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“Fuck no. My head is spinning. Is Barbosa alright?” he asked Laura.
“I’m not sure. He bolted down the valley after you fell, but I haven’t seen any sign of him since.”
“Probably already back at the barn, confusing the hell out of the rest of the men.”
Eli looked around at the men. “Do any of you—” He cut off when Nails pulled a small pistol from a harness inside his shirt.
“Alright then,” he said. “Laura, I want you to go down and get the side-by-side. Come back here for Rafe and then get him to town so he can get checked out—”
“I’m fine,” Rafe snarled. “I can stay here.”
“No, you can’t. You need to lie down and get an x-ray of that head and wrist,” Eli ordered.
“But I—”
“Laura, when you get back to the house, ask Sadie for the keys to the safe. There are plenty of handguns and rifles in there. Do you know anything about guns?”
“Some,” she admitted.
“Good, bring three rifles and some ammunition up then, plus food, a tent, and sleeping bags. The camping supplies are in the storage room in the barn.”
“Laura nodded. “I know. I’ve seen them there.”
“Good. Then you can take Sunny back with you,” he said, glaring at the man as though daring him to argue again.
Laura nodded and turned her horse to head down the valley. She’d studied tons of property maps over the last week, so she had a pretty good idea of where to go.
“Laura,” he called after her, and she glanced back.
“Be careful. We don’t know for sure the shooter is gone. I doubt he’s after you, but we can’t be too careful.”
Laura swallowed hard and nodded before taking off at a near gallop. As she did, she thought that Ranger Valley was certainly turning out to be an interesting place to live, that was for sure.
* * *
Even though itmade him uncomfortable, Sunny took advantage of Eagle rolling up his jacket and putting it on the ground so he could lie down. His head spun and ached in a way that told him it would get much worse later.
He listened as the others discussed the possible culprits. It wasn’t a long list. Only two people were on it and, like those around him, Sunny didn’t know which was more likely.
“Have you heard from Russ or even his lawyer recently?” Cash asked.
“The last letter I got was from the court saying he was planning to appeal the will, but the local court already denied it, so I’m not too worried.”
“Would he go this far?” Nails asked.
Eagle didn’t answer right away, but when he did, his voice sounded heavy. “Honestly, I don’t know. He hates me, but he always has. Dad’s will spelled everything out clearly though and now, even if something were to happen to me, the place would go to Sadie. So I can’t see it being him trying to hurt me.”
“Would he try to argue that Sadie couldn’t take care of the place?” Cash asked.
“He might, but I don’t know what good that would do. The court won’t care about that.”
“So, Quadri then?” Nails said what they were all thinking.
“Probably, but that’s worrisome, too. None of our intelligence said he was anywhere near Wyoming,” Cash answered.
“Does anyone have a signal to call Cap and let him know?” Sunny mumbled, the words feeling thick.
Silence. “I’ll call him when I get back to the house, then.”
