Page 31 of Murder at Rescue Ridge

“I’ve been thinking along the same lines,” Conrad murmured.

“An apology wouldn’t undo all the damage that man did,” Kade said.

“No, it wouldn’t,” Conrad said. “An apology would’ve been a good place to start, but where would it go from there?”

“My point exactly,” Kade agreed. “Are we supposed to forgive all those awful things he did to us because of a few hollow words?”

“Beaumont could have attempted to make things right in the will,” Conrad said. “Instead, he brought in a half-sibling none of us knew anything about, shocking everyone.”

“An even bigger shock is that there’s only one out there,” Kade stated.

That was true, too.

“Considering our father’s reputation, we can’t be certain others won’t pop up,” Conrad said.

“That’s a very real possibility.” Kade got up, and then poured a cup of coffee. He reclaimed the seat next to Conrad. “We need to talk about your defense.”

11

The barn door opened. A twenty-something jeans-clad man walked out, frowning. Before he could get two steps out of the barn, Moe jumped him. At almost the exact same moment, Curly threw Nikki to the ground again.

Kicking like a wild banshee, she connected several times with his shins and thighs. This time, Curly was determined to push through the pain.

“Be still,” he warned as those meaty hands threatened to pull her apart.

“Your friend is being hammered over there,” she said without knowing what was going on.

Curly broke his concentration long enough to look. She rolled out of his grasp and ran toward the wooded area behind the barn.

Not again.

As much as Nikki couldn’t stand the thought of getting lost out here with no shoes, she didn’t see a whole lot of options. Her feet were going to be trashed after this.

Almost to the tree line, a shotgun blast stopped her in her tracks.

An older gentleman stood out the backdoor of the home, loading more shells.

Curly and Moe took off toward the SUV at the same time. Another shot fired into the blue skies got their feet moving until they disappeared, and the vehicle sped away.

Nikki was free.

She hobbled toward the house with her hands in the air. “Help. Please.”

The older gentleman lowered the barrel as thetwenty-something man pushed up from the ground to stand and dusted himself off.

“What happened?” Twenty-something asked.

“Those men were holding me against my will,” Nikki said in between panting for air.

“I called the law,” the older gentleman said, joining them.

“I’m all right,” she said, pinching her side. “You can call them off. They work for my stepfather.”

“What?” the older gentleman said.

“He thinks he’s protecting me, but…”

How could she best explain this?

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