Cowboy Reckoning

by Barb Han

  The place looked so serene and welcoming. There was a small gravel road leading to a parking lot that was located beside a quint whitewashed building with hunter green shudders. STOCK was spelled out in the same color of green over the door.

  Levi backed into a spot nearest the door and Ensley realized it was so they could make a quick escape.

  “Do you want to stay here in the truck with Karma?” she asked. The dog was on full alert, standing on all fours on the bench seat in between them.

  “I don’t want you going in there alone.”

  “Fair point. But, it might be hard on Karma if he’s not able to ‘clear’ the building and you would just be right here in the car if I dashed inside. I’m fairly certain that I’ll get booted out right away if Mr. Stock sees me. I have no idea how Oaklynn’s mother might react to my presence. Or Oaklynn. Part of me thinks she might not even remember me at all.”

  “You won’t know until you go in there.” Levi had a pretty tight grip on the steering wheel. His head was cocked to one side, a telltale sign he was rolling over ideas in his head. “How about if I put Karma on his leash and we walk the perimeter of the building while you’re inside?”

  “That works for me if you think that’s the best idea.”

  “It’s the best way for me to be within earshot if you need me.”

  “Good point. I don’t exactly know what I’m walking into and it does seem like people in town are already aware that I’m here.”

  “Okay. Let’s do it.” Levi made a move to hook the leash on Karma, who hadn’t stepped down. This was a new area that he’d never been to and it was evidenced by the stress on his face. Ensley wished that he didn’t have to come with them, but she couldn’t imagine leaving him back at the ranch. It was difficult for him to be thrown into normal life after being highly trained for missions.

  “Here goes nothing.” Ensley threw her shoulder into the truck’s door as she pulled the lever. She issued a sharp sigh.

  Levi and Karma were already going out the driver’s side and Karma had snapped into training mode. Nose to the ground, he was making a straight line toward the nearest vehicle. She figured it would take him a minute or two to clear those before starting on the main building. She didn’t want to cause him any undue worry or stress. She’d be in and out.

  As she walked up to the front door and onto the small porch, her pulse kicked up a few notches. By the time she opened the wooden door with glass panels, her heart was at a full gallop.

  The moment she opened the door, a small bell chimed. She stepped inside the small room with the bar height counter. There was a cash register to one side. A couple of two-top tables dotted the room along with several glass-door refrigerators with Stock Farms Goat Cheese packages in various sizes.

  There was an opened door a few feet behind the counter that lead to the backroom.

  “Someone will be right with you.” The last time Ensley had heard that voice was ten years ago. It had sounded a lot younger then but was unmistakable now.

  Ensley walked up to the counter. She opened her mouth to speak but her voice failed her. She cleared her throat and tried again.

  “Oaklynn?” she finally croaked.

  “I said that someone will be there to help you in a minute.” There was a shocked quality to the voice, which gave Ensley the impression people didn’t come by to ask for her.

  “I’m here to see you, Oaklynn.” The frog in Ensley’s throat distorted her voice. “It’s me. Ensley Cartier. Cooper’s sister.”

  Ensley waited as quiet gripped the room.

  “No one’s here to help you right now.” There was a desperate child-like quality to Oaklynn’s voice now.

  This seemed like the right time to round the counter and head toward the stockroom. Heart slamming against her ribs so hard it hurt, Ensley made her way to the door. Logic said Oaklynn would be twenty-two years old by now. Where was reason in a time like this?

  The room had walls of refrigerators with two wooden desks that faced each other from across the room. The one to the right was the one where Oaklynn sat. Ensley half expected to run into the twelve-year-old girl Oaklynn had been.

  She’d aged, unlike Cooper.

  “You’re so much older now and still so beautiful,” Ensley said, struggling with her own emotions.

  Tears sprang to Oaklynn’s eyes.

  Oaklynn’s skin paled and she grabbed her hair before leaning over and wrenching into what most likely was a trashcan. After a few productive heaves, she shouted, “Go away.”

  Ensley had no idea why Oaklynn had just become so violently ill at the sight of her. Guilt? Sadness? Had she been holding in her feelings for the past ten years? Was it that difficult to see Cooper’s sister again?

  “I’m here, Oaklynn. And I’m not going anywhere until I figure out what happened that night with my brother.” A quick scan of the room told Ensley the two of them were alone. She figured she might not get this moment again.

  Oaklynn was shaking her head and trying to shoo Ensley away with her left hand while holding her hair back with her right. After a couple of heaves, she barked, “It’s dangerous for you here. Leave here now and get out of town.”

  “I’m sorry, Oaklynn. I can’t do that. I’m not going anywhere.”

  The young woman turned her head and shot Ensley a death glare. Oaklynn’s long, kinky-blond hair and blue eyes reminded Ensley so much of the beautiful preteen she’d been. When Oaklynn’s eyes locked onto Ensley’s, something moved behind those baby blues.

  “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

  Oaklynn almost violently shook her head. “You don’t understand. It’s not safe for you here. Go back to wherever you’ve been for the last ten years. Forget about this. It won’t bring him back.” Her voice faltered when she spoke about Cooper.

  Ensley figured this was the closest in she would have in a long time. Even seeing Oaklynn reminded her so much about her brother. Ensley reached inside her bag and located the journal. She walked over to the desk as she carefully slipped off the elastic band.

  She pulled out the picture of Cooper. There was so much sympathy for Oaklynn and yet her reactions made her seem guilty or like she knew something, and that something filled Ensley’s whole world.

  There was no telling how long the two of them would be alone. Oaklynn had made it seem like someone was coming. She could have been stalling for time.

  The only ammunition Ensley had was the picture of her brother. She could only pray that it might spur Oaklynn to start talking, but when the young woman glanced at the photo, she burst into tears. But she seemed even more determined not to speak.

  “I just spoke to Sheriff Justice. She sent Cooper’s backpack to Quantico for DNA analysis.” She kept her gaze trained on Oaklynn, who refused to look at either Ensley or the picture. “The killer’s prints are going to be on that backpack. It was moved. It’s going to take a couple of weeks, maybe a month, but you can help me now. Either way, the killer is going to be revealed.”

  Oaklynn looked miserable and it nearly cracked Ensley’s heart in half to be the one causing that young woman more pain. She was holding onto a secret. Protecting her father? Ensley had no idea what kind of parent Mr. Stock had been. Based on what she’d heard recently he loved his daughter. Too much? It was possible he found out about the kids’ plan and went berserk. Ensley knew in her gut that there was a critical piece of information or evidence missing.

  She was so close to getting the answer her soul craved, to getting justice for her murdered brother.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re lying,” Oaklynn shot back. “There was no killer. There was me, Cooper and Greyson. Now, they’re gone and there’s nothing we can do to bring them back.”

  She started rocking back and forth like a child. She covered her ears like she couldn’t bear to hear anymore.

  The urge to go to her and hug her was an almost overwhelming force. Being this close to an answer after a decade of fear a
nd suspicion and grief was almost unthinkable. Taking a hard line physically hurt Ensley but she thought it might be the only way to help Oaklynn through the shock she was experiencing. And yet, pushing the young woman, who seemed so much like a girl right now, was impossible. It was obvious Oaklynn was experiencing some type of P.T.S.D. and Ensley’s heart broke as she helplessly watched.

  The living nightmare that had practically consumed all of Ensley’s adult life was so close and yet outside of her grasp. Ensley hated doing this. She hated the thought of bringing more pain to this young person. Oaklynn knew something she wasn’t sharing.

  Did she know who the killer was? Had she seen him that night? Had she been able to identify his voice but chose to hide information instead?

  The only person Ensley could see doing that for would be family. What other reason would Oaklynn lie to the sheriff? Or was she ‘fed’ a statement? Was she told what to say and how to say it?

  The conspiracy theory bubbled to the surface. Had Garth Becks been involved?

  Ensley moved around the desk until she was right in front of Oaklynn, who was dry heaving. Maybe a softer tact would lead to a breakthrough. Ensley was out her league despite having suffered her own personal hell for the past ten years.

  “My brother’s killer has been walking around free for ten years, Oaklynn. Whatever happened wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. My brother didn’t deserve to die.” She grabbed the picture off the table and put it directly in Oaklynn’s field of view. The girl slammed her eyes shut harder, rocking back and forth even harder than before.

  Ensley reached her arm up and grabbed onto Oaklynn’s wrist, pulling her hand away from her ear as gently as she could. Her heart bled for Oaklynn, but she couldn’t stop now.

  “Cooper’s killer should not be walking around free. He shouldn’t get away with this and be allowed to hurt someone else.” Ensley wasn’t getting through with the hard line. She thought about how protective families were in Cattle Cove, about Andy Whitfield’s son, who’d confessed to a crime he may or may not have committed to protect his flesh and blood.

  Was Oaklynn covering for her father?

  Taking a look at the clearly distraught young woman, Ensley realized that she should be taking a softer approach, both if she was going to get through and also because she didn’t want to cause any more hurt to the girl who’d once been such a vibrant part of Cooper’s life.

  “I know my brother cared about you a lot. And you cared about him, too,” she began. Those words caused Oaklynn to wrench even harder. “Was it your father?”

  Oaklynn almost violently shook her head and quickly drew back like she’d been slapped. It wasn’t the reaction Ensley hoped for because she’d been banking on the fact Oaklynn’s father had been responsible. It was the only thing that made sense.

  Why would Oaklynn care about the mayor’s son if it had been him? Had she been threatened?

  The kind of violent illness that had overcome her was such a red flag. Guilt?

  Ensley held onto the photo, keeping it exactly where Oaklynn could see. “You’re so much older now. Not Cooper. Not Greyson. This was it for them. They’re frozen in time and will never age. We deserve answers. You can help me. I know you can. You’ve been quiet about this for ten years and maybe it’s eating you from the inside out. It doesn’t have to be like that anymore.”

  Tears streaked Oaklynn’s face and this was the first hint that Ensley might be getting through.

  “You can tell me who is responsible. You don’t have to hide it anymore. You were the only one who walked out of there alive, Oaklynn. Some people think you were involved or at the very least covering up—”

  A cry tore from Oaklynn’s throat. “I would never hurt my best friends.”

  At least Oaklynn was talking now.

  Ensley bent down on her knees to get to eye level in front of Oaklynn. “I’m begging you. Give my family some peace. I can’t move on until I know what happened to him.”

  The back door slammed open and Oaklynn gasped at the same time Ensley did. She shot to her feet and tucked the picture of her brother into her journal, loosely jamming both inside her handbag.

  “Daddy.” There was a mix of fear and anger in Oaklynn’s voice now.

  Ensley spun around to the tune of a medium height, medium build man pointing a shotgun directly at her. Mr. Stock had a thick head of gray hair, a round midsection and a bulbous nose. She still recognized him but it looked like he’d aged twenty years in the past ten.

  “Get off my property. Get off my land. You’re trespassing.”

  Hands in the surrender position, palms out, so that he could see she wasn’t carrying a weapon, Ensley said, “I just came to buy some goat cheese, Mr. Stock.”

  She knew better than to taunt the man. There was so much anger radiating from him as it was.

  “We’re sold out. Like I said, get off my property. You’re trespassing.”

  Oaklynn began trembling.

  “With all due respect, Mr. Stock, I’m just stopping by a store. That doesn’t exactly make me a criminal. You do sell a product and I am a customer. That’s not the definition of trespassing.”

  “You have no business being back here.” He glanced around the room, but she had the feeling that statement covered so much more ground.

  She started toward the door, figuring the man wouldn’t think twice about firing a shot.

  “It’s my fault, Daddy. I didn’t hear the bell. I don’t feel well.” Oaklynn clutched her stomach and doubled over. “She just came back here looking for somebody to help her.”

  Mr. Stock angled the shotgun toward the door. “Well, now that you’ve found someone you best be on your way. Like I said, we don’t have any more goat cheese for sale today.”

  The door opened. The bell jingled. Ensley heard Levi’s reassuring voice trying to calm Karma.

  16

  Panic gripped Ensley at the thought Mr. Stock might aim the barrel of his shotgun at Karma and provoke him, so she took another couple of steps backward, towards the door.

  “Everything is okay in here, Levi. I’m coming out. Mr. Stock has a shotgun pointed at me and has asked me to leave.” She needed to make sure that Levi had all the facts so that he could take the appropriate precautions. One wrong move and she feared Mr. Stock might get trigger happy.

  “Get out of here, Oaklynn,” Mr. Stock demanded. His harsh tone sent a chill racing down Ensley’s back.

  Oaklynn cleared her throat and said, “It’s okay, Daddy.”

  In a surprising move, she walked around the desk and placed her own body in between Ensley and her father’s shotgun barrel.

  “Do what I said, Oaklynn,” her father demanded.

  “Not anymore, Daddy. Put that down or I’ll tell everything I know.” The threat seemed to anger Mr. Stock even more. His round face reddened with anger.

  “I’m coming out, Levi.” She could hear a low-throaty growl from Karma and figured he was agitated because he wasn’t able to secure the area. Dogs were known to pick up on fear and adrenaline and there was plenty of that going around.

  She needed to get him and Levi out of there before the situation escalated. As soon as Ensley cleared the room, she heard a shotgun blast. Her gaze flew to Oaklynn, who’d jumped at the sound.

  Scanning her body, Ensley was relieved that she didn’t see a bullet or shotgun wound. It must’ve been a warning shot and had had the intended effect. Ensley was scared. Karma bolted into action.

  Nose to the floor, he was agitated being on the leash that was extended as far as it could go. There was no slack in the leash and Levi seemed to be working hard to keep Karma from gaiting into the backroom.

  Everything next happened in slow motion. Oaklynn screamed for her father to stop. Ensley practically tackled the young woman from behind and then dragged her out through the front door.

  Levi and Karma followed while the trained dog barked like there was no tomorrow. She remembered what Levi had said about a
bomb and relief washed over her.

  “Come with us,” she said to Oaklynn. “We’ll find a safe place for you.”

  Oaklynn leaned into Ensley.

  “I’ll never be able to come home again,” she said as she was ushered off the porch.

  At the truck, Ensley stopped. “I want you to come with us. I think it’s dangerous for you to be here now. But it’s your choice. I can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to nor would I want to. So, what are you going to do? Stay here or go with us?”

  Levi was urging them to get inside the vehicle. He opened the passenger door and, thankfully, Karma hopped inside.

  “What will it be?” Ensley could only hope the young woman would make the right call.

  Oaklynn chewed on her bottom lip until it bled and every muscle in her body tensed. She looked to be debating her next actions intensely.

  “We can get help. You don’t have to stay here against your will if you don’t want to.”

  Oaklynn issued a sharp sigh before turning and climbing into the back seat of the truck. Ensley climbed in beside her at the same time Oaklynn’s father stepped onto the front porch. Ensley wrapped an arm around the shivering young lady.

  Levi hit the gas. Gravel spewed underneath the tires until they gained enough traction to tear out of the parking lot.

  “Someone should get the sheriff on the line,” Levi suggested.

  “You’re doing the right thing. I’ll do everything in my power to help you,” Ensley said to Oaklynn.

  The younger woman curled into a ball, burrowing into Ensley’s side. She located a throw blanket that had been tucked into the back of the driver’s seat.

  “There’s a blanket.” Levi motioned toward the backseat as a shotgun blast split the air.

  “Duck down and stay low.” Levi slid low in his seat as he started zigzagging the truck.

  Ensley dropped as low as she could get while she searched for her cell phone. She located it and pulled up the sheriff’s number.

  “He said he’d kill me if I ever said anything.” Oaklynn’s voice was small and scared, and it nearly cracked Ensley’s heart in half.