Kevin’s Destiny (Broken Wheel Ranch #17)

Chapter 1

Kevin Lassiter scrubbed his face before he tossed his pen on the papers on his desk and sighed heavily. He was sitting in his home office, and going over the list he had made to finish up his life in Seattle. He settled back in his chair, picked up his glass of bourbon, and stared into space.

He reached for the phone on the corner of the desk, picked up the receiver and dialed. Only then did he notice the time and hoped it wasn’t too late in the evening for his call.

“Riceman,” came the clipped female voice over the phone.

“Erin, it’s Kevin. Kevin Lassiter.”

“Oh, hey, Kevin. How is everything?”

“Good. Quick question. Do you still need a security officer?”

“I do, I actually need two. Are you available?”

“I will be soon, but yes. I’m getting my life in order here. I need to meet with HR next week to discuss my retirement, then I need to report to my captain. I want to make sure my current cases are closed, or at least close to being closed before I walk away for good.”

“Do you have a timeline as to when you might be here?”

“Not really, maybe a rough estimate of two months.”

“Perfect. You’ll see it you when you get here, but I’m having a security office built at New Double.

That’s where your office will be. Hopefully, I’ll be getting information for the people that Clem will send to me for RRR.

I would like them to work at New Double until RRR is ready.

You’ll be doing background checks on them, also you’ll be making sure the people that will be coming to New Double to see the racehorses for sale aren’t bad. ”

“Background checks on them too? What type of people?”

“Yes, there would be buyers, trainers, jockeys.”

“Doesn’t New Double already have a jockey and trainer?”

“Yes, for Naomi’s horses. However, if someone wants to purchase one of her horses she’s going to sell, then the owner will probably come with his trainer, and the trainer will want to bring their jockey. You know, have the jockey ride the horse to see how it races, and the trainer can watch.”

“Got it, now I totally understand.” Kevin nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. He chuckled after he took a sip of his bourbon. “You’re not going to expect me to ride a horse, are you?” He grinned when he heard Erin’s laughter.

“Nope, you’ll be security, just like Duane is.

Oh, and in case I didn’t mention this earlier, I have someone else that’s coming to do the same thing as you.

They also have to clean up their lives. The two of you will be working together until RRR is at the point that it needs security.

It will be up to the two of you to figure out who wants to work where.

I don’t care, as long as someone stays at New Double, and someone transfers over to RRR. ”

“How are you doing with the construction on the new ranch, and have you figured out what you’re going to name it? You keep saying RRR, or Triple R, do the R’s stand for anything?”

“Riceman Rodeo Ranch.”

“Nice, I like that. I’ll keep you posted with my timeline for my arrival. Don’t laugh at me, but do you need to do a background check on me?”

“Nope, Duane and Jake did one when you came to visit Caleb when Katherine came here.”

“Got it.” He shook his head and smirked at how thorough Erin was. It was going to be good to work for someone like that, and he couldn’t wait to get there.

“Do you want me to mention anything to Caleb? Not that I see him every day, but I don’t want to mess up a surprise or anything.”

“Please don’t. I’m not going to not tell him, but I still have several things to do here, and when I get closer to the time, I’ll reach out to him.

” He chuckled and shook his head, though she still couldn’t see him.

“After I clean up my work, I have to clean out the house. I’ll be calling Caleb to see if he wants me to bring the stuff he left here when he moved to Colorado. ”

“Ah, I totally understand. This is none of my business, what about Ryan? Do you want me to tell him?”

“Again, no. I’ll reach out before I leave. What I’m about to tell you is just between the two of us for now.”

“Okay, I can keep your secret, but only as long as it doesn’t harm anyone.”

“It won’t. You know about my divorce, and how my ex-wife, Karen, went to prison.”

“Shit, that’s right. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, she deserved it. Anyway, my plan is that once my work is done, and I’m ready to leave here, I’m going to go see her and tell her that whenever she gets out, then she’s on her own.

I’m also selling the house, all her stuff is in storage, and I stopped paying for it.

The owners of the storage facility know where she is.

They’ll wait a few years, give her a chance to maybe get parole, then have an auction for lack of payment. ” He grinned when he heard Erin giggle.

“Not that I know about these things, but I’ve heard you and Caleb discuss your ex before. Is there anything of hers that you put in storage that could make you money?”

“What do you mean?”

“Again, this is based on what I heard you, Caleb, and even Ryan talk about her expensive shopping habits. Again, I don’t know these things, but did you happen to pack up any purses or shoes that might be expensive?”

“I have no clue, like you, I don’t know about that crap. However, I have seen charges on my credit cards for expensive things. I’ll look into it. Thanks for the head’s up.”

“You’re welcome. Good luck with what you have to do, and keep me posted. Not about everything, just when you’re leaving Seattle.”

“Okay, should I come to Erin’s Way, or can I go over to Broken Two to see Caleb? Oh, and which ranch will I be staying at?”

“Yes, to stopping in to see Caleb. You can either stay in one of those cabins, to be closer to your son, there are two empty ones there. Or you can take a cabin over at New Double.”

“Don’t hold me to it, but I’ll probably take a cabin at New Double. As much as I love my son, and miss him, I don’t want to be right next door and him thinking I’m keeping an eye on him.”

“I understand. Thanks for calling, Kevin. I look forward to seeing you soon.” They hung up. After a few minutes, thinking about what Erin had said, he accessed his old bank accounts, then looked up items on the computer. Several hours later, he leaned back with a heavy, but flabbergasted sigh.

“Holy shit, Jesus, Karen, why the hell would you spend thousands of dollars on one purse?” He looked over at his list of things to do before the move, he added the notation of checking out the storage locker to see if he could find the purses and shoes he’d shoved in a box when he’d packed her stuff after she was arrested, and he had filed for divorce.

He rose from his desk and wandered the house, trying to recall the happy memories he had shared with his son and wife, and couldn’t recall one with Karen.

Not in this house, he hadn’t moved in here until after Caleb was born.

Which left his first two to three years with Karen okay.

Reflecting back, they, or rather, he, hadn’t been blissfully happy.

With Caleb, he had a whole separate list of things he needed to discuss with him.

He didn’t expect his son to return home to help him pack, but he would like to know what the younger man wanted done with his high school trophies, yearbooks, and other things he had saved over the years.

Kevin looked at his watch, and saw it was only eight o’clock on a Sunday night. Instead of returning to his office, he decided to go up to the attic to see how much stuff had been placed there over the years, and whether he would take it with him, or toss it.

Two hours later, he stood in his living room with his fisted hands on his hips, and shook his head in awe.

He had found several boxes buried, ones that he had thought were empty, and was going to set them out by the road.

However, after he lifted the first one, he opened it and was shocked to see a pair of shoes inside.

Upon further inspection, he hauled fifty-six boxes from the attic and set them on the coffee table.

After opening each one, he had divided them between shoes and purses.

Baffled, he pulled his phone and dialed his son.

“Dad? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because it’s late at night. Not that late, it’s only nine here, so that puts you at ten. You never call this late.”

“Sorry, I was going to call you about this later, but I need to talk to you now.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m making lists to clean up my life here, then I’m coming to Colorado.”

“Really, that’s great! Do you know when?”

“I’m hoping to be there in two months. I have a meeting with HR next week. I also have a couple of cases on my desk that I need to either close, or pass off. Once I meet with HR, I’ll be going to my Captain and telling him about my retirement.”

“That’s great! So, why are you calling me now?”

“Earlier tonight, I called Erin Riceman to see if she still needed another security officer. She does, so I’ll have a job at New Double when I get there. However, we got to talking, and I went looking.”

“Okay, I don’t know if I want to ask.”

Before he had called his son, he had snapped photos of the items he had found in the attic, and sent them in one e-mail as he talked with the younger man.

“I just sent you an e-mail. I mentioned your mother in passing to Erin.”

“Why?” Kevin could hear the bafflement in his son’s voice at his confession.

Kevin sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck. “I think it’s more for me, but when I’m ready to leave here, I’m going to stop by the prison one last time to see Karen. I was going to reach out to ask you if you wanted me to tell her anything.”

“No.” Caleb’s voice had turned to steel. “She made her bed, now she can lie in it.”

“I agree, and like I said, it’s for me to see her one last time, then when I walk out of that prison, I will never see her again.

I mentioned to Erin that when she was sent away I boxed up all of her things and put it in storage.

When I stopped in to make the storage payment, I told the manager that this was the last time.

He could deal with whatever is in there. ”

“Good, I’m glad you finally realize you don’t have any financial obligation to her anymore. She sucked you dry enough when you were married. She shouldn’t be able to continue to do it from behind bars.”

“That’s what I thought, or rather, Erin mentioned if Karen had expensive items that I didn’t know if they were expensive, and just shoved them in the storage unit in my haste to get rid of them.”

“Were there?”

“No clue, I haven’t gone there to look. However, I went to the attic to get a look at what I’m going to be dealing with when I pack up.”

“Yeah, last I knew there wasn’t much up there.”

“Did you open the e-mail?”

“No.”

“Do it,” Kevin said, and then grinned when he heard his son swear.

“What you’re looking at, I found in the attic stacked up, and hidden behind the holiday decorations.

I know I’m an investigator for my job, and I’m damn good at it.

However, I have no clue where to even begin to look into what this shit is. ”

“Give me a minute,” Caleb said and Kevin heard some rustling. “Katherine’s over at her mother’s. Let me run over there and asked them. You’re on speaker, by the way.”

“Thanks, Caleb.” He heard a door open, close, then another one do the same, then his son’s voice.

“Hey, Katherine, Dad’s on the phone. He found some things my mother left in the attic and wants to know if they are worth anything.”

“What’s that?” Kevin heard then two women exclaimed in shock.

“Kevin, this is Ilsa, where did you get this stuff?”

“The attic. I’m thinking that maybe Karen hid them from me when she purchased them. I had caught her doing that over the course of our marriage.”

“Damn, I’ll give you three thousand dollars for the red bag and matching shoes.”

“Excuse me?” Kevin almost dropped the phone when she spoke.

“Kevin,” Ilsa said with a laugh. “Please, don’t be offended by what I’m about to say, but it’s the God’s honest truth.”

“Okay, what’s that?”

“Your wife might have been a first-class royal bitch, but she had great taste. What’s in these photos are top tier shoes and handbags. What size are they?”

“Six and a half.”

“I’ll say this again, I’ll give you three thousand for the red shoes and purse.”

“Which set?” Kevin asked as he looked at them all. “I only sent a few photos. There are over fifty boxes here. Now that you mention it, it looks like there might be a pair of shoes that match the purse. Like the red ones.”

“If it’s not too much to ask, can you bring them to Colorado with you?

I know I don’t wear heels much now, but I like to be prepared.

I’m not saying I’m going to purchase them all, because from just what I saw in the photos you sent, that’s close to ten thousand dollars sitting there.

If you bring them, I promise I’ll help you look them up, and sell them. ”

“Damn, Dad. Sounds like you might be able to recoup some of the money Karen took from you. Because you and I both know that she didn’t use her own money to buy this stuff.”

“You’re right about that, Caleb. Okay, Ilsa, I’ll pack them up. Katherine, would you want anything?”

“I can’t answer that until I see them, but yeah, I’d like to look.”

“Fair enough. Thank you for your time.”

“I can’t wait until you’re here, Dad.” Caleb answered and they ended the call. Kevin shook his head as he looked at what was piled in his living room and sighed heavily. He was probably going to have to get a bigger U-Haul than he anticipated when he packed.