Page 89 of Sheriff's City Girl

“I don’t know about that Cody kid.”

Lucas chuckled, leaning his head back. “You just don’t like him because he’s a fan of Jess. He really ain’t that bad of a kid, given the upbringing he had. He works hard for little pay?—”

“That’s ‘cause he ain’t ever had to hurt for money,” I snapped, shaking my head. “Kid gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants it.”

“Yeah, and his dad’s in the damn jail for kidnapping and extortion. He’s stuck living with his crazy stepmom. I don’t think he’s got it all. I don’t think anyone ever has it all. You should get to know the kid.”

I hesitated, not wanting to admit that he had a point. “I don’t know.”

“Yeah, ya do.” Lucas laughed. “You’re just protective over Jess, and I don’t blame you for that. You’ve got every reason to be, and you’ll be protective over your next one, too.”

“Yeah… Yeah, I will.” My heart thudded a little extra at the thought of the baby coming. “I just hope that all this mess has blown over by then. I don’t like the idea of having to have a baby in the middle of this investigation. I know that we always got shit going on, but this is just… It’s just bad.”

“Yeah, I sure feel for the others that have lost their cattle, too. John and Annie are just devastated. They ain’t near my scale in size, but it was still how they were paying for things, you know? It still was their livelihood. Whoever the hell is doing this needs to be stopped.”

I nodded. “I just wish we could get a lead that was worthwhile. I guess Graham didn’t give the Rangers any information about it?”

Lucas shrugged. “I don’t know. They didn’t tell me anything. They’ve been poking around the ranch a lot though. Part of me feels like they’ve got their eyes on me for some reason, and I don’t have nothing to hide—other than the fact that I ain’t got the right kind of insurance. But it had never mattered in the past—and that’s not some kind of criminal offense.”

“I’m sure they’re just trying to do their job,” I reasoned, though I did understand how it could make a man feel that way. “Graham was working on a larger scale than we thought, and he had a lot of money wrapped up in his development projects. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not somehow still connected.”

Lucas was silent for a few beats. “Mason… I got something to admit to you.”

My stomach knotted up. “What is it?”

He blew out a sigh and ran his hands down his Wrangler denim. “I just don’t think that it’s Graham behind all the rustling.”

I raised my brows. “And why do you think that?”

“Because Graham was threatening me over the sale of the ranch, and never once did he bring up the cattle. I think he would’ve put it out there… But I don’t think he knew enough about cattle to know how much they were worth. He’d mention the house, the barns, the land… But never mentioned the cattle. He could’ve easily spooked me with that.”

I considered the point. “So what do you think it is then?”

Before he could answer me, my phone rang, the sound startling me. I dug it out of my pocket, seeing Ron’s name on the screen. I hit the answer button and held it to my ear. “How’s it going?”

“We found ‘em, Mason. We found the cattle.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Emma

My hand ran over my stomach as the baby gave a good kick, and I smiled, pausing as I wiped down the top of the glass display case. Between Mason and I, things were better than ever, and it was the perfect timing. I was now at the halfway mark…

And there was no hiding my belly.

But now if we could just figure out how to save the ranch…

I pursed my lips as it came back to mind. Mason was still enraptured by the investigation, and he wasn’t even out in the field yet. I felt for him, knowing that he wanted to see it through to the end—and that he wanted to return all the cattle that had gone missing.

“I think I’ll have one of those cinnamon rolls,” a voice said from behind me. “They always were my favorite.”

A chill ran down my spine as I turned around, meeting two very familiar hazel eyes. “What are you doing here?” I glanced around, searching for Sarah, who had stepped out on a break. There were a handful of patrons still here, and I noticed their eyes shifting to the man, too.

Derek.

“I just thought I’d swing by and see how things are going for you in this little Podunk shithole,” he grunted, running his finger along the top of the counter that I had just wiped.

I swallowed hard as I stared at my smirking ex-boyfriend. “Things are fine.” I tried to keep my voice calm, but my heart was hammering in my chest—and not in a good way. Derek was a loose cannon, and you never knew when he might explode. He had never done anything dangerous, but he was still intimidating nonetheless…

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