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“You were thinking about Ty, weren’t you?” Logan guessed.
Chase nodded. “I was remembering the night Ty showed up in Blue Moon and informed me I was his father. I brought him back here.” He lifted his gaze to the sweeping set of horns mounted above the mantle. “He asked about the horns, wanted to know if they were real. I told him the story of the brindle Longhorn steer called Captain that led the first cattle drive to this site. The same story my father told me.” After a long pause, full of memory, his big chest lifted on a deep breath and Chase turned from the fireplace. “I feel old, Logan, older than this land.” Grief haunted the darkness of his eyes. “A man shouldn’t outlive his children.”
“There can’t be many things harder to bear.” Logan’s glance slid to the dried bloodstains on the front of Chase’s shirt. It made for a poignant image of this powerful man.
During his years in law enforcement, Logan had observed similar things before. But it had more impact on him this time. He had come to know and respect both Ty and Chase Calder as more than just his in-laws.
Avoiding the desk, Chase walked over to the drink cart and poured a shot of whiskey into a glass. “What was it you were saying earlier?” he asked crisply, making it clear the time to reminisce was over. That he had made any expression of grief to Logan was a measure of the trust Chase had in him. Logan was counting on that, heavily.
“The autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. The body will be released for burial either late in the evening or the next morning.” He kept his answer factual, sensing it was what Chase wanted.
“Good. We’ll be able to finalize the funeral arrangements.” Chase studied the whiskey in his glass. He gave it a quick swirl then bolted down half of it. “Have you spoken with Culley yet? With Cat there, he was bound to be somewhere around.”
“I talked to him,” Logan confirmed with a nod. “He said he didn’t see anything. He shadowed Cat and Quint when they drove the cattle back to camp.” Like Chase, he avoided any direct reference to Ty.
“What about that piece of a knife blade that was still embedded in the wound? Were you able to learn anything from it?”
Logan briefly toyed with the idea of keeping that information to himself. But it came back to that issue of maintaining Chase’s trust in him.
“We’re still checking on it, but it appears to have been homemade.”
“Like the kind you might confiscate from an inmate in prison,” Chase suggested.
Logan didn’t like the cold, steely look in Chase’s eyes. Since coming to Montana, he had heard a few whispers about Calder justice. At that moment, Logan knew he needed to make it clear he would brook no interference.
“I’ll handle this, Chase, just like I did the last time there was trouble,” he stated firmly. Even though Buck Haskell hadn’t been mentioned by name, they both knew he was the prime suspect. “Don’t do anything on your own that you’ll come to regret.”
“I won’t. You have my word on that.” The corners of his mouth lifted in a smile that was as cold as his eyes, which made Logan all the more uneasy. “By the way,” Chase continued, much too casually, “have you learned where Haskell was this morning?”
“It’s being done now.” Logan had nothing confirmed and refused to pass on any speculation that had been heard.
Chase didn’t have an opportunity to question him further on the subject as footsteps approached the den. Recognizing the familiar light tread of them, Logan rose from the chair. When Cat entered the den, her green eyes were without their usual sparkle. Grief had dulled them and given her a faintly sunken and hollow look. It was a sight that ripped at him. Cat felt all things deeply; this time it was her brother’s death.
She stopped when she saw him, her gaze clinging to his face. “I didn’t hear you drive in.”
Sensing the tight control she was exerting on herself, Logan crossed the room and gathered her loosely in his arms. “I’ve only been here a few minutes.” He felt her shudder then relax against him, her arms circling to clutch him close. “Chase said you were upstairs helping Jessy get the twins in bed. Are they asleep?”
“Finally,” she mumbled against his shirt then drew back, tilting her head to look at him, a stark pain in her expression. “It was awful, Logan. Three times Trey asked for his daddy. I know he’s too young to understand, but he must sense something.” With a sudden flicker of concern, Cat looked quickly around the room. “Where’s Quint?”
“In the living room,” Chase told her. “Sound asleep on the couch.”
“Poor guy.” She managed a wan smile. “It’s past his bedtime, too. We’re ready to go home whenever you are.”
“Sorry, but I’m going to be tied up awhile longer.” Logan didn’t say with what, but she knew he meant with the ongoing investigation into her brother’s murder.
On other occasions when he had to work late, she had usually made some joke about being married to a sheriff. This time, though, she drew away from him, bright tears welling in her eyes.
“Cat.” Logan took a step after her.
“I’m fine,” she insisted with a quick, high lift of her head. “Honestly. This Calder is tougher than she looks.”
He looked at his petite wife and smiled, knowing it was true. “I stopped by the ranch and picked up a few things for you and Quint. I thought it might be better if you spent the night here. That way you won’t have to drive back over first thing in the morning. If there’s anything I forgot, you can let me know and I’ll drop it by tomorrow.”
“It’s probably best that I stay here,” Cat agreed on a thoughtful note. “All the arrangements still need to be finalized, and—” She paused and glanced at Chase. “What will you do about roundup?”
“Nothing. I’ll pull the boys off long enough to attend the funeral then send them back out ’til we finish. We can’t stop now that we’ve started. You know that,” Chase replied with a trace of impatience.
Cat knew it wasn’t directed at her, but at the fact that it had to be that way. “Of course I do.”
