Kyle

by Jennifer Ashley

  The steers looked up listlessly as Anna and Kyle approached. They appeared to be physically better, which meant Anna’s medication was working. But they looked listless and sad, as neglected animals do. Anna wondered if Virgil was even bothering to have someone feed them.

  They perked up when they saw Anna and began to wander toward her. Anna climbed the fence and waited for the first steer to approach her. “Here we go. Is this one on the list?”

  Kyle perched himself on the fence above her and consulted the clipboard he’d carried from her truck. The small steer’s ear tag read 386.

  “Yep. I have a 386 here,” Kyle said. “He have Kennedy’s brand?”

  Anna ran her hand down the steer’s back until he turned so she could see his haunch. Though tagging and chipping were common now, ranchers still branded their cattle with their ranch’s logo. Freeze branding had mostly taken over hot branding as both easier to read over time and less painful for the cattle.

  Kennedy’s brand was an upside down U with a crossbar. This steer had an upside down U with an X through it.

  Ranchers used similar brands, but what were the odds that Kennedy and Virgil had ones that close together?

  “Hang on.” Anna rubbed at the patch of hair, which had grown in white. “This part of the X is paint. Stupid.”

  She scrubbed at it, while the steer watched her calmly. Half the X came away, leaving Kennedy’s brand clear to see.

  Kyle whistled. “Man, Virgil has some balls. Check another, in case this one is just a stray.”

  Anna patted the steer and walked to another. That one had been painted too, and was another of Kennedy’s, but the next had a different brand and a number not on the sheet.

  “Legit?” Anna wondered. “Or stolen from someone else?” She looked around the pen. “Wait a minute.” She caught another steer by the horn and rubbed at his haunch. “Isn’t your ranch’s brand a lazy M?”

  She pointed to the letter M on the steer’s side, which had been painted into a simple square. “Are you missing a number 238?”

  “I don’t know,” Kyle said. “Ray’s been managing all the cattle, and he hasn’t said anything. But yeah, that looks like one of ours.”

  “Hard to notice if one or two disappear,” Anna said charitably. “Like Hal told me, you figure coyotes or a stray found by someone else.”

  “Ray hasn’t been paying attention, so don’t be too nice to him. But Virgil is an idiot. If Ray finds out Virgil rustled his cattle, Ray will rip his balls off.”

  “Well, this one was stolen from you,” Anna said. “Let me check a few more.”

  Several of the steers were on Kennedy’s list, and a couple had other brands, all painted over. Anna finished and leaned against the fence where Kyle sat, his blue-jeaned legs at her eye level.

  “I wonder if any of these steers belong to the Hayneses at all,” she reflected.

  “I’m willing to bet he stole his whole damned herd.” Kyle thumped the clipboard. “Fucker. We need to call Ross now.”

  “Yep.” Anna laid her hand on his thigh, liking its hardness under worn denim. “I’d say we have some evidence.”

  Kyle hoped that would be the end of the Haynes brothers—plus he had an idea about how to prove Blake had caused Sherrie’s accident.

  But Ross couldn’t get a warrant until the next day, and when he and his deputies went to arrest Virgil and family for cattle theft, they found the Haynes boys at home, looking innocent, and no sign of any cattle. Every single steer, including the dozen Virgil had penned, were gone.

  Kyle had come along to show Ross where Virgil had stashed the steers, but the gate was open, the tank drained and scummy. Only the imprints of hooves showed any cattle had ever been there.

  “Guess you had a wasted journey, Interim Sheriff,” Virgil said to Ross when he and Kyle confronted the brothers in their office. Virgil gave Ross a grin. “There haven’t been steers at this ranch for a while. I don’t know what Dr. Anna told you, but she’s a little loopy.” He circled his finger near his temple. “She might be dipping into her tranquilizers, or just wants to get into Kyle’s pants. The Malorys and us have a rivalry going way back. You know, like they do with the Campbells. They’ll say anything to make us look bad.”

  Kyle knew damn well Virgil was lying, but as Anna had said, Ross couldn’t do anything without evidence.

  “Yeah, I want to get him too,” Ross said to Kyle as they walked away, Sanchez and Harrison heading in disappointment toward their SUV. All three Hayneses watched from the doorstep, looking smug. “Those cattle had to have gone somewhere. They didn’t have time to take them far. I’ll try to find out if he paid someone to haul them away, and where.”

  “Or, he just drove them onto the open range.” Kyle scanned the green hills, as though he’d see steers popping up to turn themselves in. “But I came up with another way to at least help prove Blake caused Sherrie Bates’s accident the other night.” Kyle nodded at Blake’s gleaming pickup. “He’s got a dash cam. Saw it when I was here yesterday.”

  Ross’s eyes lit. “Nice. Now let’s hope it was on and he didn’t destroy the feed. I’ll need to get another warrant to look at it, but …” He grinned at Kyle. “I don’t think I’ll have any trouble with that. Thanks, Kyle.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll keep a lookout for those steers, though. Convicting the Hayneses for cattle thieving will get them out of our lives faster than reckless driving.”

  “True. Though Blake can go down hard for a hit and run.” Ross looked cheerful. “Oh, by the way, Callie’s doing a big fundraiser in a couple weeks, for her rehab ranch. We’re having a huge cookout, bands, the works, at the Jones house. She’d love it if you and Anna came. Oh, wait, Anna probably already told you.”

  Kyle stared at Ross, his face slowly heating. Anna hadn’t mentioned it. “You mean come as a couple?”

  Ross frowned. “Aren’t you a couple?”

  “I don’t know.” Kyle stood still, a wave of unhappiness flowing over him. “I really don’t know.”

  Ross gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Well, Callie thinks you are, and she’s pretty smart. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

  “Great.” Kyle followed Ross, who moved with a spring in his step toward his SUV with River County Sheriff’s Dept. on its side. “I’m glad someone knows for sure. ’Cause it isn’t me.”

  Ross sent him a sympathetic look and leapt into his SUV, eager to round up a judge and another warrant.

  Kyle gave the Haynes ranch a final glance—all three brothers lingered to watch them leave, smart-ass grins on their faces—and drove slowly back to town in his own truck.

  True to her word, Tina had left his pickup at the diner yesterday, the key with Mrs. Ward. Mrs. Ward had given Kyle an admonishing look when he came in for the key, saying Kyle didn’t need to be chasing Tina while he was going out with Anna. Mrs. Ward hadn’t relented until Kyle explained Anna had been with him at the time, and he’d given Tina the truck so he could keep helping Anna.

  Like Ross and Callie, Mrs. Ward now assumed he and Anna were a couple. And wanted them to stay a couple.

  Ray was right that the whole town would crucify Kyle if they thought him using Anna for a quick bounce before he chased after rodeo groupies again. He needed to put his plans in motion fast, before they formed a lynch mob.

  Kyle reached home and called Anna as he parked. Her phone went to voice mail, which meant she was working. Kyle told her briefly what had happened with the Haynes boys and promised they’d talk later. He hung up and went inside the house.

  There he found his sister Lucy.

  She lay face down on the sofa in the living room, wisps of her dark hair, which had grown out from its severely short cut, straggling across her cheek. She was in jeans and a T-shirt instead of her usual smart suit, and she was crying.

  All out, heart-wrenching bawling.

  “Lu?” Kyle tugged open the curtains of the dark room, letting in a flood of sunlight. “What are you doing he
re?”

  Lucy raised a tear-streaked face, glaring at him with red-rimmed eyes. Lucy and Grace looked a lot alike, but where Grace was softness and curves, Lucy had the angles of a runway model. Although right now she looked like his gawky little sister crying because mean kids kicked her.

  She rubbed at her wet eyes. “What do you mean, what am I doing here? This is still my home, right? Or did you clear out my room?”

  Kyle gentled his voice. “I meant, why aren’t you in Houston in your sleek condo? The one with automatic everything.” The last time he’d visited, she’d proudly showed off her voice controls to open and close the curtains, answer the door, start the coffeemaker … Everything but pee for her.

  Lucy’s face crumpled. “Because I got fired!” The word dragged into a sob.

  “What?” Kyle pulled a chair to the sofa and plunked himself on it. “Who fired you? Your hot billionaire boss? I thought you and he got horizontal on a regular basis.”

  “We did. But now he’s getting married.” Again the last word broke. “He had a big party and said he was making an important announcement. Then he brings out this beautiful woman and gushes all over her, saying she said yes.” Lucy trailed off bitterly. “Of course she did. She’s the daughter of his dad’s old business partner and she’ll bring a ton of money and investors to his business. The next day, he cleared out all his loose ends, which included me.”

  “Aw, sweetie.” Kyle gathered his sister into his arms, his heart burning as she collapsed onto his shoulder.

  He guessed what must have happened—Lucy, being Lucy, would have confronted the guy about this sudden decision to marry, and bossman, realizing Lucy wouldn’t put up with being kept on the side, dumped her. Then fired her, to make sure she wasn’t in his office day after day. He’d want Lucy as far away from his new wife as he could shove her.

  “I’m so sorry, Lu.” Kyle rumpled Lucy’s hair as he’d done when she’d been young and vulnerable—which she still was, he realized. “Want me and Ray to go kick his ass?”

  “No,” Lucy mumbled. She raised her head and gave him a feeble smile. “I mean, yes, I’d love it, but it wouldn’t make any difference. I don’t have a job, or a career. The man I thought loved me doesn’t give a shit about anything but staying in the Fortune 500. So now I’m old and unemployed, single, and a total loser.”

  “No you’re not.” Kyle held her again, rubbing her back. “You’re not old by any stretch of the imagination, and you’ll never be a loser. You just trusted the wrong guy. Can happen to anyone. Look at Ray now—he wasn’t paying attention, and the Haynes brothers stole our cattle. Some of them anyway.”

  As he’d hoped, Lucy’s tears let up in a flicker of curiosity. “Seriously? They always were shitheads. Where is Ray? I went down to the office, but Margaret says he hasn’t been around for a while. She looked very irritated about it.”

  Kyle let out a chuckle. “That’s because Ray’s got a girlfriend. Or at least we think so.”

  Lucy looked even more curious, so Kyle filled her in on everything that had gone down since she’d last called. At the very least, Lucy looked interested in Ray’s awkwardness and less sorry for herself.

  “I need to meet this woman.” Lucy turned a knowing gaze on Kyle. “And you with Dr. Anna. Way to go, bro.”

  Kyle raised his hands. “I don’t know if I’m with her or not. Not yet, anyway. Tell you what—wash your face and we’ll go to the diner. Food here sucks without Grace to cook it.”

  Lucy’s eyes widened in panic. “No, I can’t. Everyone will want to know what happened, why I’m here. I can’t go through that.”

  “Not if you spin it right.” Kyle put a soothing hand on her arm. “Tell them you got tired of big city life and wanted to come home. They’ll believe that. Have you talked to anyone else?”

  “Just Margaret, but I didn’t tell her the whole story. I’m sure she knows there’s more going on than I’m saying, but she didn’t ask.” Lucy looked limply at Kyle. “But it’s true. I did want to come home. When everything fell apart, all I could think of was running here. Where I’d be safe.”

  “And welcome.” Kyle hugged her again. “And loved, little sis. Now, let’s go get us some dinner. I’m starving.”

  Anna sat in her office, staring at a map of River County on her laptop screen. Satellite photos gave her an eagle-eye view of the world, though she thought it a little creepy too. Anyone could zoom in on her office or her street and house and see a lot of detail. The photos were static and months old, but still … The give and take of technology.

  Right now Anna roved River County via map to figure out where Virgil might have stashed the stolen cattle.

  Virgil, who wasn’t quite as stupid as everyone supposed, must have caught on that she and Kyle figured out he’d rustled the cattle. Between the time they’d left and Ross had been able to get a search warrant and show up, Virgil and his brothers had gotten rid of the evidence.

  But Anna could see no way they’d had time to round up all their cattle, most of which had been roaming their vast acreage, load them into trucks, and take them off to a feed lot or slaughterhouse or even to another ranch. Not alone, and not without anyone noticing. So the cattle couldn’t have gone far.

  Anna wished she could type in “Find cattle Virgil stole in or near River County” and have the computer zoom in on them, but no.

  The trouble was, there were many places he could have driven them. The river created folds in the land, long hills, steep drops into box canyons, and plenty of caves. Evidence of ancient peoples had been found all over the Hill Country, and even now a team of archaeologists were working north of Riverbend on a site from what they called the archaic era. A few cattle wandering around would seem like part of the scenery.

  Anna sighed and shut her laptop.

  Janette had already gone for the day, and no animals were there for an overnight. The office was silent, eerily so.

  Anna rarely found the quiet oppressive. She’d always been an introvert, liking peaceful places out of the hubbub of life where she could read or think.

  But today, the empty office seemed lonely. She shut everything down and went home to feed Patches, who was always happy to hear food clinking into his bowl. Anna fixed pasta for herself, slurping up the noodles drowning in tomato sauce with mushrooms.

  A tap on the front door startled her. She answered it to find a beaming Mrs. Kaye on the porch.

  “Kyle was at the diner,” she said. “I just saw him. Then he headed to the bar.” She leaned closer, conspiratorially, but she had a twinkle in her eyes. “With another woman.”

  A knot tightened in Anna’s stomach, and she found it suddenly hard to breathe. “He’s allowed,” she managed to say. “We’re not a couple. Or exclusive. Or …” Her throat tightened, and she had to cough. I’m just in love with him. Doesn’t obligate him to me.

  Mrs. Kaye bathed her in a sudden grin. “Oh, honey, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m only teasing. He’s with another woman, that is true—but it’s his sister Lucy. She came home. Probably for good. Isn’t that nice?” She shook her head. “It’s about time that girl figured out that all she needs is right here in Riverbend. Just like Grace did. And you. That’s why you came back, isn’t it?”

  Anna stared at Mrs. Kaye, her head spinning with relief. Kyle was with his sister. Not another woman, like the feather-headed Tina.

  She realized Mrs. Kaye waited for her to answer the question. Why had Anna returned to Riverbend? Because she wanted her own practice, or because she knew this was where her heart was? Or both those things?

  “I think so,” she ventured.

  “Of course you did. Now, you don’t want to stand here and talk to a dithering old biddy like me. You get yourself to the bar and say hi to Lucy and be with young people.”

  Anna sent her a faint smile. “I’ve been with people plenty today. Quiet night with the cat for me. I need it.”

  Mrs. Kaye studied her a moment, then her benevolent expression vanished
. “Anna, honey, if you ask anyone around Riverbend who knew me back in the day, they’ll tell you I was a wild girl. And they’d be right. I was all about drinking and dancing and showing off my legs—I couldn’t settle down for nothing. And then I met Mr. Kaye. I took my sweet time figuring out I was in love with him and the whole marriage and family thing was for me. But once I did—we had decades together, grew closer and closer each passing year. You can have that with Kyle—I see it in his eyes. But you can’t have it if you shut yourself in your house watching life pass you by. Go out and live it. Be with your friends. Most of mine are gone now. Enjoy the hell out of them while they’re alive. Trust me on this.”

  Anna listened, her lips parting. She’d never seen Mrs. Kaye so adamant.

  Having delivered her sermon, Mrs. Kaye’s smile returned. “Listen to me run on. You go out, Anna. Find Kyle, and have a good night.”

  Without waiting for Anna’s response, Mrs. Kaye turned and hobbled down the porch steps and back to her house, humming to herself.

  Anna retreated inside and stood in the middle of her living room, reflecting on what Mrs. Kaye had said. Hidden depths, was the term.

  Patches watched sleepily from his cushion, then raised a paw and daintily licked it.

  Anna let out a long sigh. “Screw it,” she said, and left the house.

  She walked the short distance to the heart of Riverbend, the night cool and comfortable. The diner’s lights glowed with welcome, as did those of the bar beyond it. Many Riverbenders ate dinner at Mrs. Ward’s then rounded out the evening with drinks, pool, and hanging with friends at Sam’s tavern.

  Anna rarely went to the bar—she was either too exhausted after work or didn’t have anyone to meet. She’d gone with Callie from time to time, but now that Callie was married, their girls’ nights had become fewer and farther between.

  Hal Jenkins lounged on the porch in front of the bar with a few of his friends, including Jack Hillman, and some of Jack’s biker buds.

  Hal sprang up and opened the door for her. “Evening, Dr. Anna.”