Stone Cold Cowboy(12)

“Your brother Ford contacted the sheriff’s office and reported the missing cattle. We’re looking into it. How did you come to find Sadie?”

“A fucking miracle, really.” The thought that he could have ridden right past her, left her hanging there . . . He couldn’t bear the thought. “My horse shied at one point. I think he smelled the blood on the wind. Who knows? I noticed the disturbed ground and drag marks. Looked like a fight broke out among the assholes who took the cattle.”

“I saw the spot. Judging by that nasty bruise on her face, I’d say one of them went after her for some reason.”

“My guess is she tried to stop them.”

“You don’t think she’s in on this?”

“No.” Rory’s gut said no way in hell. If she was, she’d paid a mighty high price. Still, it didn’t feel right from what little he knew about her. “I tracked four horses from my place to that spot where a fifth horse showed up. I don’t know why she was out there. Not exactly an easy or logical place to ride from her place.”

“Could be this has to do with her brother, Connor. He’s been in a lot of trouble over the years,” the deputy pointed out.

Right. The guy who nearly got her clock reset in an almost bar fight. Would he leave his sister in the middle of nowhere tied up to freeze to death? Rory hoped not for Sadie’s sake, but if he did, Rory wanted to get his hands on him . . . now.

“This isn’t any small thing. If I hadn’t found her when I did . . .” Rory hung his head, then turned and stared at Sadie. Every cut, nick, and bruise sliced a strip right off his heart.

He shouldn’t feel this way. This deep. But he did. Something about her spoke to him since that day in the feed store. Her quiet intensity, contrasted with her soft, sweet smile, and the I’ve-seen-way-too-much-in-my-short-life look in her eyes.

“Mr. Kendrick.” The deputy called him out of his dark thoughts.

“Sorry. It’s been a long day.”

The deputy pointed his pen at Sadie, then him. “So, you two together, or something?”

“No. We’ve never officially met.” He went to the diner where she worked sometimes. He never sat in her section. Just watched her from across the room. He saw her at the feed store sometimes and the gas station where she worked, too. The woman worked her ass off.

“What are you still doing here then?”

“Her father hasn’t shown up to take care of her. I can’t just leave her here,” he snapped.

“My partner went out to her place. Her father isn’t well. He’s unable to come in his condition.”

That surprised Rory. He had no idea her dad was ill. Poor Sadie, two people she had to take care of and not one of them showed up for her. “I take it you didn’t find her brother.”

“Her dad said Connor hasn’t been home in days.”

That raised a red flag for Rory. Connor could definitely be involved then.

“Her father thought Sadie was at work. He didn’t even know five of his horses were missing.”

“So it was Connor.”

The deputy nodded. “Evidence points that way. If there’s nothing else you can tell me, I’ll be on my way. I’ll talk to her tomorrow morning, get her side of things.” The deputy pulled out his handcuffs.

“What the hell are you doing with those?”

The deputy picked up Sadie’s hand and carefully put the cuff on, avoiding hitting her bandaged wrist. Rory stood and leaned forward. The deputy eyed him, a warning to back off. He hooked the other side of the cuffs to the metal bed rail.

“If she is involved, I don’t want her escaping before we can determine who else is a part of this.”

“I’m telling you, she didn’t do it. Take those off her.”

“Mr. Kendrick, you said it yourself. You’ve never met her. I’ve dealt with her brother many times. Sadie isn’t one to do anything wrong, except if you count the ways she covers for Connor. You don’t know what really happened out there. I’ll have a deputy stationed outside until she wakes up and answers our questions.” He stared down at Sadie again. “I want to believe she isn’t in on this. She’s suffered enough, but I need to do this by the book and treat her like the suspect she is until I confirm otherwise.”

Rory fell into his chair, defeated. Nothing he could do about the cuffs, or changing the deputy’s mind. But he didn’t like it, or this feeling that he’d failed to protect her.

“No matter how this turns out, she owes you a huge debt of gratitude. You saved her life.”

She didn’t owe him anything. But if her brother was involved, he sure as hell had to answer for what he’d done.