Page 39 of The Moments You Were Mine

I took another quick glance at the cow before striding across the field toward our horses. They were nervous, sensing the death in the air just as I did.

I pulled my phone from the back pocket of my worn jeans and hit Detective Harris’s number. He’d called several times in the first couple of weeks I’d been home, keeping me abreast of the case against JJ, but I hadn’t heard from him since before my birthday.

He picked up on the first ring with a snapped, “Harris.”

“Hey, it’s Fallon.”

“Fallon.” His voice turned softer. Kinder. And I almost hated that as much as I hated the sympathy I saw daily from my staff. “How are you?”

“I’d be better if I hadn’t had two cows mutilated in as many weeks.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sending you a picture.” I shot off the one I’d taken of the cow today and heard his phone ping on the other end of the line.

“Damn,” he muttered. “You said this is the second one? Did the first say the same thing?”

“We thought a cougar got the first and the buzzards afterward. There wasn’t much left of it. Where’s JJ?” I asked, hoping beyond belief he could tell me JJ was sitting in Ace’s apartment.

I only knew JJ was bunking with Ace because Rae had said he’d tried to stay at our apartment until she’d kicked him to the curb. His name wasn’t on the lease, and I was paying my share of the rent until she could get someone to sublet from me whenthe school year started.

“I’ll find out and get back to you.” He hung up before I could respond.

I swallowed back the guilt and self-reproach I’d gotten good at and dialed the sheriff’s department. The front desk put me directly through to Wylee, and he swore like the rest of us when I told him what had happened. He promised to send a deputy out right away.

I rested my forehead on Daisy’s muzzle in an attempt to soothe the discordant emotions humming through me.

What would our guests think if and when they found out about a second mutilated cow? This one with a very personal, very angry message? The last thing I needed was for them to get the willies and take off during our busiest season. I needed to call a management meeting, talk it over with the department heads, and see what we could do and say to reassure everyone without lying.

What should I do now, Spence?

I couldn’t stand knowing I’d led this to the ranch. How long would I pay penance for my mistakes? Would I get the same sentence as JJ was likely to get? Years?

Was there any chance this had nothing to do with me? That it was related to the estate itself or Dad and the business with the Puzos that had gone down years ago? It didn’t seem likely. After all, everyone who hated us back then was either dead or locked away in a jail cell.

Still, I remembered Dad’s displeasure at seeing Lorenzo in San Diego. I wouldn’t call Dad, but I would call Jim Steele. Ultimately, it was his men in charge of the security here. But I’d wait until I heard back from Harris and for Wylee to do his thing so I’d have the full details to give Jim. If this was Ace or JJ, and they were caught anywhere near here, it would put a stop to anything worse happening.

I swallowed over the lump in my throat, scratched Daisy’s cheek one more time, and swung myself into the saddle. I didn’t have to prompt her into a canter.

She wanted to leave the field and the death behind as much as I did, but my stomach rolled unexpectedly at the motion. I’d been riding horses for as long as I could remember, doing trickson Daisy’s back that some people thought were magic. I could fling myself off, spin around, and land back on without thinking, and I’d never once gotten sick while doing any of it.

Just nerves, I told myself. Nerves with a side dose of fury.

I’d keep the fury with me. It would help if I had to face evil again. I’d done it before. I’d do it again. And in the meantime, I’d do everything I could to keep the people and animals I was responsible for safe.

Chapter Twelve

Parker

WHEN THIS IS OVER

Performed by Goran

SEVEN YEARS AGO

HIM: Kermit, really? You sent me a stuffed frog?

HER: That’s what they call you SEALs, right? Frogs? Congratulations on making it through BUD/S, Kermit.