Page 105 of Legacy of Lies
“Why?”
“You always got the best of everything. You were the most popular guy in school. You always got the girls. You have the best property for—” He clapped a hand over his mouth. “Anyway. Enough was enough. It was time for me to get somethingIwanted.”
Blood drained out of Garrison’s head until he shook it to clear his muddled mind. “So, you and Tiffani ...?”
Hank snickered. “First of all, let’s be honest here. In the beginning, she really wanted your brother, Vaughn. Not you or me. Anyone could see it. Maybe that’s part of why your brother left town last year.”
“What?”
“Oh. Oh? You didn’t know, did you? Oh my, oh my. That’s why big brother left. Affair. Couldn’t keep his hands off your wifey. Too bad his noble gesture to exit stage right didn’t matter in the long run.”
“You’re lying.” A strange pressure began behind the temples. Insistent. A force begging to be let out. Begging to discover the truth. Begging Garrison to rip the truth out of the asshole’s head.
“No, no. As time went on, after Vaughn left, you paid far more attention to the ranch than to Tiffani, and she grew to love me, as it should have been in the beginning. And how she loved me! Over and over. Said I was way better in the sack than her dull husband.” He licked a cracked lip.
Garrison had to breathe hard to control the sensation pushing out from the inside of his mind. Almost like hands reaching out to Hank. “Where is she?”
“No longer with us, sad to say.”
If Hank could be believed, this explained why Tiffani hadn’t contacted him in over a year. “Tell me.”
“Nope. Sorry. End of story. She died in Salt Lake City. Fell in with the wrong sort of people, sadly.” Hank advanced, grinning. “Look, you want bad things to stop happening? You want to keep your family safe? Sell the ranch. Leave. It’s real simple.”
“Why are you so fixated on the ranch?”
“I gave you a chance, Taggart. You lose.”
When Hank lunged at him, the blow ricocheted Garrison into the wall.
Hank wrapped a hand around the front of his neck until a train-engine roar of sound filled Garrison’s ears. He could not pass out. Not now. Not with Sara vulnerable.
Blackness tunneled in on him; the howl of pressure in his head turned into a desperate force.
Then he heard a loud sound that refocused him for a split second before losing consciousness.
• • •
With a scream and an ungraceful lurch, Sara clocked Hank on the back of his head with the broken chair leg.
Hank crumpled, once again still.
Hopefully, it had hurt. He deserved to suffer after what he’d put her and Zach through. Not to mention hurting Garrison.
She dropped the piece of wood, fell to her hands and knees, and then rolled onto her side, shaking, as the reality of the situation sank in.
Blinking, she stared at the man who slid down the wall and sagged into a sitting position. The enormity of the near-death experience made her gut churn.
“Garrison? You’re here?”
Blood trickled down his forehead. “No place I’d rather be.” She winced in sympathy at his lopsided, bruised grin.
“But how did you find me?”
“Very good directions.”
A hot flutter in her chest choked her. “What about Zach? He’s out there! You have to find him.”
He lifted a bruised hand. “We got him, Sara. He’s okay.” He grabbed the wall and shoved himself back to his feet. “Now it’s your turn. I’m getting you out of here.”
