by Unknown
While Jonah’s hand was enveloped in the strong grip of the Piedras County sheriff, Jonah looked into assessing gray eyes. Without a word being said, Jonah liked the man. When the sheriff spoke, his voice was a deep bass.
“’Morning. I’m Dakota Gallen, and I’ve been wanting to meet Piedras County’s newest resident. I’m sorry you’re getting this welcome.”
“Thanks.” Next Jonah met Deputy Terry Haggard whose baby face and big, blue eyes made Jonah feel like an old-timer.
“When I called you, I didn’t know about the slaughtered animals,” Jonah said, leading the way to the carcasses of the slain cattle.
Gallen whistled. “This is a new twist—and one I don’t like. There have been cattle rustlers at work north of here, but never any butchered animals. There are a lot of dead animals here. We’ve got something else on our hands now. You wouldn’t think you’ve been in these parts long enough for anyone to have a grudge against you,” Sheriff Gallen said, squinting his eyes and studying Jonah who shrugged.
Gallen circled the slaughtered animals and Jonah watched him. “Do you think it was a cult thing?”
Gallen shook his head. “Nope, because usually if it’s a cult, they take organs. These animals just had their throats cut.”
“So someone doesn’t like me and I’ve been here less than forty-eight hours.”
Beneath his broad-brimmed black Western hat, Gallen looked at him and Jonah gazed back, wondering what was running through the sheriff’s mind.
“Could be a lot of things. It could be you, and someone who has a grudge followed you here. Could be someone who works for you that has stirred up the hate. Could be the ranch. Could be just killing for the sake of killing. Could be a warning of things to come in the county.”
“I hope it’s not that.”
“Could be John Frates, although since he’s deceased, that isn’t too likely,” Gallen continued. “But it’s possible. What about your ex-wife? Has she got any enemies?”
Surprised that the sheriff knew about Kate, Jonah shook his head. “I don’t think that’s likely at all.”
“No boyfriends that would be riled up that she’s staying with you?”
“You know a hell of a lot about my life,” Jonah remarked, thinking it was not so different here from where he grew up. “No, she said there aren’t any boyfriends.”
Gallen shrugged broad shoulders. “I like to know the people in my county, and news gets around in these parts faster than a wildfire in a gale.”
“If that’s the case, you ought to get some clues soon about who’s rustling cattle.”
Gallen became silent, slowly combing the ground around the carcasses and then around the smashed fences for any telltale signs. “They’ve had a rash of rustlings farther north of here,” Gallen said. “There’s been a professional gang in West Texas and we’re beginning to wonder if they’ve just moved down this way. But there’s never been any slaughtered cattle.”
“No leads as to who they are?”
The sheriff shook his head. “Nope. They’re getting bolder and more careless, though, so I expect them to make a mistake soon.” He squinted his eyes and studied Jonah. “I heard you’re ex-military. Special Forces.”
“That’s right,” Jonah replied, becoming amused. “Is there anything about me that you don’t know?”
“I’m sure there is. I’m glad to know about Special Forces.”
“I’ll be happy to help if I can.”
“I’m glad to hear that, too. Right now, just keep your eyes and ears open.”
“I’m new to this area, but Scott grew up here.”
“Both of you, just let us know if anything unusual occurs or you see any strangers. Those rustlings up north, they’ve been stealing equipment, too—at least last night you didn’t have equipment stolen as well as cattle.”
“This ranch has a sophisticated alarm system,” Jonah said.
“That’s fine. We don’t know if these are done by the same people, are copycat crimes or different groups. One rustling north of here had a different MO. The perp went into the house while the family was asleep at night. They disengaged the alarm. Family slept through the whole thing. I don’t think anyone will come in on you while you’re sleeping. But I wanted to warn you. If they have any sense at all, they won’t try to slip up on an ex-Special Forces guy, but some of these perps are dumber than a post.”
“Sheriff Gallen, I don’t think the ones you’re dealing with here are so dumb. There’s nothing here except tire tracks.”
“Which we’ll try to trace,” Sheriff Gallen said, shaking his head. “Call me Dakota. And can I call you Jonah?”
“Sure. You sound as if you think we’re going to get to know each other better.”
“I like to know everyone in my county. Hopefully, this is the only time I’ll see you on business—or maybe again when we catch the rustlers.”
Nodding, Jonah thought about Henry and Kate, Clementine and Marvella, the woman who kept the ranch house clean. There were two gardeners who tended the yard and they had worked for John Frates’s father before they’d worked for the son. The same for the cook and the maid. Both had been with the family for years, so he trusted them, but he also wanted them to be safe.
“One man couldn’t do this, get away so quickly and just vanish,” the sheriff stated grimly, frowning as he squatted down to look closely at a track.
Walking back to his pickup, Jonah called home to check on Henry, who was eating his breakfast. Before he talked to his son, he promised Clementine he would be home within the hour. Soon Scott returned to work, but Jonah hung around, watching the deputy and sheriff search for anything left behind by the culprits. Finally the two lawmen told him goodbye, and Jonah climbed into his truck to return home.
As he drove back to one of the rough dirt roads that crossed the ranch, he glanced into the rearview mirror at the smashed fence and had an uneasy feeling. The slaughter of cattle had been evil and senseless. Sheriff Gallen had criminals on his hands more dangerous than garden-variety rustlers. It hadn’t just been a robbery. The slain animals had to have been a message of some sort. A warning, revenge, pure hate…Jonah didn’t know which it was, but he did know the culprits had nothing to gain by killing the cattle.
He was worried, because he wanted to be certain that Henry and Kate were safe.
Stop brooding about Kate, he told himself. “Yeah, right,” he said aloud. She was causing him endless torment and almost total sleeplessness, and she hadn’t been here two days yet.
He swore under his breath, thinking about her in town at her new job. She had looked luscious this morning—cool, more professional appearing than usual—and his pulse had revved the moment she’d appeared in the kitchen doorway.
And he did not want to have that reaction to her. He was angry with her, a simmering ire that flared with each reminder of how much he had missed of Henry’s life and how unnecessary it had been. Yet now he was making up for the lost years. Henry was a delight, and Jonah was thankful to have his son living with him. He had to let go of his animosity toward Kate, he knew.
After his divorce he had decided that anger over the past was senseless. At that time he’d had to let go and get on with life, and he knew he needed to do that again now. Forgive Kate and forget about the past. Henry was here and that was what mattered, and if he had to remind himself of that fact every day, he would, Jonah decided.
He made a mental list to check the alarms again, talk to the men about the rustlers and what the sheriff had told him, and caution Kate and the help about what had happened.
He had looked at his calendar this morning, still amazed by the changes in his life. He had an appointment with his accountant tomorrow morning, followed by an appointment the next morning with the financial planner, and after that a meeting with the stockbroker John Frates had used. Tad Chaya was the manager who kept books and handled the financial workings of the ranch. Jonah knew he didn’t need to do much more than keep an eye on his in
vestments, but he liked ranching and he wanted to be involved in it.
And how was he going to manage living under the same roof with Kate? Every time they were in the same room, sparks flew and both of them felt the electricity.
He wasn’t getting into that trap again. And he knew that neither was she. Let the sparks fly—there would be no fires from them. During the week she would be gone all day, every day, until Friday. They could manage to keep apart in the evenings.
He gripped the steering wheel and swore. Stop thinking about her constantly!
On the way home, he passed Scott Anderson in his pickup, headed the opposite direction. They paused beside each other and rolled down their windows. “The sheriff’s gone,” Jonah said. “He said he would let us know if he gets any leads. I’m going to call the insurance man and I’ll probably have to go back out there with him.”
“Want me to wait to repair the fences?”
“No. Go ahead and start,” Jonah said. “I think Sheriff Gallen will be finished with his investigation by the time you gather up the men and get the materials out there.”
“Gallen’s okay. If anyone can catch the rustlers, he can. Did he tell you he was in the Air Force? Special Operations?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“He’s closemouthed about it, but Piedras County is lucky to have him for a sheriff.”
Jonah nodded, thinking about the tall lawman, who had been all business.
“Remind me to tell you all about Piedras County’s sheriff some day,” Scott said with a grin.
“I’ll do that.”
“See you later, Jonah.” The foreman drove away.
Jonah headed on home, thinking about Dakota Gallen. Special Ops. And now sheriff of Piedras County. Why would someone from Special Ops be buried out here in the boonies, working as a sheriff?
He shrugged aside the question, his thoughts returning to the slaughtered cattle. Someone was sending an unpleasant message. Who was it and why? What lengths would he go to, to get that message across?
A little over an hour after she left the ranch, Kate turned into the parking lot of her new office building, a three-story redbrick building that was neatly landscaped. She met fellow workers and was shown to her new office, a small room with windows facing south. It held a broad oak desk and a long table, wooden filing cabinets, two upholstered chairs and a drawing board. A new computer sat on one corner of the desk.
Within the hour she was poring over projects to familiarize herself with the company’s clients.
While she worked, she kept glancing at the clock, wondering about Henry and how he was getting along with Jonah, yet knowing both were probably having a wonderful time.
Unaccustomed to being away from her son, she called several times during the day, getting Jonah every time. He would pass the phone to Henry, who jabbered excitedly about riding in a truck with his dad and riding on a horse with him. Late in the afternoon when she called, Jonah answered yet again.
“I don’t think I’m missed,” she said, “but I miss him. I’m not used to being separated from him all day. He sounds as if he’s having a wonderful time.”
“He seems to be,” Jonah said, and his deep voice stirred too many memories of hours spent on the phone talking to him in the past when they were dating. Everywhere she turned, she was doing something that brought back memories of similar times with Jonah, and she realized there was little they had done together that she had forgotten.
“Right now we’re in the pool.”
“He’s having such a super time, he won’t even want to talk to me,” she said. “We can talk when I get home.”
“He wants to talk. Here he is.”
“Mom! I can swim!” Henry exclaimed, and she could hear the excitement in his voice.
“That’s wonderful! You learned to swim today?” she asked, wanting to pack up and get home to be with him, yet knowing Henry was receiving the best of care.
“Yes. I’ll show you. When are you coming home?”
“In an hour I’ll leave here, but it will be more than another hour before I get home,” she said.
“Here’s Daddy,” Henry said, and he was gone. Daddy. Jonah. The words conjured up an image of the man, and she longed to be with the two of them.
“He thinks he can swim,” she said when Jonah spoke.
“He can. You’ll be surprised. He’s not afraid to put his head underwater, and it was simple to show him a few strokes.”
She sighed. “He didn’t have a chance to learn when we were in North Carolina. I intended to sign him up for swimming lessons, but I would have had to go with him and I couldn’t.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Jonah said. “He’ll give you a demo when you get home.”
“That’s wonderful, Jonah, because now I won’t have to worry so much about Henry being around the pool.”
“I have an alarm I can set when we’re out of the pool, one that will go off if anyone falls in. But now he can take care of himself enough to swim to the edge and get out.”
“That’s great, and he’s so proud of himself.” There was a pause, and she felt tension grow between them. “I’ll be home in a couple of hours.”
“Bye, Kate.” The phone clicked and he was gone. She bit her lip and rubbed her temple as she replaced the receiver. How many times was she going to regret her past actions in keeping Henry from Jonah, who was proving to be a wonderful father for his son?
As she was closing up for the day, the account executive in the neighboring office, Mason Grant, paused at her door. He had shed his suit coat and removed his tie, and his white shirt was open at the throat. Thick brown hair curled over his forehead and he smiled at her as he leaned against the doorjamb. “Get through your first day all right?”
“Yes. I love it here, and the projects look wonderful. I’m just trying to learn about the clients I’ve been assigned.”
“You’re new to San Antonio, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she replied, closing a bottom drawer and shutting down her computer.
“Come to dinner with me, and I’ll show you around the Riverwalk.”
She looked up at him in surprise. “Thank you, Mason, but I need to go home.” She answered without having to give his offer any thought. “I’m staying with my ex-husband.”
“Whoops, I didn’t know that,” Mason said.
“We’re divorced, but this is my first day away from my son in a long time. Thank you so much, anyway.”
At the mention of Jonah, Mason straightened up. “Okay. See you tomorrow,” he said lightly. She stared after him when he left.
She could have gone out with him, and Jonah wouldn’t have cared. She suspected he would have been happier, because he would have had Henry to himself longer. Why had she turned down Mason, who was a friendly and pleasant colleague? She had no obligation to Jonah. Far from it. He wouldn’t care if she went out every night and married again in a few months. Except a marriage would complicate sharing Henry. He would care about that, but her dating? Never.
She hadn’t even paused to think about the dinner offer. She knew she didn’t want to go out with Mason; she wanted to get back to the ranch to Henry. And was it just Henry she wanted so badly to see, or Jonah, too? She rubbed her forehead again. Was she still in love with him? Too in love to think of going out with anyone else?
Get up and go tell Mason that you’ll go out with him. Go out and forget Jonah! That’s what she should do, but she didn’t want to at all. Why was she tied in knots over a man who was consumed with anger toward her?
She stood, still telling herself to march into Mason’s office, accept the date and try to forget Jonah for an hour or two. Yet she couldn’t. And if she went out to dinner, all she would do was think about Henry and Jonah and want to be back at the ranch.
Someday Jonah would meet someone, and when he did, he wouldn’t hesitate to go out. She was certain he would marry again and he wouldn’t look back, and she should try to get over him completely. And
spending most of her time in close proximity to him wasn’t going to help.
None of her logical arguments were to any avail. She picked up her purse and car keys and left the office, turning to look at it and feeling thankful for the job. With no rent to pay, she was going to be able to save a lot. Save a lot and fall more in love than ever with him—if she had ever been out of love with him even when she’d walked out on him.
When she reached the ranch and climbed out of the car, Henry came running, throwing his arms around her as she picked him up. She hugged him eagerly, glad to be home with him.
Jonah followed Henry outside and stood on the top step while he watched her. Father and son were in T-shirts and jeans, looking fresh after all that swimming. Her son was adorable, his father appealing. Henry smelled clean, and Jonah set her pulse racing the minute she saw him.
“Tonight we’re going to a rodeo!” Henry exclaimed in his high, childish voice. “You’ll go, too, won’t you?”
She looked beyond him at Jonah, who stood in silence, and she guessed that he didn’t want her to accept Henry’s invitation.
Henry caught her chin with his small fingers and turned her face toward him. “Please go! Will you?”
“Yes, I will,” she said, wanting to share the experience of her son’s first rodeo and wanting to avoid sitting home by herself, thinking about Jonah and Henry while they were gone.
“Then if that’s the case, we’ll eat soon,” Jonah said. “It’s a small rodeo about thirty miles from here, but Henry’s never been to one.”
“I want you to see me swim!” Henry exclaimed. “I can jump in and swim to the side all by myself!”
“You can?”
“You have time for a swim before dinner,” Jonah said. “I told Clementine to go, that I’d grill burgers.”
“Fine. Let’s get our swimsuits on, Henry, and I’ll watch you,” Kate said, wondering what Jonah was going to do while they swam. Her pulse raced, and she tried to ignore him as well as her rapid heartbeat while she followed Henry into the house.
She showered quickly and changed into her black swimsuit, letting down her hair and grabbing a towel. When she walked out of the house onto the terrace, her heart missed a beat. Jonah was sitting on a chair at the side of the pool, talking to Henry while the boy paddled around in the water.
