by R. C. Ryan
Brenna ducked her head. “How I wish I could take you up on that. And I know Vern wishes he could. But we really need to get back. I left Sammy home alone.”
“Sammy?” Whit’s attention was immediately caught. “Did you add a brother you never knew you had, too?”
Everyone chuckled.
“He’s better than a brother. Sammy’s my new puppy.”
“And the great love of her life,” Ash added.
“I have to admit, he’s stolen my heart.” She spent the next five minutes describing him in great detail, right down to his habit of licking the side of her face every morning if she didn’t wake up when he was ready to start the day.
After second cups of coffee, and more easy conversation, Brenna and Vern made ready to leave.
Myrna hurried over to envelop the young woman in a warm hug. “One of these days we’ll get you to stay longer.”
Brenna returned the embrace. “You’ve always made me feel so welcome here.”
“This is your other home. And has been since you were just a kid. Don’t you ever forget it.”
“Thanks, Myrna.” Brenna kissed her cheek before turning to say her good-byes to the others.
Myrna handed Vern a brown paper bag. He shot her a questioning look.
“A big slice of my lemon meringue pie. Enjoy it later tonight with a glass of milk. Of course, it would even taste good with a cold beer.”
His face creased into a smile. “You do know my weakness.”
“Now that Brenna has come back to the fold, there will be lots more where this came from.”
With a wide smile, Vern followed Ash and Brenna out the back door before settling into Ash’s truck.
As they drove away, the entire family gathered on the porch to wave good-bye.
Seeing them, Brenna turned to Ash. “Do you know how lucky you are to have so many people who love you?”
He nodded. “I can’t believe I allowed nearly ten years to slip away before coming to my senses.”
“At least you finally figured it out, son.” Vern lowered the passenger’s-side window and breathed in the cool night air. “Some folks go a lifetime and never appreciate all the good people in their life.”
As the truck moved along the driveway to Brenna’s house, the three of them were laughing as they discussed the running feud between Myrna and Mad.
“She had the run of the house until my grandfather moved in. He was like a dictator, ordering her about and expecting her to do his bidding, just because he was in that wheelchair. Now I understand, to make things worse, he’d started inventing things that he swears will make their lives easier. All Myrna sees is that it uses up her good utensils for inventions that never work. As always, she’s let him know that she doesn’t take orders from anybody.”
“That has to be a shock to old Maddock MacKenzie.” Vern chuckled. “A man like that wouldn’t take kindly to having a woman stand toe-to-toe with him.”
“He has no choice but to accept the fact that he’s met his match. Now they seem to have figured out some kind of truce.”
“Truce?” Vern shook his head. “One wrong word and that so-called truce will erupt into all out fireworks…”
His words trailed off as the headlights flashed across the gravel path, illuminating Sammy, trembling and whining.
Ash braked, and Vern stepped out, scooping up the shivering pup before handing it over to Brenna.
She hugged the little guy and buried her face in his ruff. “How did you get outside? I know I locked the door when I left. Oh, Sammy, I wish you could tell me what’s wrong.”
Just then the truck’s headlights swung across the back porch, showing the back door.
It was hanging open at a crazy angle by one hinge, swinging back and forth on the breeze.
Chapter Seventeen
Ash came to an abrupt halt and swung out of the truck with a terse command to Brenna and Vern. “Call Ira Pettigrew and stay here with the doors locked.”
He reached for a rifle from behind the seat and was up the steps and inside the kitchen when he heard footsteps behind him. He swung around, prepared to do battle, only to see both Brenna and the old cowboy just stepping inside.
He snarled a warning. “I told you to stay outside.”
“This is my house, Ash. I’m not hiding in your truck while you face danger alone.”
He looked beyond Brenna to the old cowboy. “What’s your excuse for this foolishness?”
“I take my orders from her,” Vern said with a grin.
Ash took a breath. “And Ira?”
“I called him.” Brenna’s voice was tight with worry. “He’s on his way.”
“All right. But it’ll take him an hour to get here from town, and whoever did this could still be hiding inside.”
“He won’t get past all three of us.” Brenna opened a drawer and pulled out a long knife.
In Vern’s hands was a tree limb he’d picked up outside. It looked sturdy enough to break a man’s legs. Or a head, if he aimed high enough.
“Where’s Sammy?” Ash demanded.
“I left him safe in your truck.”
Just then they heard the sound of breaking glass.
“Someone’s here,” Brenna shouted.
With Ash leading the way, they raced through the house to the old-fashioned parlor, only to find a window smashed and a figure darting across the backyard into the darkness.
“I’m going after him.” Ash called over his shoulder, “And this time, stay here.”
He didn’t dare attempt to go through the broken window. The shards of glass were as forbidding as daggers.
Though it cost him precious time, he raced through the house and into the night. But as he made his way across a meadow behind the barn, he knew, with a sinking heart, that he’d lost any chance of catching up. Whoever had broken in was long gone, having been swallowed up by darkness.
After a cursory check of the barns and outbuildings, Ash turned to make his way back, only to find Brenna and Vern coming up behind him.
“Can’t the two of you understand anything? This isn’t just a break-in. This guy could have a gun.”
“And haven’t you heard there’s safety in numbers?” Brenna’s voice was breathless, either from running or from pure terror.
Hearing the catch in her voice, Ash caught her hand and guided her through the darkness back to the porch. Inside, they began turning on lights as they moved through the house checking rooms. When they stepped into the living room and switched on the lamps on side tables at either end of the sofa, they were startled to see a pile of plaster and debris littering a corner. They looked up to discover a hole in the ceiling.
“I’ll get a flashlight.” Brenna hurried away and returned minutes later.
Ash dragged a chair across the room. Using the flashlight, he climbed as high as he could before shining the light into the gaping hole.
“See anything?” Vern asked.
“Nothing but dust. Tomorrow, in better light, I’ll check it out and see if there’s anything more.” He climbed down and handed the flashlight to Brenna. “You have any idea what an intruder could be looking for?”
She shook her head. “I don’t have a clue. And why in here? I haven’t used this room for ages.” She pointed to the fireplace, with logs on the grate and kindling in a basket beside it, gathering dust. “Mom and I used to watch TV in here. But after she passed, I put the TV in my bedroom.”
“I’m going to check upstairs.” Ash turned away, and once again Brenna and Vern trailed behind.
Though they looked carefully in every room, there was no further sign that the intruder had been there.
In the kitchen, Ash nodded toward the stove. “You may as well put on a pot of coffee. By the time Ira gets here, he’ll welcome something hot.”
“I’ll fetch Sammy,” Vern called as he headed outside to the truck.
“Okay. Now let’s see what you found.” After hearing their story, and bemoaning the f
act that the intruder got away, Ira studied the debris on the floor of the living room.
Vern set up a stepladder he’d retrieved from the shed.
The chief climbed up to peer into the gaping hole. Using a flashlight, he studied the old timbers clouded by years of dust and cobwebs before climbing down and wiping his hands on his handkerchief.
He turned to Brenna. “Looks to me like whoever broke in here knew exactly where he was going and what he was looking for. Why here? Why not tear up the kitchen ceiling? Or one of the bedrooms?” He thought a minute. “Did your ma ever mention hiding anything in the ceiling?”
Brenna shook her head. “She never said a word to me. And I’m sure if it was something important, she would have told me. When she was sick and knew she didn’t have much time left, she was careful to get her life in order. She put my name on her bank account so I could give her a proper burial. She showed me where she’d filed all her documents. Her birth certificate, her marriage license. They were all in a metal box in her bedroom. Ma didn’t have much, but she used to say I was her only real treasure, and she was determined to leave me armed with as much information as possible.”
Ira Pettigrew patted her shoulder. “Your ma was right, Brenna. You’re her treasure. And you’ve done just fine with your ma’s legacy.”
Brenna glowed from the chief’s praise as they made their way to the kitchen, where she filled four cups with steaming coffee and passed them around.
They sat at the table, sipping coffee and mulling all that had happened. Across the room, the puppy had settled into his bed, but not before whining and shivering uncontrollably for half an hour. Though Ash held his silence, he felt certain that the poor little thing had been traumatized by the intruder.
Ira broke the silence. “The fact that you scared off this guy makes me think he didn’t have time to get whatever he came for. And that’s a problem.”
He glanced at Brenna, then Ash, and then at Vern, hoping to impress upon them the importance of what he was about to say. “This pretty much cements what we’d already been thinking. These acts against you weren’t random. The runaway trucks that nearly ran you over. The smashed barn door. And now this. We have to assume that this guy means business. He’s after something. Something important enough to have him targeting anybody who happens to be in his way. You may be his target, Brenna, but he was willing to do real harm to both Ash and Vern. That tells me he’s a desperate man.”
“Look around you, Chief.” Brenna swept her hands to indicate her simple surroundings. “There’s nothing of value here. Why target a ranch like mine?”
“If I knew that, Brenna, I’d be known as some kind of police guru. Right now, all I have are questions.”
“If he’d come to me and tell me what he wanted, I’d be happy to give it to him, just so he’d leave me alone.” She lowered her hands to her lap where she nervously twisted them. “How do we deal with the fear that he won’t quit until he gets whatever it is he’s looking for? How do we know that next time he won’t just settle for smashing a door or a tractor, but one of us?” She looked across the table at Ash before reaching over to catch Vern’s hand in hers. “I can’t bear the thought that he nearly killed Ash just to get to me, or that he nearly hit Vern when he slammed into my barn door. Next time, maybe we won’t be so lucky.”
Ira and Ash exchanged a knowing look, then Ash turned to Brenna and Vern. “I’m going to take both of you to my place. I’d like to see our intruder try something there.”
Brenna shook her head. “I want to take you up on your offer, Ash. Believe me, I’m terrified. I’d feel much safer with your family. But I can’t just walk away and let this intruder win.”
“This isn’t about winning or losing. It’s about staying alive.” He reached across the table and closed a hand over hers. “Think about it, Sunshine. You said yourself next time it could be you or Vern.”
A tear trickled from the corner of her eye. “I couldn’t stand to see anyone hurt because of me.” She turned to Vern. “I want you to go to the MacKenzie Ranch with Ash.”
“And you?” The old cowboy was staring at her with the tender look of a doting grandfather.
“I can’t leave. I’m not running away.”
“Bren—”
At Ash’s protest she lifted a hand. “I have a rifle in the bedroom and I know how to handle it. I’m not going to allow this stranger to enter my house at will, and trash it and maybe burn it to the ground along with the barns, just because I’m afraid.”
Vern drained his cup. “That’s it, then. If Brenna’s staying, so am I.”
Ira looked to Ash, hoping he could change their minds.
Ash shot him a look of resignation before taking Brenna’s hand in his. “I guess I should have brought along my toothbrush. If you and Vern are staying, so am I. Looks like I’ll be spending the night.”
Brenna pulled her hand free. “You can’t—”
“I can.” He shot her a wicked grin. “It won’t be the first time I slept in your barn.”
Ira finished his coffee and got to his feet. “I wish I could spare a deputy to park himself here until we catch this guy, but I can’t. I want you to know, though, that my deputies and I will swing by whenever we can, at different hours of the day and night so this guy won’t ever know when it’s safe to try something like this again. But I can’t say this strongly enough. At the first sign of trouble, you call. See that you have my number on speed dial.”
Brenna offered her hand. “I will. Thanks, Chief.”
He nodded. “I wish I could do more. But at least I know I’m leaving you in capable hands.”
He motioned for Ash to follow him out the door.
At his car he paused. “This guy is familiar with the house. He knew right where he was going. I’ve got the state police searching for Brenna’s pa. Right now, everything points to him.”
Ash nodded. “That’s my thought, too.”
“Raleigh Crane was a mean drunk, Ash. If he’s still in the bottle, there’s no telling what he’s capable of doing. And now that he got money from Brenna, he’ll want more. Maybe that letter was just his way of getting traveling money. In the meantime, until the state police locate him, I hope you can get some backup from your wranglers. I’m thinking you won’t be getting any sleep tonight.”
“Don’t worry, Ira. I’ve had a lifetime of going without sleep when the chips are down.”
Ira patted his arm. “I know that. You’re a MacKenzie. My money’s on you.”
As he drove away, Ash pulled his phone from his pocket and called home to let them know he wouldn’t be there, before climbing the steps to Brenna’s house.
In the dark of night Vern and Ash stood on ladders on either side of the living room window and hammered nails into place, boarding up the gaping hole.
“You do good work, son.” Vern climbed down and stepped back to examine their handiwork.
“Now if I could only nail down the rest of Brenna’s troubles as easily.” Ash tucked the hammer into his pocket before lifting the ladder to his shoulder.
The two men hauled their ladders and tools to the barn and returned them to their proper storage before looking around.
Ash kept his tone low. “Ira thinks Brenna’s father is behind all this.”
“Yep.” The old cowboy nodded. “My thinking, too. But where’s he hiding? He had to know when the house was empty so he would have time to do his dirty work. And when I drove that tractor into the barn, he had to be watching.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing. He has to be somewhere close enough to keep an eye on the place.”
The two men paused outside Vern’s trailer. “But what did he leave behind in the ceiling? Cash? If so, why wouldn’t he have taken it with him when he left all those years ago?”
Vern shrugged. “Maybe there wasn’t time. As I recall, he left in a hurry, one step ahead of the police chief.” The old man offered his hand. “Thanks for staying, son.” He gave Ash a long, ste
ady look. “I’m thinking the barn is too far from the house to hear an intruder.”
Ash nodded. “You’re right. I’ll sleep in the house so I can be close enough to hear anything out of the ordinary. ’Night, Vern.” Ash shook his hand before walking toward the house.
“’Night, Ash. I’ll sleep a whole lot better knowing you’re here.”
Ash frowned, deep in thought. He was glad one of them would sleep better. As for him, he knew there wouldn’t be much time to sleep tonight. He intended to stay awake and alert.
Maybe, if they were lucky, Raleigh Crane would decide to push his luck and try one more time tonight to retrieve whatever it was he hoped to find in the ceiling. And when he did, Ash would be waiting.
Chapter Eighteen
As Ash climbed the steps, he could see Brenna through the window. She was standing in the kitchen, hands gripped tightly at her waist, watching the door. The look of fear on her face twisted a knife in his heart.
The minute he stepped inside, she hurried toward him with a smile. That only made the pain worse. He knew at once she was putting on an act to hide her true feelings.
Her voice was a little too cheerful. “You decided not to sleep in the barn?”
“Too far from the house. I need to be here.”
“There are two unused bedrooms upstairs. The one in the front has a softer bed. The one in back is warmer.”
He shook his head. “I won’t need either. I’ll be sleeping on the sofa in the living room.”
“But…”
He held up his rifle. His eyes had a steely look about them. “This will be beside me. Just in case.”
She swallowed. “Okay. Are you hungry?”
“After that meal we had?” He touched a hand to his stomach. “I wouldn’t need to eat again for a week, and I’d be fine.”
“If you’d like more coffee…”
“Nothing…” He touched a finger to her lips to silence her, and was forced to absorb the quick thrill that shot through his system.
