Chapter 8
8
T ravis helped buckle the boys in their car seats in Chloe’s vehicle. The talk he needed to have with Guy had to wait. He hadn’t returned home yet. Annmarie had acknowledged the text Chloe had sent about relocating the boys to the ranch. Annmarie agreed to stay there for the time being.
“I can’t figure out what’s weighing on Conrad’s mind,” Chloe said once they were on the road.
“More than the death of Beaumont and the surprise sibling?” Travis asked.
“That’s probably what’s causing him to be so introspective,” she said.
“The quiet ones always are,” Travis pointed out. Conrad was the youngest brother at age twenty-nine and had never been much of a talker.
“Kade is concerned about Conrad’s budding relationship with Beau,” she said.
“Maybe you should address your concerns with Kade.”
“He’s caught up in new baby bliss,” she said. “It would be a shame to kill that over family stuff that ends up draining everyone.”
“Have you come up with a solution for the ranch?” Travis asked.
“No,” she said with a sigh. “There are stipulations in the will for us to receive our inheritance, which surprised no one. We could easily get around those legally if we were all in agreement.”
“I’m guessing Beau is the holdout.”
“You’d be correct.” She studied the patch of road in front of them. “I can’t help but wonder if Beau is working on Conrad, trying to win him over to his side—especially after our conversation.”
“Would it be awful to take over the ranch and run it as a family unit?” Travis asked.
“Giving Beaumont what he wanted, even in death where he isn’t here to gloat, rubs most of us the wrong way. But I’ve never been certain of where Conrad stands. The twins requested a meeting today, but I asked for it to be pushed back until tomorrow.” She glanced at the phone she’d put in a cup holder. “Now that word is out, I’m a little surprised my phone isn’t blowing up.”
“Word might not have reached everyone yet,” Travis said.
“Kade will worry. I’m not looking forward to breaking his baby bubble.”
“He is your brother. As far as I can remember, he always looked out for you.”
She nodded. “Being the oldest, I think he stepped up to take responsibility for all of us. If we turned out okay, it’s because of him and not Beaumont.”
Chloe was protecting everyone she cared about by moving them to the ranch. But who was going to look out for her? “What do you think about me staying with you for a couple of days?”
“At the trailer?” she asked, clearly caught off guard. There was something else in her voice, too.
“Unless you have a better idea,” he said. “I thought about my place but figured you’d be more comfortable at home.”
“Don’t you have to work?”
“I would be working,” he pointed out. “Sandy can handle the usual day-to-day while I stake out at your place.”
“Does this have to do with Guy?”
“If he’s innocent? No. If he’s guilty. Yes.”
“I can’t imagine he would help us all these years to then pull something like slipping something into my drink,” she said. “Why not drop ketamine in my coffee? He stops by often and is left alone with my drinks.”
“Do you want to hear the obvious response?”
“Sure.”
“Because your neighbor would see him coming and going,” he said. “Ms. Bouche would serve as a witness, and he’d be caught.”
“Why would he want to hurt me when he’s done nothing but help?” she asked.
“He could be jealous.”
“Of who?”
“Is it possible he figured out who Grayson’s father is?” Travis asked. “Maybe he’s realized he’s coming to town.” The argument was weak, but jealousy was a strong motive. The idea being that if he couldn’t have her, no one could.
“Anything is possible, right?” She sat there for a long moment, contemplating as they pulled into the long drive heading toward the main house at the ranch. “But not even Annmarie knows who Grayson’s father is. Like I said last night, you’re the only one I’ve told.”
“Did you stay in touch with Annmarie after you left town?”
“No,” she said. “I couldn’t risk Beaumont finding out. When I took off, I left everyone and everything behind. And I didn’t look back. I didn’t post on social. Craig, Blake’s manager, made sure we weren’t photographed together. Said it would be bad press for Blake to be in a relationship. Said Blake’s career was at stake. So, no, there were no pictures of us together taken that I know of.”
“Not even on your cell?”
She shook her head as she parked in the small lot beside the ranch house. “Nope. Have you heard those popular song lyrics, I kept you like an oath ?”
“A better question might be, who hasn’t?” He cracked a smile.
“Yeah. That’s how dedicated I was to making certain that I wasn’t the one to hold back Blake’s career.” She shook her head. “What can I say? I was seventeen years old. I didn’t have a clue about real love back then.”
He wanted to ask, What about now? Not your business, dude. Nope. No matter how much he craved kissing those lips, her love life wasn’t his concern except as it related to the case. “We all make mistakes.”
“Mama, what is dis?” Grayson chimed in from the backseat. He had a solid vocabulary for a three-year-old. Travis’s line of work gave him reason to interact with all ages. Grayson was definitely bright for his age, and he was a good kid who was eager to learn.
Travis had always believed he would be a dad someday. Finding out he was sterile had been a blow. It had cost him relationships and would most likely cost others. At least he’d learned to be upfront about it. Of course, he’d learned the hard way.
He hopped out and helped Chloe release her son from his car seat so he could climb down.
“Whoa!” Grayson exclaimed.
“This is where your mama grew up,” Chloe said as Travis moved to unbuckle Miguel.
Grayson’s eyes were huge as he took in the ranch. “Did you have a pony?”
“Ponies are biters,” Chloe said with a laugh. “I had a palomino mare who then had a chestnut foal.”
You could almost see the wonder and excitement clicking in Grayson’s brain as Travis and Miguel joined them.
“Can we live here?” Grayson asked.
“Good news,” Chloe said with barely covered resignation in her voice. “This is where you’re going to be staying for a few days with Uncle Kade, Aunt Bree, and their new baby. Plus, some of your other uncles are here, too.”
“What about you, Mama?” Grayson’s face morphed to concern.
“I’m going to be staying with Trav for a couple of days,” she said, bending down on one knee until she was eye-to-eye with her son.
Those words caused the knot in Travis’s chest to tighten and warmth to spread.
Chloe stood up and faced the mass of bricks and mortar where she’d endured more pain and disappointment than should be allowed in a person’s life. “Beau’s truck is parked in Beaumont’s old spot.”
“I’m glad he’s here,” Trav said. “He’s next on my list of folks to speak to.”
“Mama, I want to run,” Grayson said, his eyes sparkling with anticipation and excitement. Both boys looked like thoroughbreds leaning against the starting gate.
“Stay close,” she said to her son, not yet ready to go inside the house. Being here, watching Grayson run free, she couldn’t help but remember the beautiful palomino she’d rescued from Beaumont. She’d been in the barn mucking stalls when she’d overheard Beaumont tell his foreman: If you can’t use ’em, shoot ’em . He’d been talking about the yearling they’d called Fearless Fox. It turned out that Fox wasn’t so fearless after all. Separating her from her mother at six months old, as was the standard practice for racing horses, had caused her to stop eating until she was not much more than bones. Beaumont had ordered the mare destroyed as worthless. Chloe had stepped in and begged to be the one to take care of Fox, who she renamed Roxy.
Chloe got caught once sneaking Roxy in to see her mother when she believed Beaumont had left his office in the barn for the day. Costly mistake. She still had lash marks on the backs of her legs from the whip he’d used on her.
Since she was known to disregard Beaumont’s rules, it had come as no shock to anyone that she’d continued to bring Roxy to her mother. Conrad had been the one to take over some nights after the whipping. He’d never spoken about it. He’d just showed up before her and took Roxy to visit with her mother two barns over.
Roxy’s food had come out of Chloe’s money, too. Beaumont had worked all his children like dogs and paid them almost as poorly. After paying for Roxy’s feed, Chloe had made less than a hundred dollars a month. After she’d taken off at seventeen, Beaumont had frozen her bank account. The man had refused to allow her to use the paltry amount she’d managed to scrimp and save to leave home. If she’d known, she would have emptied the account before taking off.
In the beginning, Blake had been a savior. You don’t need that bastard’s money. I’ll take care of you.
Chloe had accepted out of spite. Looking back, she’d had a crush on Blake. Who wouldn’t—and didn’t—admire his voice? They’d planned to grow up and old together. Blake had one of those magnetic personalities that shined bright when it shined on you. When it didn’t, the world became cold and dark real quick.
She’d been planning to leave him. The day she’d packed her bags, she’d cramped up. After checking the app that tracked her cycles, she’d realized her period was late. Seriously late. And then, the stick test had revealed her biggest fear. She was pregnant.
Blake had been scheduled to come home from his current tour the following weekend. She’d decided she could give it a few more weeks to figure out how to tell Blake. Craig had figured it out on his own, called her into his office to talk, and asked her not to say anything about the meeting to Blake until it was over. During the meeting, Craig had dropped the bomb about the other woman.
Somehow, Chloe had still clung to the hope that Blake would want to step up and be a father.
“Mama, can we see horsies?” Grayson asked as he came running toward her at full speed.
“Yes, we can,” she said with a smile as she held out her hands. Grayson launched himself toward her, and she caught him, then swirled around.
“My turn?” Miguel asked after she put Grayson back down.
“Yes,” she said to the hopeful little face. I will always catch my boys.
Travis knocked on the office door that had once belonged to Beaumont Sturgess. The man had kept one in the barn to be close to the ranch hands he’d been suspicious of and one inside the house where he’d kept sensitive financial information. The successful rancher had trusted no one.
“Come in,” Beau Sturgess said, looking mighty comfortable in the old man’s chair behind a massive desk. Travis wondered how this scene would’ve gone over if Kade had been knocking. He did his level best to shove his personal bias aside to give his full and fair attention to the man behind the desk. Beau glanced up and then did a double take. He leaned back in the chair and steepled his fingers. “What can I do for you, Sheriff?”
“May I?” Travis motioned toward an empty seat across from Beau.
He nodded. Beau was the spitting image of Beaumont. The likeness probably should’ve been expected, but it still threw Travis for a loop.
“Thank you,” Travis said before sitting down.
“I should be thanking you,” Beau said. “For everything you’ve done for my family.”
It was Travis’s turn to nod. Wasn’t this conversation off to a great start? He bit down the sarcasm.
“I have a few questions, if that’s all right with you,” Travis said.
Beau shot a concerned look. “Should I be worried?”
“That depends on your whereabouts last night.”
“I was here at the ranch,” Beau stated.
“I didn’t say what time,” Travis pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter,” Beau said before repeating, “I was here at the ranch.”
“You didn’t leave?”
“No, sir.”
“Not even to run a quick errand?” Folks forgot about those little trips to the store to pick up mundane things like batteries when being questioned.
“No.” Beau leaned in. “Is there a problem I should know about?”
“How are you enjoying your welcome into the Sturgess family?”
“I’m an adjustment to everyone,” Beau said. “It’ll take time.”
“What about Conrad? Have you spoken to him?”
“Not today,” Beau said.
“I thought the two of you were close.” Travis was shaking the proverbial box, seeing if anything fell out. He made a note of the lie Beau had just told. Conrad had called his sister after speaking to Beau.
“Do I need to have a lawyer present?” Beau asked.
“That’s up to you,” Travis said before backing off. “I just have a few more questions.”
Beau’s gaze narrowed. Was he about to lawyer up?
“Can you prove you were here the entire night last night?” Travis asked.
“There are cameras at the entrance of the ranch,” Beau said. “But you probably already know that.”
“Did anyone see you in the home?”
“Nope.” Beau leaned back. His expression morphed to indignant. “Guess you’ll just have to take my word for it.”
“Where’s your mother, by the way?” Travis asked.
Based on Beau’s expression, Travis had just stepped on a landmine.
“You leave her out of this,” Beau warned. Threatened? “She’s been through enough already.”
Looks like Travis needed to do a little digging into Beau’s background. Maybe take a road trip.