Cowboy Above The Law

“There’s a guard posted outside Warren’s door. Egan is there, too. And so is Griff.”

Two lawmen and a security guard might not sound like a lot, but in this case, Warren was well protected.

“Good. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Court assured Thea, and he ended the call.

Since it was normally about a twenty-minute drive from the McCall Ranch to town, Rayna guessed that they’d be hurrying. And they did. Court didn’t waste any time getting her into the truck parked directly in front of the cabin, and they drove on the ranch road and then got onto the highway that led to McCall Canyon.

“It won’t be a good idea for you to go into my father’s room,” Court said several minutes later, and he didn’t give her a chance to disagree with that. “You can wait with Griff while I talk to him.”

Court was right. She wanted to know if Warren had hired the dead PI, but he was far less likely to own up to anything with her in the room. Still, it wouldn’t be a pleasant experiencing waiting with Griff. Yes, he would keep her safe, but he was firmly on the side of Warren when it came to anything, since Warren had practically raised Griff and his sister after their parents had been sent to jail for selling drugs.

“Keep watch,” Court reminded her.

Even though she was already doing that, it caused her pulse to jump. The attack from the previous day was still way too fresh in her mind. Plus, she was having some pain, especially where the idiot had injected her with that drug. The seat belt was pulling right across the tender bruise.

“Are you okay?” Court asked.

He was frowning and glancing at her midsection. That was when Rayna realized she was holding her side. She was probably wincing, too. She nearly lied and told him everything was fine, but Rayna knew he wouldn’t believe her.

“I’m hurting. I’m scared. And I’m mad. Yes, I messed up when I got involved with Bobby Joe. I should have never been with him in the first place, and I should have never stayed after the first time he hit me.”

She wasn’t sure how Court would react to that and expected him to dismiss it. He didn’t. Even though he only glanced at her, she saw something in his eyes. Sympathy, maybe. If that was it, she didn’t want it.

“I was a fool,” she added. That not only applied to her relationship with Bobby Joe. She’d also been a fool to choose him over Court.

“Why exactly were you with him?” Court asked.

The burst of anger had come and gone, and now Rayna got a dose of something else that was familiar. Shame. There were plenty of emotions that came with the baggage of being in a relationship with someone like Bobby Joe.

“Because I didn’t think I deserved anything better,” she said. She certainly hadn’t deserved Court.

He frowned. “What the heck does that mean?”

She hadn’t expected him to understand. “You’re a McCall from the right side of the tracks. You have a father and mother who love you.” Rayna didn’t have a clue who her father was, and her mother had dumped her at her grandmother’s when Rayna had been in first grade.

Court’s frown continued, and he added some profanity to go along with it. “You’re telling you think you deserved to be with a jerk because you had some bad breaks in life?”

“I know it doesn’t make sense to you.” She looked at him. “It doesn’t make sense to me now, either. I finally had, uh, well, an epiphany after Bobby Joe hit me the second time, and I knew if I stayed with him, the violence would only continue. Probably even get worse. That’s when I ended our engagement.” She paused. “And you know the rest.”

Whether he believed the rest was anyone’s guess, and there wasn’t time to ask him. That was because he pulled to a stop in front of the hospital. He didn’t use the parking lot. He left his truck by the curb, directly behind a cop car, and he hurried her inside.

Egan was right there to greet them.

One look at the sheriff’s face, and Rayna knew something was wrong. She prayed that Warren hadn’t had complications from the surgery. Or worse, that he’d died. She wasn’t a fan of his, but she didn’t want him dead. And that was partly because she knew how much Egan, Court and their sister, Rachel, loved him.

“What happened?” Court asked.

But Egan didn’t respond. He made an uneasy glance around the waiting room, where there were several patients as well as some medical staff, and he motioned for Court and her to follow him. They did, and Egan went in the direction of the patients’ ward, but he stopped in the hall. However, Rayna could see Rachel, Griff and Court’s mother, Helen, just outside the door. It was no doubt Warren’s room.

Egan looked at her as if trying to decide what to do with her. Clearly, he wanted to have a private conversation with his brother, but there was no way they could leave her alone.

“Dad didn’t stay awake for long before he lapsed back into unconsciousness. But he did manage to say something,” Egan said after he dragged in a long breath. He paused. “It’s bad, Court.”

And that was when Rayna heard something just up the hall. Something she didn’t want to hear. Rachel and Helen were crying.

Chapter Five (#udea1731e-d63d-5247-ac0e-9699744a5aca)

Court had already had a bad feeling before he saw his mother and sister crying, but that feeling went up a significant notch.

“Is Dad...” But Court couldn’t even bring himself to finish the question.

“He’s alive,” Egan assured him.

The relief came, but the bad feeling remained. That was because of the tense look on Egan’s face.

“In the few minutes that Dad was conscious,” Egan went on, “he kept repeating one thing. A woman’s name. Alma.”

Court shook his head. “You think that’s maybe the real name of the dead PI he supposedly hired?”

“No.” Egan took in another of those breaths. “According to Griff, it’s the name of dad’s longtime mistress.”

That bad feeling fell like an avalanche on him. “No. Dad wouldn’t cheat on Mom,” he insisted.

“That’s what I said, too, but Griff says it’s true, that Dad’s been carrying on an affair with this Alma for thirty-five years. Dad recently broke off things with her though.” Egan turned back to Rayna. “And that’s where you come in. It’s possible this woman hired someone to kill Dad and set you up to take the fall.”

“Hell,” Court growled, and that was all he could manage to say.

His stomach was in knots. His heart, in his throat. And he figured Rayna wasn’t feeling exactly great right now to hear confirmation that someone had set her up to take the fall for his father’s attack. That part made sense—especially since they’d found Hallie dead. But none of the rest of this was sinking in.

“Alma,” Court repeated. He glanced at Griff. “And he is certain it’s true, that Dad cheated on Mom?”

Egan nodded, scrubbed his hand over his face. “He apparently found out a few months ago and said he told Dad to come clean. Dad obviously didn’t do that, but he did break off things with this woman.”

“The woman who maybe tried to set me up. I want to see her,” she insisted.

Egan nodded. “You will. I’ll have her brought into the sheriff’s office as soon as I can arrange it.” He motioned toward Rachel and their mom. “Needless to say, they’re upset.” He paused again. “Griff also told me that Warren had a son with Alma. I didn’t say anything about that to Mom.”

Court hadn’t figured there’d be any other shocks, but that certainly was one. All of this was coming at him too fast. Of course, this wasn’t something he could absorb with just a conversation. And he was sure there would be backlash. How the devil could his father have done this?

“The son’s name is Raleigh Lawton,” Egan added a moment later. “He’s a year older than you.”

Court belted out another “Hell.” Because he knew the man. Sheriff Raleigh Lawton was from a small town just one county over. Warren and he had worked on a murder case about three years ago, and Raleigh had visited McCall Canyon several times. Court thought of something else that’d happened.

“Wasn’t Raleigh involved with Thea?” Rayna asked.

“Yes,” Egan confirmed. “But they broke things off a while ago. I’m not sure if Thea knew he was Warren’s son, but Griff says that Raleigh didn’t know. He thought his father died in the military before he was born.”

So, the lies had extended to not only their family but to Alma’s, as well. Yeah, he definitely wanted to talk to this woman. Wanted to talk to his father, too.