and I cleared my throat, pushing through the haze of weariness one more time.
“Andie, set up an all-hands-on-deck meeting for tomorrow morning. Let them know we expect everyone here, even if they weren’t scheduled to work.
They can ask questions, and we can reassure them they’ll still have a paycheck while we find this guy. ”
Everyone started collecting their things and heading for the door.
“One more thing,” Parker said, and everyone turned to look at him.
“Wylee—” And for the first time in the last hour, panic shot through me.
I didn’t want him to tell the staff what the sheriff had said.
I didn’t want them to know I was being targeted in more ways than just a gun.
Not yet. His eyes narrowed, but he cleared his throat and changed tactics. “We’ve had a few cameras messed with—”
“By the old Hurly house and some near the fire road,” Lance cut him off, his tone defensive. “We’d already noted it before you showed up. We just haven’t had a chance to check them out yet.”
Lance’s tone sent a shiver up my spine. Not necessarily at him, but at the simple reminder it might be one of these people in this very room who were involved with what was happening.
Someone had hated me enough, or had been paid enough, to sabotage me and set me up for an attempted murder charge.
Someone with access to our cameras and our gun cabinet. And Lance had access to all of it .
Parker narrowed his eyes on my head of security.
Lance was a husband and a father. He and his family had merged into the Rivers community with ease.
His wife was on the PTA with Kevin’s wife.
Their kids were involved in sports. Why would he come after me?
Why would he destroy the ranch that was his livelihood?
God. I hated doubting my people.
I hated everything about this.
Every. Single. Piece. Of. It.
Teddy cleared his throat. “I’m heading over to the Hurly house tomorrow for Lauren. She’s looking for an old family album. I don’t know much about all your tech equipment, but I can move a damn camera so it’s facing the direction you need.”
Lance nodded at him. “I’ll give you the angles.”
Parker opened the front door and gave them all a pointed look. In another lifetime—one that had ended mere hours ago—I would have harassed him for sending my staff on their way. Now, I was just too exhausted and overwhelmed to object.
The team left, telling me to get some rest with eyes full of concern.
Except, there was a good chance one of them was faking that concern. One of them, or one of the hundred or so who would show up at the meeting tomorrow, had turned against me—for some reason I couldn’t even fathom. Money? A perceived slight?
Ever since I’d reminded Parker about Celia, my brain hadn’t gotten her out of my head.
Whenever I’d run into her while she’d been tailing me in those months after Ace’s arrest, there’d been venom in her eyes. A rattlesnake, coiled and waiting. One I’d been stupid enough to think had slithered away into the forest, never to be seen again.
I’d even felt half worried, half guilty that something horrible might have happened to her.
Now, it felt like another thing I’d missed. Another failure in the ongoing list of them.