Sage came in a few minutes later, storms on her face.“How can I help?”
“I need a place for us to stay for a few days.”This was one of the few people on the planet she would ask this of without hesitation.Sage justwas.
“Done.I’ll text Gil.He can have the housekeeper get their rooms ready.We’ll watch Wonkus McBubbles movies in the basement tonight.We’ll have a marathon.”Sage took Markie when she reached for her.“You know you can all stay as long as you like.Anytime.”
Auggie just nodded.All she cared about was getting her sisters someplace safe.If that meant staying at Gil’s—well, she’d just do it.
January had woken crying two hours ago.Her little sister didn’t deserve the nightmares.Auggie was going to do what it took to see to it that her sister healed.
No matter what.
“Let’s just get my girls somewhere safe.Then I’ll figure out what happens next.”
Cal knewhe couldn’t do anything to stop those two assholes from pushing for their way.The warrant was legal and signed by a judge.Everyone wanted a piece of Bruce Tyler—the WHP would be no exception.Everyone was just jockeying to see who got him first.He was just aiming for as little upheaval and trauma for the kids as possible.
He suspected the only reason Auggie’s ranch hadn’t been overrun yet was because the Weatherbys didn’t want to make trouble in town.Goodwill would go a long way between the two jurisdictions.
That didn’t mean he liked the two men coordinating the search.Far from it.Auggie had sent the girls to her cousin Gil’s.Em and Junie were going to keep the girls there until they had a resolution toBruce Tyler.
However long that would take.
Cal just stood there at Auggie’s side, during the entire process.He’d already made it clear to Ransom Weatherby that he wasn’t going anywhere.First, he wasn’t going to see Auggie railroaded by the WHP.Nor was he going to see his sister constantlysnarledat.
That just kept happening as the hours went on.Ransom was rarely less than ten feet away from Claudia.And it was at her that most of his comments of any kind were directed.It had taken Cal a moment or two to realize that, but once he had, he wonderedwhy.
It wasn’t just disagreements, or personality conflicts—the man almost exclusively snarled at Claudia.And only Claudia, though he probably wasn’t too well liked with the rest of the WHP.
Sage Tyler was snapping back at him, too.Right there in Auggie’s living room, as he’d tried to question Auggie again.Sage was particularly protective over Claudia and Auggie.Cal appreciated it.But his sister was snarling right back, and Claudia wasn’t backing down.Finally, Rex pulled his brother aside.
Cal took a moment to do the same with his sister.“What’s that guy’s problem with you?”
“I am.AndDad.I am toome,I think.I offend his sensibilities.And he was investigating Dad, Cal.I’m sure that he is, still.He thought I had to be aware of what dad was doing.He just likes to get under my skin—and he won’t leave me alone, lately.He’s always showing up around me lately.”
“Why?What’s he want?”
“He’s been asking a lot of questions about my time with the WHP.Stretching all the way back to when I was in Cheyenne.I can’t get clarification why.All he says is that he’s following leads about a cold case.”She looked over at the Weatherby in question.“But he won’t give me a hint about what one.”
“You think he’s trying to pin something on you?”
“No.That I don’t.I haven’tdoneanything.And, even though I can’t stand him for even one minute, I do think he’s one of the honest ones in the WHP.One of the very few.Him and his brother.”
Claudia didn’t have a lot of positive to say about her time with the WHP.Cal had noticed it before.His sister was happier working for the Masterson County Sheriff’s Department.And it kept her closer to home.So he wasn’t complaining.
He’d offered to let her move back in with him after she’d been reassigned to Masterson from Cheyenne, but she’d been stubborn.At the time he’d had a house on the edge of town.He’d offered to let her move in with him several times since.
“Anything I can do to help?”
“I can handle him.If I show him he’s getting to me, he’s won.”And his sister could be incredibly stubborn.No denying that.“It’s different now.I don’t report to him, or his brother, or anyone else in the WHP.He doesn’t have the same kind of power over me, for one thing.And I don’t think he likes that.”
His sister wandered down the hall, to help Em pack some things for Avril and Tobi.Cal stayed where he was, by the window, and watched the Weatherby in question.
There was something in the man’s eyes, when he watched Claudia, that had Cal’s hackles rising.And when Cal’s sister’s laugh floated down the hall a few moments later, the man’s mouth twitched.Then there was an expression that made itveryclear what the man’s problem with Claudia actually was.
Shit.Now Cal understood.
Weatherby had a thing for Cal’s sister.
And he was fighting it, hard.Probably why he snarled at Claudia, trying to get her away from him.Cal just had to wonder if Claudia had a clue.Or if he should tell her.Or if that was one nuclear explosion he wanted to stay very, very clear of.
