Page 50 of Killer on the Homestead
“I’m sure the Kirks will.”
She wanted to roll her eyes, but instead she just left the office without so much as a thanks or goodbye.
Halfway through the parking lot on the way to her car, her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket.
Duncan.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. Answered.
“Hey,” he said, his voice sounding rough and tired. She wondered how much sleep he’d gotten. “I’ve got some…alarming news.”
“I’m at the police station, so I just heard. What can I do?”
“Mom and Terry are at the hospital with Owen. I convinced Dad to stay behind, but he’s distraught. It’s a hell of a mess.”
“Yeah, it is.” And she couldn’t break it to him that the detectives were going to lean on the Owen theory now. But there were things they could do. Shewasan investigator, and if Hart was so dead set on keeping her away from the hospital, she’d take another angle. “I’m coming out.”
“You don’t have—”
“I’m coming out so we can do some investigating of our own. Can your dad clear out the bunkhouse for a bit?”
Duncan was quiet for a minute. “I imagine everyone will be getting back to work soon enough.”
“Good. Meet me by the bunkhouse. Make sure it’s empty.” She was going to findsomethingto prove that Owen hadn’t killed his friend.
Chapter Fifteen
Duncan couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so god-awful, but he looked at his father and knew that he’d suffer through a hundred days more of his god-awful if he could take even one weight off his father’s shoulders.
He’d forced Dad to eat some breakfast, drink some coffee, then walked down to the stables with him. He tried to think of something to make small talk about, but every topic Dad cared about felt like a minefield.
Mom was better at this kind of thing, but she was also better at hospitals. At logistics. So waiting for Owen’s prognosis there with Terry made more sense, but that didn’t magically allow Duncan access to the tricks of the trade to keep Dad busy.
They were walking the fence line between the Young Ranch and Kirk property, checking out gate locks, when Duncan’s phone chimed. A text from Mom. He read it then relayed the information to Dad.
“Owen’s stable. He’ll be all right.”
Dad nodded slowly, took a few more steps, then came to a stop. He rested an elbow on the fence post and looked over the ranch that stretched out in front of him.
“I called his grandmother. My cousin.” He looked so damn grave, Duncan didn’t know what to say to that. “You know, I don’t take those kids because their parents want them out of trouble,” Dad said, staring at the horizon. “I think if that’s allit was, your mother would put her foot down. But she knows, I took those kids because their parents don’t care about their trouble, and someone should.”
Duncan stared at his father for a full minute in absolute stunned silence. He’d never considered… He always assumed Dad’s relatives called him up and begged them to fix their kids, and because Dad was a softie, deep down, he couldn’t say no.
It had never occurred to Duncan that Dad took it upon himself to help.
And it should have, he realized here in this quiet moment. Mom handling Hunter’s funeral should have made it clear to him. Thesecousins, or friends of cousins, or whoever Dad had taken in over the years hadn’t needed straightening out so much as a soft place to land.
And Dad had found a way to give that to them. Completely and selflessly, simply because he couldn’t stand the idea that someone wasn’t cared for.
“I called his grandmother,” Dad continued. “My own cousin. We used to spend summers together right here, the lot of us running around while my grandmother and grandfather kept us whole and busy andloved. I called his own damn grandmother, and she… She basically said it was the boy’s own choice. Like he ever had a choice with parents who didn’t care. Grandparents who didn’t care.” Dad shook his head, and Duncan didn’t know that he’d ever seen his father so upset, except maybe at his own mother’s funeral.
“That boy could have died, and not her nor his parents gave half a damn. Despicable, is what it is. Far worse than anything Owen’s gotten himself messed up in.”
Duncan had always known his dad was probably the best man he knew, but he’d never actuallythoughtabout it. Comprehended what that meant.
And now that he had, he had to saysomething. “I hope you both know how much I appreciate you. The both of you. Everything you sacrificed for me over the years. I’ve never thanked you, but I’ve always appreciated it.”
Dad grunted, shifted from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable with the gratitude and naked emotion. Which Duncan supposed was why he’d never vocalized it before.
