Page 17 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge (Rescue Ridge #5)

“I ’d appreciate it if you would,” Travis said to Ms. Bart as Evie suppressed a gasp. Had the older woman known?

Leaning forward, Evie almost lost her balance.

Ms. Bart sat there for a long moment, quiet. Travis waited.

“Fine,” Ms. Bart said. “It was my idea in the first place, so I might as well come clean.”

Evie had to pick her jaw up from the floor. Did Ms. Bart realize what she was admitting to? Evie had pegged the woman as a prude. Had she seriously told Simone to wear practically nothing for money? Talk to strangers in a private chat room for dollars?

“Simone was fretting over how to take care of the little ones on what little government money she was getting.”

Evie blinked, unsure she could trust her eyes as she watched Ms. Bart spill her secrets.

“I popped off one day about reading about men who encourage their wives to wear skimpy clothes and then post the pictures. Said she should do the same while she was young and still had the body for it.” She set her purse down on the table and clasped her fingers together.

She looked Travis straight in the eye. “At first, she wasn’t too keen on the idea, but then a couple of days later, she asked if I knew how much those folks made.

I pulled up an article, and we read it together.

We were both taken aback when we saw the amounts.

” Her fingers were in a knot. “Then, we pulled out a calculator and did the math. If she worked a couple of years, she could pay the debt on the farmhouse, buy the new SUV parked outside with cash, and put money away for the kids if they wanted to go to college. Education doesn’t come cheap. ”

It had taken Evie ten years to complete her degree part-time for exactly that reason.

College was expensive. Even going the community college route for her basics had cost a pretty penny.

Then, two years at a four-year college had made it next to impossible to start saving money until she’d graduated.

Having viewed Ms. Bart as a stuffy, old crank since arriving in Saddle Junction, Evie had a newfound respect for the woman. Not only had she kept Simone’s secret, but had been protective of her reputation, too.

A flash of guilt said Simone wouldn’t have had to rely on a near-stranger if Evie had shown up. Evie should’ve been the one in on her sister’s secret life, not a neighbor.

Would Miss Perfect Simone have confided in Evie? Probably not.

Deflated, she returned to the bedroom. The scene inside stopped her at the doorway.

Owen was flat on his back, flying Olivia around like she was an airplane.

He made all the requisite noises to go along with it.

Luca was happily playing beside them with his toy airplane, mimicking the sounds coming from Owen.

Her heart melted like butter at the sight.

Owen caught her watching and sat upright. He set a laughing Olivia down next to Luca. The siblings happily played with their toys as Owen asked what was going on in the next room.

“She knew,” Evie said. “In fact, it was her idea.”

“I thought I heard wrong,” he admitted.

“I did, too. I guess we were both wrong about Ms. Bart.” She plopped down beside him. “I’m happy Simone had someone here that she felt like she could trust.”

A belly-laugh rolled up and out of Olivia.

“How do you do that?” Evie asked Owen.

“Do what?”

“Make the kids feel so at ease with you when they barely know you.” She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “I’ve been here for days and haven’t gotten a response like the ones you’ve been getting.”

“You just lost your sister, Evie. Kids are like animals. I’m convinced they can read our energy.”

“Don’t tell me you’re into all that woo-woo stuff?”

He got quiet. Too quiet. She’d insulted him.

Evie gave a playful tap on the shoulder. “I’m kidding, Owen. Trust me, when Mercury is in retrograde, I feel it.”

“Growing up around horses gave me the perspective,” he said after a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips—lips she shouldn’t let her gaze linger on, no matter how much her mouth burned to press up against his again, how much she wanted to breathe in his dark roast and mint breath.

“We’ve had trainers come in who could almost hear a horse’s thoughts with their hands.

They’re rare, but I’ve witnessed it. There must be some kind of energy reading going on. ”

“I love that you and your family have added a horse rescue to the family business.” She knew how much Beaumont would’ve rolled over in his grave at the thought. “Harrison Guidry must have fought that move like the plague.”

His expression sobered. “Like I said before, the family attorney was recently killed on the ranch.”

“I’m sorry, Owen.That must have been awful and scary for everyone involved.”

“Conrad was initially blamed, but we got to the bottom of it with Travis’s lead,” he said. The respect he had in his voice every time he mentioned his brother-in-law bred more and more confidence in the sheriff.

“How is the rest of your family?” she asked. “Sounds like they’ve been going through a lot since Beaumont died.”

“Four of them are now engaged or married.” His voice held both surprise and an emotion she couldn’t quite pinpoint. “The jokes about something being in the water at the ranch will start soon.”

“Are they happy?”

“That’s the worst part. They make marriage and family look like a good thing despite the circumstances we grew up in,” he said.

“Good for them.” She paused. “Simone was happy. She loved her husband and having babies. She loved moving back to this old house for reasons that I’ll never understand.”

“We’re starting new memories at the ranch.

It began by renaming the place and shifting a good part of the mission.

We’re more focused on rescue operations now.

Beaumont made more money than any of us could ever spend.

Horse racing is just another form of gambling.

However, the deals off the track far outnumbered race day bets. ”

He gave her a quick rundown of the Texas millionaires in secret breeding deals with Beaumont and the kind of money being passed around. “We’re still figuring out some of them. Beaumont knew how to set up a secret deal.”

“Secrets. I’m learning to hate ’em.” She said that with the full knowledge that she was keeping a massive one from her best friend.

Why was it so hard to admit that she’d been in love with him and that was the real reason she’d taken off?

Because you still love him, a little voice in the back of her mind offered.

Was it true?

“Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions,” Travis said to Ms. Bart.

Owen nodded toward Travis. “Guess we should join the others in the living room. You haven’t eaten, and we need to get on the road if you want to get back by supper.”

Evie nodded as an emotion passed behind her eyes. Anger? Regret?

He couldn’t quite pinpoint it. She’d gone to a different place in her thoughts when she’d said the word secrets.

After pushing up to standing, he offered a hand up.

Her hand was small by comparison, but he would never use words like fragile or delicate to describe Evie.

Words like strong, smart, and capable came to mind.

Those traits were somehow wrapped around a vulnerable person on the inside—a side to Evie that precious few ever got to see.

Owen realized he was in an elite club. Or, had been.

There was no telling who she talked to now.

Evie cleared her throat as they walked into the open concept space. She zeroed in on Ms. Bart. “Are you staying? Owen and I have an important errand to run to get security equipment for the house.”

“Nothing’s changed as far as I’m concerned.” Ms. Bart held Evie’s gaze. Defiance in her eyes, the widow almost dared Evie to judge her.

Evie smiled. “Good. Because I need you now more than ever.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Ms. Bart said, returning the smile. She straightened up again when Travis excused himself, saying he would be on the property for a little while to record as many tracks as possible.

“We can grab lunch on the road,” Evie said.

“No, you won’t.” Ms. Bart jumped to her feet and scurried into the kitchen. “I’ll fix you to-go lunches so you can take food with you. No sense eating at one of those ‘squat and gobbles’ masquerading as real food.”

Evie’s laugh broke a little more of the tension in the house. Ms. Bart stepped lighter, too. A breakthrough between the pair would be a welcome relief. Evie could use a few friends in the area. And if not friends, then alliances. Ms. Bart had proved she could be trusted.

After sandwiches were made, stuffed into baggies, and then paired with fruit, they headed toward his Jeep. A minute later, they headed toward town.

“Simone must have picked up a stalker,” Evie said after the bags were emptied. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Someone who was smart enough to find out where she lived.” It could be done easier than most realized.

“These days, you can find out almost anything on the internet. You can even find floor plans for houses. You can virtually walk down someone’s street.” She shivered. “Someone should put a stop to the violation of privacy.”

“Agreed.”

They drove in silence for the next few minutes.

The storm that had ripped through had left broken branches littering the landscape.

In the Jeep, he was able to maneuver around them easily.

Precisely the reason he didn’t own a truck.

Besides, the ranch had several company trucks if he needed to haul anything.

Navigating around the fallen trunks, he slowed the speed considerably.

“Do you think Travis’s tech person will be able to track down the Size Eleven?” she asked.

“It’s our best bet right now.”

“I hate feeling like I’m doing nothing,” she said. “Being away from the children is surprisingly stressful.”

“I wouldn’t worry about them as long as they’re with Ms. Bart. She’s formidable, and the sheriff is walking the property while his tech person tries to unlock the internet’s secrets.”

“People would use fake identities to visit those kinds of websites and chat rooms, wouldn’t they?”

“I’m not sure.” He had no personal experience with any of those things. “If they were married or held positions in society, they might be more careful. It’s not illegal to engage in an online relationship between two consenting adults.”

“True.”

He cut the wheel to the left to avoid hitting a tree trunk and misjudged the ditch, landing them tire-deep in mud. “Shit.”

“The rain must have flooded this place more than we realized,” she said. “If I open the door, water might come in.”

He muttered a few more choice words before tapping the gas.

The wheels spun, unable to gain traction.

“I’m going to need something for leverage.

Hold on while I search for something to use.

” He wished he’d thought to bring a couple of wooden planks with him.

That way, he could wedge them underneath the back tires.

He’d be eyeball-deep in water, but it was the quickest way out of the situation.

They were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or, as it were, the farmhouse and town. This was roughly the midway point, and it wasn’t likely anyone was going to randomly drive this part. He’d taken backroads on purpose because he could drive a lot faster and get Evie home by dinner.

Being stuck out here wasn’t exactly ideal. Owen fished his cell out of his pocket. Shit. No battery.

“Hey, do you have any battery left on your phone??” he asked.

Evie checked her cell. “Yes.”

“How about bars?”

She frowned. “Nope. Not a one.”

Taking backroads had its downsides. Being out of cell range was one of them. He should have thought about that before making the decision to head this way.

“We’re too far to walk back to the house and grab your car while we wait for this to dry up.”

Evie climbed over the driver’s seat to exit the vehicle. “We’re not close enough to town to walk there.” She glanced around. “There has to be something we can use.”

“A couple of these heavy branches might work.” He picked up the closest one and shoved it underneath the back tire on the driver’s side. Murky water sloshed around inside his boot. Could this trip get any better?

Before locating a second log, he grabbed the tackle box inside the back of his Jeep and opened it. His preferred handgun sat on the bottom. He handed it over to Evie. “Whatever you do, don’t point that thing at me.”

“Got it.” She took the offering with a shaky hand. That wasn’t a good sign for accuracy if the worst-case scenario happened and she had to fire, but it might scare Hiker off long enough for Owen to get the weapon.

He caught her gaze. “You’re going to be fine, even if you have to use that thing, which isn’t likely. I’m just being overprepared here.”

“It’s a good idea. I’ll just stand next to you, in case…”

He was already shaking his head before she could finish her sentence. “You’re going to have to be in the driver’s seat while I hold onto these.” He motioned toward the branches.

“Won’t that basically spray your entire face and body with mud?”

“Pretty much,” he said. “If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”

“Maybe we can walk the road until we get cell coverage.”

“I have no idea how long that’ll take, and it would leave us exposed.”

She shivered again. “Right. And there’s still a dangerous, human-stalking mountain lion out here that didn’t get the meal it wanted.” Her eyes lit up for a second. “Hey, maybe it got to Size Eleven.”

“We should be so lucky.” Owen couldn’t say he’d ever been lucky.

The tradeoff was that he’d learned to work hard and not cheat at anything because he would have gotten caught anyway.

It wouldn’t have been worth the punishment.

Beaumont hadn’t needed an excuse to take his anger and frustration out on his kids.

That was a given. All anyone had to do was look at the man the wrong way, and they’d be kneeling on rice for two hours or taken out back to pick their own switch.

Owen had gotten used to the beatings. They’d only left marks on his skin.

He’d refused to let Beaumont get inside his head.

Owen’s stubborn streak had landed him in hot water more than once, but he had no regrets.

Glancing at Evie, he decided he’d only ever had one.

Owen scanned the area behind him. No way was he getting surprised again. He used the branches as levers.

“Hit the gas pedal,” he said to Evie.

She did. Muddy water spewed but the Jeep’s back tires only spun out, unable to gain purchase.

They were going to have to leave the vehicle behind and walk. Should they continue on to town or head back to the Ashworth home?