Atlee’s grip on my hand is now almost painful. “What does that mean?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
Carson looks uncomfortable. “He believes if he can get one of you to break, it’ll be you. He’s planning to use you to get to Devlin.”
“Son of a bitch,” I mutter, rage building in my chest.
“There’s more,” Carson continues. “Noah’s been meeting regularly with Richard Morrison, and not just on official policebusiness. They go way back. Morrison’s been pushing him to make arrests, specifically targeting us.”
“Why?” Jesse demands. “I mean, yeah, we took some of their cattle, but we hit other ranches too. Why are they so focused on us?”
Carson hesitates. “That’s where it gets complicated. I found emails between Noah and Morrison discussing something called ‘Project Watershed.’ I couldn’t access all the details, but it involves buying up land around Grizzly River, including sections that border our properties.”
“Water rights,” Truett says suddenly. “The drought’s been getting worse every year. If they control the watershed…”
“They control who gets water,” Jesse finishes, realization dawning on his face. “And without water…”
“Our ranches are worthless,” I conclude. “So they want us gone.”
“And what better way than to send us to prison for cattle rustling?” Carson adds.
The barn falls silent as the full weight of what we’re facing sinks in. This isn’t just about the cattle we stole. It’s about our land, our future, everything our families have built for generations.
“How much time do we have?” I ask Carson.
He shakes his head. “Hard to say. Noah’s being careful, building his case slowly. But based on his notes, he’s getting ready to move soon. Weeks, maybe days.”
I look down at Atlee, who’s been quiet through most of this. Her face is pale, but her jaw is set in that stubborn way I’ve come to recognize. She’s processing, not panicking.
“Atlee,” I say softly, turning to face her fully. “You need to understand what this means. What I…what we’ve done.”
“I think I’ve figured it out,” she says, her voice steadier than I expected. “You’ve been stealing cattle.”
I nod, not trying to deny it. “We were desperate. After our parents died, we had to take care of each other. There wasn’t the money that there should’ve been. Both sets of our parents had mismanaged money, and we wanted to keep our families together. We had to keep them together.”
“So you started rustling,” she states, not a question.
“Just enough to keep the ranches afloat,” Jesse interjects. “We never got greedy.”
“And we stopped,” I add quickly. “Once we sold land and got some breathing room, we shut it down. We’re going legitimate now.” I stop for a second. “But now I wonder who actually bought that land. Hopefully, they weren’t connected to Morrison, and how does Noah fit into this?”
Atlee looks around at each of us, her expression unreadable. “And Noah knows? He has proof?”
“Seems like it. Proof is circumstantial,” Carson answers. “But he’s building something solid. And with Morrison backing him…”
“It’s my fault,” Truett says suddenly, running a hand through his hair. “I’m the one who suggested hitting the Morrison place. I thought they had so many head that they’d never notice a few missing.”
“We all agreed,” I remind him. “We’re all in this together.”
Atlee pulls her hand from mine, and for a moment, I think this is it, that she’s going to walk away. But instead, she stands up and faces all of us.
“So what’s the plan?” she asks, crossing her arms. “How do we fix this?”
The “we” doesn’t escape my notice, and something shifts in my chest.
“Atlee,” I say, standing to join her. “You don’t have to be involved in this. In fact, you should probably stay as far away as possible. If Noah is targeting you…”
“I’m already involved,” she cuts me off. “He pulled me over specifically to warn me about you. He’s using me, whether I want to be or not.”
“She’s right,” Carson says. “And having her on our side might actually help. Noah won’t expect that.”
