Page 88

“And he did. But, Natalie, someone like that…they will do it again and they will escalate. It’s not safe for you.”

Natalie cocked her head. “You sound like you volunteered at a women’s shelter or something?”

“Darlin’ I was the women’s shelter. As I told you briefly before, my sister, God bless her, went through something very similar amidst her divorce. And I tell ya, she’s never been the same and that man hasn’t bothered her for a decade or more now.”

“He hasn’t? What made him stop?”

“Prison.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, he got put away for what he did to Sissy. But still, she’s never been the same.”

“I’m sorry.”

June waved her off. “No need to be sorry. Just want you know so you can make the best decision for you.”

“But it’s why you want me to go to the police, isn’t it?”

“So, you don’t end up like her, being afraid to go out, being afraid of everyone you meet? Yes. It would be a shame for you to end up like that, Natalie. It would break my heart. Or worse you could get hurt. Hurt real bad. And I’d…never get over it.”

Natalie teared up. She reached for June’s hand and held it. “I know you care. And I thank you.” They locked eyes for a moment and then withdrew their hands to sip their coffee.

“Don’t thank me, just listen to me.”

Natalie chuckled and grew serious once again. “What do you think Vaughn’s going to do about the tires?”

“Well, she’ll be madder than a hornet, that’s for sure. But other than that, there’s not much she can do considering her back.”

“Yeah, I think she’s going to be down for a while and that’s going to really upset her.”

“It will. But we’ve got to get her better.”

Natalie nodded and took another sip. “You’re going to call Theo, right?”

“No. I’m going above Theo this time. That little runt can just get over it. It’s his cousin doing this, and he’s got no business handling it.”

“I agree.”

June mumbled to herself as she continued to drink. From behind June, Natalie saw Vaughn walk slowly into the kitchen. She was holding her back and bent forward at the waist. “What’s going on? Why are you two up?”

June looked to Natalie and then back to Vaughn. She exhaled. “We got a problem.” She stood and took Vaughn outside.

Chapter Thirty-seven

June climbed out of the Gator and came around to help Vaughn. They walked slowly to the front gate where they stopped and stared. Dawn had broken and the sky was a pale gray, light enough for them to see. In the distance, Diablo crowed his morning tune, waking the rest of the ranch.

She and Vaughn had already examined the tires on Vaughn’s truck and discovered they’d indeed been slashed with a sharp object. And now they stood at the gate, which hung open at an angle where it had obviously been tampered with, the two cameras that had been posted, dangling in the breeze, hung by the wires that had helped to secure them.

“You get any feed from those cameras?” June asked.

Vaughn looked pale, sick with disgust and pain. She staggered a little as she dug her phone out from her back pocket. She brought up the feed from the cameras and stood closer to June so she could see. They watched as a small pickup truck approached the gate and someone climbed out, dressed head to toe in black, and sprayed something on the lens. They weren’t able to see anything, then the feed flashed and went off as the cameras were destroyed.

“Look like one of the boys?” June asked.

“I can’t tell.”

“Me neither.”