Chapter Twelve

“It’ll be okay,” Rico told Dyna a few minutes later. “We’ve had a possible sighting of Domino. That could mean he’s still alive. And Sandie might be all right, too. We can’t jump to the wrong conclusion.”

“She left her purse and phone, Rico. Don’t try to spin this. It’s bad.”

“Okay, it’s bad but we have to hope she’s okay. If the man somehow took her, maybe she’ll find a way to escape.”

“But no license plate and a vague description of a tall, dark-haired man wearing a cowboy hat and sunshades. That narrows it down. Not to mention Eddie’s still in a coma and Sandie could possibly be involved. We just don’t know.”

Rico had to admit, things weren’t looking all that great. “The good news is—putting out posters all over the state has paid off. We can thank your cattle association and all the ranchers we faxed the flyers and posters to for that.”

Dyna grabbed her phone and whirled toward the door. “I’m going to talk to my mother and Edwin right now. I don’t know why the apartment was unlocked and my mother’s earring was hidden behind that blind but there’s just too much going on. And now Sandie talked to someone who might have Domino but hasn’t alerted us. She could be hurt or dead for all we know.”

Rico followed her out. “Michael said they’ve put out more flyers and a BOLO on the man with the trailer. If they don’t locate Sandie soon, they’ll put out an APB on her. Dyna, you have to relax.”

“I can’t relax. Someone took Domino for a reason and now my employees are being taken down, one by one. It has to have been an inside job and I think Edwin’s the ring leader.”

“You can’t accuse him without a good reason.”

“I have several good reasons. First, he’s been nagging me to sell some of my stock for months now. Second, he brought you here to help with Domino, a horse that was on his way to becoming a champion until he choked and refused to buck. How does that make any sense?”

Rico followed her out the door, wishing he could make sense of this. But he agreed with her. They should sit down with Edwin and Wendy and see if either of them had anything to do with this. Maybe he should take a gun to that meeting.

“He used you as a distraction, Rico. An outsider who he thought wouldn’t ask questions.”

“But he brought me here to help. Why would he do that and on the same day he has someone throw a Molotov cocktail into a storage barn so they could still a horse?”

“It’s crazy but we both know how rodeo people can get.”

Another good point. It all boiled down to power and money and the need to win, no matter the cost. Domino had been winning. Why mess with that?

Edwin seemed to like money and power and the need to win.

But if they cornered him like a rat, he might spill his guts. Worth a try at this point.

* * *

Dyna found her mother and Edwin in the den, heads together in a whispering conspiracy. Or at least it looked that way to her. Butch and Sundance lay near the couch and alerted when Dyna and Rico walked in.

“Mother?”

Wendy lifted away from Edwin, guilt coloring her hazel eyes. “Goodness, you scared the life out of me. What’s wrong?”

Dyna pulled the earring out of her pocket and held it up like a horseshoe she was about to toss. “This, Mother? Your earring lying on the window sill of the stable apartment. How on earth did it get there?”

Wendy and Edwin both stood. Edwin looked almost comically confused as he stared between Wendy and Dyna. “That’s a mighty good question.”

Wendy lowered her head for a minute and then sat back down on the big chair where she used to read Dyna children’s books, mostly about horses and the rodeo. Pushing at her unmovable coiffure, she finally looked up at Dyna. “It’s not what you think?”

“You have no idea what I’m thinking,” Dyna said. “Everyone around me seems in on what happened yesterday, but I’m tired and I want answers. You two have been my right-hand people for a long time. Have the decency to be honest with me, please?”

“What does an earring have to do with any of this?” Edwin asked, his hands out, palms up. “I mean, really?”

“You probably know already,” Dyna said, all her hidden fears and deeply held resentment coming to the surface. “You know what’s going on, Edwin, because you probably planned the whole thing. Who took Domino and why?”

Edwin’s concerned turned to a raging glare. Stomping toward Dyna he said, “Hey, now, don’t go accusing when you don’t have the correct information.”

Rico stepped in front of her. Both dogs woofed, interested in the undercurrent. “Edwin, back off.”

Edwin shook his head. “I honestly don’t know what she means.”

Holding Dyna behind him, Rico said, “Let’s all sit down and talk this out. You two have been acting strange and tonight Dyna found the apartment open and then she found this earring. Because things have been weird around here, her mind is racing with all kinds of scenarios.”

Wendy motioned to Dyna. “Honey, please, sit down.”

“Only if you both agree to level with me,” Dyna replied, pushing past Rico.

Edwin found a spot on a stool by the fireplace.

Rico sat down on the couch next to Dyna.

She looked around the room, her father’s memory hitting her like a warm wind. He used to sit across from her mother, reading farm reports and studying livestock updates. She needed his wisdom now. So much.

When she glanced over at Rico, he gave her a soft smile and a nod. He was one of the most attractive men she’d ever met. Strong, kind, dependable. Not her usual bad boy type. Why had she ever thought he was that way or that he could have possibly come here to do her harm?

“Are you two involved in the barn fire or stealing Domino?” she asked, her spine stiff, her tone measured.

“No,” they both said at once.

Wendy stared down at the ring on her finger. The ring she’d worn for over thirty years. “I loved your daddy so much, honey. You have to know that.”

“I do,” Dyna said, a lump in her throat. If her mother had betrayed Dallas Malloy, she’d never forgive her.

Wendy wiped at her eyes. “I was in the apartment a few nights ago. Alone.” She sighed and touched at her ears, a pair of gold hoops shining bright. “He gave me these earrings, too. He liked to give me jewelry. I had the diamonds on the other night after Edwin and I got home from a cattlemen’s dinner on the Strip.”

“Why were you in the apartment?” Dyna asked. “You never go in the stables.”

“No, I don’t. I can’t take the memories,” Wendy admitted. “After we remodeled the stables, your father and I used to sneak up to the apartment for some alone time.”

Shocked, Dyna thought TMI. But the admission also touched her to the core. “You did?”

“Yes. It was our little joke. This house is big and rambling but people are always moving through it. No one even thought about looking for us there. We’d manage it where only a couple of hands were around and they never knew. No one did.”

Dyna accepted that. Glancing at Edwin, she saw something there in his eyes. Love. But that didn’t mean he was innocent. “So about the earring?”

“I lost it the other night when I was up there. I went to the apartment to say goodbye to your father. Finally.” Wendy swallowed, held her hands together. “I went to the window where we used to stand and stare out at our land. I touched a hand to my earrings and then because I was crying so hard, I guess I accidentally knocked off the back and the earring must have dropped onto the window sill. I shut the blinds and ran out but later, I realized I’d lost one of my earrings somewhere. I was devastated. Then Rico came and the barn exploded and Domino was gone. I haven’t had time to look for it.”

Shocked, Dyna looked at her mother. Really looked at her. And saw the strain in the darkness underneath her mother’s eyes. Saw the shaking in her mother’s hands. “I thought you’d forgotten him, moved on.”

“I’ll never forget Dallas Malloy,” Wendy said. “He was and always will be my first love.”

Edwin wiped at his eyes. “What’s she’s trying to say is, I asked her to marry me after we had dinner the other night. I took her out on a balcony at the hotel and asked her to marry me.” He stood up and paced. “I caught her off guard.”

Dyna’s shock hit a new level. “Are you going to marry Edwin, Mother?”

Wendy looked so lost, so small and sad. “No if I don’t have your blessing, honey.”

“All our strange ways, that’s ‘cause we didn’t know how to tell you. That’s all it is.” Edwin came and sat down again. “Dyna, I love your mother. I don’t want this ranch or your inheritance. I just want to marry Wendy and take her on a cruise. That’s all.” Then he shrugged. “And offer you unsolicited advice now and then, of course.”

Dyna’s gaze moved between them. Then she turned to Rico. “You know, I believe them. I’ve been so caught up in keeping this place going, so intent on holding on to my grief, that I haven’t even noticed how much I was punishing my own mother.”

“I’m okay, Dyna, really,” Wendy said, teary-eyed again. “But … I love Edwin. We can have a life together. A different life. But I won’t leave you with all this mess to clean up. I only insisted you sell Domino because … well … he’s been nothing but trouble and you deserve some fun and peace in your life.”

Edwin nodded. “That’s what we were talking about when you came in. We’re gonna get your through this. No matter what.”

Rico’s phone buzzed. Glancing at the screen, he stood. “It’s Sean. I’ll take it in the hallway.”

Dyna’s heart bumped into a gallop. “We have a strong lead on Domino. But … Sandie’s missing now and we don’t know—”

Rico stomped back into the room. “They’ve found the trailer and we’ve had a positive ID on Domino. They’ve had people tracking it all day to verify and it finally pulled in at a small, secluded ranch near Indian Springs. Sean wants to know if we’re ready to ride. Michael’s on a stake-out in the woods off the cut-off road to the ranch. Says it’s about forty miles northwest of here.”

“I’m ready,” Dyna said. “Your truck or mine?”

“I’ll drive,” Rico replied. “The ranch has a holding yard full of what they believe to be stolen horses. Michael’s watching and he’s alerted the locals in case any action starts.”

Edwin chimed in. “I’m coming, too. I’ll take my truck and follow y’all. I know the Indian Springs area. A lot of small, out-of-the-way ranches there and no one to ask too many questions.”

“I’m not staying behind,” Wendy exclaimed. “Let me get my gun.”

“Good idea,” Dyna said. “We should be prepared.” Then she nodded to Edwin. “But let’s all ride over together to be safe.”

A few moments later, they were heading out, the GPS in Edwin’s big four-seater pickup set on the gas station where they’d found Sandie’s car. It was near the cut-off to the secluded ranch located about ten miles west of Indian Springs.

Michael had warned them not to come any farther until he gave them the word. “Jesse’s already enroute.”

“What a night,” Dyna said. But she smiled, hopeful now. She wanted to find her horse and get on with her life, and now, she wanted her mother to get on with hers, too.