Fatal Ranch Reunion

by Jaycee Bullard

  Please, God. Let him find it. Please. She could feel blood drumming in her head as shock threatened to overwhelm her. But she needed to stay conscious, at least until Steven found her backpack.

  The wail of sirens filled the air. Hurry, Steven. Hurry.

  “Camp... Evergreen,” she called out, not worrying about giving him an address or directions—all that information was in the brochure. “Tomorrow morning. Pick up Timmy.”

  “Right,” Steven said.

  “By ten o’clock.” She closed her eyes. Steven would take care of it. He would follow the map and find the camp.

  A second vehicle skidded to a stop on the side of the road.

  A familiar face spun before her. “Seb.” Was that her voice? It felt so disconnected. “Steven’s here. He’s helping.” She tried to gesture toward the spot where Steven was rifling through her backpack.

  “Found it!” Steven yelled. He walked back to stand beside her, her backpack gripped in his hand.

  Seb crouched next to her on the ground. “What happened?”

  “The ambulance is here,” Steven said as the rescue vehicle pulled in front of them, its lights flashing and its siren wailing.

  She looked at Steven. “Don’t tell anyone,” she said.

  “Tell anyone what?” Seb asked.

  She met and held Steven’s eyes as he slipped the brochure into the pocket of his jeans. She saw him nod once, slow and solemn. And then she allowed the blackness to engulf her.

  * * *

  “Hey. Steven. It’s nine a.m., and I’m still at the hospital with Tacy. I don’t know if you’re getting my messages, but we need to talk about last night. I never got the full story of what happened out there on the road. As soon as you get this, call me back right away.”

  Seb slipped his phone back into his pocket and stretched out on the rickety folding chair he had positioned next to the bed. Tacy hadn’t stirred since the nurse gave her a sedative sometime close to midnight. Her countenance, now so relaxed and serene, offered a marked change from the panic that had etched her features the night before.

  Someone banged into a cart outside in the hall.

  Tacy’s eyes flickered open and darted around the room.

  “Seb,” she said when her eyes landed on him. “How long have I been sleeping?” Her eyes flicked over to the window, taking in the sunlight. “Have I been here all night?”

  “Hi.” He smiled down at her. “I’m glad you’re finally awake. Are you feeling okay?”

  “My ankle hurts, but not nearly as bad as it did last night. Did somebody contact my grandfather and tell him about the accident?”

  “I did. I talked to Lois. She said that Carl would come by for a visit in the morning.”

  “A visit? No. But maybe he can give me a ride back to the ranch.” Her eyes flickered back and forth across the room. “I remember Steven found my backpack in the ditch. Do you know where it ended up?”

  He opened the drawer on the side of the bed. “He handed it to me before we left in the ambulance. I put it in here for safekeeping.”

  She snatched it from his hand, reached inside and pulled out her phone. “Thanks. I just need to check and find out if...” Her voice trailed off as she scrolled through her messages. “Have you heard anything from Steven this morning?”

  Steven? Why was she asking about Steven? Was it about the odd exchange that he’d overheard while they were waiting for the ambulance on the side of the road?

  “No. But I’ve called him three times and texted a half-dozen messages.”

  “Why?” Her eyes drifted back to the screen of her phone.

  “What do you mean, why? He was the first one on the scene, so I was hoping he could tell me what happened. But now that you’re awake, maybe I should just ask you.”

  “I don’t know, Seb. A car came up behind me and bumped me off the shoulder. I didn’t see anything, not even the plates.”

  What? “I thought you crashed your bike. No one said anything about a hit-and-run.”

  Tacy didn’t answer. She was typing on her phone.

  “Can you wait on that for a minute, Tace? This is important.”

  She lifted her eyes for a moment, then went back to her text. “I’m listening,” she said.

  It sure didn’t look like it.

  “Did the driver notice that you had gone off the road?”

  Her fingers froze on the screen. “I’m pretty sure he did since he turned around and rammed me again.”

  Tacy was hit twice? Seb blew out a long breath and tried to tamp down his impatience at her nonchalance—but it was difficult. She needed to take this more seriously. Why hadn’t she told him that last night when he might still have been able to do something about it? More than ten hours had passed since the incident, and no one had made a move to secure the scene or search for evidence.

  “Tace. If what you say is true, we’re talking about attempted murder. You need to report this immediately. After everything else that happened yesterday, it seems clear that someone wants you dead.”

  “It wasn’t Lois, if that was what you’re thinking. She was home with my grandfather when I left on my bike.”

  “Are you sure she stayed put?”

  Tacy’s phone rang. She winced as she angled her body toward the window, cradling the receiver close to her ear. “Hi... Yeah. Good, thanks... Listen, it’s fine. He has my approval... Okay. Great. Right. Thanks so much.”

  She ended the connection and turned back to face him.

  “What?” she said.

  “How can you be sure that Lois didn’t make some excuse to leave the house once you left?”

  “I can’t. But I’ll ask my grandfather when I see him. Okay?”

  “Okay. But no matter what, you need to report the incident.”

  Tacy shrugged. “I guess.”

  She guessed? What is going on? It was almost as if her brain hadn’t registered a single thing he had said. As if her mind was focused on something else entirely.

  She seemed distracted. Worried—but not about this, which made no sense to him. What could possibly be more important than three near-death “accidents”?

  Tacy glanced back down at her phone and then up at him again. “I plan to be back at the ranch in an hour or two, and I’ll find out then if Lois left last night. But I’m still hoping to head home before dark.”

  A pang of disbelief shot across his brain. Did Tacy think that running away would erase the danger? “Someone tried to kill you, and you can’t pretend it didn’t happen and walk away. Besides, I assume the doctor isn’t planning to release you at least until the end of the day.”

  “Then I’ll check myself out. I know my rights. They can’t keep me if I refuse to stay.”

  Someone shouted in the hall. A second later, Carl Tolbert stormed through the open door. “Tacy!” he said. “What has happened to you now? I knew I shouldn’t let you go out on that dilapidated old bike.”

  “I’m fine, Grandfather. Just a little banged up. And now that you’re here, I’m ready to go. I’m sure Seb’s anxious to leave, too—he stayed with me last night, so he didn’t get much sleep.”

  Is this a joke? Seb met and held Tacy’s stare until she broke the connection and looked at her grandfather.

  Uh-uh. She wasn’t going to get rid of him that easily. “Thanks for looking out for my welfare, Tacy, but I think I might just stick around for a bit, at least until we call the sheriff. I’d feel better knowing that he was planning to send someone out to check the scene for evidence. You know. Leave no stone unturned, even when you’re faced with a mountain of rocks.”

  He actually thought this might be one thing he and Carl might agree on—that they should do whatever it took to make sure Tacy was safe. But it seemed that hatred of Hunts still trumped everything else. Carl was glaring at him, and his finger was p
ointing straight at the door.

  “You heard what my granddaughter said. She wants you to leave. This is a family matter, and we don’t need your help handling it.”

  This whole thing was getting more absurd by the minute. It was a typical Tolbert move to burst in and take charge without knowing any of the particulars. No wonder his parents kept hitting a wall in their attempts to negotiate water rights to the stream. Apparently, once Carl made up his mind about something, there was no changing it, no matter what the circumstances.

  A weird sense of déjà vu played across his brain. In the hospital ten years ago, it had been Keith Tolbert issuing the orders and making the demands. But Seb was no longer that same guilt-ridden nineteen-year-old kid. And with Tacy’s safety on the line, he wasn’t going to back down so easily.

  “I’ll go if you want me to,” he said, focusing just on her, “but before I leave, I want you to explain to your grandfather what happened last night. He needs to hear about the stampede and the rattler. And now this. I’m sure he’ll be interested in learning more about the vehicle that almost...”

  “I’ll take care of it, Seb. I told you I would.” Tacy pushed herself up on the bed. “I appreciate your assistance, I really do. But my grandfather’s here now, and we have the situation under control.”

  She appreciates my assistance? The opposite seemed much closer to the truth. A slow burn of anger pulsed through his veins. She didn’t need him now, and she hadn’t needed him ten years ago. The sooner he accepted that, the better.

  He pushed the door open, still chafing from the sting of Tacy’s dismissal. He half expected that she might call him back to apologize. But that didn’t happen. Her attention was once again firmly fixed on her phone. He reached into his pocket to pull out his keys, stopping short as he remembered that he had left his truck at the site of the accident. It was probably still there, unless Steven had seen fit to move it.

  He pulled out his phone and checked for messages.

  Nothing.

  He’d hitch a ride back to his truck and then track down Steven. He needed to find some answers to the questions clamoring in his brain.

  What did his brother know about the accident?

  And what had Steven and Tacy been talking about that she wanted him to keep to himself?

  FOUR

  Tacy blinked up at the doctor, standing by her bed. According to the X-rays, her ankle wasn’t broken. Her injury was nothing but a minor sprain. The hysteria she had experienced after the accident had been an overreaction, caused by anxiety and stress. And overwhelming worries about Timmy.

  It had been a huge mistake to ask Steven to pick her son up at camp. But it was too late to stop him. She glanced at the clock above the television. Ten thirty. He should already be on his way home.

  “Tacy!” Her grandfather’s sharp voice brought her back to the present. “Did you hear what the doctor just said? You need to make sure that you take it easy and not overdo it.”

  “What?” She forced a smile. “Sorry. Yes, of course.”

  “Humph.” Her grandfather snorted. He fixed his gaze on the bespectacled doctor who had moved across the room and was now standing by the door. “Can I talk to you a minute in the hall?”

  “Sure,” the doctor said. As the door swung shut behind the two men, Tacy grabbed her phone and tapped out a text to Steven. Where are you? She waited a moment, but when a reply wasn’t immediate, she threw on her clothes and signed the insurance papers. Ten minutes later, she was climbing into the back seat of her grandfather’s truck and propping up her leg.

  “Everything okay back there?” Her grandfather’s voice sounded weary as he headed out of the lot.

  “Yes. Of course. I didn’t mean to worry you. You must have wondered what happened when I didn’t return from the bike ride. I hope that Lois was with you, so you didn’t have to fret on your own.”

  “I wanted to go out and look for you, but I had no idea which way you went. We paced the floor for hours, waiting for you to come home. Finally, Lois gave me a sleeping pill and sent me to bed. I was glad she had good news to share in the morning.”

  “I’m so sorry that I caused you so much concern.”

  “What are you apologizing for?” He glared at her through the rearview mirror. “This isn’t your fault. But we do need to get to the bottom of what happened out there on the road. And all those other things that Hunt boy mentioned.”

  She closed her eyes. Her grandfather was right about the need to investigate the hit-and-run, especially if it was connected to her other accidents. The driver of the car that ran her down was aiming to kill her, of that she was sure. She took a deep breath and clenched her hands to keep them from shaking. She needed to get out of here—the hospital, Chimney Bluff, the state of North Dakota—and fast. But all she could think about was Steven, sitting in the car with Timmy. Would he figure it out? Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and scanned the screen. Picked up TT. Not what I was expecting. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say. Should arrive back in 45 min.

  Her heart skipped a beat. What did he know?

  “Looks like Lois isn’t home yet,” her grandfather said. She realized with a start that they were pulling into the driveway. “Though I figure you wouldn’t want her fussin’ over you anyway.”

  Tacy nodded as she slid out of the car. She certainly did not want anyone fussing over her, especially not Lois, if there was any chance that she might have actually put something dangerous in the coffee. But then, her grandfather had confirmed that Lois couldn’t have been the driver that hit her the previous night. Did that mean Lois was innocent after all? Tacy didn’t know what to believe—and she couldn’t concentrate on anything but the thought of her son.

  She faked a yawn. “I am feeling tired, though. I think I’ll go upstairs and get some sleep.”

  “Good idea. I might take a nap, too, but if you need anything, come and get me immediately.”

  She followed her grandfather into the house and up the stairs, her fingers reaching for her phone before she even closed the guest room door.

  Steven picked up on the second ring. “Well, hiya, Tace. Been expecting to hear from you for a while now.”

  “Oh, Steven. Thank you so much for getting Timmy. Can I talk to him for a minute?”

  Her son’s high voice piped in. “Hi, Mom,” he said.

  She choked back tears. “Hi, baby. Sorry that I couldn’t be there to get you at camp, but I’ll see you really, really soon.”

  “That’s okay. Steven’s nice. Did you know that his family just got a new puppy named Cody?”

  “I didn’t, but...”

  “Me, again, Tace.” Steven’s voice came back on the line, with a hint of something steely in his undertone that she couldn’t quite identify. “Is there maybe something you want to tell me?”

  “Huh? No. I mean, yes. We have to figure out where we can meet. I’m out of the hospital and back at my grandfather’s ranch, so why don’t I meet you at the Red Robin off the interstate? I can buy you a late lunch. And then Timmy and I can hit the road.”

  “Actually, I picked up some snacks on my way to the camp, so nah, we’re not hungry. I guess we need to come up with a new plan.”

  She suppressed a sigh. Trust Steven to be difficult. “Okay. How about we meet at your parents’ old bunkhouse in about thirty minutes?”

  “That’ll work. I’ve been using the place as an office, so, yeah, we can make the exchange there. But it seems like kind of an odd meeting place. Like maybe you have something you want to hide.”

  Well, he wasn’t wrong—but she’d go with the truth that was easier to share. “My grandfather doesn’t know about Timmy. My dad never said so in so many words, but I think he was afraid that the news might cause my grandfather to get his hopes up about a reconciliation.”

  “Your grandfather? Right. I think maybe
there are a few other people that you forgot to tell as well.”

  Her heart was pounding. He knows.

  “I’ll see you in a half an hour,” Steven said. “But use that time well. Because if you don’t tell Seb, I will. And I think it might go down better coming from you.”

  Click.

  Her heart pounded a staccato rhythm in her chest. The next move was hers. The simplest option would be to tell Seb about Timmy and face the consequences. Over the last twenty-four hours, he had proven to be steadfast and protective. And even in her lowest moments, stewing in hurt and a sense of betrayal, she’d never thought Seb was a cruel or vicious man. She wasn’t sure she could rely on him, but she knew he’d never harm her—or their child. But she couldn’t forget that he had abandoned her ten years ago at the first bump in the road.

  On the other hand, time seemed to have matured him, and Timmy deserved a father.

  The stakes were so high. She didn’t want to do anything that might risk upsetting her son. What would happen if she told Seb the truth? He would be angry. She’d be defensive. And Timmy would be stuck in the middle.

  Okay. New plan. Her car was parked right at the front of the driveway, and it would take less than ten minutes to reach the bunkhouse. The hard part would be convincing Steven that this was the wrong time and place for a father/son reunion. She felt she actually had a pretty strong case to make on that point. Considering the looming danger, it wasn’t safe for Timmy to stay in Chimney Bluff, even for a short visit.

  She glanced down at the pile of shirts and jeans on her bed. Usually when she packed, she folded her clothing into neat little piles. But there was no time for that now. She threw everything into her suitcase and closed it with a click. As she tiptoed down the stairs, her heart raced with anticipation. If she hurried, she ought to arrive at the bunkhouse before Steven.

  She turned down the dusty track that led to the small log structure that once had been the favorite hideout for her, Seb and Steven. The dirt road passed directly in front of the main house, and a rush of wariness pulsed through her veins. Even after all of this time, it was still disconcerting to be on Hunt property. As a teenager, she had never taken this route. It had been quicker—and sneakier—to cut directly through the pasture. She could feel her lips turn up in a wistful smile. A lot of good it had done keeping her friendship with the Hunt boys a secret. But at the time, it had been the three of them against the world. Or, at the very least, against their parents and their unreasonable feud. Tolberts don’t associate with Hunts. That was the line that had been drilled into her head for as long as she could remember.