Page 40 of A Curse On Black Lake
“There’s nothing to be sure about, Killian. I’m doing my part, as I said I would. I think that … this is all part of it though.”
“Part of what? The plan you were talking about?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “Something bigger is going on here.”
Chapter fifteen
Killian
Whatcouldbebiggerthan being framed for murder?“I think it’s the only way to keep the Sheriff from arresting me,” I tell her.
“Makes sense, but we barelyknoweach other. Will he believe me?” she asks.
“I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot. It’s probably the only way I can get ahead of this.”
“Do you think there’s evidence anywhere else? Because I have a sneaking suspicion, the Sheriff will be back,” she says.
Sliding my hands into my pockets to keep from hugging her out of gratitude, I look down at the dirt. “Maybe, but I’m going to have to look around.”
“You mean,we,” she says, enunciating the word.
I cough, clearing the tightness in my throat. “Yeah, we. Thank you,” I tell her.
“No problem,” she says, like she didn’t just save my ass from prison time.
I study her for a moment, and not a glint of judgement reflects in her striking eyes. Everything about her has accepted me asis, and something about that makes me not feel so alone. She’s weird, no question about it, but she’s growing on me.
“What do you want to do with this?” she asks, pointing to the bra.
“Don’t touch it, and put it in your saddlebag.”
“Okay,” she says, leaving the trees with the bra on a stick in front of her.
Frustration builds, and I kick a small rock on the ground. If I were Wyatt and I had the evidence stacking up against my suspect, cousin or not, it would be hard to refute. But I’m not the law anymore, so — what evidence?
Plus, I don’t have enough evidence to support an alternative theory of who did this. And whoever it is, is either incredibly clever, covering their tracks, or they are trying to get me out of the picture.But why?
We get the other group of cattle moved and head to the next. I’m running significantly fewer cattle than we used to when Dad was alive. But I’m only one man, and I’m running more than I should now.
“How many head of cattle do you have on the land?” Eliana asks.
I sigh. “It was four hundred.”
“Now it’s three hundred and ninety-nine,” she says.
I grunt.
“I don’t know how you’ve managed to keep up with all of this on your own.”
“I haven’t. It’s why I took you up on your offer,” I say, trotting next to her.
She smiles and tucks a piece of hair that escaped her baseball hat. “You didn’t hire temporary ranch hands?” she asks.
I stare at her on Chester, with her chaps, as if she belongs there, belongshere. My chest gets tight again, and I try to breathe through it.
“Killian?” Eliana says.
“Hmm? Oh, sometimes or when Wyatt had a chance to help me. The dogs help a lot too,” I tell her.
