Chapter 4
Four
By the time they’d ridden back to the ranch house, Jackson had fallen asleep.
Kane carried him inside and laid him on a sofa, and Julie volunteered to stay with the boys.
She found a movie Tauri wanted to watch and gathered a few snacks from the kitchen and waved everyone from the room.
Jenna followed Rhett into the kitchen. They each grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at the scrubbed wooden table.
She took a deep breath. Delivering bad news was part of her job, but when it involved a close friend, it made life difficult.
She looked at Rhett. “I’m sorry to have to say this, but I found evidence to prove that the cabin had been locked from the outside.
There’s no doubt in my mind that your parents were murdered.
Have you found any clues to point to why this happened? ”
“Unless it’s in the safe I discovered in the dressing room, no, nothing at all.” Rhett opened his hands. “It’s as if it never happened.”
“I don’t believe your dad witnessed a murder.
” Kane placed his cup back on the table after taking a sip.
“Anyone normal who kills usually does so in a fit of rage and is remorseful afterward, but if it’s a psychopath, it can be a frenzy or calculated and deliberate—and it’s likely if that type of person was committing the murder and happened to see your father watching, he’d have attacked him as well.
” He looked at Rhett. “More likely he witnessed the aftermath, like the body disposal.”
“So what would be the motive?” Rhett pushed both hands through his hair and raked his head. “Why didn’t my father tell anyone he was in danger?”
“I can think of many reasons.” Carter removed his toothpick and sipped his coffee, eyeing him over the rim of his cup.
“Maybe your pa wasn’t certain of what he was seeing and didn’t want to falsely accuse someone.
From what I hear about him, he was a good man with a high standing in the community.
For someone as young as him, that’s an achievement.
” He raised both eyebrows. “If you consider the number of illegal schemes that could go on under the cover of a successful business like this one, anything is possible. For instance, if your pa had been involved, this place would be perfect for money laundering—but he wasn’t, so we can discount that one.
I’m leaning toward the slave market. They have mostly young inexperienced people coming in as seasonal hands.
They also employ women with young children.
I noticed on one of my walkarounds that a daycare center has been included.
This might be for the permanent staff, I don’t know, but it’s something to look into.
How long has it been here and have children arrived with their parents?
What I’m concerned about is the single mothers.
Unfortunately, sex trafficking is a big trade.
Women and children go missing all the time and are never located.
You would be surprised how many cases I deal with involve sex slaves. ”
“You figure that would be hard to prove?” Rhett’s shocked expression said volumes. He scrubbed a hand down his face and looked at Kane. “I’m sure my father wouldn’t keep silent about something like that.”
Feeling very sorry for Rhett, Jenna met his troubled gaze.
“It would be hard to prove. With so many people coming and going over various time periods, he wouldn’t have known if someone had gone missing unless it was reported to him.
If this was occurring, I would say it would involve someone in authority, mainly because they would be able to cover up the fact that the person didn’t leave on their own volition. ”
“Covering such a timespan and interviewing so many people is going to take time.” Carter narrowed his gaze.
“Kalo will be joining us soon, and he might be able to write software to assist us. He lives for that kind of stuff, and since he’s been working with us, he understands the way of things.
” He cleared his throat and glanced at Jenna.
“I’m here with Bobby because it’s our vacation time and we really haven’t got anything else to do, although I would like to go fishing for a couple of days.
” He paused as if making up his mind what to say next.
“Beth Katz and Styles are also taking a vacation, but they’ll be on call in case anything happens so they’re just going to places where Beth can buy things for her cabin.
She has a place where she likes to go to paint and has been making it into a home away from home.
Last I heard, they were close by in Blackwater.
I’m sure they’d drop by if you needed any help.
This place is huge. We can all stay here, and you know Beth: She’ll dig in places we didn’t know existed. ”
Not wanting to drag the FBI into a cold case, she nodded slowly. “That’s good to know. I’ll certainly call them if we need them.”
“How are we going to approach the hands? Bowman and the others who have been here for a long time?” Rhett rubbed the back of his neck. “If they’re already watching everything we do, won’t bringing up the past be like poking the bear?”
“That’s exactly what we want.” Kane turned his coffee cup around in the tips of his fingers and then lifted it to his lips for a sip.
“Sometimes waiting for the enemy to make a move is the only way to discover their position.” He gave him a long look.
“Most of them should recognize us as local law enforcement. In fact, I’d be surprised if they didn’t, so it’s pointless to hide our weapons.
Everyone knows we’re always armed and our weapons are in plain sight.
As your friends, it would be normal for a new owner to give us the tour, but we’ll make sure we ask the right questions to the right people.
It’s pointless speaking to the seasonal hands because none of them would have been here or maybe even been alive twenty-two years ago. ”
Finishing her coffee, Jenna nodded. “I agree it would be only natural for me to ask about what happened to your parents and the background that goes with it. Most old-timers are more than happy to tell the story of what happened all those years ago.”
“I figure whoever murdered your folks still lives here and they’ve been running criminal activities since before your parents were murdered.
They wouldn’t appreciate anyone interrupting them, so you need to watch your back, Rhett.
One wrong move and you’ll be on their list—the reason being that they would have known the ranch would have gone to you after your father’s death.
Your grandparents would have been too old to take over the running of a place this big, so there would have been two options: Either sell the ranch, and in most cases the leading hands are often asked to remain along with many of the employees when a ranch changes hands.
The second option would be exactly what happened to you.
A lawyer takes over the running of the estate until the beneficiary is of age.
A suitable rancher is chosen to manage the day-to-day running of the place and is selected from one of the leading hands, and the company goes on as usual with little actual supervision.
As long as it makes a profit each year, no one would be the wiser to any underhand dealings. ”
“Yeah, but only a short while after my parents died, my grandparents were killed in a car wreck.” Rhett looked miserable.
“What if they killed them as well, to make sure the second option played out and they could continue whatever underhanded scheme they were involved in?” He shook his head.
“I should replace the lot of them. If I don’t, I’ll be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. ”
Concerned, Jenna squeezed his arm. “That might be the only option if you intend to keep the ranch, but don’t fire anyone just yet. I want to bring the person who murdered your parents to justice.”