The Tycoon (24 page)

“We won’t forget what you’ve done for our sister,” Drake said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Will said. “Kate’s my neighbor. But more than that, she’s my friend.”

The next morning, Drake arose before daylight. He and Pic met in the kitchen at the coffeepot. After finishing breakfast, they climbed into Pic’s truck and rode the ten miles to Blue Horizons. As they came to a stop, Drake saw several vehicles already there and parked at odd angles. Jose Avalo, who owned a small construction company in town, was sitting on his backhoe, the engine idling.

Drake spotted Sheriff Tom Gilmore, several other people he didn’t know and George Mayfield, still wearing earmuffs,. He also saw Blake Rafferty, the Texas Ranger assigned to serious crime investigation in Treadway County. The Lockharts had known the Ranger for years. They had often hunted together.

“Shit, there’s Rafferty,” Pic said, yanking on the door latch. “That means they think this is a crime.”

Blake’s presence confirmed Drake’s suspicion of arson. “So I see.”

They scooted out of the truck. The stench of the fire still hung in the chilled air. “Sickening smell,” Pic said and walked over to Avalo.

As Drake approached the investigative group, the Texas Ranger broke away and met him. “Mornin’, Drake.” The Ranger put out his right hand.

Drake shook hands. “Blake. How’s it going?”

George Mayfield walked up and took charge immediately, called one of the other men over and introduced him as Carl Barlow, an experienced arson investigator. He also explained that the people combing through the debris were part of his team, along with a forensics team from the Department of Public Safety lab in Austin.

The fact that arson was out of the closet for all to know suited Drake fine. “So where are we?” he asked.

“Too soon to tell,” Blake answered.

Pic walked back from Avalo’s backhoe. “Any reason we can’t take these horse carcasses out of here?”

The Ranger and Carl Barlow exchanged looks. “Give us an hour,” Barlow said.

“Where’s Miss Kate?” the Ranger asked.

“Back at the Double-Barrel, still recuperating. We didn’t wake her before we came over. We figured she needed the rest.”

“We’ll have to talk to her,” Blake said. He paused, then added with a no-nonsense tone. “Pretty soon.”

Drake nodded, accepting that his old friend had to do his job. “No problem, Blake. Any

blatant clues what happened here?”

The Ranger shook his head. “Not yet. We’re sure it was set, but that’s about all so far.”

“Can you think of anybody who’d benefit from this fire?” Carl Barlow asked. “Other than your sister?”

“Don’t go there, buddy” Drake said firmly. “Kate’s broken-hearted. Money won’t replace what she’s lost. She would’ve died last night if her neighbor hadn’t dragged her out.”

“It’s a question that has to be asked,” Barlow said.

“You better not ask our little sister,” Pic said. “She might claw your eyes out. Those horses were just about as close to kids as she’s ever had.”

Just then the bleat of his cell caught Drake’s attention. He grabbed it, checked the screen and saw that the caller was none other than Mom. He keyed into the call. Their mother informed him she was in Camden, headed for the Double-Barrel.

Drake’s jaw tightened. If she went to the ranch and learned that Dad was nowhere to be found and had been gone for a week, she would be royally pissed off. If she came here to Kate’s house, Kate would probably be pissed. Drake made a quick decision similar to those he had made in the past when it came to dealing with his family. A pissed-off Kate was easier to handle than a pissed-off Betty Lockhart, so he said to his mother, “Why don’t you come on out to Kate’s place? That’s where we are right now.”

“Mom, huh?” Pic said after Drake disconnected.

“She’s on her way. And she’s going to want to know why Dad isn’t with us.”

“We’ll just tell her he had to go up to Fort Worth for some reason. Let Dad explain to her why he isn’t here.”

Their mother soon arrived. She alit from her Cadillac SUV wrapped in a gray cape that nearly touched the ground. She broke into tears when she saw the devastation. “Who are all these people?” she asked tearfully, looking around. “Where’s my Kathryn?”

“Asleep at the Double-Barrel,” Drake answered, offering her his handkerchief. “She hasn’t seen this in the daylight and Pic and I didn’t want her to come over here.”

Their mother took the handkerchief, removed her black leather gloves and wiped her eyes. “My God, it’s cold. Where’s your father?”

“Dad had to go up to Fort Worth,” Pic said before Drake could spill the lie. “Nobody’s been able to reach him. You know how he is about his cell. It’s probably turned off or it’s not charged.

Their mother looked at him with disbelief. Her breath emitted little puffs of vapor.
Like steam,
Drake thought. She wasn’t fooled for a minute.

“He’s probably with some floozy,” she growled. “If that’s what he’s doing, I’ll kill him. He should be here. Someone needs to keep all of these people in line. This is a horrible situation. Someone needs to take control.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. We’ve got this,” Drake told her.

Drake refrained from voicing his thoughts. Dad taking control might or might not be a joke. Even if he were here, it wouldn’t be unusual for a brawl between him and Mom to erupt and take precedence over the “horrible situation.”

The Ranger approached again and lifted off his hat. “Mrs. Lockhart. Nice to see you. How are you this chilly morning?”

“Not well, Blake. Not well at all.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes with her fingers.”

“I understand, ma’am.”

“How did this happen, Blake?”

“We’re all doing our best to find out.”

“I’m sure you are. I’m sure you are. Thank God for friends like you.”

The Ranger turned to Pic. “How soon do you think we can talk to Miss Kate?”

Drake caught Pic’s gaze. Pic glanced at his watch. “I guess we can call and see if she’s awake.”

Drake said to Blake, “She was pretty shook up over losing those horses. We want to spare her seeing this until we can get the horses out of here and buried. Instead of having her come here, maybe we could go over to the Double-Barrel.”

“I’ll see if that’s okay with Carl,” the Ranger said and walked away.

But before he returned, another truck wended up the caliche driveway. “Oh, hell,” Pic said. “That’s Will’s truck. And there’s two people in it.”

Drake made a mental groan. He started forward to intercept them, but before he reached the truck, it came to a stop and Kate clambered down from the passenger side. She headed for the fire site.

“Kate, wait—”

“Get out of my way, Drake.”

Mom quick-stepped around him and enveloped Kate in a smothering hug. Kate pushed her away and looked at her. “What are you doing here, Mama?

Mom hung onto Kate’s arms, not letting her move. “I’m here to help you, darling. This is horrible. You need support from those of us who love you.”

To Drake, his sister looked somehow smaller. She looked up at Pic, her eyes accusing and glistening with fresh tears. “Where’s Daddy, Pic?”

“Fort Worth,” Pic answered quickly.

Before he had to say more, the Ranger and the arson investigator approached Kate. “Miss Kate,” Blake said, lifting his hat.

“Hi, Blake,” she said.

“I’m sorry to disturb you when you’re so upset, but we do need to ask you some questions.”

She nodded, looking down. Will looped a supportive arm around her shoulders.
Blake and the arson investigator questioned her about when she first knew of the fire and what she did thereafter. Between bouts of tears, she told that the groom who usually slept in the small apartment attached to the barn had stayed in Fort Worth with the horses that had competed in the futurity. She had been asleep, but was awakened by the commotion in the barn and the smell of smoke. The barn was already heavily involved and on the verge of collapse. She was able to save eight horses, but couldn’t save all of them. At that, she broke down and sobbed. Mom closed her into an embrace and Kate gave no resistance.

The two investigators apologized and backed away, but not before asking her not to go near the fire site and not to leave town.

“Have you eaten, sweetheart?” Mom asked. “Can I make you some coffee? Or tea?”

Kate shook her head. “No, I—”

“That’s a good idea, Kate,” Drake said. “Go in the house with Mom and let us finish up.”

Chapter 15

As soon as Kate and their mother disappeared into Kate’s house, Drake turned on his brother. “Dammit, Pic, you must know somebody in Drinkwell who knows where Dad is. Mom’s right. He needs to be here.”

Pic bristled. “He doesn’t discuss his social activities with me. And I know damn well he wouldn’t like me nosing into them. He’s not a kid, forcrissake. He’s fifty-three years old.”

“Then he needs to stop acting like he’s seventeen,” Drake said. “Get on the horn and see if you can find him.”

“You know, if you had to deal with some of his and Mom’s crap yourself—”

“I hear plenty of it from Mom’s end. This is no time for a debate. Let’s just find out where he is.”

“Goddammit.” Pic mumbled, shaking his head. But he unhooked his cell phone from his belt. “I’ll make some calls.”

Drake watched the activity around the fire site while Pic made calls, which seemed to go on forever. Finally, Pic hooked his phone back on his belt. “Maybe I found him. Perry Jenkins said Mona Luck’s been calling around. She wants somebody to come get him out of her house.”

Perry Jenkins owned the only bar in Drinkwell. Was Mona Luck the woman Mom’s friend had reported Dad sleeping with? Drake vaguely remembered Mona. He thought she was married. Releasing a great sigh, he clapped a hand against Pic’s shoulder. “Come on, Little Brother. Let’s go see what our daddy’s been up to.”

“I’m against this,” Pic groused, stalking toward his truck. “It’s been a long time since you’ve enjoyed one of these episodes, Drake. You’ve forgot just how damned unpleasant it is.”

Drake didn’t react to his brother’s criticism. He knew Pic’s real thorn was that Drake still held equal sway in ranch decisions though he hadn’t lived here for years. Pic climbed behind the steering wheel and fired the engine. Drake took the passenger seat. Then, leaving a rooster tail of caliche dust behind them, they were barreling toward the county road that would take them to Drinkwell,

At the county road, Pic made a quick right turn and sped toward town, twenty miles away. Once inside the city limits, he drove unerringly to one of Drinkwell’s few organized neighborhoods. He crept along the narrow streets until he arrived at a redbrick single-story house, its lawn turned beige by winter. The windows were trimmed in white and Christmas lights were strung along white gutters. The place was so shuttered, it appeared no one was at home, but their father’s work truck was parked in the driveway.

“You found this place pretty easy,” Drake said. “I take it you’ve been here before.”

“I picked him up here a couple of other times.”

Drake wanted no more information than that. “How long did they say he’s been here?”

“They didn’t. He doesn’t leave his itinerary with anybody, you know. Sometimes he goes to town for something and just doesn’t come back. Like Monday. The whole damn thing’s Mom’s fault. She called him Monday afternoon, he yelled into the phone, then he hung up and left.”