Page 82 of Meant for Her

“Not as good as you.” Steve turned to her father. “I tried to hire him to do the books for the ranch, but the Bozeman bank offered him too much money.”

This was insane. Why hadn’t they told her? “You know Luke too?”

“I take it you didn’t know he was a headhunter—and a top-notch one at that?” he asked her.

“No.”

“Then let me tell you about this fine young man. He found me Larry Cascardo to manage all of the ranch hands. I don’t know what I would do without him.”

“I had no idea. I just met the men a few weeks ago.” That was a lame excuse. Steve was a werewolf, too, but now wasn’t the time to admit they were her mates.

“Dad,” Seth said. “Malia and her men have a little issue they need help with. I’m hoping Trevor and I can lend a hand. We’ll be in the den.”

Steve held out his hand to both Luke and Ryan. “Nice to see you boys again. You said you were getting back into ranching?”

“Yes, sir,” Ryan said. “Our dad passed away three years ago, and we’ve been trying to grow the ranch since then. Unfortunately, about two weeks ago, someone stole twelve of our cows. We’re trying to track them down now.”

“I’ve had that happen once. I know how horrible that makes you feel. Good luck with getting them back.”

“Thank you,” Ryan said.

Luke stepped next to her and placed a hand on the small of her back. His touch was comforting, but it didn’t calm her mind.

They followed Seth and Trevor down the hall to their den. She loved this room with its leather chairs, gold-framed paintings of their ranch, and a big fireplace. When she was little, she used to sit right in front of it and read.

The three of them sat on the sofa facing her brothers. As much as she wanted to ask Luke and Ryan to explain about their background, it could wait. Not that they’d lied to her, but they could have mentioned their corporate background. Now she understood why they had suits in their closet.

“What’s going on?” Trevor asked.

Malia wasn’t sure where to begin, but thankfully, Luke did. He showed them the bullet and explained how they came to locate it. He also gave them a background on Pete and his relationship to their father.

“It was Mason who found the dirt on Pete Rizolli. He wasn’t honest with Ryan and Luke,” she said.

“You think he killed your dad?” Seth asked.

“I do,” Ryan said. He explained that his father slowly lost his ranch and cattle to gamblers. “Pete stayed with Dad through thick and thin, and yet my father left him nothing, probably because he didn’t expect to die so young. Dad probably didn’t even pay Pete at the end.”

“Killing your dad was revenge-motivated then?” Trevor asked.

“We think so,” Luke said. “We’re planning to give the bullet to the sheriff in Midvale. Chances are since Pete gave him a falsified death certificate, he’ll be arrested. If Pete has the rifle he used to kill Dad, that would send him to jail for life.”

“Why are you hesitating?” Seth asked.

“What if he orchestrated the theft of our cattle?” Ryan asked. “He just bought two thousand acres of ranchland. Even though the sale of our cows would barely put a dent in purchasing the land, maybe he’s involved in more thefts. We don’t want to tip our hand before we know if he’s guilty.”

Seth looked over at Trevor. “What do you think? Want to take a road trip to see if there are any Lattimore cows at this Rizolli ranch?”

“I’m willing, but I imagine he would have sold them by now. If he did steal them, he sold at least six to Chip Lawson However, if he plans to have a ranch, he will need some cows.”

“We can check it out,” Luke said.

“Better let us do it. We’ll say we’re from the Double G ranch and heard he just bought the ranch. We’re looking to sell a few cows. The next auction won’t be for another month, and he might not want to wait that long.”

“We thought of that plan, but what if he agrees to buy your cows? If he doesn’t have any of Luke or Ryan’s around, what good will it do?” Malia asked.

“I have an idea,” Trevor said.

“What is it?”

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