Texas Tall (The Tylers of Texas 3)

One look at his grim face told her something wasn’t right.

“What did you see?” Erin was all eagerness.

“Mostly just snakes. Plenty of those. But no treasure. I could see all the way to the bottom, and it wasn’t there. Sorry, Erin.”

“Me too.” Her face fell. Her shoulders slumped. “I was really hoping I could help my dad with the ranch. I’ve heard him and Uncle Beau talking. I know they’re having money troubles.”

“Oh, honey!” Lauren hugged the girl, her eyes misting. Glancing up, she met Sky’s gaze. His jaw was set, his eyes guarded. She knew her man. He was troubled. And something told her it wasn’t just about the ranch.

“You saw something else, didn’t you?” she guessed. “What was it?”

He handed her the flashlight and pulled off his gloves. His gaze flickered toward Erin. He hesitated, as if weighing the wisdom of telling her, then decided to go ahead. “I saw bones,” he said. “They looked like human bones.”

CHAPTER 10

The door to Clay Drummond’s office burst open. Tori strode in like an Amazon in full battle gear. Even dressed in jeans and a baggy sweatshirt, with her reading glasses perched atop her rumpled blond mane, she was spectacular, Clay thought. But he knew she hadn’t barged in here to be admired.

Ignoring his invitation to take a seat, she loomed over his desk. One hand clutched a sheaf of papers, which she shoved in his face. “Take a look!” she said. “I’ve spent the past two days researching precedents for Will’s case. Here’s what I found—five similar cases in Texas alone to support a verdict of self-defense. Read them! This trial is a farce—a waste of time and taxpayer money!”

Clay took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay perfectly calm. “It wasn’t my decision to try this case, Tori. It was the judge’s. Will took an innocent man’s life. My job is to prosecute him to the full extent of the law. That’s what I intend to do.”

Standing, arms akimbo, she braced her fists on her lovely hips. “How long did we work together, Clay? How many times since then have we faced each other in court? I know how you like to win. But, as far as I’m aware, you’ve always done it honestly. This case feels different, almost as if somebody’s got it in for Will. What’s going on here?”

“As I told you, Tori, I’m just doing my job.”

He straightened the papers she’d flung at him. “By the way, there’s been a new development. You’ll get the official word in a couple of days, but as long as you’re here, I may as well give you a heads-up. Abner and I have been reviewing the evidence, both physical and circumstantial. We’re in agreement that, along with the present charges against Will, we should add obstruction of justice.”

Tori went rigid. “Obstruction? Good Lord, Clay, how did the two of you come up with that?”

“Think about it,” Clay said. “First, Will contaminated the crime scene by covering the dead man with a blanket from his truck. Since his DNA, and who knows what else, was already on the blanket, there’d be no way to tell if he’d touched the body.”

“Will wouldn’t have been thinking about that,” Tori said. “His only intention was to keep Erin from seeing the man.”

“Second,” Clay continued, “Will sent a key eyewitness away from the crime scene before the sheriff arrived, giving her time to think about her testimony, maybe even change it, before her interview.”

“Oh, good grief! Why don’t you charge me, too?” Tori snapped. “I was the one who picked her up and drove her home. For heaven’s sake, Clay, Erin’s a child. She was scared and upset. Besides, Will had told her to get on the floor. He didn’t know she’d witnessed anything until I told him the next day.”

“I’m aware that Erin’s a child, Tori. I also know the girl would say anything to help her father.” He rose behind his desk. The feeling that he had this beautiful, powerful woman at his mercy was strangely heady, almost erotic. “One more thing,” he said. “Just so it won’t be a surprise, we’ll be calling your daughter as a witness—for the prosecution.”

* * *

The afternoon sun was sinking toward the caprock by the time Sky returned with Erin and Lauren from their canyon adventure. Tired and hungry, they unsaddled their horses, rubbed them down, and put them away.

He glanced at Erin as they left the barn, wanting to make certain she was all right. She’d been quiet on the ride home—but then, none of them had felt like talking much. The discovery of the bones in the rattlesnake den had sobered them all. The flashlight had been too weak for a clear look. But Sky had known what he was seeing.

Maybe he should have kept quiet about the bones. They appeared to have been there a long time. And there could be no question of retrieving them from that deep, narrow space, especially with the snakes denned up for the winter. Leave the dead to lie—that would be sound advice. But there was something Sky had kept to himself—something that would compel him to go back to the cave with a stronger light for another look.

The sight of those fragile bones had touched him deeply. He wouldn’t rest easy, Sky knew, until he’d learned more about how they’d come to be there. Light and distance may have fooled his eyes, but every instinct told him he’d been right.

He had looked down into that awful darkness and seen the remains of a child.

“Yum! I smell cinnamon rolls!” Erin’s piping voice broke into his thoughts as they neared the house. “Bernice told me this morning she was going to make a big batch. Come on in and have some!”

“That sounds wonderful! I’m famished!” Lauren tugged Sky toward the kitchen, where Bernice had just finished icing a big pan of spicy, fresh-baked cinnamon rolls. Jasper sat at the table, waiting for his share.

Bernice greeted the three of them with a smile. “Something told me you’d come back hungry. You’re just in time. Wash up and have a seat.”

After a quick cleanup, they joined Jasper at the table. Armed with saucers and forks, they dug into the pan of warm, delicious rolls. Bernice poured glasses of cold milk, then sat down to eat with them. “So, did you find the Spanish gold?” she asked.