by James, Ranay
The second paramedic pulled the gurney from the back, and she helped him pull it up the porch steps and through the kitchen doorway. Deputy Sheriff Juan Perez arrived right on the heels of the ambulance. Right behind him was Brice Langston, Dallas Langston’s son.
At thirty-three Brice was not unattractive, and Katherine had gone out with him on several occasions when he came to New York on business, partly because he was a smooth one, and at the time, she was young. The other part was because she was lonely for reminders of a happier time in her life. Yet, there was something about Brice that kept her from completely trusting him, and the feeling had not dissipated in the two years since she last saw him.
“Katherine?” Brice came through the back door and gave her a hug which Robert noticed was only one-sided. He was having a hard time dealing with Brice’s hands on her.
Deep down Robert’s animal was screaming, “Mine!” He definitely did not wish to share, nor was he willing to play nice. She was his responsibility, and Brice was an unknown factor to her safety. That had to explain his reaction, he reasoned.
Brice brushed the hair away from her face that had come loose from the head band. “My God, it is good to see you. I have been trying to call you now for hours, ever since I heard about Kyle. I’m glad you’re home. What is going on here? Are you all right?” His concern seemed genuine to Katherine.
“I’m fine. It’s George. Someone attacked him.”
“Attacked him? Here? In the house? Are you here alone?” Brice asked seemingly concerned.
“No, she is not alone,” Robert walked though the kitchen doorway, “nor will she be from this point forward.” He had seen enough of Brice pawing at Kate and did not want to take the time right that minute to figure out why the fact was so worrisome. Later, he told himself.
“Hello, Robert,” Brice’s salutation was cool.
“Langston,” Robert neutrally acknowledged the younger man.
Katherine noticed Brice slightly narrow his eyes.
Hum, she thought, males fighting for dominance. She deduced that not much had changed in millions of years of evolution. Men will still be men, and a woman was still a piece of meat to fight over. She liked Brice well enough, not so for Robert from the looks of his body language.
Brice was not one of Robert’s favorite people. However, Brice was definitely the lesser evil of the two Langston men. He was not as smart or as unscrupulous as Dallas. He was his Daddy’s sheep. If Dallas said jump, Brice jumped. Robert despised men like Brice who were solely in it for personal gain and who would stop at nothing to achieve the end result. That would be his opinion of Brice until he was proven wrong about him.
“How is George? Does he know who did this to him?” Brice asked looking back into the living room door as the medics were tending to George.
Brice was just a little too concerned for Robert’s liking. In all the years he had known Brice, he had never once remembered seeing the younger Langston concerned for any of the hired help. They were a means to an end. They were there to make his life easier, nothing more and nothing less. Robert felt he had no use for such a man who cared nothing for others less fortunate in life’s game of chance. The Langston family, like the McKinnon clan, had been blessed with both brains and brawn resulting in a very comfortable lifestyle.
Brice was one man with whom Robert had never really felt he had a firm footing, and he always had looked for a flank attack where the younger man was concerned. After all, Junior had Dallas as a role model, and his own father had learned about Dallas Langston’s tactics the hard way.
“Yes, George remembers, and when he is better he can give a statement to Maxi.”
Maxi was actually Sheriff Maxwell, a fixture around Johnson County, known for his fair and tough law enforcement policies. Robert had already called Maxi to brief him personally on this second attack on Brandenburg land occurring in less than seven days.
Robert’s lie just put Old George up as bait. If a Langston, whether Dallas or Brice, had anything to do with George’s accident then they would come after him again. Robert would be waiting this time.
Katherine knew Robert was lying, but figured he had his reason for holding close to his vest the fact that George could not remember a single thing.
All three stepped back as the paramedics secured George to the gurney and rolled him out to the ambulance.
“Katherine, let me take you to the hospital. We can follow the ambulance. I’m heading back to town tonight anyway for an early meeting in the morning.” Brice looked over her shoulder at Robert.
She wondered what that exchange was all about.
Robert knew. The meeting was with the district attorney to establish Brice’s whereabouts at the time of Kyle’s death.
Katherine declined. “No, thank you, Brice. I appreciate the offer, but I’m riding in the ambulance with George. Robert, can you follow us? I will need a ride home once I get him settled.”
“Absolutely,” he said placing his hand at the small of her back gently guiding her out the back door. Brice had no choice other than to exit the house as Robert corralled him backwards. Turning the skeleton key in the lock and then dropping it into the pocket of his jeans, Robert made a mental note to change the locks and bring them, at the very least, into at least the twentieth century, and preferably the twenty-first. He was convinced, now more than ever, he had a new client and her name was Katherine Delight.
Chapter 8
Harris Methodist Hospital
Surgical Waiting Room
“Don’t you have somewhere else to be, Brice?” Robert wished he would leave. Brice's incessant pacing and irrelevant questions grated on Robert's every nerve.
Brice shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere. I want to help her any way I can.”
“Then go home. Leave her alone if you want to help. I have taken responsibility for her. Kyle was my friend, not yours. To my knowledge, Brice, you were never high on Kyle’s list of favorites.” Fearing he would wake Kate if he spoke too loudly, Robert kept his voice to a whisper.
“Screw you, Robert.” Brice wanted to kill Robert and itched to pull his gun. He could not stand the man with his high moral standard always making Brice feel as if he were the lesser of the two men.
“Very original, Langston. You cannot have a thought unless your father gives it to you.”
Kate’s head was lulled over on his shoulder. He stroked her hair unconsciously as he sparred with Brice.
Having followed them to the hospital and then into the surgical waiting room, Brice was in the way as far as Robert was concerned. He had relentlessly asked Katherine questions over the last three hours, most of which she could not answer, only serving to frustrate her further. She was already agitated, and Brice just added fuel to the fire.
George had more than just broken ribs. He had a puncture in his right lung that had collapsed on the way to the hospital explaining the raspy breathing.
“So, you think the same person who killed Kyle beat George?” Brice was fishing. “I hope he makes it.”
That had a ring of truth to it in Robert’s opinion.
“The old man is tough.” Robert had to give him that much credit. As George was wheeled into surgery to repair the lung and broken arm, Katherine leaned against his shoulder. Now, she was sound asleep in spite of her best efforts to stay awake. Brice’s questions, directed to help her in the quest of fighting off sleep, had finally failed as she slumped in total exhaustion.
The last thirty-six hours had finally caught up with her. He was glad she was able to get a few moments of rest. His shoulder might not be the most ideal sleeping arrangement, but it was better than nothing.
Chapter 9
Robert just wished Brice would go now that Katherine was not awake to keep him entertained. However, it looked as if the man was not making any move to exit the area, and Robert was too tired to think of a way to hasten Brice’s retreat. The morning was going to be hard enough on her without adding Brice to the mix.
They still had an appointment with the funeral home to finalize the arrangements now that Kyle’s body had been released from the County Coroner’s custody and the toxicology screens completed. He had spoken to the medical examiner in Fort Worth who had performed the autopsy. The authorities ruled that the cause of Kyle’s death was not a random act of violence.
“No shit!” That had been his unguarded response to the deputy medical examiner.
It did not take a medical degree or detective capabilities to figure that one out. The cause of death, however, was surprising and the reason for the method might just require gumshoe abilities to resolve.
It was not the beating which killed his friend as first expected. His injuries were severe, but not life threatening. Whoever beat Kyle knew how to stay away from vital organs while still inflicting a tremendous amount of physical pain. Instead, Kyle had been alive and possibly behind the wheel when his truck went into the ravine of the dry creek bed where he was found sprawled face down.
Was he was trying to escape his attackers when he died from the lethal combination of drugs? The sodium thiopental -- also known as sodium pentothal, and doxylamine, a common ingredient in cold and flu medicine, were both found in his bloodstream.
Taken separately neither drug was usually lethal unless ingested in large doses, but together could cause convulsions and coma. Robert was betting Kyle’s attackers did not know Kyle had a cold, or maybe they did and just did not care. After sustaining the beating, Kyle was injected with the dose of sodium pentothal and died after convulsing and aspirating into his lungs.
“Does Katherine know how Kyle died?”
To Robert’s jaded eye, Brice was looking very suspicious .
“Not fully, no.” Robert was not about to give up any information to Brice either.
Cause of death was officially asphyxia. Kyle suffocated to death.
Tough way to die, he thought, and not the first time since hearing the official results.
His questions were the same as those of the authorities. Both he and the sheriff did feel perhaps Kyle was injected with a drug thought to be effective in extracting information from uncooperative victims. Was he beaten first for information?
Probably.
The coroner said that the drug combination was fairly fast acting so the beating, more likely as not, occurred first. It was logical. Failing to get what was the intended outcome by using physical measures, the drugs were then a backup means.
The chronology of the events made sense to him. What he did not know was if they had gotten what they were after. What were they after? Sheriff Maxi knew as well as anyone the legends of the buried treasure. However, that theory would not go into any official report.
If Kyle’s assailants did gain what they were after, had they then turned Kyle loose and he had he died on his way back to the house? Or did the drug react quickly enough that they knew he was dying and left him for dead? That was a question he knew Kate would eventually ask, and he did not have the answers for her.
“Why was Kyle way out there in the middle of the property in his truck?” Brice watched Robert closely. The question was clearly on Robert’s mind, too.
Robert shrugged in a noncommittal response.
That bothered him as well. Usually horses or an ATV with four-wheel drive was a safer bet in such terrain. Kyle was nowhere near the fence line, so that was not his purpose for being there. And it was obvious he had not just happened upon his attackers. He was there for a reason. What was the reason? Maybe it was just because it was so isolated. If it had not been for the dogs, they might not have found him for days or even ever. Eight thousand acres was a lot of ground to cover, and his truck had gone down into a small ravine. Helicopter or light plane would have been the only way to see it unless he was lucky enough to be happened upon by chance.
Then there was the use of the drug that was a puzzle unto itself.
How common was the drug? How easily could someone get his hands on it? With the age of the Internet, it might be just as easy as the click of a mouse.
These were questions he needed the answers to and fast. Kate’s life just might depend on those answers.
Brice’s whining brought Robert back to the present.
“I will leave when Katherine asks me to leave. Until then you are just going to have to deal with me. Whoever killed Kyle and attacked George could go for her next.”
“And you figured that one out all by yourself? I’m impressed, Brice. Why are you curious as to what George knows?”
“For the same reasons that you are wondering.”
Robert seriously doubted that was his sole purpose, but decided not to interrupt. Most people do not like silence and will talk just to fill the void.
“If George knows something about his attacker or why he was attacked, then he needs to tell us everything he knows.”
Robert was not in agreement. “Not until he can talk to Maxi.”
“I’m sure it was an accident. It was probably a mistake. Maybe they did not know it was George and just reacted. For God’s sake, McKinnon, George is an old man.”
“Yes, we can agree on the fact he is old, and I do not think he was the target, Brice. I think you might be close to the truth that it was an accident. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He interrupted the person who attacked him. If they were going to kill him, they would have killed him last night when there was no one to stop them.” Robert shook his head. “The person responsible for this was looking for something, and he interrupted them while they were in the process. And I think I know what they were looking for that would be worth the risk of discovery.” He dangled the carrot out in front of Brice to see if he would take the bait.
He was positive the man from the shadows would be back. The question was when. Chase and Reese were already at the house along with three other highly trained hired guns. Having Mason, his baby brother, on board with them would have made it better. Unfortunately Mason was currently unavailable. Which was truly a shame. The truth was Chase nor he had any idea where Mason was at the moment and had not heard from Mason in several weeks. If he did not check in soon then and only then would he have Chase send out the dogs to sniff Mason out of whatever high-risk endeavor Mason was currently entangled.
Chase and his team were certainly enough for the moment and if whoever attacked George was thinking to return tonight while they were here and away from the ranch, the guy would be in for a surprise. Chase's covert operations team was the best McKinnon-Bride's money could buy. The assailant would not know the team was there until he was past the point of no return.
“You know what they were after?” Brice went deadly still.
“What could they possibly be looking for, Robert?”
Katherine’s sleep-filled question abruptly stopped any further conversation.
Katherine sat up and stifled a yawn before going on.
“He was in the bunk house. Anything of value is in the house, and most of that is only valuable to me as family mementos and such. I’m sure Kyle had funds in the bank, and anything of real value is locked in the safety deposit box. Thaddeus was the one with the aversion to using a bank, not George or Kyle.”
“Thank you, my lovely Katherine. You have just made my point,” he said kissing her on the forehead. It was just too tempting to pass up, especially in front of Brice. Childish and beneath him, he knew, but still it felt good to twist the knife just a little in Brice’s pride that he was the one who currently held the real prize of the Golden Circle.
Kate sighed. “Not you, too? Oh, Robert, the fortune is just a myth. It is the stuff of good bedtime stories and conspiracy theories,” she scoffed waiving the idea off completely as myth.
Brice saw his opening to discredit and undermine the foothold he saw Robert had gained.
“No, Katherine. You are wrong. There is fortune to be gained from Brandenburg land. Why do you think my father has been jockeying to get his hands on it for as long as we all can remember? And h
e almost did fulfill that dream. Understand, Katherine, I did not agree with my father’s tactics, but he had Kyle by the short hairs. Until nine o’clock tonight Dad owned a note. Default on that note would have fulfilled his life-long obsession to own the Golden Circle.”
“What happened at nine this evening, Brice?” Kate drilled holes through him.
“Langston,” Robert warned. “Don’t do this to her. Not like this, Brice.” Robert knew he had been out maneuvered by one slippery bastard. “Kate, Listen to me. I can explain.”
“Explain what, Robert?” She pushed up and out of his embrace.
Brice knew he had Robert cornered and it was a heady feeling. It did not happen often that he could out maneuver a McKinnon, especially Robert who was sharp as a blade. He took full advantage never once caring how it would affect Katherine.
“Lover Boy there pulled a fast one, Katherine. He called my father away from a much needed holiday, dragging him back from Colorado, just to pay off Kyle’s note to obtain the note for himself.”
Katherine whipped around to Robert. “What note? What is he saying Robert? The ranch is leveraged?”
Robert sighed deeply. He might as well be honest now that the cat was out of the proverbial bag.
“He is saying more than that, Kate.”
“Robert?” She did not like the look in his eye. He looked guilty.
“Unless you can come up with three million dollars, I own the Golden Circle.”
Chapter 10
The week following that revelation was horrible for Katherine. Brice came every day to the hospital regardless of the fact she really did not want to see him. Her ex-husband called sending his condolences for Kyle’s death.
Flowers arrived from her mother and stepfather. The handwriting on the card belonged to Lucy, their housekeeper.
George had developed pneumonia and was still in the hospital with the bills steadily piling up. She did not resent him knowing she would find a way to pay. The doctor let George out of bed just long enough to hold a small private service in the hospital chapel. Kyle’s funeral had been the most excruciating experience of her life.
