One
Dave Firestone was a man on a mission.
The future of his ranch was at stake and damned if he was going to let scandal or whispered rumors ruin what he’d spent years building. It had been months now since Alex Santiago had disappeared and Dave still felt a cloud of suspicion hanging around his head. Time to find out one way or the other what the law in town thought of the situation.
He climbed out of his 4x4, tugged the collar of his brown leather jacket up around his neck and squinted into the East Texas wind. October was rolling in cold, signaling what would be an even colder winter. Nothing he could do about that, but Dave had driven to the border of his ranch to get at least one part of his life straightened out.
A tall man wearing a worn, black leather coat and a tan, wide-brimmed hat was patching the barbed-wire fence that separated Dave’s ranch, the Royal Round Up, from the neighboring ranch, the Battlelands. Behind the man in black, another man, Bill Hardesty, a Battle ranch hand, unloaded wire from a battered truck. Dave nodded a greeting to Bill, then focused his attention on Nathan Battle.
Nathan looked up as Dave approached. “Hey, Dave, how’s it going?”
“Going fine,” he said, because Dave Firestone never admitted to having a problem he couldn’t solve. “I went by the main ranch house and Jake told me where I could find you. Didn’t think I’d find the town sheriff out fixing fence line.”
Nathan shrugged and glanced out over the surrounding land before shifting his gaze back to Dave. “I like getting out on the ranch. Gives me a chance to think. Clear my head. My brother does most of the heavy lifting on the Battlelands, but I’m a full partner and it feels good to get back to basics, you know?” Then he grinned. “Besides, Amanda’s on a remodeling binge, getting ready for the baby. So we’ve got one of Sam Gordon’s construction crews at the house all the time. Being out here…” he said, then sighed in pleasure. “Quiet.”
From his spot on the truck, Bill snorted. “Enjoy it while it lasts, boss. Once that baby comes you can kiss ‘quiet’ goodbye forever.”
Nathan chuckled, then said, “Just unload the wire, will ya?”
Dave ignored the byplay. He wished he’d found Nathan alone out here, but he was going to have his say whether Bill was listening in or not.
Things had changed a lot around Royal in the past few months, Dave thought. Nathan and Amanda were married and expecting a baby. Sam and Lila were expecting twins. And then there was the reason Dave had come to see Nathan on his day off.
The disappearance of Alex Santiago.
He wouldn’t claim to have been friends with Alex, but he’d never wished the man harm, either. This vanishing act of his was weird enough to keep the people in town talking—and most of them were talking about how Dave and Alex had been business rivals and wondering if maybe Alex hadn’t had some help in disappearing.
Dave had never been one to give a flying damn what people had to say about him. He ran his life and his business the way he saw fit, and if people didn’t like it, screw them. But like he’d just been thinking, things had changed. Irritating to admit that gossip and the threat of scandal had chased him out here to talk to the town sheriff, but there it was.
“Yeah, I get that. My foreman’s the best there is, but I like doing ranch work on my own, too. Always have,” Dave said, snatching his hat off to stab his fingers through his hair. “And I hate to ruin your peace and quiet…”
Nathan hooked his pair of wire cutters into the tool belt at his waist and looked at Dave. “But?”
“But,” Dave said, with the briefest of glances toward Bill, who wasn’t even bothering to hide his interest in the conversation, “I need to know if you’ve got anything new on Alex’s disappearance.”
Scowling, Nathan admitted, “I’ve got nothing. It’s like he dropped off the face of the earth. No action on his credit or debit cards, either. Haven’t got a clue what happened to him and, to tell you the truth, it’s making me nuts.”
“I can imagine,” Dave said and tipped the brim of his hat back a bit. “It’s not doing much for me, either.”
Nathan nodded grimly. “Yeah, I’ve heard the whispers.”
“Great.” Just what he wanted. The town sheriff listening to rumors about him.
“Relax.” Nathan waved one hand at him and shook his head. “I know what the gossips in this town are like, Dave. Hell, they almost cost me Amanda.” He paused for a second as if considering what might have been. Then he shook his head again and said, “If it helps any, you’re officially not a suspect.”