Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Mason
I took a long sip of my coffee, enjoying the cool of the morning on the front porch of the cabin. Emma was taking Jess to school, and the more time they spent together, the closer they got—and it was heartwarming to watch their bond grow.
But damn, I was tired of being stuck around the house.
Don’t get me wrong, Emma was amazing, and she was there all the time. She made all the meals, cleaned the house, and somehow managed to keep up with her own business—all the while being pregnant. We had the anatomy scan coming up in a week, and I was already nervous. Would I have another girl? Or would there be a hell-raising boy running around?
The sound of tires on gravel caught my attention, especially since there shouldn’t be anyone coming back here. I shifted in my rocking chair, the motion sending a wave of pain through my chest.
“Damnit,” I muttered, wincing. I rubbed the sore spot on my chest and gazed up to see two vehicles tearing down my driveway. I watched in silence as a patrol car and ranch truck parked beside my Bronco.
“You look chipper this mornin’,” Jackson grinned at me as he climbed out. He slammed the door and headed for the steps of the porch, trotting up them in the same way I used to—and now couldn’t.
“Shouldn’t you be working?” I leaned back in the chair, watching as Lucas slowly but surely made his way to the porch. His demeanor was much less positive, and I could only imagine why.
“I am working,” Jackson rolled his eyes, glancing back at Lucas. “And we got a lot to talk about.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “Want some coffee then?”
Jackson shook his head. “No thanks.”
“What about you?” I nodded to Lucas who had just joined us. He was leaning against the porch railing, his eyes downcast to his boots.
Looking up, he shook his head. “Nah.”
I studied his blank expression. “You made any progress with the bank?”
“Nope.” He popped the p in the word, and then glanced over to Jackson. “And we discovered the load of heifers we were going to take to the sale at the end of the month have magically fucking disappeared.”
My jaw dropped. “What?”
Jackson nodded. “Yep.”
“But Graham is in jail. Thought that was supposed to be the end of that. Rangers seemed to think that he was behind the whole thing.”
“Well, either he’s got connections on the outside, or maybe it’s not all that connected,” Lucas grunted. “I’m starting to wonder if Graham didn’t have a hand in it at all. ”
The chair beside me squeaked as Jackson took a seat. “I think that Lucas might be right, and that falls along the same lines that Graham is too white collar for cattle rustling. I almost wonder if maybe he does know something about it, and maybe he encouraged it—but I don’t think he’s the source of it.”
“But no one has found the henchmen, either.”
Jackson avoided my gaze. “Nick and Newman picked them up a couple weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I demanded, irritation trickling in. “I know I’m supposed to be off, but that don’t mean that I don’t deserve to know what the hell is happening with this.”
“Now calm down,” Lucas snapped, shaking his head at me. “No one has probably worried about telling you about it, because you would just get all worked up—like you are right now.”
“I’m not worked up,” I shot back, but then forced my shoulders to relax. “I just… I want justice for what happened to Emma. She went through hell.”
“We know that,” Jackson agreed, giving me a sympathetic smile. “And now they’ve taken care of them. I have no doubt that justice will be served on her—and your—behalf.”
“I sure hope so, but back to the missing cattle… How many are there? What kind of signs did you see? When’d it happen?” My head was swimming with a million and one questions, and honestly, I was hankering to get back out and in the field… Especially considering that the investigation wasn’t over.
“Well,” Lucas began, running his fingertips along his jaw. “They were there yesterday afternoon when I fed. Jake and Cody went out to check ‘em this morning, and they were gone. ”
Cody.
My muscles tensed at the mention of my daughter’s friend. She hadn’t called him her boyfriend—to me, anyway—but I still didn’t like the kid. “You think he really didn’t know what his father was up to?”
Jackson took a deep breath. “I think he’s just a kid, Mason.”
“What about his wife? She was right in the middle of that entire night—I don’t buy that she’s not at least aware.” I hated the subject of Graham for multiple reasons, but the moment that Nick had claimed Brittany had no idea…
I just didn’t buy it.
“I don’t know,” Jackson admitted. “But I don’t think she’s in the middle of cattle rustling. Brittany was raised around here, but she’s no cowgirl.”
I nodded, agreeing with that at least. “Just seems like we’re missing something. I think someone is trying to sink you, Lucas.”
“Do you happen to have a list of potential buyers?” Jackson turned to Lucas, who was looking more and more perplexed as we talked.
“No, Sam Ricardo down at the bank has all that shit. No one is coming to me directly anymore.” His voice sounded strained as he ran his finger along the top of the railing.
“I think I should head down there and see if I can get a list.” Jackson pushed himself to his feet. “Don’t you think?”
“Well… Yeah,” I said, shifting in my own chair. “I could go with ya.”
Jackson shook his head. “Emma would kill me if I took you along. She said you’re not supposed to go back to work until next Monday, and if I break the rules, she’s gonna come after me.”
“Oh come on,” I argued. “You know as good as I do that going down to talk to Sam is not gonna put me out. It ain’t like I’m gonna go chasing fugitives or something.”
“He has a point,” Lucas reasoned, shrugging his shoulders.
“No,” Jackson snapped. “I’m not getting in a fight with your old lady. No freaking thanks. Y’all have a nice day, and I’ll let ya know what I find, boss.” He gave us both his usual tip of the hat and smirk, before trotting down the steps and heading to his patrol car.
“That kid is a mess,” Lucas commented with a chuckle as he tore out of my driveway.
“He’s good at his job though—I have to give him that,” I said with a sigh, taking a sip of my now cool cup of coffee. “He works hard, and he cares about the town.”
“A lot like you at that age.” Lucas turned to me, and I saw the real Lucas under the fa?ade of blankness he wore for the first time since he had shown up. He was exhausted and worn down. He was unrecognizable from the Lucas I had known my entire life.
“You look like hell.”
He nodded as he walked over to where Jackson had been sitting just moments before and took a seat. Lucas leaned his head back and let out a heavy sigh. “I’m gonna lose it.” The defeat in his words damn near broke my heart.
“Come on, you don’t know that. We can fix this.”
“We can’t fix it in the time that I have. I’m just gonna have to hope that Sam makes the right decision on who he sells it to. He said there’s a chance they might let me keep a section and I can build a cabin there—but even that’s a reach.”
“You can’t give up yet,” I reasoned, leaning forward. “Emma came up with the idea?—”
“I don’t wanna hear your ideas right now,” he cut me off, shaking his head. “I just would rather not. I ain’t in the mood today.”
I nodded, deciding not to push it. “I think you’ll figure it out. But…” my voice trailed off as I stopped myself.
“But what?”
“I don’t know about that Cody kid.”
Lucas chuckled, leaning his head back. “You just don’t like him because he’s a fan of Jess. He really ain’t that bad of a kid, given the upbringing he had. He works hard for little pay?—”
“That’s ‘cause he ain’t ever had to hurt for money,” I snapped, shaking my head. “Kid gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants it.”
“Yeah, and his dad’s in the damn jail for kidnapping and extortion. He’s stuck living with his crazy stepmom. I don’t think he’s got it all. I don’t think anyone ever has it all. You should get to know the kid.”
I hesitated, not wanting to admit that he had a point. “I don’t know.”
“Yeah, ya do.” Lucas laughed. “You’re just protective over Jess, and I don’t blame you for that. You’ve got every reason to be, and you’ll be protective over your next one, too.”
“Yeah… Yeah, I will.” My heart thudded a little extra at the thought of the baby coming. “I just hope that all this mess has blown over by then. I don’t like the idea of having to have a baby in the middle of this investigation. I know that we always got shit going on, but this is just… It’s just bad.”
“Yeah, I sure feel for the others that have lost their cattle, too. John and Annie are just devastated. They ain’t near my scale in size, but it was still how they were paying for things, you know? It still was their livelihood. Whoever the hell is doing this needs to be stopped.”
I nodded. “I just wish we could get a lead that was worthwhile. I guess Graham didn’t give the Rangers any information about it?”
Lucas shrugged. “I don’t know. They didn’t tell me anything. They’ve been poking around the ranch a lot though. Part of me feels like they’ve got their eyes on me for some reason, and I don’t have nothing to hide—other than the fact that I ain’t got the right kind of insurance. But it had never mattered in the past—and that’s not some kind of criminal offense.”
“I’m sure they’re just trying to do their job,” I reasoned, though I did understand how it could make a man feel that way. “Graham was working on a larger scale than we thought, and he had a lot of money wrapped up in his development projects. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not somehow still connected.”
Lucas was silent for a few beats. “Mason… I got something to admit to you.”
My stomach knotted up. “What is it?”
He blew out a sigh and ran his hands down his Wrangler denim. “I just don’t think that it’s Graham behind all the rustling.”
I raised my brows. “And why do you think that?”
“Because Graham was threatening me over the sale of the ranch, and never once did he bring up the cattle. I think he would’ve put it out there… But I don’t think he knew enough about cattle to know how much they were worth. He’d mention the house, the barns, the land… But never mentioned the cattle. He could’ve easily spooked me with that. ”
I considered the point. “So what do you think it is then?”
Before he could answer me, my phone rang, the sound startling me. I dug it out of my pocket, seeing Ron’s name on the screen. I hit the answer button and held it to my ear. “How’s it going?”
“We found ‘em, Mason. We found the cattle.”