“If you have a few minutes,” he said, back to business, “I want to run something past you.”
Colt filled him in on his thoughts regarding there being more than one suspect. When he was done, Nick hummed.
“Gotta say I’m a bit ashamed that hadn’t crossed my mind.”
“Don’t worry. It only just occurred to me on the way into town.” Colt took a sip of his coffee and then balled up the now empty bakery bag. “I was also hoping we could look deeper into a couple ranch hands.”
Wes could dig into people’s backgrounds, but he could only go so far legally. Colt and his brothers prided themselves on keeping things above board so nobody they tracked down could get off on a technicality. Though, it was hard to stay on the right side of that thin, and often gray, line sometimes.
Nick frowned. “We’ve already questioned everyone out there.”
“Just covering all the bases, Nick,” Colt said. “We’ve had two instances where the suspect moved about without getting themselves on camera. Which means they had to have known where the cameras were.”
“Which means someone on the ranch.” Nick rubbed a hand over his chin. “I don’t much like thinking Mason is out there on that big property working next to someone who is out to harm him.”
“I don’t either,” Colt agreed with a little more vehemence than he’d intended. He and Mason might have their raging waters under a crumbling bridge, but he didn’t want to see Mason hurt in any way . . . or worse.
Colt spent the next couple of hours shoulder to shoulder with Nick as they dug through as much background as he could gather on Brett and John. Something in Colt’s gut just didn’t sit right when it came to John, even though Brett potentially had more to gain.
Nothing suspicious came up on either of the men. John had a DUI more than a decade ago, but other than that, neither had had any run-ins with the law or any kind of financial arrears. Nothing stood out with their immediate or extended families either.
While Colt was relieved there were no red flags, it unfortunately meant that he was no closer to figuring out who was behind the threats. And he still had an uneasy feeling about John. That little niggle in his gut would not let go.
“Sorry we couldn’t find anything useful,” Nick apologized as he shoved their notes and findings into a folder. “I’d like to think that’s a good thing, but it doesn’t move us along any further in this case.”
“No.” Colt leaned back in his chair and rolled his shoulders. “I’m with you there.”
He stood after a few minutes of small talk and shook Nick’s hand. “Thanks, anyway.”
Colt left Nick’s office and headed for the general store. Another reason he’d wanted to take this trip to town alone was to buy a few more surveillance cameras without anyone else knowing. It was only a matter of minutes before he was exiting the store with three new motion-activated game cameras. As he crossed the street, he noticed Jack Wilk’s green SUV parked beside a late-model black Dodge pickup. There was a gold logo on the door of the Dodge that looked like a cattle brand—a circle with aBinside it—and in a western-style font curved below the circle was the name “Circle B Ranch.”
The name ringing a bell, he carded through his mental Rolodex. The Circle B was owned by Gus Bristow, and he ran it with his two sons, Gentry and Grayson. Gus was the rancher who’d made several offers to purchase a large section of Mason’s property.
Jack stood on the sidewalk near the hood of the Dodge, talking to two cowboys. One of the cowboys, who looked to be in his late sixties, had to be Gus, and the other appeared to be in his early thirties. The second cowboy leaned against the truck while Gus did most of the talking. The conversation looked heated, going by the deceptively relaxed pose of the quiet cowboy and Jack’s tense stance.
Colt slowed his movements, taking as much time as he could without calling attention to himself so he could covertly observe the interaction. Unfortunately, he was too far away to hear what was being said. The younger cowboy stood up straight and crossed his arms. Jack shook his head and turned, making a dismissive hand gesture as he walked away.
With nothing more to see, Colt hopped into his truck and grabbed his cell phone. It might be nothing, but both parties were on the potential suspect list. He sent Nick a quick text with his observation and received a prompt thumbs-up emoji in return.
Back at the ranch, he left the cameras behind the seat, not wanting anyone to know about them. He would set them up later that night, after making sure no one was around to see what he was doing. Not that he couldn’t trust his brothers to keep them under wraps, or Mason, but Mason had confidence in people that Colt didn’t. Best he kept them to himself for now.
He exhaled a sigh of relief when he returned to find that Mason was out with Wes doing a herd check on the mustangs. As much as Colt didn’t want to, he and Mason needed to have a conversation. They couldn’t leave things between them unsaid any longer. Not when he needed to focus on the threat to Mason, and not Mason’s threat to his own heart.
“What’s going on with you and Mason?” Wes asked when they exited the dining hall after dinner later that night.
His deep voice was low enough that Mason, walking ahead of them with Thad and John, wouldn’t overhear. The dogs bounced back and forth between them, trying to herd them all together without success. The sun had fallen behind the Medicine Bow Mountain range to the west, and twilight painted the rugged terrain of the ranch in shades of blue and violet.
Colt hadn’t had a chance to clear the air with Mason after he’d returned from town earlier, and Mason hadn’t said more than two words to him, if he acknowledged Colt at all. Not surprising, given the way Colt had walked away from him last night after a mind-blowing blow job, and then again this morning because he couldn’t reconcile his desire and anger.
“What do you mean?” Colt hedged. He knew Wes wouldn’t buy his oblivious act, but he gave it a go anyway.
He didn’t have to look to know Wes was glaring at him. He could feel the heat of Wes’s intense stare on his skin. He sighed. His brother wasn’t born yesterday.
“Things . . . uh, got a little carried away last night,” he said.
Wes was quiet for a few seconds and then stopped. Colt took a couple more strides before he did the same. He waited for Wes without turning around, not wanting to lose sight of Mason.
“Colt,” Wes admonished, and guilt bit at Colt’s insides like a living thing. “Please tell me you didn’t sleep with him.”
