rush into the room. Nicci, their pregnant cousin, was right behind her and with her doctor’s instinct, she was the first to race to Lucita.
“My God, Lucita!” Nicci exclaimed. “What happened?”
“Seems she’s had some sort of car accident,” Matt spoke up before Lucita could answer. “Can you do something about her head?”
“Of course! Ridge and I carry a medical bag around in the car—just in case it’s needed. I’ll get him to fetch it.” The petite brunette gently placed her arm around Lucita’s shoulder. “Come on, Luci, let’s get that wound taken care of.”
Juliet started toward the kitchen. “I’ll tell Ridge to get the medical bag.”
Once the three women were out of the room, Ripp watched Matt heave out a heavy sigh before turning a look of concern on him.
“What in hell happened, Ripp? Were any other cars involved?”
“I’m not exactly sure about that.”
Matt raked a hand through his hair and Ripp thought his friend seemed a little overwrought about the whole incident. True, his sister had been slightly injured and her car was smashed, but that was a minor problem to a family with money to spare.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“We’ll talk about that later. Right now you should just be happy that all Lucita received was a bump on the head. She’s lucky to be alive. Before we left the scene of the accident, she admitted to me that she’d been driving very fast.”
His face grim, Matt stared at him. “So she was breaking the speed limit, after sundown, when she knows the deer and hogs are venturing out? What the hell was she thinking?”
Ripp grimaced. He hated being the bearer of bad news, but in this case and every case, he had to be honest even if it meant bringing worry and pain to a friend.
“I’m not sure. Hell, Matt, she left skid marks from here to the horse barn and that’s no exaggeration. I haven’t examined the scene of the accident closely yet, I left Lijah in charge of that. But on first glance it looked as though once she stomped on the brakes, the car went into a spin. The front wound up having a head-on crash with a power pole. Her vehicle is totaled, that’s for sure.”
Shaking his head with disbelief, Matt gestured toward a grouping of leather furniture situated in front of a fireplace—unlit, of course, since they were presently sweating through the last sultry days of August.
“Sit, Ripp. We don’t need to stand up to talk. How about a cup of coffee or a beer?”
Ripp really didn’t have time to sit or enjoy any sort of drink, but Matt seemed particularly upset about his sister’s accident. He didn’t want to make things worse for him by cutting this visit short. “Better make it coffee,” he told his friend. “I’m still on duty.”
While Ripp made himself comfortable in a nearby armchair, Matt left for the kitchen. As he waited for the rancher to return, Ripp slowly eyed the spacious room. He’d been in the house a few times in the past few years and what he always remembered most about the place was that, in spite of the opulence, its rooms were warm, relaxed and homey.
Lucita had told him that she lived in the guesthouse situated about a hundred yards behind this building. He’d never been inside that particular house, but it had always reminded him of one of those Mediterranean villas with its low roof, pale pink stucco and arched supports running along the ground-floor porch. To Ripp it was a minimansion, but it didn’t compare to this house and he wondered why the sister and her son had chosen to live there instead of here with the rest of the family. Maybe those rumors he’d heard about her being an outsider of sorts were true. Or maybe her husband didn’t want to live that closely with his in-laws. That is, if she had a husband. The name on her driver’s license had been Sanchez and nothing more. But there were some women who chose not to take their husbands’ name, especially when they were from a prestigious family, whose name equaled authority.
In any case, he shouldn’t be curious about the woman. She was a ranching heiress, a woman way out of a poor lawman’s league, and more than likely married. So why had something about her caught his attention from the very first moment he’d walked up to her demolished car?
Maybe because she’s a beauty and then some, McCleod. And maybe because when she fell into your arms you felt an overwhelming sense of protectiveness.
Moments later, when Matt reappeared in the living room, Ripp did his best to shake away his strange feelings toward his friend’s sister.
A young woman with a black braid wound atop her head followed him, carrying a tray with an insulated pot and two cups.
“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Ripp,” Matt said as he took a seat on the couch. “Alida was making fresh coffee and I was explaining to Dad about the accident.”
Ripp looked toward the kitchen. “Where is your father?”
Matt jerked his head toward the part of the house where the women had disappeared. “He and Ridge are checking on Luci.”
Alida, the young maid, quietly served each man a mug full of coffee then discreetly left the room. Once she was out of sight, Matt scooted to the edge of the seat and pinned Ripp with an insistent stare.
“All right, Ripp, what’s the real story here? I can see it on your face. Something else was going on with Luci tonight, wasn’t it?”
Ripp’s dark brows slowly inched upward. “What do you mean? Your sister had a wreck. It happens to a lot of people—unfortunately every day of the year.”
“Damn it, man, that’s not what I mean! What did she tell you caused it? My sister isn’t irresponsible. On top of that, she’s a careful driver. She wouldn’t have been speeding just because she wanted to go fast. Luci would be too worried about hurting someone else on the highway to do such a thing. She’s that sort of person.”
Ripp took a sip of the rich, Colombian coffee as he met Matt’s gaze with a frank look. “Your sister said someone was tailgating her—trying to hit her from behind. She said she sped up in an attempt to get away from the other vehicle. After that, a hog ran in front of her and she tried to avoid hitting it. That’s when she lost control of the car.”
As Ripp talked he could see his friend’s expression grow harder and harder. Strange, he thought, that Matt hadn’t responded with disbelief.
“What about the other car?” Matt asked.
Ripp shrugged. “If there was another car it apparently went on down the highway.”
“And didn’t bother to see if anyone had been hurt? Doesn’t that seem a bit strange?”
Actually, Lucita’s Sanchez’s whole rendition of the accident had seemed outlandish to Ripp, but in his line of work he’d seen stranger things happen out on the roads and highways. “Only a little, Matt. Lots of people don’t want to get involved with accidents.”
“Fender benders maybe. But from what you tell me this was a crash! Someone could have been dead!”
Ripp took another sip of coffee as he measured his friend’s strong reaction. He tried to make his next question as casual sounding
