You’re a liar. You don’t care whether or not Calum is happy. But Jasper had had enough. He felt like he’d stirred up a hornet’s nest and got caught up in the swarm.
“You know what?” Erik asked in a whisper.
Jasper turned to look at him.
“I wish you’d died.”
Jasper’s heart shrank, as if it were trying to hide from the cruelty of the words. He could have snapped the same thing back to Erik, but instead he closed his eyes. I want to go home. I want to remember all the good things and forget the bad.
After the ambulance had taken Jasper and his father away, Calum slumped. Vera put her arms around him and hugged him.
“Everything will be fine,” she whispered. “But you’re needed here. I’m going to wake Angie and take her to Jackson. I’ll look in on Jasper too and call you.”
“Okay.”
Not that Calum had any choice. He had to direct the police to the campsite, and sitting in the back of their vehicle left him a sitting target for their questions. He ran through everything that had happened from the moment he saw the glowing beads, but didn’t volunteer what had happened before. He wished to hell he knew what Jasper was going to say. What if Jasper denied they were having a relationship to try and avoid problems for Calum?
In the end, Calum was saved from having to say anything by their arrival in the camp. Within moments, the site was in an uproar, Pete and Ring loudly protesting their innocence while alarmed guests huddled in groups outside their tents.
“We’ve been here since five last night,” Pete snapped. “Ask anyone.”
“Nothing to stop you sneaking out and sneaking back,” Calum snapped.
“You’re just looking for someone to blame so suspicion don’t fall on you,” Pete snarled.
Calum had to fight not to clench his fingers in case the temptation to plant a fist in Pete’s face became too much.
“Fucking fag,” Pete whispered.
Yep, too much. Calum took two steps before a police officer moved between them.
Despite Pete and Ring’s protests, the pair were taken away to answer questions and Calum was left to pacify bewildered guests, soothe bemused employees and argue with one highly agitated guy.
“I have somewhere I need to be,” Dean snapped.
“Look,” Calum said for what seemed like the tenth time. “There’s nothing I can do about this. The police want to interview guests and staff back at the ranch.”
“I don’t even work for you,” Dean said.
Calum took a deep breath. It was hard to be anywhere around Dean without punching him.
“We pay you to do the lasso demonstration and you were happy enough to take Dave’s place on this overnight trip.”
Dean glared. “Yeah, but that was with the understanding I could leave early. I have a demonstration to do near Laramie.”
“Then talk to the detective about it.”
Calum left two wranglers to break camp while the others brought the guests back the way they’d arrived, on horseback. Despite the police request he return in their patrol car, he’d insisted he needed to bring back the Jeep, but when they told him they’d need to check it for traces of Jasper’s blood, Calum had no choice but to let them drive him back. He called the hospital to ask about Jasper and was told he was sleeping. As was his father. When Calum had demanded more details, the word “comfortably” had been added. It didn’t help. Then Vera called and told him the same thing. That didn’t help either. He slumped against the window and closed his eyes.
He was resigned to having to refund what the guests had paid for the vacation. Maybe some of them would sue. One was a lawyer. They’d come up with an outrageous claim, persuade some idiotic judge to agree with them and the ranch would go under.
Oh Christ. The ranch was the least of his worries. His dad had a heart attack and Jasper was beaten and almost killed. Calum didn’t yet know why Pete and Ring had thrown Jasper in the silo, but they had to have been trying to kill him. The thought of it just about froze his lungs. Calum wanted to kill the fucking bastards himself.
By the time the sun rose, the adrenaline keeping Calum upright and functioning had long gone leaving him heavy-eyed with exhaustion. The formal interview by the police had left him completely drained. He’d told them everything he thought was relevant, including the fact that he and Jasper had a sexual relationship though he didn’t include the detail about him being raped. He wondered if Jasper would and panic fluttered in his chest. He didn’t think Jasper would say anything, not unless he now hated him. Fuck.
Calum helped himself to coffee he didn’t want but definitely needed, and sat with a couple of the guests in the ranch lounge. His hand shook as he lifted the cup.
“Sorry about your trip being cut short,” he said.
“We’d have been heading back here after breakfast anyway,” Janie said. “This is so exciting.” She winced. “Sorry.”
“The best vacation—ever,” Melissa said with no hint on her face of how inappropriate that was.
Calum clenched his teeth so hard, he nipped his tongue and tasted blood. The stupid bitch.
“We’ll still be able to do the rafting trip this afternoon, right?” Melissa asked.
Calum glanced around to check the expressions of the others. “You don’t want to leave?”
“Hell no,” said the newly married pair and smiled at each other.
“It’s horrible what happened to Jasper—oh and your father—but we’re not in any danger, are we?” Melissa asked.
Not as long as you don’t think cuddling a bear cub would be neat. Somehow I wish you would. Calum had felt certain they’d make a mass exodus but it seemed he was wrong.
“I presume you have enough staff to continue?” the lawyer asked.
“Yes.” Just.
“Why did they do it?” Janie asked. “What had Jasper done to them?”
“Innocent until proved guilty,” Matt said.
Calum flashed him a glare but kept his mouth shut.
Matt held up his hands. “Hey, I saw nothing, heard nothing. As far as I know the two of them were in camp all night. The only thing I could tell the police was that I saw Ring deliberately rope him when we were practicing the lasso.”
Calum wanted to wrap a rope around Ring’s neck and pull it tight so he knew what it felt like not being able to breathe.
“How’s your dad?” Gunner asked.
“Doing okay.” Last Calum heard. “Vera called to say they planned to schedule him for surgery by tomorrow. A bypass. Vera’s on her way back with Angie.”
“And Jasper?” Janie asked.
“Fractured skull and a couple of broken ribs, bruises, cuts.”
Calum picked up his coffee and sipped the hot liquid. He longed to go to Jasper, and instead he was stuck there, running the damn business.
A hand settled on his shoulder and he looked round to see Suz, Seth by her side clinging to her leg.
“Mornin’, buddy,” Calum said and mustered a smile from somewhere.
“My name’s Seth.”
Calum nodded. “Mornin’, Seth.”
“The guy’s here to do the test,” Suz said, a smug look on her face.
For Christ’s sake. “Not now.”
“Yes, now,” Suz snapped.
“Daddy!” Seth tugged at Suz’s arm.
“What have you been telling him?” Calum said through clenched teeth, but as he rose to his feet and moved away from the guests, Seth pulled away from Suz’s hand and went running across the room, straight into the arms of Dean.
Suz pulled at Calum’s sleeve, her jaw set. “This is not what it looks like.”
Seth buried his face against Dean’s shoulder.
“The fuck it isn’t,” Calum muttered. “Out of the mouths of babes.”
Suz set her jaw. “What was I supposed to tell him? Come over here.”
He let Suz guide him to the side of the room.
“Seth’s yours,” she whispered. “Do
the test and you’ll see.”
“So how come he’s calling Dean Daddy?”
“Because me and Dean are together.”
Since when?
Calum turned and stalked out of the lounge, Suz on his heels. A man sat in the reception area of the lodge, a Styrofoam box on the table at his side. He stood as Calum approached.
“Calum Neilson?” the guy asked.
He was a tall, thin individual with a goatee. The box had Helix Tech stenciled on the side. It looked authentic.
“Yes and you are?”
“I’m a rep for Helix Tech.”
“Name?” Calum demanded.
Suz elbowed him. “Stop being such a pain. Just let him swab your mouth and it’s done. Two seconds.”
“Name?” Calum repeated. “Reason I want to know is I’d like to confirm you are who you say you are.”
“My name’s John Bishop.”
“Wait there.” Calum turned.
“I can give you their phone number,” the guy said.
Calum shook his head. “No thanks.” He stomped over to the phone on the reception, his heart pounding, his mouth dry. He was fairly certain he didn’t even need to phone, but he’d play it out. Calum turned to watch the guy as he spoke on the phone.
When they confirmed a John Bishop did work for them, collecting and couriering samples, Calum asked them to describe him. He didn’t miss the snap of the guy’s gaze toward Suz. The person Calum spoke to had no idea what John Bishop looked like, but Calum made it sound as if she did.
As he put down the phone, Dean came through holding Seth’s hand. Calum pointed a finger at the rep as if he were firing a gun. “Game’s up.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man said.
“Your timing’s lousy. The police are here and there’s a team of crime scene technicians working on the ranch. Still want to tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about?”
The guy sagged. “Told you this wouldn’t work. You still have to pay me.”
“Get out of here, you moron,” Suz growled.
Relief swept through Calum. He met Dean’s gaze and nodded toward Seth. “He the reason you didn’t want to come back to the ranch? In case he saw you and gave the game away?”
Dean exhaled and nodded. “This wasn’t my idea. Suz thought if Erik believed he was his grandkid, he’d get left something when he die— Ah shit.”
“Shut up, Dean,” Suz snapped.
“She seemed more interested in me giving her money now,” Calum said.
Dean glared at Suz. “What have you been saying?”
“We need money. More than you get twirling a rope and helping out ranchers who need an extra hand.”
“We manage,” he barked.
“No we don’t,” she yelled back.
Calum gave a short laugh. “I saw you.”
Dean frowned. “Saw me when?”
“Coming out of our bedroom.”
Dean paled. “You never said anything.”
“I wanted her gone. I didn’t care who she went with. But I wish to hell you’d never come back.”
“Sorry,” Dean muttered. “And I’m sorry about your father.”
Calum sighed. More bad news to break to a sick guy. The kid you think is mine, well, he’s not.
Calum should have known the police would have more questions. Detectives arrived and he took them to his father’s office. He’d been at school with one of these guys, Luke Cannock. Luke had been popular, Calum always on the edge of things but they’d rubbed along okay. The other guy who introduced himself as Harry Kosak, looked the same age as his father.
“Sit down, Calum,” Luke said. “How’s your dad?”
Calum dropped into the chair. “Doing okay, though they’re talking about him needing an operation.”
“Why don’t you start at the beginning,” Kosak said.
Calum mentally sighed at the thought of going through all this again. When the hell was the beginning anyway? When he realized he was gay? When he first set eyes on Jasper?
No hiding anymore.
Calum repeated everything, answered every question truthfully.
“So after you and Jasper…had sexual relations, you left his room in an agitated state?” Kosak asked.
He kept his voice neutral but Calum sensed his disapproval.
“Yes, I walked out.”
“Why?”
“It’s not relevant,” Calum blurted.
Kosak frowned. “Let us decide that.”
“I told Jasper something had happened to me that affected the way I felt about certain things. I’d never told anyone before and I didn’t wait to hear his reaction. I left. I was angry with myself, not him. It’s something personal I’m trying to deal with and it’s got nothing to do what what’s happened here. By the time I pulled myself together and went back to speak to him, Jasper had already been taken, though I thought he’d left in the cab he’d called to take him to Jackson.”
“Pete claims you told them to snatch Jasper, to teach him a lesson,” Luke said.
A gasp of disbelief burst from Calum’s mouth. “Bullshit.”
“Whereas Ring told us they were doing what your father had asked them to do.” Kosak twirled a pencil over his fingers. “Father is not very pleased with son.” His jaw twitched.
It took a moment for Calum to register he was talking about Ring and Pete and not him and his father.
“Then Ring changed his story and said Jasper tried to force him into sex.” Luke stared at Calum.
“No way,” Calum said.
“We might have gone some way to believing that one, but Pete didn’t go down that road,” said Kosak. “And the longer we left Ring, the more he came up with and the more unconvincing he became.”
Luke leaned forward in his chair. “The interesting thing is, Jasper’s not said much, but one thing he definitely hasn’t said is that you are in any way involved with each other.”
Calum sighed. “He’s trying to protect me.” The stupid, lovable idiot.
“Why?” Kosak asked.
“Because no one’s supposed to know I’m gay.”
Luke snorted. “Hell, Calum, we all knew at school. We just ignored it.”
Calum managed a small smile. “Guess I didn’t do such a good job of hiding it then. My dad is hoping they’ll invent a pill to convert me.”
“You married, didn’t you?” Luke asked.
“Briefly. No one can say I haven’t tried to be what my father wanted.”
“How do you get on with Marty Shaw?” Luke asked.
Calum frowned. What did Marty have to do with anything? “Like most ranchers get on with their neighbors. Good and bad. Why?”
“When we confronted Ring and Pete over their contradictory stories, they both changed to the same one. They’ve been working for Marty Shaw to undermine the Neilson ranch. Your father refused to sell this place to Marty but seems he didn’t want to take no for an answer.”
Calum picked his jaw up off the floor. “Marty said that?”
“Not yet, but I think he will,” Kosak said. “He’s being questioned.”
“Christ,” Calum muttered.
“They reckon Marty wanted Erik shut down so he could run the only dude ranch in the area,” Kosak said. “It was a win-win situation for Pete. Paid for working as ranch foreman for Erik, he claims he also pocketed money from Marty to make sure guests grew increasingly dissatisfied with their vacation.”
Calum’s jaw ticked. The bastard.
“Pete also wanted your father to grow increasingly dissatisfied with you,” Luke added. “It was a two-pronged attack. Marty wanted to persuade your father to sell to him, but he didn’t want the ranch left to you if your father died. I suspect Pete had milked his cash cow for too long and either Marty suggested a guest should die or Pete did.”
Calum wondered if Marty cared who they’d picked. Had Ring and Pete only gone after Jasper because of him?
Kosak leaned for
ward. “Before Marty clammed up and asked for his lawyer, it was clear he hated your father’s guts. He practically spat when he talked about him.”
“Marty and my dad have some sort of grudge that occasionally flares up. I’ve no idea what it’s about.”
Kosak sighed. “I do. I was at school with Marty and your dad. Your mom was a mighty pretty woman. She chose Erik, and Marty never got over it.”
“But Marty’s married. He’s been with Lois as long as I can remember. She and Mom were friends.” And it had always puzzled Calum that the Shaws had never been invited onto the Neilson ranch.
“When your mother died, Marty got drunk and smashed up a bar in Jackson,” Kosak said. “He blamed your father for her death.”
Calum felt his world was unraveling. “She died of cancer. How could that be anyone’s fault?” The familiar ache hit him in the gut when he thought of his mom and her promise not to die, a promise she’d known she couldn’t keep.
“Lois told him your father kept saying it was nothing to worry about and by the time your mother went to the doctor, it was too late.” Kosak stared straight at him.
“Oh God. How do you know all this?” It’s my father’s fault?
“Lois is my wife’s sister.”
Calum spent the rest of the day on autopilot. Vera came back with Angie and the news that his father had been transferred to the University hospital where they’d operate tomorrow. Neither of them had seen Jasper but had been told he was comfortable. What the hell did that mean? Kosak had called to say Ring and Pete had been charged with attempted murder. Calum’s stomach churned at the thought of Jasper not having been found. If Angie hadn’t given Jasper that bracelet, if they hadn’t been glow-in-the-dark beads, if…if…if… Calum was desperate to go to the hospital to see him, but he couldn’t just walk out.
The ranch was shorthanded. He’d have to double up the guests with the wranglers. Gunner could handle the grain delivery. The kitchen staff could function without Vera’s supervision for a day or so. The remaining activities the guests could choose to do were visits to Yellowstone or to the local hot springs. Calum spent an hour in his father’s office, going through paperwork, making sure no bills were due to be paid, responding to emails from prospective guests, but his mind constantly strayed to thinking about Jasper.
Cowboys Down Page 20
