“Have some fruit at least.” He nudged a chilled bowl heaped with melon slices and fresh berries in her direction.

Mari picked out a chunk of cantaloupe with a fork and nipped off a corner.

“How are you feeling?” Kevin asked, concern tugging his brows into that worried-puppy look he wore so well.

“I’m fine.”

“We still feel terrible, you know.”

She gave him a wry smile. “I could share my pain-killers with you.”

“Seriously. This place is our home. The idea of someone breaking in and hurting a guest is just appalling. It’s a violation.”

“Have you heard anything from Quinn about catching the guy?”

He shook his head. “Doesn’t look likely. It would be a different story if he had stolen something he could be caught in possession of or trying to pawn or sell.”

“My family would be gratified to hear I’m finally suffering for my lack of material greed.” She snagged a blueberry on a fork tine and popped it in her mouth. “I’d just like to know if he expected to find something. Lucy mentioned a book in her final letter to me. I haven’t been able to find it.”

“What kind of book would be worth attacking someone for?”

She shrugged, not wanting to go into the whole mess with Kevin. Something told her he hadn’t been privy to Lucy’s schemes; he was too inherently sweet. On the other hand, she was willing to bet his partner knew more than he was saying.

“Is Drew around?”

“No,” Kevin said shortly, dropping his gaze as he cracked open his muffin. Steam billowed up from its interior in a fragrant cloud. By contrast, the air temperature around him seemed to drop by ten degrees. His smile was nowhere in sight. “He’s off communing with nature. Fishing or something. I haven’t seen him this morning at all.”

“Oh.” Mari nibbled her lower lip, her attention split between the muffin and Kevin’s sudden change of mood. “Is anything wrong?”

He sighed, staring blankly down at his plate. “No. Nothing. Why did you want to see him?”

“Nothing major. We were just talking about Lucy the other night. I thought maybe we could finish the discussion over coffee.”

“Oh, well, he’ll be back eventually. Five at the latest. The trio starts playing in the lounge at seven.” He brightened hopefully as he looked up at her. “Will you be joining them?”

“Oh, I don’t know-”

“Come on,” he cajoled. “You’re not stage shy. It’d be great to hear you sing again.”

“Maybe. We’ll see.”

She checked her watch and stood, leaning over to pinch a bite of muffin. “Gotta go,” she said, popping the morsel into her mouth. She wiggled her fingers at him and backed away as he laughed.

Most of the morning was spent chauffeuring Will around town. From the hospital they went to Chuck’s Auto Body to procure the services of a tow truck. From Chuck’s they went to Big Sky Insurance to report the bad news. After being told his coverage would probably be canceled because of his driving record, he had Mari drive out to Cheyenne Used Car Corral on the outskirts of town, where he proceeded to try to weasel a loaner out of his good friend Big Ed Twofeathers. Big Ed told him to take a hike.

At the Gas N’ Go Will bought a pair of cheap sunglasses to replace the ones he’d lost in the wreck. They both bought greasy pizza slices and Barq’s root beer and ate lunch at a picnic table with a view of the diesel pumps, then climbed back in the Honda and headed for the ranch.

Depressed and drowsy from the painkillers, Will nodded off on the drive out to the Stars and Bars. Mari stuck Shawn Colvin in the tape deck and let her mind wander with the flow of the music, turning the facts and clues and questions over like playing cards in a mental game of solitaire. Her chain of thought was momentarily disrupted as they passed the site of Will’s wreck.

The truck had gone off the road in the middle of a tricky curve. Luckily, the embankment wasn’t steep, or he would almost certainly have been killed. Mari thought it was a wonder he wasn’t killed as it was. The pickup looked like a toy that had been stomped on by an irate giant. It lay on its side, crumpled and twisted.

Will woke as they rolled in through the gate at the ranch. From behind the dark lenses of his new mirror sunglasses, he did a quick scan for any sign of J.D. The longer he could put off a confrontation, the better. Zip trotted down from the house porch to bark at them. He could see Chaske at the end of the barn, trimming the hooves of a blocky bay gelding. J.D. was nowhere to be seen.

“Thanks for the lift, Mary Lee,” he said, popping open his door. He gave her a pained, weary smile. “You’re a pal.”

“Yeah.” She slid her sunglasses down on her nose and looked at him over the rims. “Remember that the next time you climb behind the wheel with a buzz on.”

He didn’t promise he wouldn’t do it again. He’d made enough promises he couldn’t keep.

As he climbed out of the Honda, the front door of the house swung open and Tucker and J.D. came out onto the porch. Tucker’s eyes bugged out at the sight of him. He had thrown his tattered, bloody shirt in the hospital trash and sweet-talked a nurse into giving him the top half of a set of green surgical scrubs. But even with the sunglasses there was no disguising the fact that he was beat up. A row of neat stitches marched across his forehead. His lower lip was puffed up like a porn queen’s. A bruise darkened his left cheekbone to the color of a rotting peach.

“Boy, you look like you stuck your head in a cotton sack full of wildcats!” the old man declared, hobbling down the porch steps. “Judas!” He turned his head and shot a stream of tobacco juice into the dirt. “Your mama wouldn’t know you from red meat! What the hell happened?”

Will squirmed, feeling like a bug under a microscope. Tucker was up close, scrutinizing his face, but far more piercing was J.D.’s gaze, which came all the way down from the porch. The shit was about to hit the fan. He could feel it the same as a radical shift in air pressure before a storm.

“Finally wrapped that truck around a tree, didn’t you?” J.D. said tightly, slowly descending the steps.

Will forced a sour grin. “Close, but no stogie. Rolled it sideways down a hill.” He spread his arms. “As you can see, I survived, but thanks so much for expressing your concern, brother.”

J.D. shook his head, angry with Will, but angrier with himself for the belated fear that came on his brother’s behalf. After all the bad blood that had passed between them, they still shared the same father. Will was a Rafferty and he had nearly gotten himself killed. J.D. wished he didn’t have to care. It hurt too much to care. Not for the first time, he wished he were an only child.

“Jesus. I ought to finish the job,” he snarled. “Of all the stupid, shit-for-brains-”

“I don’t need a lecture, J.D.”

“No? What do you need, Will? You need some pretty young thing to hold your hand and give you sympathy? You might try your wife.” That galled him almost as bad as caring about Will-caring that Will was with Mary Lee. The jealousy was like a live wire inside him, like a coiled snake, and he resented it mightily.

Mari climbed out of the Honda and leaned on the roof. “Lighten up, J.D. I just gave him a ride home from the hospital.”

“Well, that’s right neighborly of you, Mary Lee,” he drawled sarcastically.

“Jesus Christ, J.D.,” Will snapped. “Leave her out of this. It’s me you’re pissed at.”

“You’re damn right I’m pissed. We’ve got cattle to move up the mountain tomorrow and you’re in no shape to get on a horse. How the hell am I supposed to pay for an extra hand when every nickel you haven’t gambled away is tied up in trying to keep this place? And what about the doctor bills and the towing bill and the repair bill? Did any of those thoughts once cross your pickled mind while you were weaving down the road on a full tank of Jack Daniel’s?”