“Not that I can think of.” And Sawyer had racked his brain trying to find a possibility there. “But half of being a reporter is a fishing expedition. I get a tip, make a lot of calls, and when nothing pans out, I usually stop working on the story. But who knows? I might’ve spoken to someone about something that seemed like a big story at the time and have completely forgotten about it. Still, the message doesn’t make sense for something like that, unless someone’s trying to yank my chain. And I just don’t see it.”
Jace nodded. “Me neither. It’s either someone pretending to be Angie or it’s Angie.”
Cash let out a long breath. “I don’t think any of us should get our hopes up. The chance that it’s Angie after all this time…well, it’s a long shot.” That was Cash, always the voice of reason.
For once, though, Sawyer felt like this could be something solid, something that might at least end the mystery to what had happened to his sister. “How long do you think it will take this buddy of yours to trace the email?”
Cash popped the cap off his beer. “I’ll ask Ken to make it a priority. But if I know anything about the lab, he’s backed up fifty ways from Sunday. The Northern District has more cybercrime than they can handle.”
Cash didn’t like to call in favors, especially because he’d left the Bureau on a bad note. The FBI’s fault, not Cash’s. “Thanks for doing this—it means a lot,” Sawyer said.
Cash scowled. “I’d do anything for Angie. You of all people should know that, Sawyer. We’re family.”
Sawyer nodded. Cash and Jace were more like brothers than cousins. But they’d been down the Angie bogus-tip road so many times that he wouldn’t blame anyone for giving up. At least this time, Jace didn’t think Sawyer was going off half-cocked. Even Cash, for all his caution, appeared to think there might be something to the email.
“I’ll wait before I say anything about this to my folks,” Sawyer said. His parents, more than anyone, had been devastated by his sister’s disappearance.
“That’s probably a good idea,” Cash said. “It would be good to have something concrete first, something that won’t end in disappointment.”
They sat around the table for a while, absorbed in their own thoughts. The ball game continued to play in the background, but no one seemed interested in watching it.
Sawyer’s mind shifted to his meeting that morning. It still rankled. “I went by Beals Ranch today and Jill all but confirmed that Randy is selling to Mitch,” Sawyer told his cousins.
Jace flicked his bottle cap across the table and sighed. “Jill would know. What did Randy say?”
“I didn’t see Randy. I went over there to inquire about buying Randy’s stock trailer, but he wasn’t home. Just Jill. She said Brett was in town.”
“Yeah, we had a couple of beers earlier. But he never said anything about Mitch buying Beals Ranch.”
“He might not know about it,” Sawyer said. “Jill was vague. She’s probably counting her inheritance.” It wasn’t quite fair. She had moved to the ranch to help her parents to make amends for what she’d done. But Sawyer wasn’t feeling all that forgiving.
“Sounds like we’ll be living next door to the seventh circle of hell.” Jace shook his head and pointed the tip of his beer bottle at Sawyer. “And I’ll fight it with everything I’ve got.”
“We’ll fight it,” Cash said, his second reminder of the day that family sticks. As Grandpa Dalton used to say, “Together, we’re cowboy strong.”
“How is Brett?” Cash asked. “How’s his program going?”
“It’s going so well that he’s planning to move back next month and start work for his uncle’s cabinet company. He says he’s hoping to work things out with Jill.” Jace scowled. There was no love lost between him and Jill. Understandably, Jace blamed her for delivering the final blow to Brett, who was already on shaky ground to begin with. He’d been deeply depressed even before he’d found out that his wife had been stepping out on him.
“That’s great,” Cash said. “Carpentry is a good trade.”
Jace, stoic like their grandfather, gave a faint nod. Sawyer suspected his cousin was still grieving what had happened to Brett in Afghanistan and didn’t want to talk about it. Brett had come back from the war a hero, but a different man than the one Jace had grown up with.
“Yup.” Jace nodded, then sidetracked. “Saw you driving Gina’s BMW earlier. What’s up with that?”
“She took me to pick up my Range Rover, which still needs new brake pads. Buck can’t get the parts until tomorrow.”
“She still peddling that story about being set up?” Jace took a long drag on his beer. “Why don’t you have an expert look at the picture?”
“Already working on it.”
“If you need a second opinion I might have a forensic guy who can help,” Cash offered.
“Thanks.” Sawyer and his cousins didn’t always agree, but they always backed one another up. It had always been that way, even when they were little kids. When Jace’s family had been killed in the auto wreck, they’d spent an entire summer on the ranch, comforting him. When Jace’s wife, Mary Ann, deserted him and their kids, Sawyer and Cash were back at the ranch to support him. When the FBI fired Cash for a case his bosses screwed up, they’d rallied. When Angie went missing, his cousins pooled their law enforcement experience to help find her.
They were Daltons. Cowboy strong.
They moved to the living room, but it was the eighth inning and the Giants were so far behind that the game was too painful to watch.
