Stockman’s Stormcloud (Stockmen #3)

Twenty

Twent y

There were two police cars parked out front of the farmhouse when Sophie drove up to Elsie Creek Station’s homestead that afternoon.

A young woman with ivory skin and black hair jumped down the front steps and waved her down. She was immaculately dressed, like she’d stepped out of some executive office in a southern city, not a run-down farmhouse on a cattle station in the outback.

As Mr Purrington lay across the dashboard of the car, taking in the scenery, Sophie slowed down the work car and cracked open the window, again checking Mr Purrington’s halter was strapped in securely.

‘Sophie, is it? Hi, I’m Harper. I live with Ash in the farmhouse. Oh, look at the cat.’ She held out her hand and shook it like they were in a business meeting.

Of course, the cat shimmied its big furry butt across the dash close enough for Harper to pat him. ‘He’s so soft. I’ve never seen a cat kept in a car like this?’

‘Mr Purrington likes the drive.’ And Sophie was using it as her excuse to leave early and not go on any cross-country hikes. Sadly, she couldn’t find anyone else to do this shift, so she did the next best thing—brought her cat.

‘Is everything all right?’ Sophie nodded at the police cars.

‘Someone has stolen their cattle.’

‘Oh, no? Dex must be going nuts over this. Do they know who?’

‘Not a clue. We’re lucky Ash had the cattle’s ear tags set for a certain boundary. Otherwise, Ash said they might not have known about it for a month or more.’

‘How many are missing?’

‘I’m not sure. They’re working out the numbers now with the police. Would you like to come inside? Or we can go raid the cake in Bree’s kitchen?’

‘Where is Bree?’

Harper shrugged, then narrowed her eyes at the cottage. ‘You know, I haven’t seen Charlie or Bree all day. Which is strange, because those two would normally help.’

Some chairs scraped across the floorboards, as the table meeting ended on the farmhouse verandah. Hands were shaken and two police officers climbed into their vehicles as a helicopter landed nearby.

Sophie was itching to get out her camera, to take photos of the helicopter landing beside the house like a car being parked on the lawn. This world was so foreign to her.

‘That’s Ryder. Have you met Ryder?’ Harper pointed to the pilot in the helicopter.

‘At the hospital.’ It was hard to forget the gruff man who’d paid for these medical visits.

‘How did you go, Ryder?’ A younger man, with similar looks to Dex, came forward. He put his arm around Harper’s shoulders. It must be Dex’s brother Ash. So that meant the man wearing the baseball cap was Cap. And the petite woman standing beside Cap, wearing overalls, must be Mia. While Sophie was the slacker sitting in the car with her cat.

‘No good.’ Ryder scowled like Dex.

Dex nodded at her while dragging his oxygen tanks. His gait was strong, walking normally in those thigh-hugging jeans, and he had colour back in his face, shaded by the brim of his black hat. It was a huge improvement.

‘I couldn’t find anything with the drone,’ said Ash. ‘And the police can only do what they can.’

‘Pfft, wouldn’t hold my breath—’

‘Says the man carrying an oxygen tank.’

‘That I’m done with. Here, take this back, Sophie.’ Dex pushed the oxygen tank towards her.

‘No, I will not.’ She climbed out of the car to stare down her patient. So what if he was the best-looking one out of the brothers, giving her that smirk that made her insides flip in ways that made a good woman want to do bad things. She was here to do her job. ‘I’m here to check you out.’

‘I bet she is, bro.’ Ash chuckled.

A large dog gave a deep bark, as a vehicle cruised down the driveway, and everyone turned to watch. It was that bright yellow Kombi van. Of course, it had to be Bree.

‘About time she showed up,’ said Dex, rocking on his boot heels.

The Kombi van pulled to a stop and Bree jumped out. ‘I didn’t think I was that popular to warrant a welcoming committee.’

‘Where have you been?’ Ryder demanded, fists at his side.

‘Excuse me?’ Bree plonked a hand on a generous hip in a don’t talk to me like that pose.

‘I said, where the hell have you been?’

‘Out.’ Bree brushed some imaginary lint off her shirt, completely unbothered by the scary big brother looming over her.

‘All night and half the day.’

‘What’s it to you, cupcake?’

Ryder growled. It was enough for Sophie to take a step back, with Harper and little Mia doing the same.

‘Our cattle got stolen,’ said Cap.

‘When?’ Bree searched their expressions as if for answers.

‘Last night.’

‘Where?’

‘Back bush block on this track that runs down the western boundary.’

‘Sounds like they used the old stock route.’

‘How do you know?’ Ryder stepped in closer.

‘Duh. I’ve lived here for how long with the caretaker. Where is Charlie?’ She looked to the cottage. ‘Oh, look, Lenny’s here.’ She nodded casually at the battered ute parked out front of the cottage.

Yet there was nothing casual about this conversation, the air was so tense you could cut it with a surgeon’s scalpel.

‘And where is your grandfather, Bree?’ demanded Ryder.

‘Isn’t it obvious? Charlie is with Lenny.’ Bree shrugged, unfazed. It only made Ryder angrier. Was Bree being so blasé on purpose to annoy him?

‘Ryder, I already told you Charlie went fossicking with Lenny in the Stoneys this morning,’ said Dex. ‘It was Lenny who gave me that soil map, before they left in the Razorback.’

‘When the old man gets back, we need to discuss the use of the Razorback. We could have used it to help search for our cattle.’ Ryder kept glaring at Bree. ‘Do we own the Razorback or does Charlie?’

Sophie was dying to know what the Razorback was.

Bree gave one of her annoying know-it-all shrugs. ‘You’ll have to ask Charlie that.’

Ryder wiped a hand roughly over his face, but it did nothing to deter the menacing scowl that was intimidating for Sophie.

‘Again, I’ll ask you, Bree… Where were you last night, between the hours of two and seven this morning?’

‘Brother, don’t do it.’ Cap winced, gripping his trucker’s cap tightly as if to prepare for an explosion.

‘Ryder, stop it.’ Ash hooked his fingers through Harper’s, dragging her behind him, while stepping in front of his partner to shield her.

‘No.’ Ryder stepped in closer, arms at his sides where his hands formed into fists as he glared down at Bree. ‘I’m asking what we’re all thinking, because we know Bree and Charlie are skilled enough to pinch an entire herd from the old owners, and hide them, and we’ve just had—’

‘Say it.’ Bree stepped right up to Ryder, lifting her chin. ‘Go on, I dare you to say it.’

‘Don’t you dare, Ryder,’ warned Dex through gritted teeth.

‘Did you steal our cattle?’

Whack! It was the sound of a stockwhip cracking to echo in the surrounding air, and it came from Bree who had slapped Ryder across his cheek!

Bree glared at him with such anger, her green eyes were practically glowing. ‘I may be a lot of things, but I am not a thief.’ She sneered, full of bitterness, the controlled anger heard in her voice. ‘If you wanted to insult someone—whose family has worked for generations within this cattle industry and on this property—congratulations, arsehole, you just won the Oscar for being a prize tool.’ Bree jumped into her van, slamming the door shut, and swiftly drove towards the cottage.

These people were crazy! Sophie was so close to jumping back into her own car to leave this place for good.

‘That was a dick move,’ Dex said to Ryder. ‘If I was well enough, I’d punch you for that.’

‘No. You can’t.’ Sophie grabbed his arm to protect her patient, but Dex shook it off. His anger and his focus were on Ryder.

‘Bree still didn’t say where she was.’ Ryder pointed to the yellow van that disappeared around the corner of the corrugated fence. ‘What is that woman hiding?’

‘You don’t have to know everything,’ snapped out Dex. ‘To think Bree was sticking up for you last night.’

‘So, you were with her last night?’ Ryder jabbed the air, inches away from Dex’s chest.

Sophie stepped up, the protectiveness over her patient was surprising. Come on, she’d been trained to never interfere with families, and she’d seen plenty of fiery family feuds in the hospital—but this was Dex.

But Dex gently pushed her back, as he stepped up to Ryder, toe to toe. ‘Of course I was. I’m staying on her couch, aren’t I?’

Sophie couldn’t stop her frown. Not that it was any of her business, but it still flared the jealousy she had over Bree and Dex. He might say they weren’t a couple, but he was quick to defend Bree against his bigger brother .

‘Well, why not do all of us a favour then,’ Ryder’s voice was low as he spoke through gritted teeth, ‘and ask Bree where the hell she was last night, so I can tell the cops before she hits them and gets done for assault.’ Ryder wiped at his red cheek—where a clear red handprint was forming.

Ryder pushed past Dex and headed for the farmhouse. ‘Cap, Ash, the vet will be here shortly. We still have those vet checks to conduct. Don’t even think about it, Dex, your nurse is here for a reason.’

‘Don’t tell me what to do. You’re not the boss of me.’ Dex grabbed Ryder’s large arm.

Ryder shrugged off his brother to spin in the dirt and face him. ‘You’re not well enough to suck yard dust into your lungs.’

‘The hell, I’m not.’ Dex threw down the oxygen tank and ripped off the plastic cords. ‘I’ll still kick your arse.’

‘And I’d kill you with one punch and you know it.’ Ryder snarled at Dex, both big men standing face to face, ready to slug it out any second now.

‘STOP.’ Cap got between them, while Ash pulled Dex back. ‘What the hell, man? Normally it’s Dex who comes out swinging, not you, Ryder. We get it, we’re as frustrated as you.’

Ryder brushed fingers through his hair, then adjusted his hat. ‘Do you blame me? In one night, we’ve just lost almost a million dollars’ worth of stock! You bet I want heads to roll.’

‘You didn’t need to take it out on Bree.’ Dex stabbed his finger at Ryder. ‘Bree would never have stolen those cattle. Remember, Bree was out there, on her own, in the middle of the night to defend the herd when those wild dogs attacked. And just a few days ago she was droving another herd to protect them from that swamp puppy.’

Now Sophie was dying to know what a swamp puppy was.

‘Well, find out where the hell she spent last night.’ Ryder turned his back on them and marched towards the farmhouse .

‘Sophie, you can drive.’ Dex headed for the passenger seat.

She picked up his oxygen tank, keen to leave this madhouse, but she was dying to know what happened next. ‘Where are we going?’

‘To the caretaker’s cottage.’