A Father's Stake

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_82f3d291-06a3-56d4-af92-80d68627e80a)

IT HAD BEEN almost two years.

To him it seemed an eternity since his life had been torn apart, and now, it had happened again.

Jackson Wolf Carson sat on the stone step that led up to the porch of the old adobe house, and he could feel that gut-wrenching churning once more. He thought he’d moved past that in the two years since his wife, Robyn, had died. But he was wrong. It had stayed there, hiding, until an hour ago when he’d gone to the family ranch to confront his father.

That shattering encounter had brought those old emotions back to life and this time he wasn’t sure how he could get beyond them without giving up...for good.

He closed his eyes and ran a hand roughly over his face, damp with sweat that came from the baking July sun beating down on the fallow three hundred acres spreading out all around him. Life had gone on while he’d wandered through the days and nights of the past two years alone. He’d finally thought he had found an anchor, something to hold on to. But any hope he’d let flicker back to life had been extinguished at nine o’clock that morning, the moment he’d walked into his law offices in Wolf Lake.

The email had come with four attachments. He’d thought his contact in the county offices had sent it, but the moment he started to read the letter, he knew he was wrong. Dead wrong.

Disbelief had given way to a burning anger at his father’s betrayal. He almost cringed at his reaction. He’d driven to the ranch, burst into his father’s office and thrown the papers at him. He’d yelled, kicked the massive desk so hard it jarred his entire body, but his father just sat behind the desk without saying a word. It was his mother who’d come up behind him, her face filled with horror, and asked what was wrong.

One look into her eyes and he realized she’d been betrayed as badly as he had. Without looking at his father again, he’d touched his mother’s shoulder. “Ask him,” was all he’d said before storming out, heading for the old ranch adjoining his parents’ spread.

He took off his baseball cap, raked his fingers through his shoulder-length, iron-straight black hair, then slapped the navy hat against his denim-covered thigh. He’d been so sure the old adobe house and the land sprawling around it was the connection he needed so desperately in his life. Each brick of the low structure had been handmade by Jack’s grandfather, Jackson Wolf, the man he’d been named for. The older man had passed away more than three years back, going quietly at the age of ninety-two, outliving his only wife by almost twenty years.

His grandpa had come down from the reservation with his wife, down from the high country in the foothills of distant mountains to the low valley, all Wolf land. It had been his people’s land, generation after generation. He’d worked against the odds to make a life for his family, creating one of the best grazing areas in the state and building a home for his seven children. This place had always been a second home to Jack.

Jack narrowed his eyes and gazed into the distance, the land shimmering in the oppressive heat. Generation after generation of the Wolf people were embedded in the very soil of this land. The town of Wolf Lake bore the people’s name. And Jack had figured out that his only hope for survival was to hold on to that past and try to make a future by taking over this place.

He stood, tugged the cap sharply to shade his eyes, and stretched in an attempt to release some of the knotting tension in his shoulders and neck. He took the steps down to the packed earth and gravel of the drive, where dust motes curled up into the still air. The parched scent of sage and grass only made the place feel more deserted. The ranch had been closed since his grandfather died, and all the joy he’d brought to this land had gone with him. Jack wanted it back with a vengeance.

He kicked at a rock near the drive, hitting it squarely and sending it sailing through the air toward the run-down stables that sprawled on the low hill beyond the house. He’d never seen this coming. He’d never thought his own father could do this. He’d never dreamt, that after every promise and every protestation, his father would damage everything again.

He turned his gaze to the drive that disappeared over a rise beyond the stables then cut down through the grazing land to the main road. The sound of a car engine was barely audible, and when a cloud of dust rose up over the roof of the stables, he knew his phone calls had worked.

He’d made the first of two phone calls fifteen minutes after he’d practically run from his parents’ house. Sitting then in his red Jeep at the end of the drive, he’d phoned his brothers; he hadn’t been able to move from the spot since.

A police cruiser crested the hill, followed by the billowing dust. He hadn’t wanted to pull either brother into this right away, but he needed them. And, realistically, there was no other way this could all play out.

The cruiser pulled in behind his red Jeep, the engine died and the door swung back as Adam stepped out. It still felt odd to see his kid brother in his police uniform, the billed cap shading his eyes. It had only been a month since he’d come back from Chicago, alone. Faith, the woman he’d left with, had stayed there with her father following his conviction in federal court for a series of fraudulent business practices. Adam had quit his job as a detective in Dallas, Texas, before he had gone to Chicago, and joined the Wolf Lake Police Force when he returned, working side by side with Chief John Longbow, a family friend since they were kids. Adam said he’d come back for the job, and he probably had, but Jack knew it was also because his brother was concerned about him. That hurt, to think people altered their lives to try and repair his. And now Adam was walking into another rescue mission, but Jack wouldn’t let it come to that.

He raised a hand, and saw the strained look on his brother’s face. Before Adam could say anything, Jack cut him off. “Let’s talk when Gage gets here. He shook his head. “I can only do this once.”

Adam didn’t fight him, just nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s your call.”

His younger brother stood an inch or so below Jack’s six-foot-two, but had the same broad shoulders. All the Carson brothers had inherited the dark eyes, dark hair, and bronzed skin of their mother’s ancestors.

Jack found himself saying, “I’m sorry.” And he realized he was apologizing for the past two years, for all he knew they’d gone through watching him grieve.

Gage and Adam had known Robyn all their lives, and they’d loved her, but not like he had, and still did. It had always been Jack and Robyn. When he’d graduated from law school in California, and come home, the first thing he’d done was propose to Robyn. That memory still made his stomach clench. It had been the most natural thing in the world to marry the love of his life and the best decision he’d ever made.

They’d built a life together for almost nine years, and then one night, one wrong turn on the way home from the Reservation where Robyn taught second grade, and she’d been gone.

Adam studied him from shadowed eyes, then shook his head. “You’re looking bad.”

“Thanks.”

Adam held up a hand. “Hey, I’m sorry. This day started out rough, very rough. I’m just....”

Jack thought he was going to talk about their parents despite his request to wait, but Adam’s next words were about him and Faith.

“I’m not used to being here and Faith being in Chicago. I mean, she really needs to help her dad adjust to house arrest and what will follow, but I need her, too.” A rueful smile touched his lips. “Who would have thought I’d ever say that about a woman?”

“Not me,” Jack admitted as the two of them headed for the porch, sinking side by side onto the stone.

“Can’t figure out why this place has been empty since the old man died. Makes no sense.” Adam turned to rest his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I was really glad that you were thinking of taking it over.”

Jack tensed and glanced at his brother. Adam looked away, off to the distance. “What’s taking Gage?” he asked as if he hadn’t spoken before.

“He said he had a few things to do. Any time now, I’d think. This place belongs here,” Adam went on, obviously unable to keep totally silent about the purpose of this meeting. “The folks’ ranch is great, bigger and newer, but it doesn’t fit into the land like this does. Grandpa knew what he was doing.”

His words echoed the way Jack had always felt. Their grandfather’s ranch was right where it should be, and he wanted to be here, too. “All I’m going to say until Gage gets here is, I’m sorry.” He squeezed Jack’s shoulder then drew back, looking out beyond the stables.

The heat seemed to hum in the silence until Jack finally cleared the lump in his throat. “Did you ever bring Faith out to see the place?”

Adam shook his head. “When she was here it was too cold, too much snow and not enough time.”

“When is she coming back?”

Adam stood abruptly, flexing his shoulders under the tailored uniform shirt. “I don’t know.” His voice seemed tight, and Jack had a fleeting thought that maybe things weren’t right between him and Faith, that maybe Adam coming back without her had nothing to do with Jack, or with the job.

“Hey, there!”

The loud shout from the west startled Jack and he looked toward the heavy stand of trees in that direction.

“He couldn’t just drive over like the rest of us, could he?” Adam said.

Jack watched Gage walk toward the house, leading his black horse, Grenada. “Sorry to be late,” he called out, kicking up dust as he got closer. He stopped by an old stone hitching post their grandfather had hewn from a long rock he’d lugged down from the Rez, and secured the large horse to it.

Jack knew if any strangers saw them, they’d see three men who looked like possible triplets, all tall, dark and strong looking. But those strangers would never know how very different all three were. “Day from night,” their grandfather had said more than once. And that was true. It was incredible that all three of them were back in Wolf Lake at the same time. That timing was perfect for Jack.

As Gage strode to the bottom of the step, he actually smiled up at his brothers. “Merry soloed this morning.” he said.

“I never thought she’d ever get back in a plane after your scare on the mountain.” Jack said, remembering the haunted look on the woman’s face during the rescue helicopter ride after she and Gage had crashed in the high mountains last February.

Gage nodded. “I wasn’t sure, either, but now she’s doing great and is even thinking about taking Erin up. That little girl is in love with planes.” Another flash of pleasure lighted his face. Gage, Merry and the little girl they were adopting were already a family, even though their wedding date hadn’t been set.

Jack felt a wave of jealousy, but blocked it. “Good.”

As suddenly as he’d smiled, Gage sobered. “So, tell me what’s going on.”

“Let’s go inside,” Jack said, turning to lead the way to the great room, the ceiling low with heavy beams, the worn tile floor starting to get dusty after the last monthly visit from the cleaning crew. The air in the adobe was at least twenty degrees cooler than outside, the natural insulation of the thick bricks doing a good job against the dry heat.

They passed the massive stone fireplace in the middle of the room, getting glimpses of the well-worn leather furniture where the dust sheets had slipped a bit. All the furniture in the house had been handmade on the Rez by friends of his grandfather’s and was still sturdy and usable. They walked into the small kitchen at the back of the house.