glory of the ranch. Flat-bottomed clouds floated across their view. The field rolled into the distance, to be met by mountain range far enough away that it appeared light blue.
“Don’t mind what the kid said in there,” Flaherty said.
Boone cocked a brow in question.
“The ranch hand. He’s twenty. You don’t know jack when you’re that age.”
“That’s true.”
“He thinks just because you got money to throw around that you should. But Black’s not that way.”
Boone eyed him. He’d liked Flaherty immediately, and felt a kinship toward the man born of hard work and similar paths in life. This was exactly what he’d hoped for—the foreman to open up and talk about their mutual boss.
“Smart men don’t waste money,” Boone said to prompt him into expounding on the topic.
“Exactly right. Try tellin’ that to a kid who thinks he’s worth more than he’s paid.”
“It’s easy to knock your boss if you don’t know much about the world yet.” Boone hooked his thumb in the front of his jeans, but found he was wearing the black suit pants of his guard uniform. Though it didn’t feel the same, he slipped his hand into one pocket.
“Lots o’ guys like to knock the boss, and I always caution them that Black can get a dozen more just like them to fill their position.”
“So a lot of people want to work here?”
Flaherty spit on the ground and continued to shoot the breeze with just the sort of information Boone had been waiting to hear. “They think they do. Until they get through the gates and learn what it’s like here.”
He tossed Boone a look as if gauging his reaction to him crossing a line.
Boone gave a nod as if he knew exactly what he meant.
Seeing he was on board with this conversation and not likely to run his gums to the boss, Flaherty continued, “Morale’s been up and down in this place over the years. I’ve seen a lot of men come and go, especially in the past few years.”
“Why do you think that’s the case?” Boone acted nonchalant, gazing at the landscape so he opened up more.
“Reckon it happened after a band of men got it into their heads to attack Mr. Black.”
Boone did look at him then. “Common thieves?”
“Or enemies.”
As Boone had thought—Peter Black had enemies.
“What happened?” he asked.
Flaherty tucked his jutting lower lip inward, protecting the chewing tobacco from falling out as he spoke. “Men got past the gates and invaded the house. A group split off from them and rode off with some thoroughbred horses. We didn’t know that out near the road, some were loading up Black’s cattle to steal them.”
“Damn. What did they take in the house?”
“Not much, from what I hear, because security hopped to it and put a stop to the robbery.”
“How did they get past security in the first place? I thought Black always keeps a lot of guards.”
“The head guy”—he settled his stare on Boone, who held the position currently—“was lyin’ down on the job.”
The foreman wouldn’t have selected that wording if he wasn’t trying to get another point across to Boone.
He nodded in understanding that the former head of security had been in bed with Black’s then-wife at the time of the invasion. Coincidence? Could be—but it also seemed entirely possible that the invasion had been orchestrated to happen when the man had his head turned.
Damn, he had a lot to think on now. Such as whether Black’s ex-wife had been in on the plan too.
On the flip side, Black had plenty of people who wanted to see him go down. Maybe he’d slighted them in the past, or they simply hated the man for rolling in dough. That led him to think of Isadora. Was he guarding her from more than running off with the hired muscle?
Was it possible she wasn’t a captive in his mind, but that he believed he protected her for her own good?
This shift in mindset had Boone pondering a lot more about his role here too. Clearly the woman needed to escape. But what if Black truly did love her and was doing what his twisted mind believed to be the right thing in keeping her safe?
If it were Boone, he’d go to the ends of the earth to protect his woman.
Lauralee’s face floated into his mind’s eye, as she’d looked when she first popped open that ring case and set eyes on the diamonds. Again, when she quietly spoke the wedding vows. And when she was coming apart