by Debra Webb
He slid behind the wheel and shifted into Drive. He met her expectant gaze then. “There’s no one in the bunkhouse.”
Fear infused her blood. “Maybe…maybe they’re in town partying since the boss is out of commission.”
“Maybe.”
Lyle drove back to the house. Her nerves jangled when he hit the brakes next to the dark house. This was just creepy.
“I need to go in there,” he said, “but I don’t know about taking you inside, and I can’t leave you out here.”
Sadie had grown up in this house. She knew the place. There was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this. Sizemore was likely exercising his newly found power.
“I’m calling Cox.” Lyle reached for his phone.
“Let’s just go in.” They were making too much of this. She reached for her door.
Lyle grabbed her other hand. “Listen to me, Sadie.”
The urgency in his voice had that trickle of fear breaking into a raging river.
“You stay behind me. Don’t make a sound.” He gave the phone back to her. “If we run into trouble, you run, hide, whichever is handiest, and you call for help.”
“Okay.”
He was out before her. He closed his door silently, so she did the same. Her heart was thumping wildly. Lyle moved up the steps, she followed. She hoped Gus hadn’t changed his security code. Otherwise Sheriff Cox would have another reason to suspect Sadie of criminal activity.
Lyle had her stand to one side while he opened the door. It wasn’t locked and the security system’s warning remained silent. Another wave of intense fear rushed through her veins. She should have let him call the sheriff.
The house was eerily quiet. Lyle closed the door behind her and stopped her when she reached for the light. He clicked on the flashlight she hadn’t realized he’d grabbed from the truck. The beam flowed over the shiny marble floor of the massive entry hall. They moved from room to room, Sadie right behind him, clutching the back of his shirt.
When they reached Gus’s study, Sadie gasped. The room had been torn apart. “Oh, my God.”
“Don’t touch anything, Sadie.”
She pressed her fist to her lips and bit down to hold back the hysteria. What happened here? A robbery? That didn’t explain the absence of all the ranch hands.
Would Clare Barker do this? “Could it be her?”
Lyle moved back into the hall. “I don’t know, but we’re not taking any chances.” He reached for the phone. “I’m calling Cox.”
“No need to call the sheriff.”
Sadie almost jumped out of her skin. She turned toward the voice. Billy Sizemore. She blinked and stared again at his image in the flashlight’s beam. He had a gun…pointed at them.
“He’s on his way,” Billy announced. “But he’ll be too late to do you two any good.”
Lyle moved in front of Sadie. “What’s this about, Sizemore?”
“It’s about proving to Gus Gilmore that I’m the only heir he needs.”
“What?” Sadie tried to move around Lyle, but he held her back. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Oh,” Sizemore said with a cruel smirk, “I guess you didn’t know he’s my daddy. My real daddy. Seems like there’s a lot he forgot to tell you about.”
I wasn’t always the perfect husband. Sadie felt lightheaded. No. She had to keep it together. No way was she going to let this cocky SOB get away with this.
“You’ve been blackmailing him.”
Sadie turned to Lyle. Was he guessing? Did he know something about this?
Sizemore laughed. “I didn’t have to blackmail him.” His expression darkened. “At least not at first. He said I was the best bronc rider he’d ever seen.” Fury tightened his voice. “But that wasn’t enough when I told him that little affair he had while his wife was sick was no longer in his past. He didn’t like it. Seemed he already had one secret too many.”
Sadie tried to push past Lyle, but again he held her back. She shouted over his shoulder, “So you tried to kill him and make it look like I did it? You bastard!”
“The whole town knows you two do nothing but fight. When they find out I caught you breaking into the house, they won’t be surprised. It was dark, I didn’t know it was you when I fired my weapon. Your boyfriend here fired the first shot, started a domino effect, so to speak.”
“You got it all figured out,” Lyle said quietly. “Stole Dare Devil to get Sadie fired up.”
“Worked, didn’t it? She came over here waving that shotgun of hers around.”
“Too bad you had to kill old man Carroll to keep him quiet.”
Lyle’s suggestion sent Sadie’s breath rushing from her lungs. “How could you kill a helpless old man like that?”
Sizemore laughed. “He was dead anyway. Cirrhosis.”
“Guess your plan worked,” Lyle offered.
“Like a charm,” Sizemore bragged.
Lyle shoved Sadie to the floor.
Shots fired, the sound echoing off the walls.
The flashlight hit the floor and the beam bounced around the room.
For two seconds Sadie couldn’t move. Where was Lyle? Why was it so quiet? She started to get up. A second round of shots shattered the silence. She scooted deeper into the doorway of her father’s study.
Someone groaned.
Lyle? She wanted to call out to him…but what if he was down…
The chandelier came on. Light glittered across the shiny marble.
She blinked to force her eyes to focus. Lyle stood over Sizemore, the muzzle of his weapon shoved into the bastard’s skull. “Slide your weapon across the floor, Sizemore.”
He hesitated but then did as he was told.
That was when Sadie saw the blood splattered on the marble. Sizemore had caught a bullet in his right leg. Blood soaked into the denim.
Sadie scrambled to her feet, ignoring the ongoing conversation between Lyle and that idiot on the floor. She stared at the splatters. Visually traced the trail. Lyle’s free hand was pressed against his side. Blood seeped around and between his fingers.
Oh, God.
She rushed to his side. “You’re bleeding.”
He flashed a weak smile. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
“Where’s the phone?” She spotted it near where he’d first shoved her out of danger’s path. Almost falling in her haste, she snatched up the phone and entered 911.
Blue lights flashed outside. How? She was confused. Wait, Sizemore had said the sheriff was on his way. The dispatcher came on the line. Sadie pleaded for an ambulance to be sent right away. The dispatcher assured her that one was on the way. Since Sheriff Cox had arrived it wasn’t necessary for her to remain on the line.
The sheriff cuffed Sizemore and his deputies took control of all the weapons, including Lyle’s. Sadie felt helpless, frantic and exhausted all at the same time. Lyle just kept explaining what happened to the sheriff while his shirt soaked up the blood seeping from his wound.
By the time the ambulance arrived she felt near cardiac arrest. Lyle refused to get in the ambulance unless Sadie could ride in the back with him.
When the doors closed and they were on their way with a paramedic seeing to his wound, she fell apart.
She hated the weakness. But she was entitled. Her world had already fallen apart.
4:00 a.m.
SIMON RUHL HAD ARRIVED to take up Lyle’s slack since he was injured and the extent of treatment was not known when Lyle made the call en route to the hospital. At the hospital, Sadie refused to leave his side. The bullet had made a clean exit and surgery wasn’t required. Just some cleanup work and closure.
Gus had appeared, much to the dismay of the nurses on the third floor since he had no business being out of bed. Between Gus, the sheriff and what Sizemore had told Lyle and Sadie, they had his story whether he officially confessed or not.
The sheriff had taken Sadie’s truck in because both he and Gus suspected Sizemore was behind his
accident as well as Dare Devil’s abduction.
Sizemore had overheard Gus’s conversation with Clare Barker, so he had known what was going down with Sadie. But so far he had not admitted to burning down the house or leaving the message on Sadie’s door.
Gus, clad in his boots and a hospital gown, stood at the end of Lyle’s bed looking far more like hell than Lyle. Sadie stood at Lyle’s bedside, his hand clutched in hers.
Funny, in a million years he would never have imagined this scene. Lyle had to laugh.
Gus glared at him. “Boy, I don’t know what you’ve got to laugh about, so I’m going to assume they’re giving you better drugs than they’re giving me.”
Sadie laughed then, too. Once she started, she didn’t seem to be able to stop. The hysteria proved contagious. Gus Gilmore laughed so hard he had to hold his damaged ribs.
When they had caught their collective breath, Gus shuffled over to Sadie and kissed her on the cheek. “I gotta get back to my room.”
She smiled and gave him a nod.
Lyle had already seen the turning point. These two were going to be okay.
“Gus,” she called out to him before he got out the door. He turned back to her and raised his eyebrows in expectation. “I love you.”
“Course you do. And I love you.”
The door swished closed behind him and Sadie swiped the tears from her eyes.
Lyle knew it was his turn. He hoped he fared as well as the old man. “I’ll be out of here in a few hours.”
Sadie nodded. “You were lucky.” Her lips trembled. “You protected me and you got shot.”
“I had to protect you.” He squeezed her hand. “I couldn’t let him hurt you.”
“I know. It’s your job.”
“Sadie.” He waited until she met his gaze. “Yes, it’s my job. Until this Barker situation is resolved, I’ll be at your side every moment and I will make protecting you my top priority.”
Disappointment flashed in her eyes.
“And when it’s over, I’ll still be here.”
Tears slid down her cheeks, but the disappointment was gone. “You sure about that?”
“I have never been more sure of anything in my life.” He pulled her down to him and gave her a kiss. “I love you, Sadie. I have since the first time I laid eyes on you.”
She climbed in the bed on his good side and stretched out next to him. “Good,” she said finally. “Because I really didn’t want to have to borrow one of Gus’s shotguns.”
Lyle kissed her forehead. “Does that mean you still love me, or do you just plan to keep me around to help you rebuild your house?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
He frowned. Started to ask what that meant, but she turned his face to hers and smiled. “About rebuilding the house,” she explained. She caressed his jaw and peered deeply into his eyes. “My life is a real mess right now, Lyle McCaleb, but the one thing that is crystal clear is how much I love you.”
That was all he needed to hear. The rest they would figure out as they went.
So far it appeared they were in for a rough ride, but they were both prepared to hang on tight.
Chapter Sixteen
The Colby Agency, Houston, 6:00 p.m.
Victoria stared out the conference room window that overlooked Houston’s unmistakable skyline. It wasn’t Chicago, but it was beautiful nonetheless. She had spoken to Jim earlier today. Things were going well at the Chicago offices. Tasha and the children were anxious to see Victoria and Lucas as soon as they returned.
The transition here in Houston had gone very smoothly. Except for this case.
She turned and walked to the table that served as her desk. Clare Barker remained off their radar. Rafe had not come forward to give any additional information. Victoria couldn’t determine whether he was shocked by his friend’s betrayal or whether he had received the confirmation he needed and had nothing further to add.
They had found no other connection between Tony Weeden and the Barkers.
Victoria lowered into the chair and opened the file once more. She had pored over the information repeatedly and found nothing useful. And yet she had to be missing something.
Something that made the circle complete.
Rafe Barker had twenty-five days to live. How could they possibly hope to unravel this immensely complicated puzzle in that short time?
Perhaps she wasn’t supposed to. The concept had crossed her mind that Rafe had attempted to use her agency to point his wife in the right direction. But that made no sense since Janet Tolliver was the one who knew the whereabouts of the daughters and Rafe had provided that contact.
What were they missing?
“It’s time to call it a day, my dear.”
The sound of Lucas’s voice brought a smile to her lips. He was back! She stood and hugged him. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
He drew back and smiled for her. Victoria loved his smile. “Ah, but that’s only because I lost our mark.”
Victoria took his face in her hands and kissed him. “There was no way we could have known she had an accomplice who had set up that arrangement in advance of her release.” Much had been revealed since the fire at the apartment complex.
Lucas ushered her into a chair before taking the one next to her. “The complex manager admitted that Weeden had made the arrangements months ago under the name Toni Westen. He leased one apartment with the guarantee that the other would be available for his friend. He gave the manager a hefty bonus.”
Victoria doubted the manager would have confessed if not for the fire that had been traced back to Weeden’s apartment. He had arrogantly left some of the materials he had used to stage the fire the way he wanted. The police were searching for him and Clare Barker in connection to the fire.
“The entire sequence of events,” Lucas shook his head, “was carefully planned and executed. Clare Barker knew she would be watched after her release.”
Victoria didn’t understand that part. “It’s almost as if she knew exactly what Rafe would do when she was released.”
Lucas gave a nod of agreement. “We may be the puppets and he may very well be the puppet master.”
That was the part that worried her the most. “Oh, Lyle was released from the hospital. He’s fine and insists he can continue providing protection for Sadie until this is resolved.”
Lucas lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “From what Simon tells me, we may be losing him.”
“I’m certain that’s the case.” The thought made Victoria smile, no matter that she hated to lose a fine investigator like Lyle.
“What we do for love.”
Victoria mentally paused. “Do we have a love triangle here?”
“Are we talking about Lyle and Sadie or someone else?”
Victoria arranged the relevant photos on the conference table. “We have Rafe and Clare Barker. Tony Weeden and Janet Tolliver. Have Rafe and Clare planned this bizarre reunion all along? Or was it Clare and Tony? Tony and Janet? Or Janet and Rafe?”
“We found no evidence that Janet had ever worked for the prison system or had any contact whatsoever with Rafe or Clare since their arrests. Or before actually, other than the fact that Clare and Janet were separated as children.”
“Weeden has never worked at Mountain View prison, where Clare was housed.”
“Yet,” Lucas countered, “there is a connection between Weeden and Clare. Obviously.”
“Obviously,” Victoria agreed as she surveyed the photos once more. “What does a thirty-three-year-old man have in common with a fifty-six-year-old woman?”
“Well, we can rule out money. The Barkers scraped by before their arrests. There is no hidden savings.”
“The house was sold for unpaid taxes.”
Lucas gathered up the photos and placed them in the file then closed it. “Our options are limited. We keep an eye out for Clare to surface again and we protect her daughters. That’s basically all we can do other than keep digging.�
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“The other two are much more complicated situations.” Victoria worried about Laney Seagers in particular. Life had not been easy on her. She trusted no one and there was a child involved.
“I’m confident the investigators chosen will be able to handle their assigned cases.”
Victoria was, as well, for the most part. But the best investigator could not control the actions of an uncooperative principal.
“If Weeden had anything to do with the fire at Sadie’s home and the warning message left for her,” Lucas reminded her, “then Rafe Barker’s assertions may prove true.”
Billy Sizemore adamantly denied any involvement with those two malicious acts. But he was about as trustworthy as a snake lying in wait in the grass.
Victoria folded her arms over the case file so she wouldn’t be tempted to look at it again.
“You’re tired,” Lucas suggested.
“I am.” She gazed into her husband’s wise gray eyes. “I keep asking myself what we’re doing here.”
He smiled. “We’re finishing something we started.”
“Perhaps I shouldn’t have started this case, Lucas.” She was tired. So very tired. They had made the decision to retire. To have a home in Texas as well as Chicago and travel back and forth at their leisure.
Yet, here they were deeply embroiled in perhaps one of the most complicated and heinous cases she had ever taken on.
How long would they be able to keep the media from intruding? The fire had already gotten Clare Barker a mention in the local news.
“My dear.” He clasped her hands in his. “Your heart has always been your guide. Retirement will not change that. I don’t want anything about you to change.”
She lifted his hands and kissed each one. “We’ll finish this together and then we’ll take a nice long vacation.”
“Promises, promises.” He brushed a kiss against her lips.
A rap on the door interrupted their little moment. Simon visibly struggled with suppressing a smile. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything that won’t wait.”
Victoria stood. “Not at all. We were just discussing dinner.”
