“Okay.” Tory slid into the chair facing him and poured syrup over her stack of hotcakes. “Shoot.”
“What have to
decided to do about McFadden?” Keith asked, forking a generous helping of bacon onto his plate.
“I don’t know,” Tory admitted. She took a bite from a strip of bacon. “Maybe there’s nothing I can do.”
“Like hell. You could leave.”
“Not a chance, we went over this yesterday.” She reached for the coffeepot and poured each of them a cup of coffee.
“McFadden will come here.”
“He already has.”
“What!” Keith’s face lost all of its color. “When?”
“Last night. While you were in town.”
Keith rubbed his palm over the reddish stubble on his chin. “Damn, I knew something like this would happen.”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal. We just talked.”
Keith looked at his older sister as if she had lost her mind. “You did what?” he shouted, rising from the breakfast table.
“I said I talked with him. How else was I supposed to find out what he wanted?”
Keith’s worried eyes studied her face. “So what happened to the woman who, just yesterday afternoon, was going to bodily throw Trask McFadden off her land if he set foot on it. You know, the lady with the ready rifle and deadly aim?”
“Now, wait a minute—” Tory’s face lost all of its color and her eyes narrowed.
“Weren’t you the one who suggested that we point a rifle at his head and tell him to get lost?”
“I was only joking…”
“Like hell!” Keith sputtered before truly seeing his sister for the first time that morning. A sinking realization hit him like a ton of bricks. “Tory, you’re still in love with him, aren’t you? I can’t believe it! After what he did to you?” Keith stared at his sister incredulously before stalking over to the refrigerator and pouring himself a large glass of milk. “This isn’t happening,” he said, as if to console himself. “This is all just a bad dream…”
“I’m not in love with him, Keith,” Tory said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and turning her face upward in order to meet Keith’s disbelieving gaze.
“But you were once.”
“Before he testified against Dad.”
“Goddamn,” Keith muttered as he sucked in his breath and got hold of himself. His large fist curled in frustration. “I knew he’d show up the minute I left the ranch. What did he want?”
“My help.”
“Your what? I can’t believe it. After what he put you through? The nerve of that bastard!” He took a long swig from his glass with one hand, then motioned to his sister. “Well, go on, go on, this is getting better by the minute.”
“He thinks that there may have been someone else involved in Jason’s murder and the horse swindle.”
“Are you kiddin’?” Keith placed his empty glass on the counter and shook his head in disbelief. “After all this time? No way!”
“That’s what I told him.”
“But he didn’t buy it?”
“I’d say not.”