I brushed the hair away from Ashley’s face and let my fingers linger at her temple. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“I spent the night at the ranch last night. Gram’s out of town, and I’m taking care of things while she’s gone.” Her forehead furrowed. “When I got up this morning to leave for work, that’s when I saw it.”
My fingers slid down to cup her chin. “Saw what?”
Priest came over with a warm washcloth. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” I wiped the blood off Ashley’s hands, though a dark pink color still stained her skin. “What did you see?”
A shudder ran through her. Her eyes closed for a long blink, then she took in a deep breath and tilted her head back to meet my gaze. “Someone killed Ellie.”
CHAPTER2
ASHLEY
I couldn’t getthe images out of my head. One second I’d been bending over to pick up my purse. Then I’d grabbed my travel mug of coffee and headed out the front door, afraid I was going to be late to work again. I’d stepped out onto the front porch and immediately dropped my purse and mug.
Thunder squeezed my shoulder, pulling me back to the present. “Who’s Ellie?”
My eyes snapped to his. “Gram’s favorite cow. She was expecting twins.”
“Wait, Ellie’s a cow?” Priest scowled.
“Not just a cow. She’s more like a pet. Or at least she was until…” Bile rose in my throat. I could still picture Ellie on the porch, her huge belly split open.
Thunder squatted in front of me, his big body crowding into mine. “What happened, Ashley?”
I shot a quick glance at Priest. I’d always felt like he didn’t like me, especially after what Rae went through a couple of months ago. Even though she said he didn’t hold a grudge, I still felt like he blamed me for the Savage Bones going after her. Truth was, I blamed myself. I really knew how to pick them when it came to men, and dating Razor had turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life.
“Priest, can you give us a few minutes?” Thunder asked.
“Yeah. Let me know what I can do to help.” He headed back to the conference room. The band around my chest loosened as he walked away.
“Now, tell me exactly what happened.” Thunder’s forehead creased with concern. This wasn’t the first time I’d come to him for help. Ever since things went south with Razor, Thunder had been there for me. He’d been the one to sit with me at the hospital while we waited to make sure Rae was okay. He’d also been checking in on me a few times a week at the café. I’d never been a good judge of character, but my gut told me I could trust him. He might be the only man I’d ever felt that way about. Well, maybe except for Dusty, the ranch hand who’d been working on my family’s ranch since way before I was born.
“I’m pretty sure the Savage Bones are involved. I saw motorcycle tracks on my way to Gram’s the other day. She said she didn’t see or hear anything, but once she takes her hearing aides out, she wouldn’t be able to hear a freight train if it came right through her kitchen.” The thought of those bastards being that close to my grandma made me angry enough to spit nails.
“Was anyone else around last night ?” Thunder asked, his voice low and soft.
“It was just me at the house. Gram asked me to stay at the ranch while she visits her sister in Seattle. Dusty lives on site. His cabin is about a mile farther down the drive.”
“So you were out there all by yourself?” Thunder’s voice took on a bit more grit. “And you trust this ranch hand?”
“Yes. I mean, I’ve never had a reason not to. He was my granddad’s right-hand man and stayed on after he died to manage things. Gram would trust him with her life.”
“I don’t like the idea of you being out there alone. When’s your grandmother coming back?” With his eyes slightly narrowed, Thunder looked mad enough to rip a motorcycle apart with his bare hands.
“She’ll be back at the end of the month, but I wasn’t all alone.” I tried to clear the catch in my throat.
Thunder closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before opening them again. “I don’t want to pry, but I need to know who was with you.”
“Scamp was around. That’s Gram’s dog. I let him out before I went to bed, but he didn’t come back in.” It wasn’t unusual for the dog to stay out all night, but I hadn’t seen him this morning either. “Do you think something happened to him too?”
Thunder rose to his full height and handed me a glass of water that Priest had left on the table. “Here, take a drink of this. I’m going to round up a few of the guys to head over to the ranch and check things out.”
“Don’t leave me here.” I almost dropped the glass as I reached for his arm.
“You sure you want to go back there?” He leveled me with those dark blue eyes that didn’t seem to miss a thing.
