Chapter 56
Marshall walked with a skip in his step as he fed the horses that morning. Colette was settled in Calgary, out of the hospital, and he could focus… well, as much as focus was possible, on his work and preparing for her eventual move to the ranch.
Permanent move.
If he had anything to do with it.
His conversations with the police had been promising, and a full search of the ranch had been organized to look for Agnes.
Given his uncle’s propensity for wanting to eliminate people who got in his way, there was a strong suspicion that an investigation of the property and the surrounding areas of the town of Rosebud would uncover evidence of Jarrett King’s crimes.
His stomach turned as anger roiled within him.
Having grown up knowing him as only a great role model who watched over him, it pained Marshall to now see his uncle as the enemy.
Jarrett was a sick man, and the extent of his financial and homicidal crimes were only just being discovered.
Marshall’s blood boiled when he considered how close he had come to losing Colette.
Losing everything.
There was nothing without her.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, interrupting his scattered thoughts.
Marshall was grateful for the distraction, since his thoughts traveled in that dark spiral more often than he liked since the attack on Colette.
Flashes of flames, her voice on the phone, the gut-wrenching moment when he found she had been hurt—and almost killed, haunted him.
He could still see flashes of the blood, warm and sticky on his hands.
Closing his eyes, he inhaled before speaking.
“Hi, Grandpa,” Marshall answered, noting Clarence King’s name flashing on the screen.
“Hi, my boy, how are things going?” the older man asked.
“Just trying to get through my days until Colette is healthy enough to come back here.” Marshall’s eyes collected a few tears that he brushed away with his shirt sleeve. The darkness was still a fog that surrounded him when he remembered everything that had happened. That was still happening.
“She’s strong, I know she’s eager to be back. I called her this morning. She misses you something fierce,” Clarence said, inhaling a deep breath.
“Yeah, she’s amazing. Any news about Jarrett?”
“That’s what I was calling you for,” his grandfather began. “I had a good talk with him this morning. I told him no more games; he needed to come clean about everything.”
“And?” Marshall held his breath, wanting to know the truth, but afraid to hear the details and witness the depth of his uncle’s madness.
“The police called me to say your uncle has confessed to everything. Jack, Colette. Everything.”
It was a relief that they wouldn’t have to fight for answers. Hope filled Marshall’s chest at the possibility of more answers. He needed justice for everyone.
“What about Agnes?”
“Police have been given a place to search for Agnes. I’m afraid it’s nothing conclusive yet, but they’ll look until they find her.
Jarrett admitted that he had a hand in her disappearance.
Now we just have to find her. Your uncle is a sick man, and thankfully, my son has been stopped.
” His grandfather’s voice faltered as he spoke the final words.
“Thanks for letting me know, Grandpa.” Marshall’s voice filled the silence. His grandfather was shattered by the knowledge that his own son had performed such evil acts. Marshall hoped finding Agnes would give Callie some peace. “What happens now?”
“Jarrett is where he needs to be, and if I have anything to do with it, he’ll get the help he needs. The world needs to be kept safe from him and his goons.” His grandfather released a loud exhale laced with emotion.
“So he had other guys working for him?” Marshall paced up and down the hall, the horses watching him as he passed.
“Jarrett had a complex web of people working for him, stealing information, paying bribes, and embezzling over three million dollars from the ranch by siphoning funds for bogus fertilizer and supply purchases. And yes, murdering people so he never had to get his hands dirty. He’s named some of them, but there are some he is still protecting. ”
“Wow, I had no idea.”
“You’ve taken on the responsibility for a lot of what has been going on lately, and I’m here to say it stops now.
Marshall, you’ve devoted the last decade to running the ranch, and I’m so proud of you.
No matter what we uncover, you have to remember that Jarrett had some bad characters sabotaging you and trying to discredit you in order to have his son gain control of the ranch.
As far as we’ve learned, Lachlan had no role in this.
He’s devastated. It’ll be up to you if you can still work with him.
I can make alternate plans for Lachlan if it is too much.
I’m hoping the two of you can continue working together and take strides to heal our family. ”
A sob jumped in his throat at the words. “I’ll try, Grandpa. I know Lachlan is ashamed, and he has a lot to process after all this. We both have to work on not taking on the guilt of everything that happened.”
“You can’t blame yourself any more than I do for not noticing what was happening right under my nose.
You make our family proud, and I hope you’ll stay at the ranch, even after everything that has happened.
You wouldn’t be blamed if you wanted to leave now, knowing the extent of everything Jarrett has done. The choice is yours entirely.”
Marshall leaned his head against the wall of Vinny’s pen, letting his grandfather’s words sink in. The warm snuffing sound of his horse’s breath against his ear was comforting and Marshall leaned to caress Vinny’s nose.
Leave the ranch?
How could he ever?
“Thanks for saying that, Grandpa, but I can’t think of a better place to heal than Rosebud Ranch.”
“I understand, Marshall,” Clarence said, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m glad you feel that way. Just let me know if there’s anything you need to help you through this. We’re all here for you.”
Releasing Vinny, Marshall rubbed his chin as he considered. He had everything he ever wanted here, well, almost everything.
Clearing his throat, he decided to shoot his shot. “There is one thing I would like to ask for…”