Truth and Dare (13 page)

He’d been respectful. He even met her halfway when it came to his father’s case. On the drive out he hadn’t asked her a single question. She knew it was killing him, but the fact that he didn’t push made her admire him even more.

He and his foreman pounded away on the barn doors and she tried to clear her head. This was no time to think about Cade. Something she’d seen in that painting had triggered her brain, telling her to go back to the family homestead. Something was there.

She stood and made her way slowly around the room, scrutinizing every piece of art, furniture and even the floor as she went. Making her way around the desk she focused on the four framed pictures of Cade’s childhood artwork. Something about the crude drawings had dredged up emotions she’d been pushing down for years.

“There’s something here,” she whispered.

Lifting one of the pieces off the wall, she saw exactly what she hoped for—the corner of a safe. She quickly took down the other pictures. It had been there all along. She pulled on the handle but it was locked. Her gut churned. Every instinct she had pointed to that safe.

Racing outside, she found Cade and the foreman talking in the barn.

“Cade?”

“Are you okay?” He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “You’re flush.”

“I ran. I need your help with something.”

She smiled at Deacon.

The man dipped his hat. “I’m headed out to check the cattle, anyway.” He waved them off.

“What’s up?” Cade followed her into the house.

Leading him into his father’s office, she motioned toward the safe.

By the shock in his eyes and the crinkling of his forehead she knew he’d had no idea the safe was there.

“It’s locked. Do you know the combination?”

He shrugged. “I’ve never seen it before.”

“Chances are the combination is something simple.”

“How did you know it was there?”

She stood next to the safe. “My dad always said my artwork and my brother’s were his most precious treasures. That meant a lot to us since he had a huge art collection, which filled our house. I just had a feeling that your dad felt the same way. We should try to open it.” Pursing her lips, she tapped a finger against them. “What was your mother’s birth date?”

Cade rattled off the numbers but they didn’t work.

“Tell me your birthday.”

He sat on the edge of the desk and called out the numbers. This time there was a click.

“It can’t be that easy.” She pulled on the handle and it opened. Inside were a number of folders and a carved wooden box. She handed the box to Cade and set the files on the desk.

Some of the files contained birth certificates, passports and that sort of thing. Then she found other things that made her heart thump loudly. The first was a date book. She thumbed through to the day Joseph had disappeared. Harold’s name was the only item scribbled on that page. Her breath caught. Then she pulled out a number of papers in the back of the book. There were several contracts. As she read them, she began to understand. There were four lease agreements with four different ranchers. The first two names she recognized, Harold and Moses. She bet the sheriff would know the rest if the men were still in Phosphor.

Closing her eyes she took a deep breath. This might be enough, at least for the sheriff to bring Harold in for questioning. It was still circumstantial, but if the sheriff could confiscate Harold’s gun, she could have the lab do the ballistics check. The lease agreements weren’t signed, which meant something had held up the process. If the sheriff didn’t know, her friend Chi at Stonegate, their resident lawyer, might be able to figure it out.

She’d done it. Excitement bubbled to the surface and she almost squealed.

There was a choking sound behind her.

Turning, she saw Cade with a tortured look on his face.

What had been in that box?

Patience’s worried eyes took in his face and she touched his cheek.

He set the box on the desk so she could see it.

“Oh,” she whispered.

Picking up the baby shoes gingerly she glanced up at him. “He loved you so much.” Her voice hoarse with emotion. “These really must have been his most precious treasures. I don’t know anyone who keeps baby shoes in a safe.”

The air in the house was stifling. He had to get out, almost running for the door. Bellowing at the sky seemed appropriate as he kicked through the dirt on the way to the barn. But he wouldn’t embarrass himself that way. Before he even knew what he was doing, he picked up a bale of hay his foreman had brought and stacked it in the area they’d cleaned out. By the twentieth bale, his muscles were screaming and sweat dripped from every pore, but he kept on.

For so long he’d hated a man who had obviously loved him more than anything. Patience was right. No one kept baby stuff in a safe.

Cade sat down on one of the hay bales and put his head in his hands.

Would his father ever forgive him for thinking the worst? Cade had betrayed the man’s memories by turning him into a monster. When in truth, his father had never been anything but kind to him.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I don’t know if you can hear me, Dad, but I’m sorrier than I’ve ever been in my life. I loved you so much. I still do.”

One thing he was certain of, he’d make sure everyone in town knew what a stand-up guy his father had been. Hatred for his dad’s murderer burned brightly inside him.

He would restore his father’s name for both of them. He wasn’t sure how yet, but he would find a way.

Not quite ready to go back into the house, he finished unloading the trailer. He wondered what Patience might think.

The thought of her sweet face as she touched his cheek was enough to cause his chest to tighten again. There’d been such honesty in her voice. Her eyes had held tears for him, and for all the pain he’d been through.

As Cade put the last bale on the pile he’d made, he heard a car pulling up on the gravel.

Grabbing a towel from his truck, he wiped his face and hands on it.

“Sheriff.”

“Cade, good to see you. Looks like you’ve been busy.”

“We’ve got a ways to go before we get there, but I am making progress. What brings you out here?”

The sheriff glanced away for a moment. “I have to talk to Patience about something.”

“How did you know she was here?”

“She called me. Is she in the house?” The sheriff studied him for a moment.

Cade nodded. “What’s going on? Is it about my father’s case? Did you find out who killed him?”

The sheriff strode past him toward the porch. “I’m not at liberty to say. Right now what we have is circumstantial, but I think Patience may have found some real evidence. That’s why I need to talk to her.”

“Then by all means let’s go in and have a chat.” Cade’s tone betrayed his renewed anger.

“It would be best if you stayed out here and let us sort this out. I promise you as soon as we know for certain, either myself or Patience will tell you everything.”

What were these people thinking? “No, Sheriff. The secrets stop here. Who killed my father?”

The walkie-talkie on Beau’s shoulder squawked, “We’ve got him, Sheriff.”

The sheriff replied quickly. “Put him in the jail and do not let anyone else in there.” He gave Cade the once-over. “No visitors, you understand? That includes the mayor and her grandchildren.”

“Yes, sir.”

Instead of going into the house, the sheriff backtracked and opened the door to Cade’s truck. He pulled the keys out of the ignition and stuck them in his pocket.

“Care to explain?” The words were ground out between clenched teeth. Whatever the sheriff and Patience were up to, Cade had had enough.

“We’d better go inside,” Beau said as he climbed onto the porch.

Cade followed him into his father’s office.

“Patience.” The sheriff held out his hand.

She shook it. “Thanks for coming out here, Beau.” She glanced at Cade and frowned.

“Show me what you found,” the sheriff said.

Motioning him to come around to the other side of the desk she gave up her seat to him. “This is the kicker,” she pointed out. “Everything is time-stamped and dated.”

Patience glanced up at Cade, her eyes tight with worry. Whatever she’d found, it was enough to get someone arrested.

Cade stayed in the doorway. His temper wasn’t exactly in check and he had to force himself to think clearly. Why were they keeping the truth from him? They had no right to do it. The victim was his father.

“Well, this gives us motive. It’s certainly enough for me to talk to him officially.” The sheriff gathered up the documents and folded them against his side. “Once I speak to him, maybe we’ll find out if the others were involved. Patience, you can tell him everything after I leave.”

“Okay.” Her voice was shaky and she glanced at Cade nervously.

The stubborn part of him refused to move aside so Beau could get through the door.

“Cade, let me by. I don’t want to have to arrest you for obstructing justice.”

“You’ve got my keys.”

“Yep, and I’ll send them back with one of the deputies in an hour or so. That should give you time enough to calm down.”

“I’m not some idiot who is going to go off all half-cocked. I just want to know who in the hell killed my father.”

Beau patted his shoulder. “Understandable that you’re frustrated, son.”

Cade shifted and allowed Beau to pass.

Cade’s attention shifted to Patience who had gone pale. She was ill.

All his anger dissipated.

He immediately guided her to the sofa, but she pulled out of his arms and ran for the door.

Embarrassed he was there to witness her weakness, she waved him away, but her stomach heaved again.

This time Cade swept her up in his arms and carried her to the truck.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Really.”

“No, you aren’t.” He jumped up and sat next to her on the tailgate, handing her a bottle of water. “Sip this.” He opened her other hand. “And these are peppermint, they’ll help.”

After swallowing some of the water, she popped two of the mints in her mouth. Cade sat beside her and rubbed her back.

She took a deep breath. “Bad case of nerves,” she said uneasily. “Sorry about that. Not one of my best moments.”

“Are you sure it’s just nerves?”

She shrugged. “I might have some kind of bug, but I feel better right now. I’ve been so tied up in knots today and I didn’t like keeping things from you, Cade. I really didn’t.”

He squeezed her closer to him. “I shouldn’t have gotten upset. I know you’re just doing your job, as is the sheriff. But you can tell me the truth now.”

She began by explaining about the gash she found in the tree and her thought that it was made by a rifle. Then she told him the truth about what happened with Harold out by the grave and the records she’d found in his dad’s office.

“There were lease agreements in your dad’s safe. We know that Harold was involved, but we don’t know about the other names on the agreements. A couple of them are the ranchers who have given me a hard time. The water rights around here are a complex web, but from what I can tell, the ranchers wanted to lease land from your dad that had natural-fed wells. He’d drawn up the agreements. What I don’t understand is why Harold was arguing with your father. I’m no legal expert, but everything looked straightforward. Maybe they were arguing over the cost? Hopefully, the sheriff will get Harold to confess. It’ll make everything much easier if he does.”

Cade was completely quiet as he stared off into the horizon.

After sitting for a few minutes more, she slid off the tailgate. Her legs were a little stronger and she had to clean up the office. She’d left the other files out on the desk and the box with Cade’s baby things.

Cade grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight between his legs. “Thank you,” he whispered.

She’d given him closure and no one understood how important that was more than she did. Not trusting herself to speak, she squeezed him tight hoping he could feel how much she cared for him.

While the outcome wasn’t ideal, he knew what had happened to Joseph. More than anything Patience wanted that kind of closure for herself.