Page 41 of Murder at Rescue Ridge

Damn.Where had that come from?

Could it be different with Conrad like her heart argued? Or did logic always win?

14

Lukas Wayne.With everything going on, Conrad’s brain had set aside the suspicion about their trainer and his dirty dealings. Conrad should probably have a conversation with Kade about Lukas. His brother might have more information about the deals and how that might have led to Harrison Guidry’s murder. Another thought crossed Conrad’s mind. Harrison had been as big of a jerk as Beaumont. The lawyer had a bad reputation. Digging into his personal life would be another path that could lead to answers and more suspects. Conrad might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, having been seen in an argument with the family’s attorney moments before his death. Another thought struck now that Conrad was going down that trail. Had Harrison Guidry burned a lover? Did he have other children that he hadn’t claimed?

The easy answer was usually the right one.The saying was normally true. However, in this case, the easy answer pointed to Conrad being guilty.

“I’ll heat up a plate for you,” Conrad said as he walked toward the fridge. “What sounds good? There are sour cream chicken enchilada leftovers unless someone snatched them. There’ll be vegetable soup. I can make a sandwich to go with it.”

“Soup and a sandwich sound like heaven,” Nikki said with a slow sigh. “What can I do to help?”

“Stay right where you are,” he said. “It’ll take two seconds to heat up the soup. Sandwiches take another couple of minutes. Is ham okay?”

“I love ham,” she said. “How can I assist?”

“You’ll just be in the way,” he said, realizing how that sounded and wrinkled his nose. “What I meant to say is that I like taking care of you.”

“Oh.”

He wasn’t really sure what to make of the sound that came out of her mouth when she said that word or ifohqualified as a real word and not just a sound.

Had he gone too far?

A couple of minutes later, as promised, he set down plates with sandwiches and then bowls with soup.

“This looks like heaven,” Nikki said as she picked up a spoon and dug into the soup first. “And it smells even better.”

There was something a little too satisfying about taking care of her. As disjointed as his family had been with everyone bolting out of dodge the second they could, he never doubted any one of his brothers or his sister would have his back if push came to shove. Would he be too stubborn to ask for help? That was another subject altogether. But if he reached out, they would be there for him.

Who did Nikki have?

An argument boomed down the hallway, male voices. Conrad hadn’t realized anyone else was inside the house, but he recognized the voices right away as belonging to Beau and Kade.

“Excuse me while I check on what’s going on in the office up front,” Conrad said to Nikki.

“Should I go with you?” she asked, setting down her spoon.

“No,” he said as he stood up. “Stay here and finish eating. This shouldn’t take longer than a couple of minutes.”

“Okay.” She agreed to stay even though it looked like she wanted more than anything to go with him. She needed to eat. It was his fault she’d gotten banged up. Feeding her was the least he could do.

Conrad set his own spoon down and made a beeline down the hallway toward Beaumont’s old office where the argument was going on full blast.

Beau was in Kade’s face, pointing a finger in his chest. “How am I the bad guy here?”

“Because we stopped all sales going through from Lukas in order to investigate why he’s making deals not approved by us,” Kade retorted. Red-faced, he kept a tight grip on his emotions based on the tension radiating from him and the fact his fists were clenched at his sides. “You violated our agreement.”

“Hold on a minute,” Conrad said, surprising them.

The interruption caused Beau to take a step back. He’d been playing the innocent victim around Conrad, which had made him be more sympathetic, but the bolder side of Beau was in charge now. Conrad didn’t like this side to his half-brother and no longer saw the need to jump to the man’s defense.

“What the hell’s going on in here?” Conrad asked.

Kade’s fists relaxed. Beau rolled his shoulders like he was trying to break some of the tension in his body.

“Beau decided to okay a deal behind my back,” Kade said.

---