Page 46 of Wyoming Tough

“You did,” he replied, digging in.

She shook her head. “One day, you’ll find out the truth and you’ll be sorry. But it will be too late,” she added.

He felt cold chills down his spine. He wasn’t in the wrong. Gelly had assured him that one of the hands knew something that he was afraid to tell. She’d learned about it accidentally while they were riding. The poor boy was almost in tears as he related how he’d seen Morie handling that beautiful egg he’d once seen in the display case inside the big ranch house. Of course, unbeknownst to him, Gelly had coaxed Bates into going to Mallory with his story and coached him on how to behave.

Mallory felt sick to his stomach. Morie was going to leave. He’d never see her again. It shouldn’t bother him. He knew she was after him for his money; no woman had ever wanted him for any other reason. He knew he wasn’t handsome. She was a gold digger. Why did it hurt so damned much to see that pain in her face, to hear it in her voice?

“If you’re leaving, go,” he said curtly. “Before I change my mind and have you prosecuted!”

“Oh, that would be very interesting,” Morie replied with a twinge of her old audacity. “Very interesting, indeed. In fact, I’m quite tempted to dare you to do it,” she added with a thoughtful look at Gelly, who was flushed and worried.

“No!” Gelly said, feeling suddenly unsure of herself at the other woman’s confident smile. She was friends with the judge who knew Cane. She might dig up something that Gelly didn’t want known. “No, it’s too much. She’s poor. Just let her go. One day, she’ll get what’s coming to her.”

“More than likely, you will,” Morie countered. She looked at the brothers. “I enjoyed my time here.”

“I don’t think you did it,” Cane said flatly.

“Neither do I,” Tank affirmed.

They both glared at Mallory.

“Well, she’s got you blindsided,” Mallory shot back. “What, you didn’t notice the egg in her rucksack, huh? It got there by magic, I guess.”

They started to argue, but she got between them. “I’ve caused enough trouble,” she told them. “I guess I’ll have to go back and take the consequences.” She meant go back and let her father arrange that marriage to his best friend’s son, who was a millionaire twice over and had a flourishing feedlot operation in North Texas. It would make for a great partnership.

“In trouble at home, are you?” Mallory asked curtly.

“Usually,” she replied. “Thanks for the job,” she added, and not with a great deal of sarcasm. “I learned a lot here.” She turned to Darby. “Mostly from you,” she said with a smile. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” Darby said with a cold look at Mallory as he left.

She turned to continue out the door. She stopped, turned back to Mallory and glared up at him. “I won’t miss you,” she replied harshly. “I was totally wrong. I thought you were the last person on earth who would have convicted me on circumstantial evidence. But then, I can’t expect a stranger to care about me. I had dreams…” Her eyes fell. “Foolish dreams. Anyway, take care, guys,” she told the other two brothers and managed a smile for them. “See you someday, maybe.”

They grimaced and turned back to glare at Mallory. But Morie was already in the ranch pickup with Darby at the wheel. Headed home to Texas.

“YOU MARK MY WORDS, that woman had something to do with it,” Cane said angrily. “She set Morie up.”

“I agree,” Tank replied. “We should have stopped her from leaving. We should have made Mal listen.”

“He won’t. He was infatuated with Morie. He didn’t like it. He wanted to believe she was a thief, so he had an excuse to fire her.” He turned to his brother. “She almost dared him to prosecute her. Would a thief be willing to go to trial?”

“Not likely. I remember Joe Bascomb saying that he was anxious for his case to go to trial so he’d be cleared in the eyes of the community. Of course, we see how that played out!” His eyes narrowed as he looked toward the barn. “Interesting, how Bates just happened to notice Morie playing with that egg. She lives in a separate room, and the door’s always closed, Darby said. So how did he see her?”

“And what the hell was he doing, riding around with Mal’s girlfriend?” Cane added. “Something fishy there. Real fishy. It was Gelly who just happened to find the missing drill in our former employee’s suitcase. And now, surprise, surprise, she just happened to hear a cowboy who noticed a thief playing with a rare objet d’art. How convenient.”

Tank pursed his lips. “I really think we need to do some investigating of our own. I still have contacts in government, some of them covert operatives. It wouldn’t take much work to look into Ms. Bruner’s background, now would it?”

“Mal will never believe anything bad about her.”

“Think so? Let’s find out.”

“I’m game. Go for it.”

MORIE, UNAWARE OFthe brothers’ plotting, was on the bus to Jackson to get a commercial flight home. She hadn’t let Darby see her buy the bus ticket to Jackson, because she was supposed to be going back to Texas. And in fact, she was, on her father’s corporate jet. It would be waiting for her at the Jackson airport.

She didn’t want to tell her parents what had happened for a number of reasons. First, it would be humiliating to have them know that their daughter had been accused of stealing. Second, her father would plow into the Kirks like an earthmover. He’d never stop until he’d utilized every legal resource at his command, and Gelly Bruner would be nailed to the wall, along with whoever had helped her set Morie up.

It had to be Bates, Morie decided. The stupid man was crazy about Gelly. God knew what she’d told him to make him help, but Morie couldn’t get that odd smile out of her mind. How strange, for Bates to look at her with that smile and then, shortly afterward, for her to be fired for theft. He’d been with Gelly all morning. Gelly had also set up a former hand who was fired for stealing. It was all so useless.

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