He nodded. “Nope.”
They just stared at each other until he sighed. “You don’t get to plead the fifth. Tell me now or I’m going to make sure the doctor definitely doesn’t release you and runs a whole barrage of tests.”
She groaned. He’d do it too. He wasn’t one to bluff.
&nb
sp; “I’m not sick. I’m fine.”
“Then how come you’ve been throwing up?”
She looked away. “Because of the nightmares.”
He sucked in a breath. Silence filled the room. “Right. That’s going to stop too.”
“Much as I’m sure it pains you, I don’t think you have any say over what my body does.”
He kissed her forehead gently, surprisingly. “I will change that.”
She rubbed her aching head. “I just don’t understand how Spencer did it. How did he get onto your land? He can’t ride a horse anymore. He drives everywhere.”
“He has an alibi, baby girl,” he told her carefully.
Her eyes widened. “An alibi?”
He nodded. “Jake went over there to ask him some questions. He had a meeting with his lawyer in town at the time Beau was shot. Several people saw him there. His alibi is tight.”
“Of course, it is. He would have made sure of that. He probably got Snake to do his dirty work.”
West nodded. “We think Snake is the one who took our cattle.”
She frowned. “What would Spencer want with your cattle?”
“A distraction. Something that would pull some of us away from the house, leaving him an opportunity to get close enough to take shots at whoever remained behind.”
“Why didn’t he shoot Beau again while I was trying to get him into the stables?” she asked.
West shrugged. “Best we can figure, you were standing too close to Beau at that stage, you probably got in his way. You saved Beau’s life, baby girl.”
She was also the one who’d put him in danger in the first place.
“When Raid got to you, he said you were standing over Beau with a rake in your hand. Part of me wants to thank you for taking care of my brother, for protecting him. The other part of me wants to take a paddle to your ass every night for a week for not hiding.”
“I already told you, I couldn’t save myself and leave Beau.”
“One could wish you were more timid and had less courage,” he muttered.
“Beau is really going to be okay?” she asked in a voice that sounded plenty timid to her.
He nodded. “Wouldn’t lie to you about that, baby girl.”
“Get the doctor for me please? I want to see him for myself.”
Several hours later, West drove them back to the ranch. The doctor had released her under strict instructions that she was to rest, eat and drink, and take painkillers when her shoulder became sore. West had taken on every word.
West reached over and grabbed hold of her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Nearly there, baby.”
“About this plan of yours—”