Page 57 of Dark Side of the River

“It happens.” She thought about telling him the truth, but she kept remembering what Cooper had said. If she told him about dinner at the McKenna Ranch, she would also have to tell him about the ride she and Cooper had taken and what they’d found.

They had no idea who was behind the meth lab. While it was on McKenna land, that didn’t mean that someone from her family or ranch wasn’t involved. She was fine with letting the sheriff handle it.

“You sure you can take it from here?” Deacon asked after everything of hers was unloaded.

She knew he wasn’t asking about her horse, saddle and tack. He was asking about her brother.

“Thank you. I can handle it,” she said. Tilly was relieved when Deacon climbed behind the wheel of his pickup and drove off, no doubt seeing that CJ was looking for a fight and anxious to leave before one broke out.

Deacon had been right. If Cooper had brought her and her horse home, there would have been more than trouble.

“You just happen to be near the McKenna Ranch and the ranch manager just happens to give you a ride home?” CJ demanded. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

“No. I think you’re always looking for a fight, though.” She was too tired to argue. It had been a strange day. The ride with Cooper had been wonderful at first. Finding what they had had come as a shock, but nothing like those two men trying to kill them. She still believed that the meth lab in the middle of nowhere was what had gotten Oakley shot. Somehow her sister must have heard rumors about it and gone back there to check it out herself.

Tilly knew that when she closed her eyes tonight, she would relive being chased, running for her life. Just as her sister had? She could imagine how terrified her sister had been. She was almost grateful that Oakley couldn’t remember.

Only her sister hadn’t been alone. She remembered what Tick had told them. There had been a man on a horse right behind Oakley who’d cut off and headed south. Toward the McKenna house? Or toward the Stafford Ranch?

She reminded herself that the rifle that had shot Oakley was a 270—not what those men had been shooting at them with today. So why hadn’t the man on the horse come forward after Oakley was shot? Unless he was the one who’d fired the shot. Unless he was now waiting to see if her memory came back. Or would he be afraid to wait and come after her again?

Her only hope was that once Stuart busted the meth lab, he’d find the men behind it. He’d find Oakley’s shooter and put an end to this.

She started past her brother, when CJ grabbed her arm and turned her back to him. “There’s talk around town about you, little sis. About you and Cooper McKenna. It better not be true.”

“You could bring my saddle and gear,” Tilly said to her brother as she broke free of him and led her horse toward the stables.

“Do it yourself,” CJ said, staring after Deacon through the boiling dust. “I’m going to be watching you, little sis,” he called after her. “Stay away from the McKennas. Stay off their ranch. Or you might not be as lucky as Oakley was.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“IHOPETHISisn’t going to be a daily occurrence,” the sheriff said as Cooper walked into the office first thing the next morning.

He closed the door behind him, making Stu groan. “Did you get the messages I left?”

“Sorry, I’ve been busy. I haven’t even had a chance to check my messages, especially the ones from you.”

“Tilly and I went for a ride yesterday, trying to trace Oakley’s path before the shooting.”

The sheriff looked as if he was about to explode. “I have a mind to arrest both of you for interfering in my investigation.”

Ignoring him, Cooper continued. “We went all the way up the ravine, over the mountain and down the other side. Your deputies hadn’t gone that far.”

“Because there was nothing to see but that old homestead,” he snapped.

“Someone has moved into one of the large buildings. We found what appears to be a meth lab.”

The sheriff rocked back in his chair. “A meth lab?”

“There is also a landing strip there where someone has been flying in and out. We must have triggered some type of alarm, because before we could get out of there, a truck pulling a stock trailer showed up. Two men with AR15s came flying out of the back of the trailer on four-wheelers, fired on us, then chased us.”

Stu was shaking his head. “You have to be kidding me.”

“I might have injured one of the men. I at least killed his four-wheeler in a rockslide. You don’t believe me, go check it out yourself. If you had checked your messages, you would have known about this last night.”

“A meth lab, armed killers, all on your ranch?”

Cooper wasn’t surprised that would be the sheriff’s take. “On the part of the ranch we aren’t running cattle on right now. I called as soon as I could and left you messages. I suspect this is why Oakley was shot.”

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