Page 39 of Murder at Rescue Ridge

It was easy to see how an overbearing stepfather might not fit into the picture. Nikki had never once talked about loving Heath as a father. If memory served, she mostly talked about him as the one who stuck around.

People surprised the hell out of him, though. Was he being naïve giving folks the benefit of the doubt before he got to know them? He was still working off handshakes when it came to dealmaking.

“Was there anything else you might have forgotten about the argument with my father?” she asked as he continued working on her cuts. She’d picked up a lot of damage on her feet. If the cuts had been left untreated, bacteria might have taken root. Knowing this had to be done didn’t stop him from grimacing every time she gave a soft gasp.

Conrad thought about her question for a long moment. “There was more that I didn’t think about before,” he admitted. “I had to tell the law my side of the story, but I was a little…shocked. Maybe thinking too fast to remember all the details; I just wanted it to be over.” Talking to Nikki came easy. Conrad wasn’t normally prone to a lot of words, so he was pretty damn sure his sister Chloe would call it a miracle. Nikki made him want to open up in a way no one else had before. “It wasn’t a big deal, though. Honestly, he was putting his mare up hot, and it pissed me off. She needed to be cooled down first, and he was being a jerk about it. So, I was giving him hell, telling him that was unacceptable.”

“Should it surprise me that my father used anything and everything at will without a thought about the consequences?” she muttered.

“He was your father,” Conrad said. “You didn’t know him all that well. Besides, based on what I’ve heard from Chloe, all little girls want to look up to their fathers.”

“How well did that work out for your sister?”

Conrad issued a sharp sigh. “Not so great. Chloe took off at seventeen.” He shook his head. “She’s the youngest. One of us should’ve stuck around to look after her, but we were too caught up in our own misery to pay attention.”

“You were in survival mode,” Nikki pointed out. “I’m sure she understood that.”

He nodded. “Chloe ran off with the lead singer in a band that became popular. She didn’t tell a soul before pulling that disappearing act.”

“Can you blame her?” she asked. “She probably rightfully assumed she’d be dragged back to the ranch.”

“True enough.”

“Which band, by the way?” she asked.

“Cactus Rose Outlaws,” he said with a bitter taste in his mouth after what the lead singer had done to his sister.

“I’ve heard of them,” Nikki said. “They blew up big time. They were hitting the charts.” She snapped her fingers. “Oh, and the lead singer has been in and out of rehab.”

“His name is Blake, and he also happens to be the father of Chloe’s three-year-old son,” Conrad said.

“Blake has a kid?” Nikki said, shock in her tone.

“He sure does,” Conrad said. “Although, he turned his back on Chloe and never acknowledged his kid. We’re just now finding out that his manager, Craig, was doping Blake every time the man tried to get sober. It would lead back to drinking and drugging every time. Craig had power of attorney over Blake’s finances, so it was in the manager’s best interest to keep Blake drunk.”

“What an asshole,” Nikki bit out. “Craig is the one who came after your sister, right?”

“Yes,” Conrad confirmed.

“The bastard needs to spend the rest of his life behind bars,” Nikki said.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Craig had been arrested. It was up to the courts to do their job.

“What about Blake? What happens to him now that his manager is behind bars?” she asked, always concerned about others. Probably more than she wanted to admit.

“Last I heard, he’s back in rehab,” Conrad said.

“I hope it sticks,” she said. “He’s got a lot of talent and probably knew he couldn’t handle being a parent while under the spell of addiction.”

“You do realize that you’re sticking up for another underdog, don’t you?” he asked with a knowing smile.

“No, I’m not. You have no idea how ruthless I can be against anyone on the opposing bench during mock trials.”

“I have no doubt after seeing you in action,” he said. “I’m just pointing out the fact you’d be a good advocate for those who can’t stick up for themselves.”

Nikki sat back like this news hit her hard. “I never thought about using a law degree to be a victim’s advocate.” She flashed a surprised look. “No one has ever looked at me like this before.”

It was his turn to be caught off guard. “Like what?”

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