Page 30 of Deadly Evidence
But no one turned to look at her, except Lacey, who threw her a disgusted glance.
Dante, one hand on the dog’s collar, tossed the offending hat into the dirt outside the corral.
Anna led the colt through the far gate and unsnapped the rope to let him trot into another pen. Then she came back and hunkered down in the dirt beside Vicente.
Mia stared, horror washing through her.
He was lying on the ground, and he wasn’t moving.
Dante had spent two years in juvie, locked up with guys tougher, stronger, and with even less to lose. He’d watched his back, tried to stay out of trouble and counted the minutes until freedom.
Before that, he’d had too many run-ins with the law to even remember.
As much as he missed his sisters, he’d needed a new start, away from his old gang and the sheriff who knocked on his door whenever anything happened around town.
The guy who told him about the Triple R had done him a favor, for sure.
The ranch had felt like home from the day he showed up asking for a job. Whatever his reasons for coming here, these people were his family now, whether they realized it or not.
And Dante Calaveras took care of his own.
Now, up at the main house, he glared at Mia across Vicente’s bed, wondering why he’d ever thought she was cute that first day he’d seen her at the cantina.
Arrogant, stubborn, and rude, she’d given him enough disdainful glances to last a lifetime. And yesterday, her carelessness had hurt Vicente badly.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
She raised her tear-filled gaze to Dante’s, then looked down at Vicente’s grizzled face. “I knew the call had to be my best friend in New York, and I hurried. It was an accident.”
“Yeah. Some accident.”
She could act as sorry as she wanted, but her suitcases were stacked at the front door and she was leaving in an hour. She’d go off on her merry way and leave a lot of trouble in her wake.
How would they manage with Vicente laid up with an injured shoulder and only that greenhorngringoin his place?
At the sound of footsteps coming down the hall, he grabbed his Stetson and turned to go.
Anna appeared in the doorway with a pitcher of water, a glass, and two prescription bottles on a tray. She was worried, too—he could see it in her eyes.
She set the tray on the bedside table and rested a gentle hand on Vicente’s forehead. “Has he been awake at all?”
“No.” Mia’s voice trembled. “Not since you gave him those pills a couple hours ago.”
“Yesterday, the doc said his pain medication would make him drowsy, and that sleep would be the best medicine right now.”
Anna gave Mia a reassuring smile, then turned to Dante. “Would you mind taking Mia into town? I’d like to stay here in case he needs something, and I still need to make breakfast for Jonah.”
“Sure.” Now Anna hadtwoold guys to take care of and a ranch to run, and she still managed to be nice to the person who’d just made things worse.
Dante didn’t feel nearly so generous. “Sooner the better.”
Mia went pale.
At Anna’s warning frown, he added lamely, “Uh...so I can get back to work.” He stalked out the door. “I’ll put her stuff in the truck and wait outside.”
He had to wait a good fifteen minutes before she finally showed up and crawled up into the truck. The engine roared to life when he turned the key. “Got everything?”
She looked over her shoulder at the suitcases he’d thrown into the bed of the pickup. “I guess so.”
