Seth drove to the Rocking Horse Ranch, mind whirling. After they dropped Felicia at her mother’s modest home outside of Furnace Falls, a ponderous silence descended. Seth was never comfortable with long silences, which worked fine since Levi Duke, his best friend and co-owner of the ranch, would happily listen for hours to Seth’s ramblings with barely a comment. At least he’d gotten Nora to climb into the front seat so he didn’t feel like her chauffeur. Turning on the radio didn’t do much to smooth over the awkward quiet. Just before they rumbled onto the ranch property, she spoke, startling him.
“I’m sorry.”
He darted a look at her. “’Bout what?”
“Everything, but mostly implying you were a coward.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” Nora stared out the window. “You could have stayed with your drone and called the cops, but you charged in to help two women you’ve never even met in person. I was frustrated and rude. I’m...not careful about what I say. My mouth is my worst enemy.”
She looked so downcast, he urgently wanted to ease her discomfort. “But you’re great with M’s.”
Her delicate brows crimped in puzzlement. “What?”
“M’s. After my head injury, I had the worst trouble saying words with M’s for some reason. Doc said I had to retrain my mouth muscles, so I spent hours blowing bubbles, chewing gum, whistling. Drove people to distraction. Took me forever to get the M’s back.”
“Must have been frustrating,” she said.
“Yep.” He let out a little chuckle. “Particularly since my sister’s name is Mara.”
Her responding laughter lingered in his ear like music and he looked over at her. In the dashboard lights he could properly see her heart-shaped face and the mouth that he suspected could be sweet and generous if she allowed it to be. Funny how a laugh could change a person completely.
They drove onto the property, and he pointed out the features of the ranch he co-owned with Levi; the main house where Levi and Seth’s sister Mara, newly married, lived, the shack he occupied, which he’d nicknamed Castle Castillo, the distant corrals that housed the ranch’s two dozen horses. He’d spent his formative years in Furnace Falls, fallen in love with the wide open spaces before he’d joined the army with Levi fresh out of high school, but the dream had always been to return and start a life of ranching. And he had, never imagining his sister would fall in love and marry Levi and come to live there too. He’d made the small shack his own after his sister married, and he enjoyed the cramped space. Why wouldn’t he when he was surrounded by Levi’s Duke cousins, Jude, Austin and his wife Pilar, Willow and her husband Tony, Beckett Duke and his wife Laney. An enormous black dog raced from the main house, barking.
Seth rolled down his window. “Banjo, sit,” he yelled over the chaos.
The dog did not sit, but he stopped barking, slopped a tongue over Seth’s hand before accepting an ear rub. “Banjo’s more bark than bite,” he told Nora. “Considering his best buds are a cat and a three-legged jackrabbit, I guess he’s not your typical dog. Come to think of it, nothing on this ranch is typical. Most of the horses were rescues and castaways until Levi collected them.”
Banjo rerouted to the passenger side and Nora reached out a tentative hand, which the dog licked extensively.
The door of the main house opened. Levi strode to the Bronco. His hair was neatly trimmed, and the knee of his jeans was patched.
Levi nodded when Seth introduced Nora. “I remember you from high school.”
Nora stiffened. Seth noted that Levi refrained from adding that he and Jude had become as close as cousins could be over the years. Levi never said anything unless he had to.
“Thank you for letting me stay,” Nora said.
Levi shrugged. “It’s Seth’s ranch too. Shout if you need anything.”
Seth nodded as Levi returned to the house.
Nora had fallen again into a silence that continued as he opened the door of the old Vintage Cruiser trailer. He snapped on the light, hoping the smell of varnish had dissipated.
She climbed inside. “Wow,” she said. “Not what I expected.”
It didn’t sound like a total compliment. “My pet project.”
She took in the paneled walls, the padded seats around the tiny kitchen table. “You did a great job with the renovations. It’s wonderful. Very retro.”
Retro? He blinked. Should he focus on that or the “wonderful”? “Yes, I guess it is.” He hadn’t ever thought of it that way. He’d simply been bent on recreating elements of his grandparents’ trailer. And in his mind his work wasn’t finished, probably would never be. He would still be tinkering with the place for years. “I’ll fix you something to eat while you change.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“No trouble. I didn’t eat dinner either.” After a moment’s hesitation, she went into the cramped bedroom and closed the door. Wondering why he felt a hum of pleasure at being able to feed her, he jogged to the main house and grabbed some ingredients, then returned to the trailer.
She came out of the bedroom wearing jeans and a soft blue T-shirt that mirrored the azure in her eyes. Her hair was still damp but curling into a fringe around her cheeks. He heated a pan and cooked a few eggs, managing not to burn them, then slid them between slices of sourdough bread with cheese for a quick sandwich.
They sat together at the small table bookended by the padded seats he’d painstakingly reupholstered in a cheerful blue. He launched into grace and got to the “amen” before he realized her lip was between her teeth and her brows were drawn.
“Not a believer?”
“It’s complicated,” she said, the words as taut as a pulled bowstring.
He took up his sandwich, noticing the shadows of fatigue smudging her face. There’d been more than one sleepless night for Nora. The woman before him was burdened, no doubt. Who wouldn’t be? Especially after a close call on her life? But this went deeper, he sensed.
She ate a mouthful without seeming to taste it. “I’ve been trying to imagine why anyone would want to run us down. We weren’t trespassing. We had permission from Zane and we weren’t even on private property when we were attacked.”
“Some person driving around who figured on a little malicious entertainment?”
Her frown told him she didn’t buy the theory. He didn’t either. “Possibly a drug deal going down that we interrupted? Some other criminal situation that someone didn’t want us to witness?” he suggested.
The whine of an engine filtered in from the outside. Nora dropped her napkin and her eyes went to the door.
He put a hand on hers. “Probably nothing. I’ll check.” But as he went to the window he couldn’t think why someone would be approaching the ranch at such a late hour. Banjo was in the house with Levi and the rain had masked the noise of the arrival, so there had been no canine alarm. He pulled the curtain aside and Nora peered over his shoulder, her hair tickling his neck. A man got off a motorcycle and Seth relaxed. “It’s Doc Parson. I forgot to call him.”
He opened the door. “In here, Doc.”
The paunchy vet cut Seth a surprised look and trudged to the trailer porch. Seth introduced Nora and invited him in, but he declined. “Muddy boots. I’ve been out delivering a calf. Thought I was supposed to check on a donkey for you.”
“There was a complication,” Seth said. “We didn’t get her.”
Doc guffawed. “That jenny outwitted you, huh?”
“Not exactly.” Seth told him a few details of the attack.
Doc’s smile vanished and he scrubbed a palm over his thinning hair, eyes wide. “At Zane’s place? Can’t believe that.”
“I wouldn’t either unless I’d been there,” Nora said.
“Some trespasser, I guess.” He huffed out a breath. “You gonna go back for the jenny?”
“Tomorrow,” Nora said.
Doc frowned. “Maybe not worth it though. Might want to let it go and try again in a couple of months.”
Nora shook her head. “I don’t want this donkey wandering around for that long. She doesn’t look well to me and she could get into trouble. We’ll get her tomorrow.”
He nodded. “All right. Call me when you want that exam.” He straddled his motorcycle which had a little cargo trailer hitched to the back, kicked it to life, and drove away with a backward wave.
They went inside and finished their meal. Seth tried to keep the conversation going, but she was clearly deep in thought. When there seemed nothing else to say or do, he bid her good-night. “I’ll be in Castle Castillo and I can see your door from there. Text me if you need anything.”
“I can’t. I dropped my phone somewhere.”
“Oh. Well, flick the porch light.”
“Won’t you be asleep?”
“I don’t sleep much.”
She smiled. “We’re a match, then.” She seemed to regret the comment. “I mean, I don’t sleep well either.”
“Ranch air is good for sleeping, so they tell me, and if it means anything, you’re surrounded by nothing but wide-open acres of peace and quiet.”
She shivered. Maybe wide-open acres weren’t real soothing when she’d almost been killed in similar topography. He wanted to touch her, to reassure her that she was not alone. Instead he shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled.
“Good night, Nora.”
“Good night.”
He was almost to the door when his phone buzzed. “It’s a message from Jude for us,” he said as he read the screen. “They found the ATV.”
She was at his side in a moment. “Where? Did they get the driver?”
“No, it was at the bottom of a gully, so it took a while for them to locate it.” He frowned as another message appeared. “They found something inside though. He’s texting me a photo.” The tiny image appeared and he thumbed it open. It was a photo of a torn piece of paper with a smudge of dirt across it. The paper was a printout of a screenshot. As they looked, he heard Nora’s breath catch.
“It’s from the Big Valley web page,” Nora murmured. The shot captured a picture of Nora and Felicia posing with a rescued burro.
“The attacker had our pictures,” Nora said. Her eyes locked on his.
He reached out to touch her arm, felt her tension as the significance bore down on both of them.
The ATV attack was not random.
Felicia and Nora were targets.
And whoever had done it was still out there somewhere.
Nora felt every one of the nighttime hours pass by in slow motion. The small room in the trailer was perfectly comfortable, charming even with its glossy wood cabinetry and vintage refrigerator. A porcelain bowl painted with holly and snowflakes was on the counter, filled with peppermints. Snagging one, she sniffed it, but the mintiness didn’t appeal so she stuck it in her jacket pocket. She hadn’t noticed before but there was a silver Christmas tree in the corner encircled by a train track. She’d had nothing to do with Christmas trees since she’d left home, except for the tabletop version in their apartment that Felicia insisted on.
She bent to see the miniature train paused in its progress around the track. The vignette was nostalgic and homey, but none of it felt right. She was supposed to be on her way back to Colorado with a rescued donkey, resuming her regularly scheduled life. Instead she was pacing the new floor of a trailer in her old hometown, wondering who’d tried to kill her and Felicia.
She’d been convinced it was a random attack, but that theory had gone out the window when she’d seen that the ATV driver had pulled their pictures from the internet. She crawled out of bed, wishing she could text Felicia. The loss of her cell made her feel even more vulnerable.
When the thoughts whirled out of control, she stepped out onto the porch and breathed in the desert air, crisp, clean, pure. The sky was showing the first streaks of silver threading through the ebony but the winter stars were still visible now that the rain had stopped. That was the thing that had always amazed her. No matter where she was in the world, she knew the wide glittering constellations were somewhere overhead, but only in Death Valley could she see them so clearly. A dull pain thumped in her rib cage. What if she’d done things differently in her teenage years? What if she had believed her mother instead of her father? Would she have stayed in Furnace Falls, made a life under this starlit canopy? Would she still have a connection to God?
“What-if” played like a monotonous drumbeat until she walked to the pasture fence in an effort to change the rhythm. The soft whinny of horses and the scrape of a pitchfork told her someone was already at work, probably Levi, since she heard Banjo’s excited bark. She tried to let the peace of this idyllic spot permeate her cells. The day ahead would bring stress starting at her 9:00 a.m. appointment at the sheriff’s office with Jude.
A soft clearing of the throat made her spin on her heel.
Seth stood with two steaming cups of coffee. “Sorry I startled you. Levi handles the predawn chores, but I couldn’t sleep and I saw you from the kitchen. Coffee?”
She accepted the mug. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” They sipped as they watched the sun ease its way into the sky, injecting streams of yellow and then orange into the horizon.
“My family lived in Furnace Falls for a while, but I moved away after the army,” he said after a while. “Didn’t ever know Jude very well, but I never heard him mention a sister before.”
“I’m one of those siblings people would rather not introduce into polite conversation.”
“Hard to believe.”
She looked at him. “Why?”
He shrugged. “Kin is a big thing here, like it is in most small towns. Levi and his twin sister Willow are tight with their cousins Beckett and Austin Duke. Matter of fact, Willow’s then-fiancé was in trouble not three months ago and the Dukes rallied around and sent a killer to jail.” He blinked, as if his eyes had gone moist. “They also helped rescue my little sister Corinne. The Dukes all live in Furnace Falls, a stone’s throw from each other.”
The message was clear. The Dukes were good people. How could she be any different? Nora drank a deep swallow of hot coffee. Normally, she’d tell off someone who was prying into her family situation, but for some reason, she didn’t feel like doing so. Maybe because Seth was a biological outsider instead of a Duke. Perhaps there was a glimmer of a chance that he might understand. She took a breath. “My family busted up. It came out my freshman year that my father had done some bad things. I didn’t believe it, not for years. Jude and I both chose different sides. He was loyal to Mom and I sided with my father.”
He nodded. “That must have been hard.”
“I didn’t handle the whole thing well. I could say it was my age—I was only sixteen when the whole mess started—but that doesn’t matter in the long run. In my late high school days, I, uh, acted out in a number of ways and by the time I was eighteen—” She swallowed, hard. “The bottom line was Felicia lost her dance scholarship because of me.”
“She must not blame you too much. You two are like peas in a pod.”
“Her mother does.”
“Did, maybe? That had to be ten years ago. Time does even things out, at least I hope so.” He paused. “I was driving Mara to Furnace Falls last year to make preparations to move to this ranch when I was shot in the head through the front windshield. Ended up in a coma. My family thought I was a goner.”
She jerked a look at him. “That’s terrible.”
“It was, but I survived, more or less intact so that’s a win.”
“Are you always a glass-half-full kinda guy?”
He laughed. “Not always, but God gave me another chance at life, and I’m not gonna waste a moment, if I can help it.”
Nora turned away. Great. She was about to be proselytized to. If she just believed more, trusted the Lord, her burned bridges would suddenly be restored and life would be grand and rosy.
He didn’t say anything further, to her surprise. They drank their coffee, accepted a quick greeting from Levi and Banjo, who was followed by a crystal-eyed cat.
“That’s Tiny. They’re best buddies,” Seth explained. “They don’t seem to know they’re not the same species.”
She bent to stroke the petite kitty and the dog who shoved his head in for some attention.
Seth’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out, flipping it to speakerphone.
“Good morning, you two,” Felicia said. “Hope you got more shut-eye than I did.”
“Probably not,” Nora admitted, noticing a patch of stubble Seth had missed during his morning shave. He had a strong chin. She’d always admired a man with a strong chin.
Felicia sighed. “After Jude’s revelation, my mother is demanding I stay inside closed doors all day, but I told her I have to go to the police station and we have a donkey to catch. Zane called to tell me the jenny is still on the property. He’s delaying putting out the feed until we get there. Should be able to corral her pretty easily.”
Nora exhaled in relief. She’d been afraid Felicia would be too scared to follow through on the capture.
“We’re on to her wily ways,” Seth said. “And this time, there will be no ATV attack.”
We? Nora took in his genial smile, the reddened scar near his brow from his injury. She didn’t want to encourage this “we” idea, but thinking about what had happened the previous night took her pride down a notch. The truth was there was somebody in town who wanted her or her friend, or both of them, dead, and they might have succeeded if Seth hadn’t intervened. She made up her mind to capture the donkey and leave Furnace Falls immediately. Whatever trauma had occurred could stay buried here with all the others.
“I’ll meet you at the police station. Nora, I, uh, sort of promised Mom I’d stay until after New Years.” Felicia rushed on. “Seems like the least I can do after all the worry I’ve caused her and it will give me time to catch up with Zane. Can you handle getting the jenny to Colorado by yourself?”
Nora’s spirit plummeted but she kept her tone cheerful. “Sure, no problem at all.”
They said goodbye and finished their coffee. She declined Seth’s offer of breakfast. He was doing too much for her already.
At the sheriff’s office, the desk clerk led them into a shabby conference room that smelled of burnt coffee. A ragged tinsel wreath was pinned to the wall as a nod to the holiday. Nora ignored the clerk’s curious glances. She was probably a hot topic of office conversation...the prodigal sister. Get your money’s worth, because I’ll be gone by tomorrow. Without Felicia. The thought caused a pang in her heart.
As much as she tried to maintain an aura of calm, her stomach was clenched tight by the time Jude strolled in. He dumped a stack of files on his desk and took a seat. “Morning.” He pushed a box across his desktop. “The truck and trailer are still on the bridge, but it’s cleared for you to take. Here’s the drone and your cell phone, Sadie.”
She started to speak when he held up a palm. “Sorry, I mean Nora.”
She took the phone without answering. Had he said it with derision or respect? It pained her that they had grown so far apart that she couldn’t read him anymore. He was a proper adult now. Gone was the playful boyishness she remembered, covered over by a mask of cynicism.
“We’ve gone over the crime scene and done our cursory checks of you and Felicia,” Jude said without preamble. “And we’ve got nothing that sheds any light on who would be targeting either of you.”
He waited.
And so did she.
Seth looked from one to the other. “I’m no cop, but could it have something to do with the donkey rescue? It’s the common factor, right? Both women work there.”
Nora frowned. “Felicia and I started working there ten years ago when her friend got us a job mucking stables. We moved our way up from there.”
Jude’s dark blue eyes roved Nora’s face. “Have you made enemies in the course of your rescue work?”
Again, she felt uncertain about his tone. Was there an undercurrent of challenge? “Not around here.”
“Elsewhere?”
“I’ve reported property owners for animal neglect and abuse. Some of them haven’t responded well, especially when they were fined and threatened with jail time.”
“It’s possible we’re looking at a local. Makes sense since the attacker knew where to steal an ATV. I spoke to Felicia’s mom about it. The driver took it from her neighbor’s yard, but neither of them had a clue who might have done it.” Jude began to click his pen again.
For the second time, she and Seth went over the series of events and Jude added notes to a yellow pad. At least it stopped him from the maddening clicking of his pen.
“Felicia’s staying in town for a while, she tells me.” Jude quirked a brow. “How about you? Maybe returning to Colorado would be safest.”
“Donkey first, then home,” Nora said firmly.
“We’re going to try again on the donkey after we leave,” Seth volunteered. “But if there’s a threat to Nora and Felicia, might it follow them back to Colorado?”
“I’ve already reached out to the local PD in Ouray, so they’re aware. They have no more ideas about motive than I have. Neither does your donkey rescue director.”
Nora blinked. “You contacted my boss?”
His gaze was flat. “Doing my job.”
And counting the minutes until I leave town? She forced herself to stare at the tough-eyed cop but found no traces of the brother she’d known. “I’m going to stay here until I can do mine.”
“My best advice is to go home.” Jude paused. “That’s not a personal agenda item, by the way.”
“Really?” She held her chin up.
Again he gave her the flat, emotionless stare. “I’m not the gatekeeper of this town. If you want to spend the holiday here, no one’s stopping you. Just watch your back.” He added, “And one personal favor.” His mouth twitched. “Don’t hurt Mom any more than you already have.”
Nora’s face went molten. A list of retorts scrolled through her thoughts but only one made it out of her mouth. “I was too young to have to choose, Jude.”
And there was the barest ripple of emotion in Jude’s eyes, as if a pebble had been thrown into a pond, but it was gone as quickly as it had arisen. “You’ve had a decade to grow up, haven’t you?”
She felt the arrow cut through her heart. Seth put a hand gently on Nora’s shoulder. Her first instinct was to shrug it off, but she didn’t.
“Doesn’t seem like anyone should have to pick between a mom and a dad,” Seth said quietly.
Jude’s eyes never left Nora’s. “In this case, the choice was clear. Our dad was a cheater and a gambling addict. In spite of a mountain of facts and my mother’s patient explanations over the years, Nora refused to believe that. She chose wrong.” There was no veneer of politeness covering these words.
Seth started to speak but Nora cut through his reply. “I know that now, but at the time I was a kid. And what if I had changed over the past decade, Jude? Would you have welcomed me back? Listened to an apology? Offered one yourself?” Hating herself for the wobble in her voice, she walked out.
Seth fell in behind her, carrying the drone.
Nora tried to steady her erratic breathing. Keep moving.
At the main door, Felicia and her mother were talking. Olivia Tennison looked much the same to Nora, down to the ponytail of silvery hair, neat blouse and trousers. She ran a delivery business in and around Death Valley, Nora recalled.
“Hey, guys. How’d it go?” Felicia asked. “We finished up our interview but Mom stopped to talk to the desk clerk.”
Nora shrugged, still too shaky to answer.
Felicia looked at her more closely but did not press. “I’ll see you at Zane’s in an hour or so. Mom’s loaning me the Range Rover so you don’t have to pick me up.”
Olivia pushed past Nora without a word of greeting, but the scowl that pinched her face said it all. She and Felicia left. Nora stopped for a drink of water at the fountain, to give herself a moment. The cool sip didn’t help calm her nerves.
A moment later, they emerged into the parking lot. Nora stalked to Seth’s vehicle, her mind whirling.
Nothing was forgiven where Olivia was concerned.
And nothing with Jude either.
This wasn’t her home anymore. There was only unforgiveness here, and now an unidentified threat. Do your job and get out, she told herself, before anything else goes wrong.
An envelope was wedged in the frame of the passenger window. Distracted, she picked it up. It was heavy for its size.
“Nora?” Seth said, a step behind her.
“What’s this?” she said, waving it at him.
His eyes went round with terror. “Don’t move,” he said.
Terrified, she froze, staring at the letter that she now realized was not a letter at all.
Seth eased the envelope out of Nora’s fingers and walked as steadily as he could away from Nora and the building. “Get Jude,” he instructed over his shoulder.
Nora ran inside and returned a moment later with Jude.
Jude pushed Nora back toward the station wall, eyes riveted on Seth. “Bomb squad’s on its way, but it will be a while. Can you put it down?”
Seth did, lowering it millimeter by excruciating millimeter onto the pavement. Sweat poured down his face until finally he eased it to the ground and backed away.
Nora stood, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, trembling. When Seth joined them, he reached a hand to her. She took it, holding on to his strong fingers as if he would otherwise float away, or maybe she would. “How...how did you know that was a bomb?”
He smiled grimly. “Heavy envelope, grease stains, bump where the trigger is hidden inside. Military service makes you savvy.” He paused. “And the fact that someone recently threatened your life.”
Nora’s grip tightened before she let go and hugged herself. He knew what she was thinking and he wondered too.
Why did someone want her dead?