Page 32 of Honoring Freedom
Liberty stood. “I refuse to marry someone under pressure.”
Sam shrugged. “That’s your choice.”
“Liberty…” Honor started, but didn’t finish.
“Are you all going to stand for this?” Liberty looked to each of them in disbelief.
There were moments when the sisters stuck together and there were times when they walked a fine line. Something about this argument seemed personal to Liberty, so Freedom knew the best thing to do would be to let Daddy and Liberty hash it out. Interference might escalate things.
“Honor?” Liberty looked to her twin sister for support. When she didn’t respond, Liberty threw up her hands and stormed out of the room, classic Liberty style.
Sam’s gaze followed her until the door slammed shut. He looked older, tired. A rare sighting of sorrow crossed his features. “I won’t change my mind,” he said quietly. “I’ve given you all ample opportunity to put the ranch first.” When the room fell into an uncomfortable silence, he said quietly, “You’re all excused, except for Freedom.”
As her sisters left, she felt a sinking sensation take up residence in her stomach. Though she had never feared her father, guilt overwhelmed her because she had been doing exactly what he accused them of.
The door closed, now they were alone, and Sam asked, “Keller told me the windshield was busted out of his truck. Someone threw a rock through it.”
She nodded. “We saw it the next morning.”
Sam’s face reddened. “Any idea who would have done it?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Maybe I do.”
“Explain.” The crinkles around his eyes deepened.
She swallowed the acid coming up into her throat. “There was an altercation between Keller and Kent Downs at the rancher’s celebration. Keller was protecting my honor.”
Sam nodded. Obviously, he already knew part of the story. “I had my investigator, Mac, take a look at the situation.”
“The damage to the truck?” Her stomach rolled. How much did her daddy already know about the entire situation?
“I was hoping if it was Downs, or one of his men, I’d finally nail the bastard, but you know how he is. He’s slick.”
“And?” She scooted to the very edge of her chair.
“Mac viewed the security footage from the camera at the cabin. Unfortunately, the bastard knew about the camera and damaged it so the only recording Mac could find was a blurred, dark image of a slender silhouette. Mac did a thorough sweep of the area around the cabin, checking for footprints, clues as to who might have done this.”
“This seems pretty thorough for a broken window.” Her mouth became dry, so she got up and poured herself water at the mini bar. She had a feeling where this was headed.
“He figured out that whoever vandalized the truck had been inside the cabin at some point that night. Mac was able to put together some kind of a timeline. The vandal was probably in the cabin when you and Keller arrived back after the celebration. Mac found tire tracks about a mile down from the cabin, at a pull off. There’s not much traffic in the area so it’s an easy guess that the tracks belonged to the vehicle of the vandal. Do you remember seeing anything?”
Freedom’s stomach plunged into her boots. She’d been angry and hadn’t been paying attention to anything but to her feelings. “No, I didn’t. You don’t think it was Kent?”
“The man’s a snake and would be willing to sell his mother’s soul to the devil himself to line his bank account, but this doesn’t feel like his MO. There would be nothing for him to gain in this scenario. Mac verified that Downs had left Catskills right after the incident at the celebration. And he wouldn’t have a need to steal an article of your clothing. Mac believes whoever was there at the cabin had been there because he was watching you.”
She blinked, wrapping her head around what he said. “Excuse me?”
He stood, rounded the desk, and opened a drawer. He tossed the plastic bag at her and she caught it. “Do those look familiar?”
She held the bag up and cringed. Inside were her red panties.
“I’m guessing you do recognize them?” Sam asked in a tight voice. His ears were red again.
“Yes.”