Chapter 9

9

It was his daughter who mentioned it first. Sierra had shown up to see her mother just as dinner was almost ready. Dale was glad to see the girl, but he was under no illusions. It wasn't him she was there to see. They had had too much acrimony between them during Sierra's rebellious teen years. She had never taken to him telling her what he thought she should do with her life, not even from a young age.

But she had chosen her own path and was successful already. Though he hadn't wanted either of his children to be pulled back into the small, dead-end world that was Masterson County. He wanted more for his daughter than for her to be swept up by some low-level thug rancher who would set her up on an isolated ranch somewhere just for her to pop out babies they could barely afford to feed.

That had been his nightmares when she had been growing up and almost failing out of school. But she had turned things around her in her last two years of high school. And she had excelled in college. Maybe he wasn't too thrilled with her career choice of nursing, but at least she would be having a career instead of being in jail. For a while or two, he had doubted.

She was a beautiful girl who looked very much like her mother. It always made him proud to see her.

"Hello, Dad." She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and he hugged her, then she turned to her mother. "So…have you heard what's going on in town now?"

She had always liked Masterson, his daughter. She'd had friends there that she'd grown up with. He blamed them for some of what she had done all those years ago. And for wanting to stay here in the county when Dale had tried to arrange better positions for her elsewhere.

"I'm sure I have. Refresh my memory," Michelle said. "There has been a lot going on, after all."

"That seriously hot Barratt guy? The one we met at the inn the last time we ate lunch there." Sierra grabbed a stack of plates from her mother. Michelle had instructed the housekeeper to always make a bit extra in case Sierra stopped by. Which she did frequently.

Sierra was a good daughter—to Michelle. Dale was still trying to rebuild their relationship and fix the damage that had happened when she'd been a headstrong teenager. He got along a lot better with their son.

"Of course, I remember. He's one of the Texas Barratts," Michelle said, sending Dale a significant look. They had discussed Brandt Barratt in great detail before.

Something about having him in Masterson County right now didn't sit right. Not with what he and Michelle had decided would have to be done eventually.

"I'm not sure. I just heard rumors in the diner. Charlotte—that's Dixie's cousin who lives down there—is friends with him and his sister. And Dixie was talking to Perci; Brandt, the hottest guy on the planet in case either of you've missed it, someone beat him up on his new place. It was Morris Preston's place. Fallon's dad's."

"Oh, my. Is he…how badly was he hurt?" Michelle said, a hand on her throat now. He would give his wife credit. She was damned good at acting surprised.

"He's in stable, now."

Dale forced his face to show mild surprise. His years on the bench came in handy.

"Did they find the ones responsible?" Dale asked. Every time Finley Creek came up in conversation, he paid attention. Michelle had a second cousin down there who knew just too much about Morris's actions in Wyoming for Dale's peace of mind. It could be problematic.

Especially if that fool did something stupid.

Hence, why Dale had decided Barratt was just too coincidental. Especially now.

"Not yet. They think it has something to do with those drugs being found everywhere. Maybe he found something on Morris Preston's property. Since he wanted it so badly. Rumor has it he wanted it so he could be close to the Talleys. He's in love with Meyra, I think Dixie said once." Sierra just kept talking. Dale forced himself not to overreact. He had tried to buy that damned property.

For damned good reason. There were things buried on that land that he never wanted to see the light of day. But that Barratt had been determined. And had had far more disposable cash to make the purchase.

"That's one of Gerald's, right? Not Arthur's?" Michelle asked. "I have so much trouble telling them all apart. And now they've added four more. It's insane that the witness protection was involved and everything."

Dale snorted. "It was nothing but a big production. If his brother wasn't who he was, Arthur Talley would probably be in jail right next to Morris. I don't buy the whole innocent victim routine one bit."

And if he had his way, he'd ensure it. Dale remembered exactly what had happened twenty-three years ago with that little property project they'd had going on back then that Arthur had just abandoned. Arthur Talley hadn't been completely innocent. A bit of a schmuck but not innocent. Not by any means.

"That's because you are cynical, Dad. You've seen too many people who come from the dark side. Not enough heroes in your world or something."

"Heroes don't exist. Remember that. No man is going to swoop in and save you someday and carry you off to live happily ever after, Sierra Raine. Remember that."

"Oh, I know. Believe me, I know how romance really works now, Dad." A look went over her pretty face that told him something was on his daughter's mind. But he wasn't brave enough to ask. "But if I do have a hero out there, I wonder if he's a Tyler? If not, I know Brandt Barratt has brothers. I saw headlines about one recently. Some lawsuit some girl brought. The Barratts won—his whole family are attorneys or something and they have tons of money."

"What do you know of this Barratt?" Dale asked irritably. Any mention of Morris irritated him and probably always would. And he'd told those three assholes not to get caught or seen. Apparently, they'd failed.

And now Barratt was alive to tell the tale. To cause even more problems than he already had.

"I've met him a few times. Drooled a few dozen. He is beautiful. Seriously hot. Like one of the hottest men I have ever seen. Very tall, too."

"That he is. I did see his sister recently, at Christmas, with a very nice-looking blond man. Just as tall, just as beautiful. Rather like that actor who played Thor in all those movies. I'm the one who showed Brandt Barratt the Preston property. His sister accompanied him. I have read about her recent acquisitions in Texas. Very intelligent young woman; she has a knack for predicting trends in the Texas market. I have seen that myself."

"Oh?" He understood. Michelle's gaze met his. She'd heavily invested in several properties in Hughes Heights, a very wealthy neighborhood in Finley Creek. All of that was unraveling, thanks to the stupidity of her cousin's son. The man had done something he shouldn't have over a woman he had been obsessed with. Multiple people with the Texas State Police out of Finley Creek had been shot that night—including Michelle's cousin's son.

Dale was still trying to unravel the repercussions for him and Michelle if their association became known.

"I have a few…investments…in the Finley Creek area, Dale. I'll show you later, babe. It may be getting to be time to liquidate. They aren't performing as well as I'd wish."

He nodded.

Cutting every time to that city might be the smartest move right now. For both of them.

And those three fools responsible for Brandt Barratt's condition, as well.

Dale had never been one for loose ends.

Loose ends were just messy that way.