Page 163 of Embracing the Change

Thus, it was clear the collection of that bounty was also on the radar for one, or both, of those Oakley men, and the hideous murder of those horses was done in pursuit of a payout.

Jamie took my mind from all this by continuing to talk.

“He could do private cash sales, which I couldn’t track, nor could anybody, which means, even if he sold assets, the insurance companies would be none the wiser. We had Waterford. We had Limoges. We had an original Bierstadt and a Remington. My grandmother had an affinity for Royal Doulton and Cartier. I could go on. The payout of the insurance on the horses, the house, and the contents is enough to buy him years on that ranch, even if he erects a modest home in which to live there.”

“If he sold, and didn’t disclose, and the insurance paid on those items, that’s fraud,” I pointed out.

“If he talked my idiot brother into setting fire to his property so AJ could collect a payout, that’s fraud too,” Jamie returned.

I’d noticed of late that Jamie wasn’t referring to AJ as his father or “Pop” anymore.

I thought this was good, especially considering he told me he shared important matters with Judge. It indicated to me that he might be moving closer to claiming his real father.

I just wished the final straw on that wasn’t what it was: death and destruction.

Without warning, Jamie communicated what some of that dissonance in his eyes was about.

“I feel responsible for this, Nora.”

My body jerked in shock. “What, darling? My goodness, why?”

“I pushed him to it.”

Oh no he didn’t.

“You did not push AJ or Jeff into committing arson and equine homicide,” I snapped. “I’ll not hear you say that again, Jameson. For years, you did not actively seek to muzzle women who had been violated so you could protect the value of your shares, thus your tattered reputation shredded to oblivion when your foul behavior was outed. You did not make desperate and foolish deals that fell through. And you didn’t light any matches. Of course, it can be said you know those men, but I can’t imagine even if you had a functioning crystal ball, you’d believe they’d take it to that point.”

I huffed out an annoyed breath.

And continued ranting.

“A real man would see he’s bested and cut his losses so he could live another day. He had property. If what you say is true about his possessions, he could have easily put them to auction, making quite a bit of money, and found himself somewhere comfortable to live out the rest of his days. Or he could have done that and invested the capital in the one thing he had left, that ranch, and making it work for him. Simply because of his pride, he didn’t do any of that. So what he did, if indeed he was the mastermind behind this latest plot, does not rest on your shoulders. It rests firmly on his.”

Jamie said nothing, but he didn’t have to, considering he cupped my cheek and rubbed his thumb tenderly over my cheekbone.

As such, I noticed some of the unrest in his gaze was gone, so I felt I’d done my job.

For now.

“I need to accessorize the outfits I’m packing,” I announced. “And then we need to go. Dru will be here shortly.”

Jamie removed his hand from my face and put the papers back in the envelope, saying, “Can you put these in the safe?”

“Of course.” But he’d stilled, so I called, “Jamie?”

“R,” he said, and looked to me. “Rhys Vaughan.”

Well…

Heavens.

Rhys Vaughan—the sadly departed, immensely complicated, but it had been discovered after his death, intensely devoted—Corey Szabo’s man on a mission.

And Vaughan’s mission was to take care of any problem that anyone Corey loved had. He did this with dedication and meticulousness.

If he was behind this, an indication that he’d waded into the issues we were facing, that was a rather large bit of good news.

“I think we’ve been adopted, sweetheart,” Jamie noted.

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