Court jumped right on that. “What kind of questions?”
Mitch volleyed some glances at both of them and shook his head. “Things like how often Rayna came into town and such.”
Bingo. It meant she was spying on Rayna. “Did Janet ever say anything about hurting Rayna or getting back at her for some reason?” Court asked.
Mitch’s eyes widened. “No. Of course not. She wouldn’t have. I mean, what with her being a private detective and all.”
Now Court was certain his own eyes widened. “What made you think she was a PI?”
“She let it slip, and I saw her ID once when it fell out of her pocket. I thought you knew.”
Court glanced at Rayna to see if she had any idea about this. She didn’t. She shook her head.
“I thought you knew,” Mitch repeated. “After all, Janet was working for your father. Warren’s the one who hired her.”
Chapter Four
Answers. That was what Rayna needed right now. Along with another place to stay. She only hoped she managed to get both soon.
Her place wasn’t exactly safe, so that was why Court had brought her to the guesthouse on the grounds of his family’s ranch. She felt as if she’d slept in the enemy’s camp. With her enemy, since Court had stayed the night with her. She was betting though that there hadn’t been much sleeping going on. There certainly hadn’t been on her part. She hadn’t been able to turn off her mind. Hadn’t been able to forget that someone was trying to frame her for murder.
Again.
If Bobby Joe was truly behind this, then she prayed he’d just go ahead and show his face so she could put an end to this once and for all.
Since the cabin wasn’t that large, Rayna had no trouble hearing someone moving around in the kitchen. Court, no doubt, because she also smelled coffee. While she wasn’t especially anxious to face him, she did need some caffeine, and maybe he would have updates that would give her those answers. Specifically, updates on his father. She needed to know if Mitch had been right when he said that Warren had hired the now dead waitress.
If he had, then maybe this was Warren’s twisted way of trying to send her to jail. This time for good.
But Rayna had to mentally shake her head at that thought. From all accounts, Warren could have been killed when he was shot. If this was a plan he’d orchestrated, he wouldn’t have put his life at risk like that.
Rayna took a deep breath to steady herself and walked into the kitchen. Not a long trek at all, only a few yards. She immediately saw that she’d been right about it being Court in the kitchen. Right about the coffee, too, because he was pouring himself a cup.
“You’re up and dressed,” he commented, sounding relieved.
That relief was probably about the being dressed part though. It would have been too much of a trip down memory lane if she’d just been wearing her nightgown—or nothing at all—since Court had brought her here a couple of times when they’d still been dating.
“I wore my clothes to bed,” she said, making a beeline for the coffee. That way, if they were attacked, she would be ready to run or fight back. “I’ll need to go back to my place and check on the horses.”
“I sent a couple of the ranch hands over to do that. I didn’t think it was a good idea for you to be out in the open like that.”
No. It wasn’t a smart idea, but Rayna still wished she could at least see the horses. Just being around them usually calmed her, and she desperately needed that right now.
“Thanks,” she muttered. She was surprised and glad that Court had thought to do something like that. Of course, she’d probably been on his mind most of the morning, not in a good way, either.
“In case you’re still in pain.” Court slid a bottle of pain meds across the counter toward her. It was the prescription stuff the doctor had called into the pharmacy for her. Apparently, someone had picked it up and brought it to the ranch.
She thanked him again but wouldn’t take any. Her head was already cloudy enough without adding those to the mix. “Please tell me you have good news.”
His shrug didn’t give her much hope. “My dad’s still not conscious, so we haven’t been able to ask him about Janet or whoever the heck she is. But we did get back your results from the blood test the doctor took, and you were drugged. It was a barbiturate, definitely meant to knock you out.”
Then it was mission accomplished for her attacker, and he’d likely done that so she wouldn’t show up in town at the same time as Hallie Ramon, the woman in red who had been near the sheriff’s office. And either the woman had been there to shoot Warren or else Hallie had been set up, just as someone had attempted to do to her.
“What about you?” he asked. “You remember anything new about the person who drugged you?”
She had a long sip of coffee and shook her head. “But last night I called the company that installed my security system. They insist no one who works for them would have given out my code to disarm the system.”
“Even if they had, there’s the problem with the key,” Court pointed out. “There were no signs of forced entry.”
“No, but getting the key would have been easier than getting the security code. I don’t take my house key off the ring when I give it to the mechanic for an oil change.” Though she would do that in the future. “I also don’t know if the locksmith I used made a copy of the key and gave it to someone.”
She knew she was sounding a little paranoid, but Rayna needed to look at all angles here. Unfortunately, there were probably other times when maybe her purse, and therefore her keys, had been out of her sight long enough for someone to make a molding of the house key.
Yes, definitely paranoid.
He paused to have some coffee, as well. “Unless you forgot to lock the door. Maybe forgot to set the system, too.”
Rayna was shaking her head before he finished talking. “I don’t forget those things. Not after what happened with Bobby Joe. I know you don’t believe it, but he’s out there.”
No, Court didn’t believe it. She could see the doubt in his eyes. And maybe he was right.
Rayna huffed. “If Bobby Joe’s dead, I didn’t kill him, and that means if he’s not out there, then his killer is. That’s why I lock the doors. That’s why I have a security system.”
He made a sound that could have meant anything. “Why did you stay if you think Bobby Joe or his killer will come back?”
She heard more of those doubts, and while Rayna didn’t think she could make him understand, she tried anyway. “I wasn’t born into money. And, no, that’s not a dig about you and your family. It’s my clumsy way of saying that I can’t just pick up and leave even if that’s what I wanted to do.”
Which she didn’t. That house was her home where she’d been raised. Where once she’d been happy. She was hoping to reach that happy status again.
“Besides,” Rayna added a moment later, “training horses is something I love doing, and I’m fortunate enough that it pays the bills.” That along with the money she got from boarding horses from some folks who lived in town. The occasional riding lessons, too.
Court stared at her, and he obviously had something on his mind. “You never collected Bobby Joe’s life insurance money. It was for fifty grand, and he left it all to you.”
Yes, he had. Considering the big blowup Bobby Joe and she’d had just weeks before his disappearance, it surprised her that he hadn’t changed his beneficiary. But then if he’d truly wanted to set her up for his murder, he would have left her name on the policy.
“I have no intentions of touching that money,” she said.
Court stared at her, cursed under his breath, and he paused a long time. “I’m sorry about what happened yesterday when I tackled you like that. I was half crazy when I went out to your place.”
That was true, but it was a craziness she could understand. She didn’t ge
t a chance to tell him that though because his phone rang, the sound shooting through the room. Her nerves were so frayed and raw that it caused her to gasp.
“It’s Thea,” he said when he glanced at the screen.
He knew the call could be important, and that was why Court answered it right away. He also put it on speaker.
“Your dad’s awake,” Thea stated, and with just those three words, Rayna could hear the relief in the deputy’s voice. “He’s still pretty groggy, but I thought you’d want to come and see him.”
“I do.” Court reached for his keys and his Stetson. He was already wearing his holster and weapon. But he stopped and looked at Rayna.
She could see the debate he was having. He didn’t want to leave her there alone, but Court probably didn’t want her near Warren, either. The debate didn’t last long though.
“Rayna will be with me,” he said to Thea. “What kind of security is in place at the hospital?”
“There’s a guard posted outside Warren’s door. Egan is there, too. And so is Griff.”
Two lawmen and a security guard might not sound like a lot, but in this case, Warren was well protected.
“Good. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Court assured Thea, and he ended the call.
Since it was normally about a twenty-minute drive from the McCall Ranch to town, Rayna guessed that they’d be hurrying. And they did. Court didn’t waste any time getting her into the truck parked directly in front of the cabin, and they drove on the ranch road and then got onto the highway that led to McCall Canyon.
“It won’t be a good idea for you to go into my father’s room,” Court said several minutes later, and he didn’t give her a chance to disagree with that. “You can wait with Griff while I talk to him.”
Court was right. She wanted to know if Warren had hired the dead PI, but he was far less likely to own up to anything with her in the room. Still, it wouldn’t be a pleasant experiencing waiting with Griff. Yes, he would keep her safe, but he was firmly on the side of Warren when it came to anything, since Warren had practically raised Griff and his sister after their parents had been sent to jail for selling drugs.
“Keep watch,” Court reminded her.
Even though she was already doing that, it caused her pulse to jump. The attack from the previous day was still way too fresh in her mind. Plus, she was having some pain, especially where the idiot had injected her with that drug. The seat belt was pulling right across the tender bruise.
“Are you okay?” Court asked.
He was frowning and glancing at her midsection. That was when Rayna realized she was holding her side. She was probably wincing, too. She nearly lied and told him everything was fine, but Rayna knew he wouldn’t believe her.
“I’m hurting. I’m scared. And I’m mad. Yes, I messed up when I got involved with Bobby Joe. I should have never been with him in the first place, and I should have never stayed after the first time he hit me.”
She wasn’t sure how Court would react to that and expected him to dismiss it. He didn’t. Even though he only glanced at her, she saw something in his eyes. Sympathy, maybe. If that was it, she didn’t want it.
“I was a fool,” she added. That not only applied to her relationship with Bobby Joe. She’d also been a fool to choose him over Court.
“Why exactly were you with him?” Court asked.
The burst of anger had come and gone, and now Rayna got a dose of something else that was familiar. Shame. There were plenty of emotions that came with the baggage of being in a relationship with someone like Bobby Joe.
“Because I didn’t think I deserved anything better,” she said. She certainly hadn’t deserved Court.
He frowned. “What the heck does that mean?”
She hadn’t expected him to understand. “You’re a McCall from the right side of the tracks. You have a father and mother who love you.” Rayna didn’t have a clue who her father was, and her mother had dumped her at her grandmother’s when Rayna had been in first grade.
Court’s frown continued, and he added some profanity to go along with it. “You’re telling you think you deserved to be with a jerk because you had some bad breaks in life?”
“I know it doesn’t make sense to you.” She looked at him. “It doesn’t make sense to me now, either. I finally had, uh, well, an epiphany after Bobby Joe hit me the second time, and I knew if I stayed with him, the violence would only continue. Probably even get worse. That’s when I ended our engagement.” She paused. “And you know the rest.”
Whether he believed the rest was anyone’s guess, and there wasn’t time to ask him. That was because he pulled to a stop in front of the hospital. He didn’t use the parking lot. He left his truck by the curb, directly behind a cop car, and he hurried her inside.
Egan was right there to greet them.
One look at the sheriff’s face, and Rayna knew something was wrong. She prayed that Warren hadn’t had complications from the surgery. Or worse, that he’d died. She wasn’t a fan of his, but she didn’t want him dead. And that was partly because she knew how much Egan, Court and their sister, Rachel, loved him.
“What happened?” Court asked.
But Egan didn’t respond. He made an uneasy glance around the waiting room, where there were several patients as well as some medical staff, and he motioned for Court and her to follow him. They did, and Egan went in the direction of the patients’ ward, but he stopped in the hall. However, Rayna could see Rachel, Griff and Court’s mother, Helen, just outside the door. It was no doubt Warren’s room.
Egan looked at her as if trying to decide what to do with her. Clearly, he wanted to have a private conversation with his brother, but there was no way they could leave her alone.
“Dad didn’t stay awake for long before he lapsed back into unconsciousness. But he did manage to say something,” Egan said after he dragged in a long breath. He paused. “It’s bad, Court.”
And that was when Rayna heard something just up the hall. Something she didn’t want to hear. Rachel and Helen were crying.
Chapter Five
Court had already had a bad feeling before he saw his mother and sister crying, but that feeling went up a significant notch.
“Is Dad...” But Court couldn’t even bring himself to finish the question.
“He’s alive,” Egan assured him.
The relief came, but the bad feeling remained. That was because of the tense look on Egan’s face.
“In the few minutes that Dad was conscious,” Egan went on, “he kept repeating one thing. A woman’s name. Alma.”
Court shook his head. “You think that’s maybe the real name of the dead PI he supposedly hired?”
“No.” Egan took in another of those breaths. “According to Griff, it’s the name of dad’s longtime mistress.”
That bad feeling fell like an avalanche on him. “No. Dad wouldn’t cheat on Mom,” he insisted.
“That’s what I said, too, but Griff says it’s true, that Dad’s been carrying on an affair with this Alma for thirty-five years. Dad recently broke off things with her though.” Egan turned back to Rayna. “And that’s where you come in. It’s possible this woman hired someone to kill Dad and set you up to take the fall.”
“Hell,” Court growled, and that was all he could manage to say.
His stomach was in knots. His heart, in his throat. And he figured Rayna wasn’t feeling exactly great right now to hear confirmation that someone had set her up to take the fall for his father’s attack. That part made sense—especially since they’d found Hallie dead. But none of the rest of this was sinking in.
“Alma,” Court repeated. He glanced at Griff. “And he is certain it’s true, that Dad cheated on Mom?”
Egan nodded, scrubbed his hand over his face. “He apparently found out a few months ago and said he told Dad to come cl
ean. Dad obviously didn’t do that, but he did break off things with this woman.”
“The woman who maybe tried to set me up. I want to see her,” she insisted.
Egan nodded. “You will. I’ll have her brought into the sheriff’s office as soon as I can arrange it.” He motioned toward Rachel and their mom. “Needless to say, they’re upset.” He paused again. “Griff also told me that Warren had a son with Alma. I didn’t say anything about that to Mom.”
Court hadn’t figured there’d be any other shocks, but that certainly was one. All of this was coming at him too fast. Of course, this wasn’t something he could absorb with just a conversation. And he was sure there would be backlash. How the devil could his father have done this?
“The son’s name is Raleigh Lawton,” Egan added a moment later. “He’s a year older than you.”
Court belted out another “Hell.” Because he knew the man. Sheriff Raleigh Lawton was from a small town just one county over. Warren and he had worked on a murder case about three years ago, and Raleigh had visited McCall Canyon several times. Court thought of something else that’d happened.
“Wasn’t Raleigh involved with Thea?” Rayna asked.
“Yes,” Egan confirmed. “But they broke things off a while ago. I’m not sure if Thea knew he was Warren’s son, but Griff says that Raleigh didn’t know. He thought his father died in the military before he was born.”
So, the lies had extended to not only their family but to Alma’s, as well. Yeah, he definitely wanted to talk to this woman. Wanted to talk to his father, too.
“Are you okay?” Rayna asked. She touched his arm and rubbed gently.
No, he wasn’t okay, not by a long shot, and Court figured things were about to get worse when he glanced at Rachel again. Griff had tried to put his arm around her, but Rachel practically pushed him away. She said something to their mom, something that Court didn’t catch, and then his sister started toward Egan, Rayna and him.
“Egan told you?” she asked Court. There were fresh tears in her eyes and other tears spilling down her cheeks.
Cowboy Above the Law Page 4
