Elusive Echoes (27 page)

"Look, just tell me your best guess when you
think you'll be finished with him." Northrop was definitely
displaying a tendency toward a death wish.

"Case as bad as Devil's Advocate?" Sean
shrugged. "Minimum of two months, probably much longer." He smiled.
"But don't worry. My fee covers as long as it takes."

Northrop cursed. He glared at Sean for a
long minute. Sean returned his glare beat for beat without
flinching. Finally, Northrop kicked at the dirt with his fancy city
boots, turned and stalked away, muttering under his breath.

Sean's cell vibrated, and thinking it might
be Mel, he almost tore the pocket of his jeans retrieving it to
answer.

"Sean, this is Walt Blackstone."

Letting out a long breath, Sean felt his
heartbeat steady. "Yeah, Walt. Did you look at Ricky's truck?"

"I have, and I've called DC about it, too,
son. The engine overheated and seized because the radiator was bone
dry."

Sean struggled to catch up. Like Justin,
Walt often talked in circles and started his thoughts in the middle
instead of the beginning. "Why does a dry radiator warrant a call
to the sheriff? And Ricky swears the temperature gauge never
registered above cold before the engine started blowing steam."

"Wire to the gauge was cut," said
Blackstone. "Recently. But the engine blowing may have saved that
young man's life."

Icy fingers walked down Sean's back and
settled in the base of his spine. "Why is that?"

Walt coughed. "Because someone put a tiny
screw in his brake line. Boy was about out of brake fluid and on
the way to failing brakes."

Sean hung up, not sure
whether the ice running through his veins was due to fear or rage.
Deep in thought, he dimly registered the sound of Northrop's
motorcycle driving off.
Yeah, that's
right. Tuck your tail and run off, weasel.

The crunch of gravel under Sean's boots made
him think of breaking bones. Ricky could have been killed. No
brakes. A deliberate act. Blackstone's words reverberated through
Sean's brain. He needed to talk to Ry but for the life of him, Sean
couldn't recall where his brother had said he was heading. Sandy
would know where to find him.

Sean caught up with Sandy as she tidied the
kitchen. Bethany, securely fastened in her infant seat on the
table, was putting up a fuss. Justin sat making goofy faces and
speaking baby talk.

"Where's Ry?" Unable to resist, Sean stroked
one of Bethany's feet and was rewarded by a kick. His heart kicked
at him in response.

"West pasture with Joe. Oh, and there's a
letter for you in the office. Came overnight mail." Sandy placed a
cup in the dishwasher and closed the door, setting the switch to
start. The soft swish of running water filled the room.

Bethany stopped fussing and jammed a tiny
fist into her mouth.

Sandy sighed at the sound of silence. "The
sounds of running water and machinery calm her every time. Works
with the washer, too."

Sean stared at the baby, never failing to be
amazed that even so little she had a dynamic personality. "Uh, is
that normal?"

Sandy shrugged. "You got me. But if it ever
stops working, I'm going to go insane."

"A drive in the truck used to settle Ryan
when he was little," said Justin. He stood and stretched, giving
his granddaughter's cheek a rub with a forefinger. "Used to take
him out in the truck to drop hay when he got colicky."

"That may be next on the list." Sandy opened
the freezer and pulled out some chicken. "She seems to have a hard
time settling sometimes."

Sean stopped playing with Bethany. His heart
did a strange little flip. What if Ricky's truck wasn't the only
one that had been sabotaged?

"Sandy, promise me you won't go anywhere
before I get a chance to look at your truck."

She focused a questioning gaze on him.
"Why?"

It was never a question of not telling Sandy
what he knew. Lives depended on complete honesty. "Someone messed
with Ricky's truck. That's why it broke down. If it hadn't
overheated, his brakes would have failed."

Sandy's face turned pure white with tinges
of green. "Who would do that?"

"I don't know. It might have happened
anywhere. Just—don't go driving."

Sean bit off a curse. He'd thought they were
finished with malicious acts and violence when the whole MacKay
thing blew up. Idly, he wondered if Bull MacKay, the man Ricky had
called his father for most of his life, was back in town. The west
pasture was out of cell service, but his brother would have taken a
hand-held radio. Sean stepped into the office just off the living
room and checked the frequency.

"We're on the way in," Ryan said after Sean
raised him. "Something wrong?"

"Are you on horseback?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'll explain when you get back but don't
let Joe take off in the chopper. Someone's messing with equipment
on the ranch again."

Ryan cursed. "Sit tight. We're about thirty
minutes out."

A cough sounded from the doorway. Sean
turned to see his father leaning on the jamb, watching him. "You're
going to want to look at your horse man real hard, son."

Sean dragged a hand down his face, pausing
at his mouth. "Yeah." He rubbed his chin. "That's exactly who I'm
looking at first. Have you seen him doing anything that seems
off?"

Justin laughed. "I've hardly seen him at all
unless it's when he's going in the opposite direction. The man
sneaks around like a dang barn cat after a mouse."

Less than thirty minutes later, Ryan and Joe
arrived. Sean helped settle their horses. Then, between the three
of them, they scoured all the vehicles on the ranch, including farm
equipment and the helicopter.

"Clean," Sean said, crawling out from under
his own pickup. He stood, meeting his brother's eyes, noting they
mirrored his own concern. "That's everything. So it looks like
Ricky's was the only thing that got hit."

"I don't get it. If you're thinking about
your horse man, why would he care about Ricky's ride?" Ryan leaned
against the driver's side door of Sean's truck, stretching out his
long legs.

"Walt said the brake tampering was designed
to be a slow leak, so there's no telling when it was done." Sean
rubbed his jaw. "He only drives it to work at the bar and to run an
occasional errand."

Joe doffed his Dodgers cap and toyed with
the hard brim. "Maybe his was just the easiest to get to."

"It's usually parked farthest from the
house." Sean turned to stare thoughtfully at the trailer where
Northrop had been staying.

"What if it didn't happen here?" Joe's eyes
slid to Mel's Jeep, the only vehicle they hadn't checked, since it
wasn't a ranch vehicle. "What if it was tampered with at
Valentine's?"

"Crap!" Sean took off at a sprint. He was
already under the Jeep looking at the brake line, when he heard the
hood being lifted.

He saw it almost immediately, the brake
fluid leaking around the connection at the front of the vehicle.
And right behind that, a small hole in the metal brake line.

Muttering a string of curses, Sean slid from
beneath the Jeep. One look at the faces of his companions and he
knew something else was wrong. "What?"

"Start it," said Ryan.

Slipping the key from his pocket, Sean did
as he was instructed.

Joe pointed. "There it is. See how the lower
hose is spraying fluid? It's been loosened but it only leaks when
the Jeep's running."

Ryan twisted the radiator cap and peered
inside. "And already the radiator looks about half drained."

"Jeez! If she'd been driving it. . ." Sean
squeezed his eyes closed, visions of Mel driving along and then
losing control of the Jeep rolling like a movie reel through his
brain. He froze as a vivid picture of that stretch of road where
she had lost control and driven off the road filtered through.

With frenzied hands, he pulled out his cell
and called the bar, actually grateful that the cook answered.

"She's still in the office," Charlie said.
"I can check if you want."

"Charlie, listen to me. Call Blackstone. Get
him to come over, take your car back to his place and check it
over."

"What's this about?" asked Charlie.

"Someone tampered with Ricky's pickup," Sean
told her. "That's why he broke down. And we just found the same
tampering on Mel's new Jeep, so we're thinking it probably happened
at the bar. We want to get your car checked out."

"I'll drive it over right now."

"No. Call Blackstone to come and get it.
Don't drive it until you know it's safe."

He closed his cell and met Ryan's
questioning look. "I gotta go."

"I can tighten the hose and replace the
brake line on this." Joe tapped the fender. "Save towing it to
town."

Sean looked over his shoulder. "Thanks,
man."

Ryan caught up with Sean just as he reached
his pickup. "You're thinking of Mel's original accident, aren't
you?"

"Yeah." Sean shot his brother a level stare.
"I am." He pulled open the door to his truck.

Ryan laid a heavy hand on Sean's shoulder.
"Watch your back. We only know the brake line and radiator are good
on your truck. We don't know if something else might have been
tampered with." Ryan's fingers flexed. "I don't want to lose
you."

Sean swallowed over the lump of emotion. He
glanced into his brother's green eyes, saw his own looking back at
him. He nodded once and pulled the door shut.

As Sean started the truck, Ryan held up a
hand to stop him. His eyes held a speculative gleam. Sean rolled
the window down and waited for Ryan's chuckles to subside enough to
be able to speak.

"Hey, you know when we were kids how we used
to crack jokes about the people driving around with pieces of coat
caught in their doors?"

Sean frowned, unsure where Ryan was going
with his question, but irritated by the delay. "Yeah, I remember.
What the heck, Ryan?"

Ryan lifted a shoulder. "Yeah, we've all
been kind of wondering that, too. But I'm gonna take a wild guess
here that Mel wouldn't want you driving into town with her panties
blowing in the wind."

Heat rolled into Sean's face. "What?" He
opened the door and looked down. Spotting the pink satin and lace
fluttering in the light breeze, he snatched it up with a growl,
shoving it onto the seat next to him and slamming the door. He
glared at Ryan, who hooted.

"Jeez, Ry, grow up."

Ryan chortled and wiped
tears from his eyes with the back of his hands.
"
Me
grow up? I'm
not the one apparently
doing it
in my truck. Now I know why you climbed in the
window Sunday night." He took a deep breath and suppressed his
laughter, but it remained just below the surface. "At least tell me
you had safe sex."

The heat in Sean's face crept up a notch and
he shifted uncomfortably. Unfortunately for him, his keen-eyed
brother picked up on his discomfort immediately and choked. "What
the heck are you doing, Sean? Did you miss the lecture?"

Ryan's hand was clamped
firmly on the door of the truck. Unless Sean wanted to drag his
brother along with him quite literally, he had no immediate escape.
"Once. It happened
once
." Sean looked straight ahead, refusing to meet Ryan's gaze.
"I gave Ricky the condom from my wallet and forgot to replace it,"
he mumbled. Sean huffed out a breath. What the heck? Ryan might as
well know the whole story. "Turns out it was a good time of the
month if you're trying to get pregnant."

Ryan sobered. His laughter
died completely. "Whoa! Mel's
pregnant
?"

"No! That is, we don't know.
Yet." Sean finally peeked at his brother, who was frowning in
concentration. "Jeez, man! You're doing the
math
?"

Ryan's wince became a sheepish look. "Sorry.
And I'm sorry I teased you. I can see why you've been
distracted."

Sean shifted again and looked away.

"Is there something else?" Ryan's voice was
sharp.

"Not really."

Ryan leaned toward Sean and studied his
face, and understanding dawned. "You're not worried. You want
this?"

"That's the thing, isn't
it?" Sean tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. Then he
shrugged. "I don't
not
want it."

Ryan was clearly surprised. He scrubbed a
hand down his face while he continued to study his brother. Then he
dropped his other hand from the truck and stepped back. His eyes
and his voice softened. "You need anything, you let me know,
okay?"

And that
was
the thing, Sean thought as he
pulled onto the main road. At some point in the past day or so,
he'd gone from not caring to actively thinking in terms of what a
baby would mean to their life together.

He set the hands-free on his phone and
dialed Walt Blackstone.

"Hey Walt, you still got Mel's old wrecked
car?"

"Sure, I towed it out back until the scrap
yard takes it next week."

"I need you to check something for me. I
need to know if Mel's car was tampered with the way Ricky's truck
was."

Walt's voice sharpened. "You got something
going on, boy?"

"I don't know, Walt." Sean pressed down on
the accelerator. "I don't know. But if DC's still there, tell him
I'm on my way in and I need to talk to him, okay?"

Chapter Sixteen

Standing in the doorway of the office at
Valentine's, Sean lost track of how long he watched Mel sleep at
her desk. Hunched over a notepad, she cradled her head in the crook
of one arm. The pen loosely clutched in her fingers had tilted
sideways and its tip had left a few red lines on one cheek. He
smiled, wondering if she'd been making one of the lists she loved
so much. She sighed, and Sean held his breath. Maybe she was about
to wake up. But she only resettled her arms and burrowed her face
more deeply. The pen slipped from her fingers with a tiny
clatter.