Page 33 of Rafe

“I know she had today off, she planned to do some shopping.”

“I’ll let her know as soon as I can.”

“He’s not in Clifton, is he?” Rafe asked, a hint of anxiety threading through his words.

“No, not yet. I’m keeping an eye out, and I talked with Sam, so he knows to watch for him too,” Luke assured him, though his tone was laced with worry. “She’s going to be devastated whenshe finds out.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” Rafe sighed heavily, the weight of the situation settling on his shoulders.

“I know,” Luke said softly.

“Is that why you came here today?” Rafe asked.

“Bryce wanted to bring Leah out to see Fred, and since I had to let him know, we just made a day of it,” Luke replied, shaking his head again. “I know Maggie’s going to be so upset.”

“Yes, she will. Maybe she should stay with Fred for a while,” Rafe suggested thoughtfully.

“Maybe, but that’s entirely up to her,” Luke conceded.

“I can tell you right now, she won’t want to burden him if she thinks Junior will be looking for her,” Rafe said, removing his hat to rake his fingers through his hair before resettling it on his head.

“I’m going to do my best to find out exactly where he is, and then I’ll keep a close eye on his movements. His lawyer must know some judge or something because we had him dead to rights in the theft of Fred’s horses,” Luke said, his voice tinged with frustration.

“Yeah, I know. I was hoping he’d rot there,” Rafe sighed, his voice heavy with disappointment.

“I did too,” Luke agreed.

“As hard as you worked to put him there and it was all for nothing. Damn, that has to piss you off, Luke,” Rafe said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“It does, but I’m more worried about Maggie,” Luke replied, his gaze softening with concern.

“Me too. I swear, if he lays a hand on her, I’ll kill him,” Rafe vowed, his voice low and deadly serious.

“I didn’t hear that, Rafe,” Luke cautioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Good,” Rafe replied, a steely edge to his words.

Luke chuckled softly, a hint of amusement in his eyes. “No,it’s not good. Please don’t do something that will put you where he needs to be. It doesn’t matter if he gets what he deserves, you’ll suffer more.”

“I won’t kill him, unless he makes me, but I’m not going to stand by and let him hurt Maggie or Fred either,” Rafe insisted.

“It took real courage for Maggie to help me, but I think she did it because it was the only way she’d be free of him. I don’t know what she saw in him,” Luke mused, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I never did either,” Rafe admitted, shrugging his shoulders.

“Well, if I hear anything, I’ll get in touch with you. I still have your number, unless you changed it,” Luke said, pulling out his phone.

“No, it’s the same one. Call me if you find out anything, please,” Rafe implored, his voice earnest.

“I will. I’m going to go talk with Fred a while. He’s probably spoiling Leah,” Luke remarked with a grin.

Rafe chuckled. “He probably knows he won’t have any grandchildren of his own.”

“True. Talk soon, Rafe. Have a good day,” Luke said, with a friendly nod.

“Yes, sir. You too.” Rafe watched as Luke left the barn, his footsteps echoing on the floor, then Rafe leaned against the barn wall, wondering how Maggie was going to take this. He knew he didn’t like it any more than Fred or Luke did, but it was going to shock her.

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