“Enough, girl.” There was steel in Rachel’s voice. “It’s time to be strong. Dry your tears. Go home and take care of your dad and brothers. They’re going to need you.”
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Still in shock, Roper stood outside the visitors’ room at the Clark County Jail, waiting for his mother to be processed. He’d been given permission to see her tonight, but he couldn’t get her out without a bail hearing. Lila had generously pledged her half of their prize money to the cause. But for a murder charge, even $350,000 might not be enough. And since Rachel would be extradited to Texas, where the crime had taken place, bail probably wouldn’t be an option here.
At last, he was called in and shown to a booth with a metal chair and a phone. Rachel sat facing him behind a thick glass pane with a matching phone. Her hair was disheveled, and she was clad in a baggy orange jumpsuit.His mother.The sight of her made him want to rail and curse. But her expression was surprisingly calm.
What could he say to her?
She spoke first. “Hello, son. Are you all right?”
“I will be. But it’s you I’m worried about.”
“Don’t be worried. I’m where the good Lord wants me to be. Did Stetson and Cheyenne come with you?”
“They wanted to. But the folks here would only allowone visitor. I sent them back to Texas with the stallion. Cheyenne begged to stay. But never mind that. I’m here to help, and we don’t have much time. Do you have a lawyer yet?”
“I don’t need a lawyer. I killed that monster of my own free will. I’m going to plead guilty and accept God’s punishment.” Her serenity was almost Buddha-like. In spite of what she’d just said, it was hard to believe this woman had killed in cold blood.
“You’re going to need a lawyer, Mother. It’s a complicated system, and you don’t know the law. You’ll probably be sent back to Texas soon. But if a lawyer is offered to you, let them help.”
“We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll be perfectly safe. Go home, take care of your dad and your sister. They’re going to need you.”
“I understand.” Roper despised his own helplessness. “But isn’t there anything I can do for you?”
“One thing. It would be a comfort to have my Bible.”
“I thought of that,” Roper said. “Your Bible is at the front desk. I had to leave it. But the lady said you could have it once it’s been cleared by security.”
“Then that’s good enough for me. Go home now. And trust that things will work out according to God’s plan.”
Their time was up. A guard had come to take Rachel back to her cell. Another guard showed Roper out. As he passed the front desk, he caught the woman’s eye. “You’ll see that she gets that Bible?”
The woman nodded. “I’ll see to it.”
Roper left the jail and crossed the parking lot. It was night, but the bright lights of Las Vegas obscured everything in the sky except the moon. Stetson and Cheyenne had taken the stallion in the new trailer rig, leaving Roper the family car. Before visiting the jail, he’d checked out of the hotel and packed the trunk for the drive back to Texas.He was dog-tired, but there was no way he’d be able to sleep.
Lila would be flying back to Texas tomorrow. After that, the two of them would piece together the changed fabric of their lives and try to create something real and lasting.
Guzzling the energy drink he’d bought earlier, Roper climbed into the car and headed for home.
Cheyenne sat buckled into the passenger seat of the truck. Too wired to doze, she gazed blankly at the headlights sliding past the window. After more than two years on the rodeo circuit, riding shotgun with Stetson was nothing new. He didn’t talk much, just blasted his music on his favorite radio station, hour by hour. Cheyenne could usually tune it out. But tonight she’d lost her earbuds, and the bedlam of wailing guitars and screaming voices was like earned punishment to her overloaded brain.
It was her fault, all of it—Frank’s murder and her mother’s arrest. She’d kept quiet about Frank’s rape for two years. She could have kept the secret safe forever. But no, she’d finally flung it at her mother in an outburst of anger. She’d meant to hurt Rachel, and she had. But she’d had no idea of the biblical fury she’d awakened in that stoic, God-fearing woman.
Roper had sent her a brief text, saying that he’d seen their mother in jail and that she was safe, calm, and resigned to her punishment. Roper would be on the road now, a few hours behind them. Too bad Stetson couldn’t let her out at the next off-ramp and have Roper stop and pick her up. At least she’d be with someone she could talk to.
She found her phone and scrolled to Buck’s text. Every time she read it, the pain deepened. She hadn’t knownhow to respond to him, but now, as she composed a reply, the words began to come.
When I read your message, all I wanted was to drop everything, rush to Ten Sleep, and convince you that your past didn’t matter to me. That’s still what I want. But something has happened, something heartbreaking, that’s going to delay me for a while.
Fingers flying, she told him her story—the quarrel with her mother and the confession of the rape, Frank’s murder, and the shocking discovery that her mother had been the killer.
I don’t know what’s going to happen. I suppose my mother will spend years, if not the rest of her life, in prison. My father is an invalid, and she took care of him. She asked me to take her place in the family. I’ll do my best, but I’m not her, and I don’t know how well I can manage. I’m not ready to give up my life—or you. If that sounds selfish, I can’t help it. Roper will be around, although he’ll be working and probably married soon. But I’m guessing my other brothers will go their own way. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a chance to get a cutting horse and train with it. I only know that the one thing I can’t give up is the hope of being with you—sharing life on your ranch and giving you all my love.
By the time Cheyenne finished the message and sent it, tears were spilling out of her eyes. She had poured out her heart to Buck. Would he respond, or had he already made up his mind to let her go?
A few minutes later, his reply appeared on the screen. Cheyenne hesitated, bracing herself for what she was about to read. Maybe she’d been too bold. Maybe he had really wanted to end their relationship. She opened the message.