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“I won’t argue with that,” Ballard replied. “In fact, he probably knows all the ideal spots for an ambush. And he’s also the first one you’d suspect if there was any violence around here. After all, everybody knows how much he hates the Calders. Right?”
Reluctantly Jessy agreed as the pieces began to fit together. “Right.”
“Let’s suppose Haskell gets caught and points a finger at Tara. Who’s gonna believe him? Oh, there might be a few who do. But it won’t matter ’cause she’ll have covered her tracks with him eight ways to Sunday. It’ll just be his word that she was
part of it. With the high-powered lawyers she can hire, the word of an ex-con is never gonna convict her. Yes sir,” Ballard concluded with a decisive nod. “She’s planned it all very carefully. Buck’s the only wild card. I’m guessin’ she’s findin’ him a little hard to control.”
“Have you told anyone else what you suspect?”
“What good would it do? Suspicion is all I got. And I’m not exactly popular with Ty these days,” he reminded her. “He wouldn’t believe it about her anyway. She’s got him fooled. She always has.”
“Not always,” she corrected. “Or he would still be married to her.”
“And she will be again if she can get rid of you. She’s got him all set up for it. There Ty would be, a widower with two kids to raise, and she’s fussed over them from the start. For some extra added insurance, she bought Wolf Meadow. Hell, if you weren’t around, Ty would marry her just to get his hands on that land,” he declared. “It would be one of those old-time business mergers masqueradin’ as a marriage.”
Jessy wasn’t so sure about that. Ty was first and foremost a Calder. Even though a Calder wasn’t above making a loveless marriage, Ty would fight shy of making the same mistake twice.
“Maybe,” she said. “Then again, maybe not.”
“Look, I’m not tellin’ you all this to put Ty down, though it might sound that way.” He leaned toward her, conveying an urgency. “I guess I’m sayin’ all this to warn you. If I’m right, there’ll be another attempt on your life. Maybe not right away. Maybe she’ll let things cool down for a while just to lull you into lettin’ down your guard. But you need to keep your eyes and ears open.”
“Don’t worry. I will.”
“There’s no point in tellin’ me not to worry, ’cause I will. I’d tell you to stick close to The Homestead, except I keep rememberin’ those kidnappers busted right into the house. Still, if you stay around here, I can keep an eye on you. But most of all, don’t go off anywhere by yourself. Who knows, maybe I’m all wet and nothin’ will come of any of this.”
“Let’s hope so,” Jessy agreed, aware that Ballard had nothing but his suspicions.
A pickup swung into the ranchyard and approached The Homestead. Jessy was quick to recognize Chase behind the wheel. Ballard did as well and rose from the chair without any show of haste.
“Be careful, Jessy.” He looked serious and worried. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Thanks.” She was touched by the concern he showed for her safety. She had yet to decide whether she felt it was warranted.
“Afternoon, Chase.” Ballard nodded to him as they passed on the steps.
Chase responded with an absent nod, his attention zeroing in on Jessy, making a swift assessment. “You are looking better than I expected.”
“I feel better, too.”
He crossed to her chair, his glance leaving her to scan the ranchyard. “Is Ty around?”
“No.” Jessy told him about their conversation with Logan, the conclusions Ty had drawn, and the lack of evidence to support it. “Ty went to Wolf Meadow to confront Buck.”
Chase’s expression was as hard as chiseled granite, his eyes narrowing in a cold anger. But he made no comment beyond a slow nod of satisfaction. An attempt had been made against a Calder, but it was not going unanswered.
“What did Ballard want?” Chase asked, his glance only now traveling after the man.
“He thinks Tara might be involved in this,” Jessy replied with her usual candor.
“I considered that possibility,” Chase stated, but he didn’t offer his opinion on it. He turned toward the door. “Are you coming in?”
“Not for a while.”
“I’ll be in the den if you need me,” he said in parting and crossed to the door, his attention turning inward.
Chase regretted that he wasn’t with Ty. It was a regret that wasn’t based on any doubt that Ty could handle it. But he knew Haskell, and Ty didn’t.
More importantly, Buck would know Chase never bluffed. Chase did what he said he would do, and be damned with the law.
