Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 78227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“No. But he does have his own shooting range here. On the property.”
“Does he practice a lot?”
She chews on her lip again.
“Brittany?”
“Every day,” she says. “He practices every day.”
Damn.
I’ll never know for sure. Not unless we can link the bullet to Doc Sheraton somehow.
This is madness. The small-town vet? Who I always thought was such a stand-up guy?
But then… Would a stand-up guy raise a daughter who’s capable of injecting two girls with veterinary drugs just to please her man?
No.
No, he would not.
All this time, when we found out atropine had veterinary use, we thought Brittany was the person behind it.
Was it Doc all along?
Doc…who’s probably supplying guard dogs to whoever is…
No.
Just no.
He’s a veterinarian. He cares.
Or does he? Shock training animals is common, so Doc isn’t alone there. Still, how could someone who loves animals harm them in such a physical way?
What is the real reason my father denied Doc Sheraton the position on our ranch?
I know one thing about my family—we like to take care of our own. We love Snow Creek, and we do a lot for our small town.
My father wouldn’t have denied Doc Sheraton the job unless he had a good reason.
And here we are. On Doc’s land, pretending to do business with a man who clearly is not a friend.
“Brock?”
“What?”
Brittany crosses her arms. “Nothing. I mean, you just haven’t said anything for a while.”
“I’m processing.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
“What is going on?” I ask her.
“Please.” She gulps. “You have to protect my father.”
“From what? Why would you even say that?”
“He’s a good man, Brock. I swear to you he’s a good man.”
I let out a scoffing laugh. “I’m supposed to take your word for that? The word of a woman who injected drugs into two high school girls?”
“I was a high school girl myself then. You can’t hold me accountable for everything I did back then. Isn’t there anything you did in high school that you’re ashamed of?”
“No.”
It’s a lie, of course. Everyone does stupid shit in high school. But I did draw the line at drugging people.
“What if one of them had an allergic reaction to the drugs?”
“They didn’t.”
“No, they didn’t, thank God. What if they had? Did you do your”—air quote—“research on that possibility?”
“Part of me wishes…” Brittany uncrosses her arms and fidgets with her fingers.
“What?”
“To be honest? Part of me wishes Pat had never come back to town. Everything’s going to hell now.”
“I think, Brittany, that everything has been going to hell for the past ten years.”
CHAPTER NINE
RORY
“I guess I should call Brock,” I say to my brother.
“Sure. Where is he, anyway?”
“I told you. He and his dad went to Wyoming for a few days to check out some of the Steel property there.”
“They own Wyoming too?”
“Jesse, for God’s sake. They don’t own Wyoming. They don’t own Colorado.”
“But they own Snow Creek.”
I open my mouth to refute his words, but I don’t. I’m not even sure if they’re correct. Plus, I can’t tell him what Callie and Donny uncovered.
“That’s just a rumor,” I say. “I’m going to call him and let him know I’m going on the tour with you guys. I also want to find out how long he and his father will be gone.”
“All right.” Jesse rises. “I’m going to head in.”
I nod and give Brock a call. The phone rings several times before he finally answers.
“Hey,” he says, sounding a little out of breath.
“Are you all right?” I ask.
“Yeah, fine. How’s your dad?”
“Everything looks good. What are you up to?”
He pauses a moment. “Just hanging out with Doc Sheraton on his property.”
His voice sounds a little…off.
“Are you sure everything’s okay?”
“Yeah, we’re good. Just in the middle of stuff. Did you need something, sweetheart?”
I warm at his endearment. He sounded so weird, I was afraid he wasn’t happy to hear from me. But the “sweetheart” negates that.
“Yeah, I just wanted to let you know I’ve decided to go on that mini tour with Jesse and the band. It starts this weekend.”
“That’s tomorrow,” he says.
I blink. “You’re right. That is tomorrow. My days have kind of blended into one another.”
“Believe me, I get what you’re saying.” He pauses for a few seconds. “I support you, of course, if you want to go. But are you sure you want to be away from your dad?”
“It’s just a short tour of some venues in Grand Junction and outside Salt Lake City,” I say. “We won’t be that far away. Besides, Jesse has already committed, and the band needs him. And I… Well, I need to focus on something, Brock. Something other than my problems.”
“I hear that one. So how long will you be, then? I thought it was just a weekend gig.”
“So did I. Turns out it’s longer, but less than a week.”
“I’ll be back in a day or two.”
“I know. I’ll miss you.”