Ms. Demeanor Read online

  “Hello?” Wyatt called.

  No one answered.

  “Maybe they’re out in the main office. Did you notice if the lights were on or anything?” Rainier asked.

  “It was dark out there.”

  “Weren’t Waylon, Christina and Winnie coming back to the ranch today?” Rainier asked. “Maybe they called and everyone ran to the airport to pick them up.”

  “Everyone? Even Laura?” Wyatt said. “No, something’s not right.” He reached down and put his hand on his Glock.

  Rainier chuckled, trying to make light of the situation even though he was just as nervous about his family’s disappearance. “I don’t think you really need to take things there, do you?”

  Wyatt dropped his hand, but Rainier could see his fingers twitching as if he wanted to reach back up and take hold of his gun once again.

  “Let’s take a look around and see if we can find them. Did you at least text Mom or Gwen?”

  Wyatt got his phone and quickly tapped away, then slipped it back in his pocket. “You’re right. I’m sure this is all nothing and everyone is fine. What can I say? I’m just a little bit jumpy after everything that’s been going on at the ranch lately.” He gave a light laugh.

  “While we wait for them to get back to us, let’s go check around the barn. Or maybe they’re in the pasture or something. I’m sure we’ll run across them.”

  They made their way outside and over to the barn. The door was partly open and Rainier was met with a thin shaft of light. Relief swept through him as his mother’s voice filled the air.

  “We didn’t mean for anything to happen with your brother, your wife or your girlfriend. We never wanted anything bad to happen to you,” Eloise was saying.

  He looked inside the barn, but from where he was standing he couldn’t see anyone. He started to walk inside, but Wyatt held him back and shook his head. His palm was back on his weapon.

  “You’re making a huge mistake,” Laura said, her voice high and tense.

  “You would know all about mistakes, wouldn’t you, Ms. Blade? I can’t believe you would be stupid enough to find your way into that lowlife Rainier’s bed. You could’ve done so much better, and I know your father doesn’t approve.” William Poe’s voice filtered down from the hayloft above.

  “I don’t care what you think about my life. As far as I can tell, you have no room to judge anyone else for their personal life,” Laura said.

  Rainier loved the defiance in her voice. She was so strong. Yet mouthing off to William was probably not the smartest thing she could have done. Then again, he had no right to judge another’s approach to dealing with that man.

  “Yes, I heard all about what your father intends to do. He is a fool if he thinks he can go against me. I always get what I want.”

  “Really?” Merle asked. “If that’s the case, then why are you here? If you thought you really had a chance at having us give up on this ranch and letting it get taken by the state, then you wouldn’t be standing here holding that gun.”

  Gun?

  William had to be desperate. From everything Rainier had heard and everything his mother had told him, the man was conniving and smart, but he always sent other people to do his dirty work for him, whether it be Waylon’s ex-wife, Alli, or someone else. He was always careful to keep himself out of the limelight. Which meant in this case, he didn’t intend on letting anyone walk away to become a potential witness.

  He and Wyatt had to get in there and help their family and Laura. They’d have to move fast. No doubt William was going to kill them and anyone else who stumbled onto the scene.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about, old man,” William yelled. “I’m just tired of screwing around with you people. I’m tired of you all getting people I care about hurt or killed.”

  “We didn’t have anything to do with your wife’s murder or your brother’s incarceration. You did all that, William,” Merle said. “You don’t get to point your finger at us because you had to deal with the consequences of your choices. You need to take accountability for your actions.”

  “I don’t know who you think you are to tell me how I should and shouldn’t act,” William said. “You’re not my father.”

  Rainier looked over at Wyatt and his brother cringed. No one spoke to Merle like that and got away with it.

  “Besides,” William continued, “it’s your fucking fault that my father wasn’t around. You are all nothing but murderers.”

  “We had nothing to do with your father’s death, William,” Merle argued.

  “Then how did he die on this ranch? I’m sure it wasn’t just some coincidence that after you stole the property from underneath us, he went missing, and then twenty-five years later his remains are found here. Knowing this family, he probably came out here and you all shot him.”

  “Why would we shoot him?” Merle asked.

  William snorted in anger. “He probably realized that you guys were never going to let him win at that auction—no matter how high he went. You must’ve known in advance what his max amount was. You probably paid somebody off, and then when it came down to business, your underhandedness got you this place. He probably came out here in search of revenge for what you did. And you managed to pull the trigger first.”

  There was a click and slide, like the sound of a round being jacked into the chamber of a gun.

  “But you won’t get the drop on me,” William continued. “Not like you did with my father. I’m going to get this ranch. And I’m going to get my revenge. My sweet, sweet revenge.”

  There were the sounds of a scuffle.

  “Don’t you dare touch me,” Laura said.

  William gave a mocking laugh. It was too much for Rainier to take. They had to get in there. Rainier motioned for them to move forward. Wyatt nodded and stepped ahead of him, pulling his gun from his holster.

  Damn, he wished he could have a gun. Standing there, watching his brother take the point position, ready to face whatever firestorm they were walking into, Rainier felt ridiculous and ill-prepared. He had no way to protect the people he loved. The only thing going for him and Wyatt was the fact that it didn’t seem as though William knew they had returned. The element of surprise was on their side.

  Wyatt eased into the barn, and taking a low ready position, flagged the main area. A couple horses had their heads over their gates, peering out at them. One, a black mare, greeted them with a soft nicker.

  Rainier lifted his finger to his lips, instinctively motioning for the horse to be quiet. As he realized what he’d done, he felt ridiculous. Laura would’ve loved to see him do that. No doubt she would have laughed at him.

  He glanced up to the hayloft. Laura’s feet were sticking over the side, her high heels hanging off her feet. From the angle of her feet, she must have been lying on her stomach, as if she were a prisoner who had been told to hit the ground in an officer’s attempt to neutralize a possible threat.

  William had his back to Rainier as he stood at the edge of the hayloft. He leaned against one of the support beams. There was a gun in his right hand, but it hung limp at his side.

  At least they weren’t in immediate danger. Yet Rainier had no idea how Wyatt intended for them to get up to there and take down William before he noticed them. From the main floor of the barn they would lose any gunfight.

  They would have to outsmart the man.

  He tapped Wyatt’s shoulder and motioned for his brother to follow him outside. They retreated slowly, easing out of the door.

  “You need to call backup,” he whispered. “There’s no way we can get the drop on him.”

  Wyatt took out his phone and tapped another message. “Done, but it’s gonna take some time for anyone else to get out here. Most everybody’s home with their families because of the holiday.”
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br />   Of course. Rainier hadn’t thought of the fact that the department would be running on a skeleton crew. Though it made sense, as they had seen very few other officers coming and going at the station.

  As he thought about it, it struck him as a bit odd that Mr. Blade had been working. But maybe a man like him never really took a day off. Maybe he had more in common with his daughter than Rainier had originally assumed.

  “In the meantime, we are going to have to figure this out ourselves,” he whispered.

  Before his brother had time to react, Rainier pushed Wyatt out of view from anyone inside the barn, and made his way back inside. The door screeched as metal ground on metal when he opened it wider.

  “Hello? Anyone out here?”

  There was the sound of footsteps on the wood floor above as William turned to face him, but the man kept his gun out of sight. “Rainier, just the man I wanted to see.” There was a large cut along the arch of his cheekbone, right under his eye. It was puffy and his eye was so swollen that Rainier doubted he could see out of it. He chalked it up to advantage number two. Though maybe it was really number one, now that they no longer had the element of surprise.

  “I see you’re not gonna be winning any beauty contests in the near future, William,” Rainier said with a dry laugh. “Then again, even without that shiner, I don’t think you had much going for you in the looks department.”

  William produced the gun and aimed it at him. “Say hello, Laura. It may be the last chance you get to talk to your lover boy.”

  Laura gasped and he heard her as she rolled over and sat up at the edge of the loft. It looked as though her hands were tied behind her back, but besides her arms being immobilized, she appeared unharmed. “Rainier, what are you doing here?”

  He smiled. “Turns out I had an unexpected ally who helped keep me from going back to jail. You know, your father isn’t half-bad.”

  “Did he know you were coming back—”

  “Shut up, woman,” William said, shoving her away from the edge until she was out of view.

  Wyatt wouldn’t be able to take a shot at William. Not from here. Not with everyone out of view and so close to the man. One stray bullet and someone else could be killed. He couldn’t risk their lives.

  “Don’t talk to her like that,” Rainier said, forcing William’s attention back to him and away from the woman he loved.

  “You really are stupid, man,” he retorted, pointing the gun at him.

  “I’m not the stupid one, William. I’m not the one who just took four people hostage with the intention of murdering them.”

  “Are you really going to think you’re better than me? You think you can judge what I’m doing? You are trash. Your opinion is of no matter to me.”

  “William,” Eloise called out, an edge of panic in her voice. “I know what happened to your father.”

  What was his mother doing? William was angry, and who knew what he was capable of. In a split second, he could point the gun and pull the trigger, killing her.

  “What in hell are you talking about?” William spat.

  “You were right,” she continued. “Your father came out here to get his revenge. He was hoping, just like you are now, that if he killed us maybe he would get another chance at buying back your family’s ranch.”

  “So you killed him?” William asked.

  “No, nothing like that.” Eloise’s voice was soft, almost apologetic. “In those days, do you remember your family’s old barn? It was about a hundred feet or so from where we are now. Your father was standing in front of it when I came out and found him. He was smoking a cigarette. You know, everyone smoked back in those days, but even so there was an unwritten rule that no one smoked near a barn. You couldn’t put the animals at risk. I told him to put it out. Instead, he threw it back behind him, straight into a haystack.”

  “My father would never put animals at risk. No matter what you say, he wasn’t a monster. He just had a run of bad luck, then more, when you guys moved into Mystery.”

  “I’m telling you the truth, William,” Eloise said. “Everything caught on fire. It was an inferno in no time. Unfortunately, I was there alone that night. Merle had gone into town to meet up with an old veteran friend of his. Before I could run inside and call the fire department, your father was on me.”

  “Shut your mouth right now, you lying bitch. My father would never have touched you,” William seethed.

  “He put the gun to my head, but I struggled. I don’t know what happened, but somehow in the fight, the gun went off. I swear I didn’t pull the trigger. Your father’s death was just a horrible accident.”

  William leaned against the support beam. He lowered the gun slowly, but it was still pointed in the direction Rainier assumed his mother was sitting.

  “You’re wrong. It doesn’t make any sense. There’s no way...” William said, stunned. “If that’s true, that it was nothing more than an accident, why didn’t you report his death to the police?”

  There was a long pause.

  “You have to understand, William,” Merle said, “it was around that time we were trying to adopt the boys. Adoption is a very tough process. If an agency caught wind of anything like that happening...we would’ve never gotten our sons. We would’ve never gotten the chance to help all those kids in need.”

  “My mother deserved to know. I deserved to know what happened to my father. Do you have any idea how many years I’ve been searching for him?” William asked.

  “We’re so very sorry,” Eloise said. “We couldn’t tell you. We couldn’t risk everything. Our lie has haunted us for so long, and I’m sorry you had to find out like this. But you need to put your gun down. If you do, we can forgive you. No one has to know about this. You forgave Rainier and didn’t press charges, and we will return the favor.”

  “Shut up,” William said, running his free hand over his face. “I can’t hear any more of your garbage.”

  “If it makes you feel better, William,” Eloise said, “I was the one who buried your father. I made sure to say a few kind words and give him a little service out of respect for you and your family.”

  “You mean right after you killed him? If you did anything kind, it was out of guilt and not some selfless act.” William pushed the gun into the waistband of his pants. “Get down there with your son.” He pointed toward Rainier.

  What was the man doing? Was he going to have Eloise climb down from the loft so he could have an easier target?

  His mother slowly made her way down the ladder. Turning, she saw Rainier and threw her arms around his neck. “I’m so glad you’re here. I hope you know how much I love you.”

  From the way she spoke, it sounded as if she was afraid they would be her last words.

  “Get down here, William,” Rainier ordered. “You don’t get to stand up there and pretend like you’re some big shot. If you are going to kill us, do it like a real man. I want to look you in the eyes when you pull that trigger.”

  William’s laughter filled the air and the shrill sound spooked several of the horses. They squealed as they panicked and paced around inside their stalls.

  William climbed down the ladder, watching Rainier carefully as he stepped onto the ground. “Not as much of a chicken shit as I thought you were.” He pulled the gun from his pants and pointed it between Rainier’s eyes. “I’m going to kill Laura last. I want her to watch as your family is wiped off this planet.”

  In a flash of movement, Rainier reached up and took hold of the gun, stepping out of its sights. It went off. The bullet lodged into the ground at their feet. The boom echoed through the cavernous barn as the scent of gunpowder thickened the air. The shot was so loud it made his ears ring. Yet he could still hear the cry of the animals as they panicked.

  He tried to twist the weapon, breaking William’s g
rip. But the man was stronger than he looked, or perhaps just as driven by rage and fury as he was. Rainier elbowed William in the chest and twisted the gun again, this time breaking his hold. Grabbing the weapon, he stepped back and pointed it at William.

  All he had to do was pull the trigger. This would all be over. His family would be safe.

  If he pulled it, his actions would be justified. It would be in self-defense. But he’d made a promise to his brother, and he couldn’t compromise Laura again. He’d already gotten lucky once today in escaping the vise-like grip of prison.

  William smiled nervously. “Just put the gun down. I know you don’t have what it takes to pull that trigger. I was wrong about you before. You may be an ex-con, but you’re not a murderer.”

  For once, the man was right. Rainier had no desire to take a life, not even William’s, when push came to shove. He’d never be able to look at himself in the mirror again, knowing what he’d done.

  He took his mom by the arm and slowly moved back toward the door. Leaning close, he whispered, “Wyatt’s outside. Wait for the police.”

  If he could hold off William for just a little bit longer, he and everyone else in his family could get out of this without having to make a terrible decision—whether or not to take a life.

  He let go of Eloise, and she disappeared into the darkness. Wyatt was nowhere to be seen. Rainier threw the gun away. It thumped down into the grass of the yard, but he couldn’t have said exactly where.

  It was better this way.

  William laughed. As Rainier turned to face him once again, he found the barrel of a revolver pointed directly at him.

  “No man goes to battle with just one weapon.” William cocked the gun.

  A shot rang out through the air.

  William crumpled to the ground. Blood poured from the hole in his head. It spread out in a macabre crimson pool and started to leach into the muck and used hay that littered the floor.