Part 21 (2/2)
Owen bent down for a closer look, then rose and turned on Blackjack. ”Do you know anything about this, Dad?”
”Why the h.e.l.l would I?” her father said angrily.
Summer looked from her father to her brother and asked, ”What is it, Owen?”
”Some sort of explosive device.”
”What is it doing there?”
”At a guess, somebody wanted to make sure this helicopter didn't come down in one piece,” Owen said, staring at their father. ”But it must have malfunctioned. Which makes me wonder if there's any other evidence of foul play that device was supposed to destroy.”
”Why are you looking at Daddy like that?” Summer asked her brother.
”Who else has a reason to want Mom dead?”
”Maybe that device wasn't intended for Mom. She isn't the only one who's been flying this helicopter. Who knows how long it's been there?” Summer argued.
Owen looked speculatively at the device, then at his father. ”Who else has been flying this thing?”
”Randy Tucker,” her father answered. He turned and called for the pilot, who was standing among the cowboys who were waiting for further orders.
”What is it you need?” the pilot said when he reached Blackjack.
”You got any enemies you know of?” Owen asked.
”No, sir,” the pilot said.
Owen pointed out the explosives and said, ”You know anything about that?”
”s.h.i.+t, no!” the pilot said. ”It wasn't there when I checked the helicopter before Mrs. Blackthorne's flight this morning.”
”You have some reason to check the floor around the seats?” Owen asked.
”I wouldn't normally, but this morning I spilled my coffee and had to wipe it up.”
Owen turned to Blackjack and said, ”Seems Mom was the target after all.”
”Are you accusing Daddy?” Summer asked.
”You know anybody else who wanted Mom dead?”
”The device didn't even explode, but the helicopter crashed anyway,” Summer said heatedly. ”Doesn't that prove it was an accident?”
One of the paramedics said, ”I'd say she died before the copter crashed. Heart attack, maybe.”
”There was nothing wrong with my mother's heart,” Owen said.
The paramedic shrugged. ”Then stroke maybe. An autopsy will tell the tale.”
”Daddy didn't want Momma dead,” Summer said. ”He's innocent.”
”But a heap of people heard him say last night that he wanted to be rid of her,” the sheriff said quietly.
Summer stared at the sheriff, then at her father. Everyone might have heard her parents argue last night, but everyone wouldn't know that they'd had the same argument a thousand times over the past ten or fifteen years. That they'd said the same things-and worse-to each other time and again. That didn't mean either really wanted the other dead. Even though theirs hadn't been a love match, her parents had been committed to one another.
At least, until recently they had.
”Stay close to home till we get this straightened out,” the sheriff told her father.
”I'm not going anywhere,” Blackjack replied.
”Come on, Summer,” Billy said as he gripped her elbow. ”It's time to take you home.”
”There must be some explanation for this, Billy,” she said as he led her toward his pickup. ”That device must have been intended for someone else.”
”Take off those rose-colored gla.s.ses, Summer, and take a good look around you. Blackjack has always done what was necessary to get what he wanted. This time he just got caught at it.”
Summer jerked her arm free and turned to confront Billy. ”You're wrong. I know my father. He isn't capable of murder.”
”That's where we differ. I think he's a ruthless sonofab.i.t.c.h, capable of anything.”
Summer's neckhairs bristled. ”Why would he need to kill her? He'd already left her. He'd already given her everything.”
”Exactly,” Billy said. ”Can you see a man like Blackjack, who's spent his life building a place like Bitter Creek-a ranch that's been in his family for generations-just giving it all away?”
”He said he didn't care about the ranch. He said it wasn't important.”
”Yeah. Sure.”
”Besides, Lauren Creed has a ranch where they could live.”
”Three Oaks isn't Bitter Creek,” Billy said. ”Not by a long shot.”
”Blackjack is innocent,” Summer said. ”You'll see.”
They'd arrived at the back door to the Castle. When Billy shut off the engine it ran for another thirty seconds before it quit. ”Need to tune this d.a.m.ned thing,” he muttered.
They sat in silence for another thirty seconds before Summer said, ”Will you come for the funeral?”
”What is your family going to think if I show up?”
”You're my husband, Billy. It would cause gossip if you didn't come.”
”All right,” he said.
”You can meet me at the church, and we can go together from there to the cemetery,” she said. Which would avoid the awkwardness of having Billy show up at the Castle with her whole family there.
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