Page 89 of The Moments You Were Mine
If none of the staff agreed to stay, I could handle most of the priority tasks myself. I’d done it before. After Spencer had died, Mom and I had handled all the animals and the crops for months before Dad had shown up and rehired our ranch hands. Worst case, I could call Dad, and he and Sadie would show up to help. But the idea of bringing them and my siblings into this mess, into possible danger, made the sour taste in my mouth return.
“You’ve already agreed to continue paying the entire staff while we’re closed, all the way through the end of July if needed,” Kurt said dryly, as if the fact they were still getting paid should be enough for folks to show up when they might be used for target practice.
“We can offer a bonus to anyone who agrees to stay,” Kevin suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” I responded. It would be yet another hit to our bottom line, but I’d cover it from my personal accounts. I could take the loss, but not indefinitely and not if I ever wanted to get the large animal rescue up and going without turning to Dad for help, and he’d already provided me enough. My job was to manage what I’d been given, not keep running back to the well for more.
“We’ve got additional guards arriving tonight and tomorrow. They’ll be setting up more cameras and instituting some other undisclosed security measures. Hopefully, that will reassure any staff who agrees to stay,” Parker said, speaking up for the first time. He’d mostly just sat, watching me with those intense eyes, waiting for me to stumble. I was almost there.
“Speaking of staff,” Lance said, clearing his throat. “There was a man at the lake earlier who rescued a swimmer with acramp. He was wearing an outfit that looked a hell of a lot like one of our security uniforms but wasn’t.” Lance showed Parker a photograph from his phone. “He isn’t your shooter, is he?”
Parker shook his head. “No. Too short. And his hair is too light. What was his excuse?”
“Said he was hired to watch over things and then shut down tighter than a clamshell,” Lance said.
“Where is he?” Parker demanded.
“Had to let him go. Really didn’t have anything to hold him on, especially seeing as he’d just rescued a guest,” Lance said. “I did send his name and details to Wylee, and he said he’d pull him in for questioning.”
“Send me what you got, and I’ll dig into it on my end,” Parker said.
Silence settled down, and I cleared my throat, pushing through the haze of weariness one more time. “Andie, set up an all-hands-on-deck meeting for tomorrow morning. Let them know we expect everyone here, even if they weren’t scheduled to work. They can ask questions, and we can reassure them they’ll still have a paycheck while we find this guy.”
Everyone started collecting their things and heading for the door.
“One more thing,” Parker said, and everyone turned to look at him. “Wylee—” And for the first time in the last hour, panic shot through me. I didn’t want him to tell the staff what the sheriff had said. I didn’t want them to know I was being targeted in more ways than just a gun. Not yet. His eyes narrowed, but he cleared his throat and changed tactics. “We’ve had a few cameras messed with—”
“By the old Hurly house and some near the fire road,” Lance cut him off, his tone defensive. “We’d already noted it before you showed up. We just haven’t had a chance to check them out yet.”
Lance’s tone sent a shiver up my spine. Not necessarily at him, but at the simple reminder it might be one of these people in this very room who were involved with what was happening. Someone had hated me enough, or had been paid enough, to sabotage me and set me up for an attempted murder charge. Someone with access to our cameras and our gun cabinet. And Lance had access to all of it.
Parker narrowed his eyes on my head of security. Lance was a husband and a father. He and his family had merged into the Rivers community with ease. His wife was on the PTA with Kevin’s wife. Their kids were involved in sports. Why would he come after me? Why would he destroy the ranch that was his livelihood?
God. I hated doubting my people.
I hated everything about this.
Every. Single. Piece. Of. It.
Teddy cleared his throat. “I’m heading over to the Hurly house tomorrow for Lauren. She’s looking for an old family album. I don’t know much about all your tech equipment, but I can move a damn camera so it’s facing the direction you need.”
Lance nodded at him. “I’ll give you the angles.”
Parker opened the front door and gave them all a pointed look. In another lifetime—one that had ended mere hours ago—I would have harassed him for sending my staff on their way. Now, I was just too exhausted and overwhelmed to object.
The team left, telling me to get some rest with eyes full of concern.
Except, there was a good chance one of them was faking that concern. One of them, or one of the hundred or so who would show up at the meeting tomorrow, had turned against me—for some reason I couldn’t even fathom. Money? A perceived slight?
Ever since I’d reminded Parker about Celia, my brain hadn’t gotten her out of my head.
Whenever I’d run into her while she’d been tailing me in those months after Ace’s arrest, there’d been venom in her eyes. A rattlesnake, coiled and waiting. One I’d been stupid enough to think had slithered away into the forest, never to be seen again.
I’d even felt half worried, half guilty that something horrible might have happened to her.
Now, it felt like another thing I’d missed. Another failure in the ongoing list of them.
Chapter Twenty-four
