The Gift (14 page)

“I should call Bill.”

Cecil appeared thoughtful. “I’d wait until after the fact, were it me.” He arched a woolly brow. “But it’s your call.”

“I like it your way.” Ty grinned. “You’re pretty smart for an old fart.”

“That’s what Pearl says.”

“Sure it is.”

Cecil guffawed and slapped Ty’s back again. “You’re the darnedest.” He grew solemn after a moment. “Y’know, that investigator and my Pearl took off somewhere together this afternoon.”

“No kidding?” Now that surprised Ty. “I thought she was hell-bent on going through all of Lorilee’s records in her studio today.”

“Apparently my Pearl made her a better offer.”

Ty thought back to this morning, and Mitch’s discovery about the brake lines. “I hope they’re careful.”

“Pearl’s a good driver, Ty. You know that.” Cecil narrowed his eyes. “What’s eatin’ you, boy?”

“Somebody cut Beth’s brake lines last night.”

“What?” Cecil’s alarm showed in his face. “Why in tarnation would someone do such a fool thing?”

“To stop her from finding the truth.” Ty kept his voice low. “Why else?”

Cecil’s expression remained solemn. “If anybody tries to hurt my Pearl, I’ll kick their ass into the stratosphere.”

Ty placed a comforting hand on Cecil’s shoulder. “And I’ll help. The bastard won’t stand a chance.”

“It’s a filly!” Amanda shouted from the stall. “She’s breach, but she’s coming fast now.”

“I’ll be damned.” Ty and Cecil both rushed to the stall and stared over the door as Amanda Barnes worked her magic on Cissy. The veterinarian massaged the mare’s bulging, contracting abdomen as she urged the gangly-legged filly from the warmth of her mother’s womb.

In what seemed like only seconds later, the filly was out and her mother was licking her clean while
Amanda dealt with the afterbirth. “They both did great. No worries here,” she called from the stall floor.

Cissy decided that enough was enough of all this human intervention and lurched to her feet. Then she licked and nuzzled her foal until the newborn imitated her mother. Within minutes, the filly was suckling as her mother continued to lick her clean.

“Good work, Cissy,” Ty said, giving her a thumbs-up.

“Do you still have that treat I gave you earlier?” Amanda asked.

“Oh, sure.” He pulled it out of his pocket. “Looks like a sugar cube.”

“That’s what she’ll think. Vitamin.” Amanda finished gathering her equipment and stepped out of the stall. “Go on in and see if she’ll let you say hi.”

Ty entered the stall slowly. Even though Cissy was his horse in every way, he never knew how a mare would react to human contact with her foal. Cissy bobbed her head as if saying, “Come on in and see what I did.”

He kept his eyes on Cissy and offered her the cube open-palmed, stroking her neck. “Aren’t you the best?” She took the cube and made a soft nickering sound.

“Extra sweet feed for the next two weeks,” Amanda said to Cecil. “As much as she wants for now, then taper back once she and—Hey, what’s this young lady’s name?”

The filly’s long legs made Ty think of Beth Dearborn, but he figured that would be inappropriate. “I haven’t decided.” He looked back over his shoulder. “The kids’ll want to be in on it.”

“Sure, that makes sense.” Amanda Barnes leaned on the stall door with Cecil. “I don’t think she’s going to mind if you touch her foal, Ty.”

No, neither did he. Ty kept one hand on Cissy’s neck and reached down very gently to touch the still-damp back of the nursing filly. “You did good work, girl. Real good. Looks like she’ll be a dapple gray, like her momma.”

“That’s my guess, too.” Amanda pushed away from the stall when her beeper sounded. “Have another stop to make on my way home.”

“Thanks for coming. Glad you’re on this side of that damn bridge.”

She laughed. “Me, too. Considering my work, it makes sense.”

Ty left the stall and followed Amanda out of the barn while Cecil measured the sweet feed for Cissy.

“I’m sorry we missed Mark’s party,” she said. “Cory has a terrible cold, and I didn’t want to spread it around.”

“Appreciate that.”

“Lorilee would be proud of how you’ve managed the kids, Ty.” Amanda reached out and put her hand on his arm. “You torture yourself too much. Let the investigator do her job. You’re doing the right thing.”

“Thanks, Amanda. I hope you’re right.”

“I was Lorilee’s best friend. Remember?”

“And maid of honor at our wedding.” Ty sighed and stared off toward the road. The sight of Pearl’s car heading toward the house barely registered. The kids would be home in an hour or so, and they’d want to see the foal.

Amanda continued to talk, but Ty barely heard her. He was too busy watching Pearl park her car.
She’d obviously noticed the veterinarian’s truck and assumed it was because of Cissy, because she parked close to the barn.

He watched the short, plump woman and the longlegged one walking toward him. He’d recognize that stride anywhere, and couldn’t help but remember those legs wrapped around his waist last night.

As they drew closer, he noticed something else. Her hair. She’d cut her hair. A lot! He chuckled. That figured. All it took was for someone to accuse her of hiding behind it, and off it came.

“What’s so funny?” Amanda asked, looking in the direction of his gaze. “Oh, it’s Pearl. Is that the investigator?”

“Yes. Yes, it is.”

“Well, I’d better run. I need to stop at the Holmes place on the way home.”

“Thanks for coming, Amanda.”

“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed it.” She gave Ty a hug. “Cissy is family, and so are you.”

She waved to Pearl, then headed for her truck at a brisk pace, obviously trying to make up for the time she’d spent chatting with Ty. As Pearl and Beth drew closer, Ty stood transfixed.

Beth’s hair was a cap of soft, dark curls now, with some loose strands grazing her cheeks and eyes, and a little fringe around her collar. The closer she came, the prettier she looked. Those eyes…

“Did Cissy have her foal?” Pearl asked when they reached him.

He nodded. “A healthy gray filly. Go see for yourself. Cecil’s in there.”

Pearl left him alone with Beth. “What happened to all that hair?”

“Donated it to charity.” She drew a deep breath. “I didn’t need it anymore.”

He studied her eyes for several seconds. “Not hiding anymore?”

She gave him a tight smile. “We’ll see. Won’t we?” After a minute, she inclined her head toward the barn. “I’ve never seen a newborn horse. May I?”

“Sure.” He turned toward the barn. “And, by the way, I like it.”

“What?”

“Your hair.”

She nodded, matching his stride toward the barn. “So do I.” She paused at the open door and he stopped beside her. “Um, one question.”

“Shoot. You’re the investigator.”

She arched an eyebrow and tilted her head at an angle, suspicion oozing from every pore. “Who’s the redhead?”

At this moment, Beth wished she still had that mass of hair. She could have used a handy place to hide. Ty’s stare told her she’d asked a really stupid question, and she was
not
stupid. Nor was she the typical jealous-female type. Far from it.

Damn. She drew a deep breath and summoned her detective persona.

Be professional, Dearborn.

“Anyway, none of my business. Never mind.” She took a step toward the barn, but he put a hand on her shoulder.

“Amanda Barnes is an old friend and our veterinarian.” His tone was calm and unaccusing. “You’ll find her in that Rolodex of Lorilee’s. They were best friends from childhood. She’s on the list of names I gave you the other day of people you should talk to.”

Beth remembered the name. She nodded. “Thanks. I’ll do that.” She inclined her head toward the barn. “Let’s have a look at the baby horse so I can get back to work and your lives can get back to normal.”

“Baby horse?” He grinned.

“Uh, foal?”

“Right. I really do like the hair.” He reached out to play with the short waves around her face. “Really sets off your eyes. You have beautiful eyes. Very expressive.” He leaned closer. “They give you away you know.”

She stiffened. “I have no idea what you mean.” He couldn’t possibly know her secret. At least, she sure hoped not. “Anyway, the horse…”

“Have it your way.” He dropped his hands to his sides. “She’s a beautiful filly, all legs.” He allowed his gaze to drift down the length of her and back to her face. “Like someone else I know.”

Beth cleared her throat. “Filly, my ass.” She hesitated at the barn door. “You know, I think I’ll head back to the house and see the filly later. I need to make up for the time I lost this afternoon.”

“Sure.” Ty gave her a tight smile that said he didn’t buy her excuse.

Well, that made two of them. Truth was, Beth had to put some distance between herself and Ty Malone—even temporarily. Right now she wanted to throw her arms around him and thank him for saying he liked her haircut and for talking about her eyes. No man had ever done that, and it made her feel…silly and all squishy inside.

Get a grip, Dearborn.

She’d made it to thirty-one without hearing that kind of mush, and she didn’t need it now. She’d finally become resigned to spending her life alone and miserable, just one step ahead of a bottle of bourbon, and she couldn’t afford to become dependant on a man. She managed to avoid his knowing look—the
you’re-hiding-again-even-without-the-hair look—and headed toward the house at a brisk pace.

Her backpack swung heavily against her side, and she shifted it to the left just as a loud cracking sound erupted, and something slammed into her. The impact sent her sprawling. Pain and instinct sent her scrambling behind a tree.

Her heart raced. She turned hot, then cold. Her belly clenched. No mistake. She’d been here, done this.

Someone was shooting at her.

She tugged her bag around to examine. Sure enough, a bullet hole was in the soft leather. She reached inside and removed what was left of her Glock. The bullet was lodged in its holster, but the gun itself had blocked the bullet and bruised bloody hell out of her ribs. Better that than a gaping hole in her side. The gun had saved her life yet again, and now it was destroyed.

The caliber of the bullet was from a powerful, long-distance rifle. She kept the useless weapon handy from instinct, then retrieved her cell phone and found the entry for Ty’s number.

“Was that a gunshot?” he answered.

“Yes, keep everybody in the barn and call the sheriff.”

“We aren’t stupid. Otherwise we would have run out after you,” he said on a sigh. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, but call.”

“He’ll have to send somebody from Marysville.”

“That damn bridge.” Beth chewed her lower lip. “Whoever it was is probably long gone by now, and they fired from long distance.”

“How can you tell that?”

“Ammo.”

“Are you hit?” Ty’s voice rose. “Cecil, call the sheriff. Somebody’s taking potshots at Beth.”

“My backpack stopped it.”

Silence filled the line for a few seconds. “What’s in there? Lead?”

Beth grinned in spite of the possible danger, though instinct told her the shooter had taken one shot and fled. “Something like.”

“Try Rick Heppel,” Ty said to Cecil. “Ask him if he can fly the sheriff out here before the kids get home.”

“Good thinking,” Beth said. “Can Grandpa get the kids and keep them from coming home until we know it’s safe?”

“Good thinking. Pearl’s doing that now,” Ty returned. “We make a good team. Where, exactly, are you?”

“Behind the big tree with the tire swing, near the back door.” Beth continued to scan the horizon in the general direction from where the shot had come. “I think the shooter is gone.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because he probably thinks he got me, since I went down and didn’t get back up.”

“And you think he was after you why?”

“Same reason he sabotaged my brakes.”

“God dammit all to hell.” He sighed into the phone. “At least this time
I
have an alibi.”

“That’s true. You do.” She waited a minute. “Is Heppel bringing the sheriff?”

She heard Ty talking to Pearl and Cecil, but
couldn’t quite make out the words. “Yes, he’s doing it. I hear his chopper taking off now.”

Sure enough, the chopper rose just beyond the tree line. Interesting. Beth hadn’t realized how close his place was as the crow flies, so to speak. On foot, a person could go back and forth—as long as they didn’t mind crossing the creek—within a few minutes between the two farms.

A chilling thought raced down her spine. Heppel could have walked over here and cut her brake lines last night.

And with the right weapon and skill, he could sit on the roof of his hangar and pick her off from there without much difficulty. He was a trained army vet.

“Hey, Ty?” she said into the phone.

“Yeah?”

“Did you tell Heppel why we need the sheriff?”

“No, I didn’t. Just that it’s an emergency.”

“Did he have any kind of reaction?”

“He asked if we need a doctor, too.”

“Damn. Just stay put until they get here. And Brubaker’s definitely getting the kids?”

“Yes. And taking them home with him after school.”

“Good.”

Beth heard the sound of footsteps and had her mangled Glock leveled at the intruder in one smooth motion. In a crouch, she kept the weapon aimed straight at him.

“Ty, you fool!”

“You have a gun,” he said, staring, cell phone still held to his ear. “A big one.”

She released the hammer and turned on the safety,
then slid the weapon carefully into her backpack. “I told you to stay in the barn.”

“You also said you thought the shooter was gone.” He pocketed the cell phone. “So I’m a guy. Shoot me. Er, nix that—bad choice of words. I needed to make sure you’re really okay.”

“I’m okay. See?” She sighed. “Will you at least get down? I could’ve shot you.”
Well, not really.

“With that big gun.”

Beth laughed. “Yes, with my big gun.” She didn’t tell him it was a broken big gun.

Ty dropped to the ground and crawled on his belly until he was beside Beth. “Let me see the bullet.”

Beth held out her palm. “See?”

“Definitely from a rifle.” He picked it up and examined it. “Now I guess I have a pretty good idea what it hit in your backpack.”

“Good thing it did.”

“I’d say so.” He returned it to her, his expression solemn. “You could be splattered all over the backyard, Beth.”

“Don’t I know it.” She shoved the slug back into her pocket. “They were afraid of not getting another chance. And as far as we know, the shooter thinks he got me.”

“Yeah.” A look of dread settled across his handsome face. “Can we change the subject?”

The worry in his eyes filled Beth with warmth. No one but her mother and Sam had ever worried about her before. Oh, maybe her commander a couple of times, but mostly because of the trouble she always caused.

She leaned close and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for caring.”

Now it was his turn to blush.

He cleared his throat. “You think we can make a run for the back door now?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Beth touched his sleeve. “But I’d rather Cecil and Pearl didn’t try to come from the barn until after the sheriff arrives.”

“Me, too.” Ty called Cecil and told him they were going in and that he and Pearl should stay put.

Together, Ty and Beth darted through the back door, the mudroom, and into the empty kitchen. Ty sniffed the air appreciatively. “Beef and barley stew.”

“How did you know that?”

“The nose knows.” He grinned and tapped her nose. “You scared the hell out of me when we heard that shot.”

She didn’t want to meet his gaze, but something compelled her. For some reason she couldn’t look away. “We need to teach Pearl to lock doors.”

He grinned again. “None of us lock doors around here, Beth. It’s a farm. Lots of coming and going.”

“Exactly.” She shrugged. “Whoever took a shot at me will probably try again. They want me gone, Ty.” She grasped his upper arms. “I’m not leaving now. I’m determined to find out what happened to Lorilee. Nobody’s taking potshots at me and getting away with it.”

“There’s my girl.”

My girl?
Taken aback, Beth blinked several times. “Well, I have a job to do, and I intend to do it.” She finally broke eye contact. “Leaving the house wideopen all the time is problematic.”

“Locking the door and unlocking it all the time on a farm is, too.” He reached out and caught her chin in
his hand, tilted her face upward, and brought his lips down on hers.

The kiss was short but potent. Beth swayed and he reached for her, but she summoned her stubborn dignity and pulled back. “What was that about?”

“I don’t think it requires an explanation.” He cleared his throat. “We established last night that we want each other.”

“So we did.” She faced him again, determined to change the subject. “I think the webcams you have set up can be put to use for security.”

“What?” He shook his head. “You lost me. What does that have to do with kissing?”

She smiled. “Not a damn thing.” A whirring sound reached her ears and she pointed upward. “Hark! It’s a bird. It’s a plane.”

“Cute.”

“Where will he land that thing?”

“The only place open enough besides my fields—and he knows better—is out in front of the driveway.”

She pushed through the swinging doors into the parlor, then stopped in her tracks. He ran right into the back of her. “What is it?”

“I’ll go back this way and meet you out front.”

“Um…what the hell’s wrong with the front door?”

She met and held his gaze for several seconds as the chopper landed. “It’s a long story, Ty, and we don’t have time right now.”

“That’s a cop-out if I ever heard one.”

“Well, I used to be a cop. Get over it.” She darted into the kitchen and headed for the back door. “Let’s get going.”

Shaking his head, Ty followed her, instead of going through the front door. “I want to hear this long story, Beth Dearborn,” he said, following her around the corner of the house. “Tonight. After dinner.”

She stopped, and he ran into her again. “Will you stop doing that?” he asked.

She winced from the horrible bruise spreading across the side of her torso, but the pain helped remind her she was alive. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she said, her tone deadly serious. “I’d have to show you, and I can’t do that. You don’t want me to do that. Trust me.”

He rubbed her shoulder. “Okay. For now.”

“For now.”

Sam had to save her from herself, because she was more convinced than ever that the ghost in the foyer had a story worth telling. Either it was Lorilee or, she’d be willing to bet, it knew about her.

Someone definitely didn’t want her here, and sure as hell didn’t want her dredging up the truth. Well, tough, because that was exactly what she was determined to do.

“We’re still going to have a talk after dinner,” Ty said. “Get used to the idea.”

“Fine, dammit. We’ll talk, but I can’t tell you what you want to know, Ty.”

“Maybe you don’t know what it is I want to know.”

His tone indicated he wasn’t talking about her secrets now. She swallowed the lump in her throat and started walking toward the front of the house again. “Let’s go talk to the sheriff.”

Pearl invited everybody to dinner and managed to throw together something suitably vegan for Rick, who had also visited the school fundraiser today and was only half as hairy as the last time Ty had seen him. Was that why Beth kept glancing at him, or was there another reason?

Ty certainly couldn’t discount the fact that the man lived in the same general area from where the shot had been fired. Beth hadn’t said anything about being suspicious of Heppel, but Ty sensed it.

His weird neighbor may have had opportunity to sabotage Beth’s brakes and take a shot at her, but
why
would he have done such a thing? If it was true, there was only one possible explanation, and it didn’t set well with Ty at all.

Lorilee. Was Rick Heppel the man responsible? After all these years, would it turn out to be their next-door neighbor? A man his wife had befriended and trusted?

Ty watched everybody eat, relieved, for once, that the kids weren’t home. The place felt empty without them, but it was best this way. He’d drive over and pick them up in the morning, since it was Saturday. Meanwhile, they could spend the night being spoiled by their grandfather and endured by their Grandma Ruby.

As he watched his guests share the meal, he couldn’t convince himself of Heppel’s guilt. The big man always seemed so gentle. Lorilee had thought so, and Pearl did as well. Try as he might, Ty just couldn’t imagine him as a cold-blooded killer.

“So you have the bullet, then?” Sheriff Bailey asked after Beth finished telling him the story of how her backpack had stopped the bullet.

She reached into her pocket and retrieved the piece of metal, only slightly blunted from its impact with her backpack and its contents. Ty ran a hand through his hair. Thank God she packed a piece. He almost laughed aloud with relief, but held himself in check.