Page 6 of Truth is the Ultimate Weapon

“I want you all to know you have the full cooperation of my office. Due to my connection to the family, I’ve recused myself from the case to not give the DA any reason to throw up a red flag. We no longer know who we can trust, so I am taking a backseat. I have a trusted confidant on the inside, though, who’s agreed to assist with anything needed.” Kenzie shared. “It’s not much, but I figured any little bit would help.”

“It helps. Someone is coming for our family.” Coy said. “And they’re coming hard.”

“Smart, savvy, and know what they’re doing,” Kenzie added. “Who the hell is behind this and why? They got Nora out of the way. Who next? What do they gain?”

“We’re being set up,” Coy said. “For what, I don’t know. At this rate, given all the shit that’s been happening, all I can come up with is that they’re trying to force us out. Maybe make us go bankrupt? Force us to sell? Revenge for any number of things.”

“Someone wants our ranch, then?” Nash asked.

“Or, they just want us off it.” Coy shared. “Get us out of here.”

“Maybe we’re closer to answers than we realize?” Rip offered. “Someone is trying to get in the way. Silence your family.”

“I know where the answers to all of this are.” Devyn shared. “Mama. She held the key to the kingdom. All her secrets were locked up in the proverbial vault, and now that she’s gone…”

“Someone is afraid we’re going to discover the truth,” Coy concluded. “This isn’t just a fight for whatever it is she held the key to. It’s to keep us from finding it. We need to figure out who stands to gain from Mama being gone and us out of the picture.”

“And how do you suppose we do that when we don’t even know what secrets Mama was keeping? The will is full of clues, but none have panned out just yet.”

“I got this,” Devyn said. “We found Mama’s journals earlier. Actually, that’s what we were doing when all this went down earlier.”

“Journals? Like a diary?” Devyn and Rip both nodded, and Dillon asked, “I didn’t even know she kept a journal.”

“For most of her life, it seems. Several boxes, full of our mother’s thoughts and feelings, just sitting out there in her cottage.”

“Is it right to go through them?” Nash asked. “They must be real private if we didn’t even know she wrote in one.”

“I understand if you all don’t want to pry. It feels like an invasion of privacy, but at the same time, she knows she is passing on and doesn’t get rid of them when she has the chance. I have to believe she left those for us for a reason. They were stored with all sorts of random files and papers that weren’t kept in her file cabinet with other important papers.”

“What kind of papers?” Coy asked.

“I don’t know just yet. Some look like old receipts. Our birth certificates. Things like that.” Devyn shared.

“Do you want me to get help going through them? I’m sure we can get a team to…”

“No.” Devyn interrupted. “I appreciate the offer, but… like y’all said. These are her private thoughts and feelings. I know we need to get into them –– I feel it in my soul, but sharing with strangers––”

“We just aren’t there yet,” Coy admitted. “I understand.”

“Look, I… need to do this. I need to reconnect with her, get to know her as she is now, not how I remember she once was. I feel like… something is missing, and I need to fill that hole and replace the hurt I feel.” Devyn pointed to her chest.

“You still believe Mama didn’t trust you.” Nash laid a comforting hand on his sister’s shoulder. “This is because she redid the will.”

“That and the fact I didn’t even know my own Mama, my best friend, was sick until the end. That she had this whole life I didn’t know about. I feel so betrayed and hurt, but I also feel I don’t have the right to feel that way. I’m not entitled to her feelings and private thoughts. But worse, I feel guilty for not prioritizing her, and now… it’s too late.”

Dillon tilted her head, and her expression softened as understanding washed over her, “You want to get reacquainted with her. Understand her.”

Devyn nodded, “I do. And maybe I’ll find something to help solve all of this. Find a clue, any small clue. At the very least… maybe get a little closure.”

“I think you’re the perfect person to go through those things, Dev, if you’re sure,” Coy said.

“I’m sure. I want to do it.”

“What about Nora?” Charlotte asked. “You’re representing her. What do you need help with? Name it, and I’ll do it.”

“Well, we can’t bail her out until morning because small towns like Coyote Creek roll up the streets at dusk and don’t open for business until dawn… even the courts.” Devyn shared.

“So, she’s really got to stay in a jail cell overnight?” Ransom asked. “Do you want me to make a call?”

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