Chapter Eight

Dallas let Bonita and Ruben head back to the ranch, telling them to take the rest of the day off. He could tell how shaken Ruben was and it broke his heart. He heard the vehicles before seeing them and by the sound of it, there was more than one.

Sure enough, Dante and his bodyguard came around the corner with the trees first, followed closely by Hunter Westmore, Jace, Burke, and Tango. Tango held everyone back as Burke got closer, asking Bruno to fire off a shot. "Scare those fucking vultures off."

Dallas moved to Jace and whispered, "Are we calling the sheriff?"

"Already did. We came out to watch over the body until they arrived." Jace pulled him farther from the others. "Listen, this isn't good. One day, he's asking us about it and then, bam, we find her. It's going to be really suspicious."

"Tell me about it. I only thought about coming this way last night. I figured the search party would start on the other side of the ranch property."

"Good thinking, just bad timing. Not your fault, so don't stress on it."

Jace stopped talking as they both watched Dante coming over to them. Even with the tension of the situation, and all it could imply, Dante's movements were casual, graceful, as usual. He absently buttoned his suit jacket, a fine fawn colored silk. "Dallas, tell me what happened exactly."

"We came to search, like we talked about, and Bonita and Ruben saw the vultures. We followed ‘em, and I don't really think we expected to find this, but…"

"You did. I'm sorry you had to see such a thing." He sounded sincere, and as he dropped his head, he said, "I can't believe this is happening. Blaine is going to…this isn't going to sit well with him. He was so blissfully happy."

Jace agreed and added, "I can't imagine Roland's going to be happy either. He's not like Tango, former military. He's…rather sheltered."

Dante nodded to him. "I can't believe Ruben saw this. He's a special man too, tender-hearted, unless I'm way off. Bonita, well…"

"Bonita wasn't fazed, but Ruben was. The poor guy, man, he puked."

"Where?" Jace asked. "Tango will want to know so the police don't think it's from the killer. If there was a killer."

"There was. There's a knife over there. Bonita spotted that, too."

"We may have to repurpose her for security. Seems she's quite keen on it," Dante said, and Dallas saw that he was still planning instead of giving up. That calmed him some.

Dallas nodded to the trees off to their left and Jace ran to tell Tango. Dante sighed heavily. "They'll truly think we did this. What's funny is that one of our strictest rules is never harm a woman. Prehistoric thinking, most of the other families believe. There are women running other organizations, but it's something we strongly enforce. How do we tell the law that?"

"You don't. They'd just say she was a witness or something."

"You are right, my friend."

Dante was standing in front of him with the silk suit that didn't make any sense in their surroundings, worried. Dallas began to worry too, being that if the Carrillos could no longer build their resort, he had no idea if he would still have a job, Dante's forward-thinking or not.

Plus…there were other things.

Like the one that came barreling in after dusting up a cloud from the skidding stop he made on the trail.

Marius ran over to Dante the second he saw him. "Dante, what the fuck, man? Who did her?"

"We don't know, of course, but I plan to find out. I won't let this stop our project. The construction crews are coming as soon as the trailers are in, and they are coming soon. I won't stop this!"

Dante walked off faster than Dallas thought he could move. The guy usually moved slowly, always with a purpose that made everyone around him know he was as powerful as he was projecting.

"Are you okay?" Marius asked Dallas, grabbing his arms.

"I'm…I'm fine."

Marius's worry was evident as he let go of Dallas and said, "I know how that can fuck with your head, seeing that kind of…thing."

Dallas's chest warmed, and then he said something that surprised even himself. "Ruben isn't okay. If you like him, you might want to check on him when you get back."

Marius stared at him like he'd grown an arm out of his forehead. "I thought you were ready to kill me for talking to him."

Dallas cut his eyes away as he said, "I thought about it, yeah."

"Then why?"

"Because. You or me, it doesn't matter so long as he knows that…that he's got someone to, I don't know, you know?"

Marius licked his lips as Dallas's eyes landed back on him. "You're something."

"I'm an idiot."

They walked together back to the others. Bruno was on the phone, as was Dante, and Jace explained, "They're calling that lawyer. He should be here in a couple hours. Dante got him a helicopter."

"A helicopter? Damn." Dallas said.

"Yeah, and he's needed. The sheriff is cussing up a storm, calling us every ten minutes to yell more and tell us not to fuck with the crime scene. Yeah, this is going to be a pain in the ass. Well, I've never shrunk from being a pain in the ass, but this isn't what I had in mind," Marius said with a wink to Dallas.

Dante ended his call and told the others, "We're not to move, but we're not to touch anything. We've taken a ton of pictures, of course, so they don't add anything to them once the law gets here."

"What would they add?" Dallas asked.

"Oh, you know, our business card suddenly laying on the victim, or, hell, why not go into our bathrooms and get hair from our hairbrushes?"

"They do that?"

"Yes, Dallas, unfortunately, they do. They've done much worse to try to take us down. These people won't chase us out, they won't run us off, and they won't pin this on us."

He'd never seen Dante so upset. He was always so composed. "Dante, whatever I can do."

"When they come, give them your statement then go and speak to the hands, tell them that if anyone speaks to them about all this, they are to direct the questions to the lawyer. I'm sure the sheriff will want to speak to them all, including those who are new. Only with a lawyer present, and we have the best lawyer in the country coming right now," Dante instructed.

"Shouldn't I wait too?"

"No, Dallas. They won't want to wait. All you'll say is what you just told me. That's it, keep it simple and clean. No details, no embellishments. Just tell them you three rode out here and found her. Get back to the ranch before they can and tell Bonita and Ruben, they'll need to do the same, but hopefully, by then, the lawyer will be here. We'll let him set up in the bunkhouse to speak to you all and that is where the sheriff's men will go to do the interviews."

"Unless they want to take them into the station," Burke said as he and Hunter walked over to them.

Jace was speaking to Tango, who was all business.

"If they don't find evidence of it, they can't think any of us had anything to do with this, right?"

Jace looked over and shook his head, and Tango looked murderous. He said, "They can do what they want, but we have a ton of witnesses here. They'll have to make us all look complicit."

Dallas didn't like that. Maybe he was na?ve in thinking the law wouldn't screw them over, but he wasn't that na?ve. He knew it could happen. It wasn't like the sheriff liked them much. "I won't let them railroad us."

"Good man," Dante said as he patted Dallas's arm once.

The sheriff had called the state medical examiner, and she was there for over two hours. After giving his statement, Dallas went back to the ranch quickly, letting Jace take back his horse so he could take Jace's truck.

When he found Ruben, he was sitting on his bunk, pale and drawn. Dallas didn't say a word to him before he sat on the bed with him and put his arm around Ruben's shoulders. "That was a messed-up thing to see."

"It's not that. It's that I…well, it's that a little, but I puked in front of you. Bonita didn't even do that."

Dallas didn't know if it was the right thing to say. He rarely said the right thing, but he had to try. "I didn't think anything about it. It was gross."

"You didn't puke either."

"I wanted to. Ruben, you are sensitive, and there's nothing wrong with that. You knew that lady. You may not have had some relationship with her, but you did know her as a living, breathing person. I like that it affected you."

His head turned so he could stare at Dallas, slack jawed. "You do not."

"I do. I like you, Ruben, and I think that part of you is something that makes you really special."

Ruben barely blinked. "Okay…I am at a loss here. Are you saying that you like me, like me, or just as, whatever?"

Dallas pushed him playfully and took back his arm. "I don't have to hide being gay anymore here. I like that, but it's taking some getting used to. If I'm distant, it's me coming around to being okay with it. That includes liking a guy I've worked with for a while."

The smile that grew on those pretty lips made Ruben's face light. "You have?"

"I thought you knew."

"I thought so, maybe, but you're hard to read."

Bonita came and interrupted, rudely. "It's about time you two talked."

"Bonita, I could strangle you," her brother told her.

"But you won't. Listen, that big black car pulled up, the one usually carrying Carrillo, but he's in the other direction. This one came from the north."

"Must be the lawyer. I'll go take him to the…site of the murder or whatever the fuck." To Ruben, he said, "We'll talk later. Okay?"

"Yeah. There's a lot going on. It's cool."

"Thanks."

As he got outside, the slick and very handsome lawyer came out of the back seat of the car and rushed them back inside the bunkhouse. "Tell me everything," he said to Dallas. "And where are the other two?"

"Here," Dallas told him as Bonita and Ruben came out of the bunk room. Unless he was mistaken, the lawyer's eyes widened the second he saw Bonita. And she stopped in her tracks seeing him.

Dallas couldn't blame her. The guy was gorgeous, creamy skin, long nose that looked regal on him. His hair was as black as hers and his hands moved like he was performing some interpretive dance instead of simply moving while he spoke.

He sat them down at one of the tables and Vic came over to ask them if they wanted something to eat or drink. "Water," he said, smiling. "Thank you."

"I'm Vic, good lookin'. Whatever you need."

Bonita laughed and she, too, flirted. "Yeah, water for me, like good lookin' here."

"Coffee, Vic, and lots of it. We're not sleeping much tonight."

As Vic left to get the water and coffee, the lawyer introduced himself. "I'm Barry Monarco, counsel for the Carrillo family and its businesses. From what I heard, the sheriff already suspected Mr. Carrillo or one of his associates in the disappearance, and now there's a body found on the land."

"Right," Bonita said before Dallas could confirm.

"Yes," he said quickly. "The three of us already gave our statement."

"That's fine, as time was short, and I couldn't get here any faster. You three must tell me word for word all you remember about the statements you gave and what, if anything, you left out."

"There wasn't anything to leave out," Dallas told him. "We went out searching for the lady and Mr. Harrison."

"Right, Mr. Josiah Alexander Harrison, former owner of this property," Barry said as he took out his phone and scrolled through his notes. "He's been missing too, and they don't know for how long. It was after the sale, however."

"Yeah, Dante, I mean Mr. Carrillo, met him at the closing."

"Exactly, and there were witnesses there that all was casual and cordial. I'll need to find them and get their statements before that can change."

"Change?" Bonita asked. "What could change?"

"Pressure from law enforcement, or even going over the details more than once can mix up witnesses. It happens all the time. What was innocent and businesslike can suddenly seem malicious in nature given the right prodding. What else? Did the officers try to steer you in a direction that wasn't following the truth?"

Ruben was shaking his head as Dallas said, "No, no, they just wrote down what we said and went off to investigate or whatever."

"Did you get a copy of your statement?"

"No, they were doing it on tablets."

"Next time, don't speak to them without me, and they will ask you the same questions again, hoping for any deviation from your previous statement. I'll also have those statements sent to me and I'll go over them with you to assure they're accurate."

For some reason, having the lawyer speaking to them made the three relax some. Ruben asked, "If they try to get us to say something that wasn't true, you'd stop them, right?"

"Most assuredly. I need to go to the scene. Can one of you take me?"

Dallas stood and nodded to Barry. "Let's go, but we can't take that fancy car. It would never make it on that trail. You don't mind a truck that isn't exactly clean, do you?" He hollered for Vic to make his coffee to go.

Barry stood and buttoned his black suitcoat. "No. Whatever clothes get ruined are on my expense report."

After retrieving their water and coffee, they left in Jace's truck and made it to the others in no time. Dallas got out and led Barry over to Dante, who was talking to Sheriff Daily, and judging by the deep line between his brows, the conversation was frustrating him.

Barry rushed to him and introduced himself to the sheriff, letting him know Dante's lawyer was there, and that made a deep line appear between the sheriff's brows instead. "Lawyer? You already have a lawyer here? That looks damn suspicious, Mr. Carrillo."

"When a woman is found dead on your property, Sheriff, you can then tell me how cautious you'd be."

Hunter and Jace pulled Dallas behind some trees. Hunter growled, "This asshole is hell-bent on pinning this on Carrillo. I'm not the man's biggest fan, but as far as he goes, he's not the type to pull this shit. He's done more good than harm, far as I know."

Jace agreed, "He wants a quick end to this, and someone to pin it on. I think he's up for reelection this year. Can't have a dead body hanging over his campaign, not when he's got a nice Italian mobster to accuse and railroad."

"Listen, I know that folks don't like Daily all that much, but he's all they got. Vic, she's been around Redbud since she was born. She knows a lot more people, and if she puts a bug in their ear that Daily is trying to accuse someone without any evidence, they'll turn on him. Not trusting the government is the uniting force in these small towns in Montana. That includes the law unless that law leaves their noses out of folks' business. Daily doesn't. He likes knowing everything and likes pointing fingers."

"Good. It's much the same in my town," Hunter said. "Just leave us the fuck alone and we're all good. I think if we can get the town on our side, that we just want a place to be free, and be left alone, and still the town can profit from it, well, they'll tell Daily where to stick it."

Dante found them and confessed, "This guy is reaching. Of all the people that have lived here over the years, he thinks the few that just got here wanted to kill people."

"Your lawyer is a good one," Hunter said. "Where'd you find him?"

"Marius and his cousin, Dex, two of the men that will help run things up here, he's their cousin. They have a lot of them, I guess, and everyone I've met so far are at the top of their respective fields."

Dallas broached, "We can't do much about this, but for the future, we should find someone else to run for sheriff. Sure, he's known and an easy vote, but if someone were to run against him that is as well known, maybe we can get him out of there. That doesn't help us now, but it might help later."

"Brilliant, Dallas. Who do you know that is local and would sympathize with us so we're not unnecessarily targeted?"

The only name that came to mind came from him as quickly. "Vic. Like I said, she's a lifer here."

Dante reached up to squeeze his shoulder. "That's wonderful. I'll speak to her when all this calms down. For now, Barry is the one to go to if anyone asks or interrogates."

Daily tried to question Dallas again, but he shrugged and told him to talk to Barry Monarco. Daily didn't like that a bit. Once the scene was thoroughly gone through, they were told to leave and there would be officers stationed at the site for the next couple of days. Dante gave permission for it, and for the search for Harrison, offering help.

Barry didn't like that he'd done that, but Dante assured he had nothing to hide. "If they find him here too, well, then that is what it is, and we'll deal with it. If we'd forbidden it, he would go to his cousin, or brother, or uncle that is likely the judge for this area and get a warrant anyway."

"Mr. Carrillo, I understand that reasoning and agreeing to an extent, but if you give these people an inch, they will take forty-one thousand acres."

"Let them try. One of their senators has…certain needs that are met in a little place in Mexico that I happen to help run. I have my bases covered always, Barry. You will soon learn that about your new boss."