Courting the Enemy

Chapter Eleven

It was almost noon by the time Grady and Karen were able to drive over to see the Fletchers and Oldhams. They were about to leave when they heard a commotion outside. Grady opened the back door just in time to see Dooley thundering toward the house, his horse at a full gallop. The old man looked mad enough to break a few boards in two with his bare hands. He reined in his horse just a few feet from where Grady and Karen stood.

“Dooley, what is it?” Karen asked, regarding him with alarm. “Where’s Hank?”

“I left him in the pasture,” he said, casting a worried frown at Grady. “Could I have a word with you?”

“Hold it,” Karen commanded. “If you speak to anybody around here, Dooley Jenkins, it’ll be me. What’s happened? Is Hank okay?”

Dooley’s expression turned resigned. “He’s fine, but that prize bull you just bought, he’s not so good.”

Grady saw the color drain out of Karen’s face. He put an arm around her waist, but she seemed oblivious to it. He could feel her trembling. This was just one more blow to a woman who’d faced too many of them.

“What happened? Is he sick?” she asked.

“Not sick,” Dooley said. “Shot.”

Karen gasped. “Shot? By whom? Was it an accident?”

“Not unless you believe people are taking target practice in your pasture and that bull just got in the way,” Dooley said with disgust. “Looks to me like somebody took dead aim at him.”

“Is he alive?” Grady asked.

“Barely.”

“I’ll call the vet,” Karen said at once, and disappeared inside, her spine straight, her familiar resolve back in place.

When she’d gone, Grady regarded the old man intently. “Any chance he’ll make it?”

“Not much of one, if you ask me. Whoever did this knew what he was doing. He got him good. Calling the vet’s probably a waste of time and money.”

“Still, she has to try or she’ll never forgive herself,” Grady concluded. “I’ll saddle the horses and ride out with her. Can you wait and bring the vet out when he gets here?”

“Will do,” Dooley agreed. “Then I want to help you find the son of a bitch who did this. The missus was counting on that bull for breeding. Paid an arm and a leg for him.”

“Let’s not worry about that now,” Grady said grimly. “I can spare a couple of bulls. I imagine Frank Davis will offer to help out, too, once his son gets wind of this from Cassie.” He met Dooley’s gaze. “One more thing, from now on Karen doesn’t go anywhere on this ranch without one of us with her.”

“Got it,” Dooley said, his expression somber. “When you’re not around, me or Hank will stick close by, no matter how much she grumbles about it.”

Grady grinned. “I imagine she’ll grumble quite a lot.”

Dooley’s lips twitched. “Yes, indeed. The woman can’t stand to have anybody coddling her. She’s dead set on proving she can handle anything that’s thrown her way. Been that way ever since Caleb died.”

“I doubt she was counting on this, though,” Grady said. “From what you say, whoever took aim at that bull was up to no good. I don’t want to wait around to see what he has in mind next. I think it’s time to get the sheriff involved.”

“She won’t thank you for that,” Dooley said.

Grady figured that was probably an understatement, but he couldn’t afford to worry about Karen’s reaction. It was more important to keep her safe.

“Once we’re gone, can you call and fill him in?” Grady asked.

Dooley chuckled. “If you think having me do the deed will save your hide, you’re dead wrong, but I’ll do it. Now get those horses saddled before she comes out here and wants to know why the two of us are lollygagging when there’s a crisis.”

Dooley seemed to be taking to his role as co-conspirator and self-appointed protector even better than Grady had anticipated. He grinned at the old man.

“You’re a good person to have around, Dooley.”

The old man nodded as if the compliment were his due. “Had my doubts about you, when you first started hanging around here, but you ain’t so bad yourself.”

“What is this, some kind of mutual admiration society?” Karen demanded when she found them both right where she’d left them. Evidently she’d heard the tail end of their conversation, too. “The vet’s on the way. Come on, Grady. I want to get out to that field. Maybe there’s something we can do till he gets here.”

But there was nothing to be done. By the time they reached Hank, the bull was dead. The hand had tried to stanch the flow of blood with his own shirt, but the effort had been futile.

Her expression devastated, Karen fell to her knees beside the animal and ran her hand over his blood-soaked chest. “Damn whoever did this,” she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I don’t care if it was an accident.”

The last was muttered as if she were clinging desperately to an explanation she could understand.

Grady glanced at Hank, who subtly shook his head, confirming Dooley’s opinion as well. Grady studied the massive beast and saw what the two men had seen, three distinct wounds. One shot might have been an accident, but three? Not a chance.

Grady glanced up at the sound of hooves pounding across the field. Looked as if Dooley had been successful in getting the sheriff out here in record time, right along with the veterinarian, whose services were no longer needed.

Karen rose stiffly from the ground, her complexion pale, bright patches of color in her cheeks and a flash of anger in her eyes. Surprise streaked across her face when she spotted the sheriff.

“Michael, what are you doing here?” she asked as if it weren’t perfectly obvious that someone had alerted him.

“Dooley called me. Said there was a problem.”

“Some fool accidentally shot my new bull,” she said.

“It wasn’t an accident,” Grady said quietly, ignoring the protest forming on Karen’s lips.

“Oh?” Michael Dunn said, stepping close to examine the animal. “Three bullet wounds. You’re right, Blackhawk. That’s no accident.”

He glanced at Karen. “Why don’t you tell me what else has been going on out here? I understand there have been a few other incidents.”

Karen scowled at Dooley, then turned back to the sheriff. “Nothing serious. Some fence was cut.”

“And an unexpected outbreak of a virus in our herd,” Dooley added pointedly. “That was about a year ago, along with another section of fence destroyed. And a fire that burned out most of the pasture.”

“Any idea who’s behind it?” Michael asked, his gaze subtly shifting toward Grady.

“Not me, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Grady told him.

“It’s no secret that you want this land.”

“I imagine it’s no secret that I’ve also offered to buy it, fair and square.”

“That’s true,” Karen said.

“But you turned him down, am I right?” the sheriff persisted.

“Yes, but-”

Michael cut Karen’s protest off in midsentence. “Which means he has an excellent motive for pulling a few stunts that might make you change your mind,” he concluded.

“Don’t you dare jump to such a ridiculous conclusion,” Karen snapped. “Grady is not behind this. Besides, he was with me when the bull was shot.”

“He could have paid someone to do that,” the sheriff countered.

“Then why would he tell me to call you?” Dooley demanded, shrugging when Grady scowled at him. “Better to have her getting all worked up over you insisting on getting the sheriff than having you hauled off to jail, because the sheriff’s got his facts wrong.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Grady said, when Karen whirled on him.

“You’re the one who got the sheriff out here?” she demanded.

“Not technically,” Grady said, then conceded, “But it was my idea.”

“And a really brilliant one, don’t you think?” she snapped. “Couldn’t you see that this was exactly what would happen?”

“Actually I thought the sheriff might be a bit more open-minded,” he said with a pointed look at Michael.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake, when has a law enforcement officer ever been open-minded? He wants to solve the case as quickly as possible, period.”

Michael winced. “Usually we prefer to nail the right suspect,” he corrected.

“Couldn’t prove that by me,” Karen said. “Not based on the last ten minutes, anyway.”

Michael sighed. “Why don’t we all go back to the house and talk this through rationally?”

“What an absolutely brilliant plan,” Karen said sarcastically.

Grady grinned at her. “Darlin’, I think you’ve won. You might want to be a bit more gracious about it.”

She scowled at him. “I’m not feeling especially gracious at the moment. In fact, I’m mad enough to knock a few heads together.”

“Any heads in particular?”

“Besides yours?” she inquired sweetly. “And Dooley’s and Michael’s?”

“I’d say that about covers it,” Grady said, grinning at her.

“This is not the least bit amusing, Grady Blackhawk.”

His expression sobered at once. “The situation? No, not at all. But you? You are something else.”

Her frown deepened. “Don’t even go there. One word about how cute I am when I’m angry, and you’re going to be as dead as that poor old bull.”

Dooley guffawed, then covered his mouth and looked away.

Karen whirled on him. “I’d watch it, if I were you. You’re next on my list.”

“Me? What did I do?” Dooley asked, looking hurt.

“You got the sheriff out here.”

“Somebody had to,” he said flatly. “Grady was right. It was time.”

Grady touched her cheek. “You know it was,” he said quietly.

She heaved a heartfelt sigh, then nodded. “Maybe so, but I don’t have to like it.”

“No, darlin’,” he agreed sympathetically. “You definitely don’t have to like it.”

After the morning she’d had, she was pretty much entitled to hate the world.

Karen couldn’t seem to hold on to anything. She dropped the coffee mugs on the floor, shattering one of them. When Grady brushed aside her attempts to clean it up and did it himself, she tried to get the coffee grinds into the coffeemaker, only to spill most of them on the counter.

Tears stung her eyes when Grady put his hand over hers.

“Sit down,” he said. “I’ll make the coffee. You need to get some food into you. It’s way past lunchtime.”

“I can’t eat. I have to do something,” she said, her voice catching. “If I don’t, I’ll fall apart. This was the final straw. I am never going to be able to keep this place now.”

“Of course, you are, if that’s what you want,” he insisted.

“I can’t afford to replace that bull.”

“Insurance will cover the cost.”

She shook her head. “I had to let it lapse.”

“Then I’ll bring over a couple of my bulls, or Frank Davis can bring over one of his. Cole will insist on it.”

“I don’t want Cassie dragging Cole or her father-in-law into this. And I don’t want to rely on you any more than I have already.”

“This is an emergency, and folks around here help each other out. You know that. You’d do the same for a neighbor if he needed help.”

“Yes, of course, but-”

“No buts,” he said. “Now I would suggest you cut the sheriff a piece of that apple pie you baked yesterday, but I’m not sure you ought to be handling a knife at the moment.”

“Very amusing,” she said, already reaching for a plate and a knife.

She managed that task with no further disasters, probably because she was going about it in slow motion just to prove Grady wrong. She put the pie in front of Michael, then began pacing.

“Sit down,” the sheriff suggested.

“I can’t. I’m too jumpy.”

“Okay, then, why don’t you begin at the beginning and tell me what’s been going on out here.”

Karen gave him the short version, leaving out all of her suspicions about the neighbors. Grady, unfortunately, wasn’t so reticent. He laid out every piece of information they’d discussed about old grudges and recent jealousy. Michael nodded when he was finished.

“Okay, then, I’ll see what I can find out.” He regarded Grady with a pointed look. “You stay out of it. This is an official investigation now. I don’t want a couple of amateurs nosing around.”

“Whatever you say,” Grady agreed.

Karen kept her mouth clamped shut, since she didn’t want to lie straight to the sheriff’s face. There was no way she was going to stay out of this. That was her bull lying dead out there, her ranch that was under attack.

“I didn’t hear any agreement from you,” Michael said, his gaze leveled on her.

“I understand what you’re saying,” she said.

Michael’s gaze narrowed. “That’s not quite the same thing as saying you’ll leave this investigation to me, now, is it?”

“Not quite,” she said cheerfully. “How clever of you to see that.” Actually, she was surprised that he’d caught the subtle distinction.

“Karen, I’m warning you,” he said, his expression grim. “Stay out of it.”

“I hear you,” she said again.

He sighed heavily, then turned to Grady. “Keep her from meddling in this. If she starts asking a lot of questions, whoever’s behind this just might decide that she’s a threat.”

Grady nodded. “I’ll do what I can. I won’t let her out of my sight for a minute.”

Michael seemed to conclude that that was the most satisfying answer he was likely to get. “I’ll be in touch,” he said.

The minute he was gone, Karen reached for her jacket.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Grady demanded. “You heard what the sheriff said.”

“And you heard what I said-or, rather, what I didn’t say. I’m going to see Maggie Fletcher. And once I’ve had a chat with her, then I’m going to see the Oldhams, just the way we planned. Are you coming with me or not?”

“Is there any way I can talk you out of this?” Grady asked.

He reached out and caressed her cheek, his gaze intent. “Maybe persuade you to rethink your plan?”

His touch raised goose bumps, but she managed to shake her head. “No,” she said flatly. “There’s nothing you can say or do to stop me.”

With a resigned sigh, he reached for his coat. “Let’s go, then. I just hope we don’t bump straight into the sheriff ten minutes after he warned us both to stay out of his way.”

“He’ll be going to the Oldhams. They’re closest. That’s why we’re going to see Maggie.”

“And you don’t think we’ll cross paths on the highway?”

“As long as we’re on the highway and not in her driveway, he won’t be able to prove a thing,” she said airily.

Grady chuckled. “You have a much more devious mind than I’d ever imagined. I like it.”

For the first time all morning, a grin tugged at her lips. “I knew there was some reason you were sticking around.”

“Oh, believe me, darlin’, there are a lot of reasons I’m here,” he said, his gaze locked with hers. “That’s not even close to the top of the list.”

Karen swallowed hard at that. She wanted desperately to ask about that list, but now wasn’t the time. Later, though, she intended to find out what-besides her land-would keep a man like Grady interested in her.

Maggie Fletcher looked exhausted. Her normally ruddy complexion had a gray cast to it. Her short hair was mussed, as if she’d been running her fingers through it in a nervous gesture for hours, if not days. Her eyes, which Grady recalled as a vibrant, glowing amber color, were listless, though they sparked a bit brighter when she spotted Karen emerging from Grady’s truck.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded ungraciously, ignoring Grady completely to focus on Karen.

“We need to talk,” Karen said.

“Why?” Maggie asked, not bothering to hide her hostility.

“Because of Caleb.”

Unmistakable pain darkened Maggie’s eyes before the sparks came back livelier than ever. “I will not discuss Caleb with you. It’s because of you he’s dead.”

Karen winced, but she didn’t back down. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“It’s the truth,” Maggie said.

Grady saw Karen’s shoulders sag at Maggie’s refusal to back down from the accusation, but again she stood her ground.

“I know you cared for him,” she said gently.

“I loved him,” Maggie said fiercely. “He and I would have been perfect for each other. That was the way it was meant to be.” Years of bitterness came boiling out as she hurled hateful comment after hateful comment at Karen. “You killed him. Instead of helping him, you drove him into an early grave with your demands.”

“I made no demands on Caleb,” Karen said. “It was his choice to work as hard as he did to save the ranch. That land meant the world to him.”

“But nothing to you,” Maggie accused. “He told me you hated it, that you asked him to sell.”

Karen reeled at that. She reached out for support, but there was nothing there. Grady took a step closer and she latched on to his arm.

“I didn’t,” she whispered. “I never asked him to sell. If he told you that, it was a lie.”

“Oh, really?” Maggie shot back, her tone scathing. “Then why are you with him?” She glanced pointedly at Grady. “Everyone knows he wants that land. I’m sure you can’t wait to take his money and go off on one of those trips you were always going on and on about. Do you know how guilty it made Caleb feel that he couldn’t take you?”

Karen faltered. Her cheeks turned pale. “I…I need to sit down.”

“Then get into your fancy truck and leave,” Maggie said. “There’s no place for you here.”

For an instant, Grady thought Karen might argue, might insist on asking all of the questions she’d had no chance to direct at Maggie, but she didn’t. Looking defeated, she turned toward the truck. He saw that she was safely tucked inside and that the heater was working, before walking back to Maggie himself.

“Just how much time were you and Caleb spending together while he was married to another woman?” Grady inquired. “Were you having an affair, the way you clearly want Karen to believe? Or is that just some spiteful suggestion you wanted to plant in her head to add to her grief?”

Maggie’s expression faltered.

“I thought so,” he said. “You’re a cruel woman, Maggie Fletcher. It’s little wonder that Caleb chose a woman like Karen over you.”

He turned on his heel and headed for the truck.

“Damn you, Grady Blackhawk,” Maggie shouted after him. “And you, too, Mrs. High-and-Mighty Hanson. I hope you wind up in the ground right next to Caleb, and the sooner the better!”

When Grady got into the truck, he took a deep breath before facing Karen. She was visibly trembling, her composure shattered.

“I had no idea,” she whispered.

“It was all lies,” Grady told her. “Caleb wasn’t spending time with her, sharing secrets with her.”

“I know that,” Karen said dismissively, as if the notion had never crossed her mind. “I had no idea she was so angry, so bitter. I knew she resented me, but this…” She shuddered.

Grady reached for her icy hands, clasping them in his until he felt the warmth return.

“She could be the one, Grady. She’s angry enough to do all of those things, even to have killed that bull.”

“If we can see that, Michael will see it as well. Let him deal with her.”

“Oh, you can be sure I won’t be coming back here,” Karen reassured him.

“Good, because she’s just unstable enough to try to hurt you in some misguided attempt at seeking justice for Caleb’s death.”

“She wouldn’t go that far,” Karen said, but she didn’t sound nearly as certain as she might have an hour ago.

“It’s not a chance you can take,” Grady insisted. “Steer clear of her. At the very least, she needs some help.”

Karen sighed and turned to look out the window. She was huddled by the door, looking more dejected than she had since he’d first seen her at Caleb’s funeral.

Making a sudden decision, Grady turned the truck toward Winding River. Karen barely seemed to notice, which only confirmed his opinion that she needed something drastic to cheer her up. And she needed food. There was one place where she could get both-Stella’s.

Karen seemed oblivious to everything until they approached the outskirts of town. She blinked then, and turned to him.

“What are we doing here?”

“We’re going out to dinner at Stella’s. It’s meat loaf night. Any objections?”

“No,” she said dispiritedly.

As soon as they walked into the restaurant, he caught Cassie’s eye. As Karen headed straight for the booth in the back, he called Cassie aside.

“Can you get Gina, Cole and anybody else you can think of in here for dinner? Karen’s had a rough day. She needs some friendly faces and lively conversation.”

Cassie nodded without the slightest hesitation. Nor did she ask a lot of unnecessary questions. It was apparently enough that her friend needed help.

“Emma’s in town, too. I’ll have them here in fifteen minutes and Stella can take over for me.” She studied Grady intently. “You really care about her, don’t you?”

Grady wasn’t entirely comfortable discussing his feelings, not when he hadn’t fully analyzed them himself yet. But the expression on Cassie’s face showed none of the disapproval or suspicion he might have anticipated.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I care about her.”

“Good,” Cassie said with an approving nod. “That way the rest of us won’t have to kill you.”

He chuckled. “Well, there’s a relief all the way around.”

She grinned. “Isn’t it, though. Now go on back. Reinforcements will be here soon.”

“You’re a good friend, you know,” he said gratefully.

“Yes,” she agreed. “But so are you. And isn’t it nice that she has so many of us?”

Grady was surprised at just how comforting he found that fact. He’d always been pretty much a loner, and had always been able to convince himself that he didn’t need anyone, except maybe his grandfather.

But as he watched first Gina, then Emma and finally Cole and Cassie slide into chairs around the big table at the back of Stella’s, as he saw the beginnings of a smile tremble on Karen’s lips, then finally heard the sound of her laughter, for the first time ever he regretted not being part of a larger circle of friends himself.