Page 33 of Bernadette
“Okay,” Chuck said, and as he walked by, he didn’t know why, but it felt right as he leaned in and kissed the top of her head. When she didn’t pull out the gun or knife he’d seen in her brace, and use either of those weapons on him, he nodded and went to settle on the love seat that, in his opinion, had the best view of the TV. The only thing to distract him was when he watched Bernie slowly make her way up the stairs one step at a time. He made a mental note to see what would happen if he offered to carry her up those stairs in the near future. Before he could voice the thought, the game started, and he settled in for the next few hours.
CHAPTER13
Bernie lookedup from the last file she read, and glanced over at the other women and shook her head in, she didn’t know what. She had just completed reading all the files given to her on Monday, and after three days of gathering all the Intel thrown at her, she didn’t know if she was ready to pull her hair out, pull a gun and shoot someone, or scream.
“Holy hell,” she said as she shut the last file, and scowled when the women looked over at her and grinned. “This is a lot of shit to comb through.”
“Just think,” Joyce said as she leaned back in her chair, put her feet up on her desk, and looked around the room as she picked up her coffee cup, and winced when she found the brew inside cold.
“Think about what?” Berine asked.
“That information you just read has all been researched. The files on the desk beside June are the ones we have to comb through yet. You just took the last three days playing catch-up.” She looked around the room, then froze.
“Stop!” she called out, and pointed to Astrid to stop what she was doing. “I know that person, why do I know that person?” Joyce jumped to her feet and walked around the room to look at the man on the screen. She turned to Astrid with a scowl. “Put the same image up on the other screens.” Everyone in the room paused in what they were doing and watched Joyce as she walked around the room, looking at the same image from different angles. She finally swore and turned into the room, but they all whipped their heads toward Carl as he swore a blue streak.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” they heard him mumble beneath his breath, then in a louder voice, he said, “Fuck this shit, no way.” He looked up and saw the women looking at him and he only shrugged. “Sorry, but there’s some disturbing information here.”
“What do you have?” Bernie asked, not ignoring Joyce, but keeping a close eye on her.
Bernie stumbled to her feet, grabbed her cane, and started over toward Carl’s desk. She didn’t get three feet when there was loud pounding on the office door, it was suddenly whipped open, and Lucas rushed in. Not only was he breathing hard, but he was sweaty, dirty, and if Bernie had to put an emotion to his expression, she would say it was fear.
“What’s wrong?” She would deal with the young man first before confronting Rizzo and Miller with their issues. Something told her that whatever Lucas had to say would be way more important.
“Give me a minute,” Lucas said as he held up his hand and leaned down to catch his breath with his hands on his thighs. As they gave him a minute, several other people began to arrive, and Bernie knew something was going on. She waited until everyone settled, then let out a whistle. “Someone, please tell me what’s going on?”
Lucas stood tall, and then seemed to deflate when April, Dolly, Wilson, Dillon, and DJ walked in shortly after the A’s and J’s had arrived. Now she understood why the office had been built so large. It was to hold all the people in it. She looked around and for some reason, breathed easier when she saw Chuck over in the corner.
“What’s wrong?” Bernie asked the younger man. “You look scared.”
“Yeah, I think I am.” He held up his hand when the others began to ask questions. “Let me explain. On the day of the wedding, when DJ was taking Grandma Dottie to the front, she asked to speak to me alone.”
“She who?” Dillon asked.
“Sorry, Morgan.”
“What did she say?”
“She said that she didn’t know exactly where she and Uncle Wyatt were going on their honeymoon, but it was someplace on this ranch.”
“Okay, but why are you scared?” April asked as she stepped up to him and took his hand in hers, to calm him.
“Aunt Morgan said that she and Uncle Wyatt were to return no later than six o’clock on Wednesday night. If they weren’t back in the barnyard by six oh one, then I was to bring the cavalry. I’m assuming that’s all you.”
Bernie was the first to glance at her watch and saw it was quarter to seven. Forty-five minutes after the time Morgan had given. “Why are you here for help later than six oh one?”
“I wanted to make sure they weren’t on their way and not panic. I sent all the guys and my family a text at six thirty. I wanted us to meet here, because you’ll be able to plan, coordinate, and help.”
“Where did they go, Son?” Dillon asked.
Everyone watched as Lucas pulled his wallet and extracted a small piece of paper. He opened it and read aloud,“A line shack in the southwest corner of the first heifer pasture past Johnson’s Creek.”
“Fuck me,” Wilson said and everyone, even Dillon turned to him in shock.
“What is it?”
“Can someone bring up a map of the ranch?” he asked, and everyone turned to Astrid in time to see her fingers fly over the keyboard. When the aerial view came up, Wilson walked over, studied it for several minutes then pointed. “Here, this is the line shack.”
“Shit,” Dillon said as he reached up, and rubbed the back of his neck.
