“Rex found it on the south side of the pasture, near the lake. He’s already taken care of the carcass.”
“What was he doing in that pasture?” Trask asked.
“He works here, damn it!” Keith replied, his fist coiling angrily. “He was laying irrigation pipe—why the hell am I explaining all this to you?”
Tory held up her hands, forestalling the fight before it got started. “The calf was shot just like the other one?”
“Right. Near as we can tell, someone jumped the fence, picked out a victim and blasted it.”
Tory felt her blood run cold. She looked at Trask and noticed that every muscle in his face had hardened.
“This all happened because of you,” Keith pointed out as he leaned against his elbows on the table and rubbed a dirty hand over his brow, leaving streaks of dust on his face. “Everything was going along okay until you started poking around here.”
A muscle in the corner of Trask’s jaw began to work convulsively and he set his coffee cup on the table. When he stood, he towered over Keith and felt older than his thirty-six years. “I know that because I returned to Sinclair, I’ve put the ranch in danger. Believe me, it wasn’t intentional.”
“Hmph.” Keith stared insolently up at the man who was responsible for all of the pain in his life. Tory’s brother had to close his eyes and shake the feeling of dread that had overtaken him in the last few days.
“You don’t have to worry about what’s happening—”
“Like hell!” Keith’s head snapped upward. “Another calf’s been killed and we got this…this threat, for crying out loud!”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Like the way you took care of Dad?” Keith demanded.
Tory’s stomach was in knots. “I don’t think bringing up the past will help—”
“Hell, Tory, that’s what this is all about—the past—or have you forgotten?”
“Of course not!”
“Maybe we should all just cool off,” Trask suggested, staring pointedly at Keith.
The silence in the kitchen was so thick Tory could feel the weight of it upon her shoulders. When Rex came through the back door, she was glad for the excuse of pouring the foreman a cup of coffee.
“We lost another one,” Rex stated, frowning slightly at the sight of Trask in the house. He took off his Stetson and ran his hand over his forehead.
“Ke
ith told us about it,” Tory said.
“What are your theories about how it was killed?” Trask asked, leaning his elbows against the counter, stretching his legs in front of him before crossing his ankles and folding his arms over his chest. Though he tried to appear casual, Tory noticed the grim set of his jaw and the determination in his eyes.
Rex shrugged and accepted the cup of coffee Tory offered. “Don’t really know.”
“Surely you must have some thoughts about what happened?”
Rex stared at Trask over the rim of his cup. “All I know is that the trouble started when you arrived.”
Trask’s eyebrows cocked. “So you think it was more than a coincidence?”
“I’d stake my life on it.”
“Tell me, Rex,” Trask cajoled and Tory was reminded of the one time she had seen him working as a lawyer in the courtroom. Her blood chilled at the memory. It had been two or three months before the scandal involving her father had been discovered. Trask’s country-boy charm and affable smile had won him the confidence of everyone in the courtroom, including a few of the prosecution’s witnesses. He coaxed one woman, a witness for the prosecution, into saying something the D.A. would rather have remained secret. Dread began to knot in Tory’s stomach as Trask began to question Rex in his soft drawl. “Tell me how long you’ve been with the Lazy W.”
“More years than I’d want to count,” Rex replied, returning Trask’s stare without flinching. “What’re you getting at, McFadden?”
Trask overlooked the question. “And why did Calvin hire you?”