Even West, though he practically vibrates from where he stands a dozen yards away.
Don’t you fuck this up on me.
My eyebrows hike. “What West found? Do you know something about it, Tripp?”
Tripp clears his throat unconvincingly. “Well, I might have handled the bottle, see, and my prints are all over it, which makes me look a bit, well, you know.” He attempts a shrug and a weak smile, both of which fail pitifully.
“Really?” I keep smiling but let a frown work its way into my expression, pretending to think back. “When did you need to handle the tranq bottle?”
“Maybe the night of the rodeo?” His grin grows wider, faker.
More desperate.
“The night I was nearly killed.” The words leave my mouth, bitter and harsh. My smile dies.
Lanie hides her face into my chest, her hands knotting in my shirt. Nails dig into my skin, but I’m okay with the extra bit of pain right now. I shake my head, slapping a hand on my thigh. The sharp sound ricochets across the silent yard.
Tripp jumps. “Well, yeah?—”
“I wanted to talk to the police about a deal. You know, thekeep-yourself-out-of-jail type deal. ’Cause, Jed. Hell, I want him to fall for this. I’ve got the pull,” I muse out loud.
And fall silent.
Wait.
Tripp looks around the yard, but no one’s coming to save his scrawny, backstabbing ass.
He twists back to me, his face rippling somewhere between white and red as words fly from his mouth. “Jed asked me to inject the bull, all right? To ruin your ride. I didn’t know how much to use! I’m not a vet. I didn’t know what it would do!”
“Jed asked you to, huh?” I rock back on my heels, inhaling slowly.
Off to my side, West shifts. His restless frame finally stills.
“He told me to, Rand. He’s the problem. That rich rancher really wants your land, put his cattle on it. Maybe get yours, too.” Tripp’s mouth digs him a deep, jail-sized hole.
“And you thought it would be okay to try to kill me?”
Tripp stops talking. I expect him to look around again, but his brain finally appears to have caught up with the conversation.
“No, I didn’t want to kill you, Rand. Make you lose, uh—” He freezes in place.
West doesn’t shift this time as a frigid wind ripples around us. Even the mountains behind the homestead watch Tripp as he finally seems to understand how far he’s just fucked up.
“Fight, flight, or freeze. There’s three responses. Did you know that?” I lean forward, wrapping my arms around Lanie, and smooth her hair with steady hands.
“Fawn,” murmurs Lanie.
I glance down at her and smile.
“And fawn,” I agree, while Tripp looks confused. “You wanted me to lose my entire ranch, put everyone and everything on it under Jed’s influence? D’you think he’d care for this land, Tripp?”
“Jed did! He wanted to ruin your rodeo, you know, make it so you couldn’t hold on to it, and you?—”
“Me, what? I’d be injured? Paralyzed? No wonder Jed wantedme to sign away indemnity.” I snort, tipping my head back to studying the graying sky.Maybe it’ll snow tonight or the next day.Tripp has neatly explained the missing fences and gates as well in his desperate little diatribe. “You got all that?”
“Yep,” West answers me, his tone light as he holds up his phone and pressesstopon the record app.
“Good.” I eye Tripp, wondering if I can get away with punching him.
