But that wasn’t the sort of thing she was going to tell Ty. He’d use it, as well as anything else she said or did, against her. Hopefully, once she got to the ranch, she wouldn’t have to deal with him again. All she needed was a few minutes alone with Ricky, the chance to plead her case, and it would be enough.
What she wanted to say to Ty, but couldn’t because it would reveal too much, was that she didn’t have the time or energy to hatch a plot on how to bilk an old man for everything he had. She was too busy trying to stay alive.
They finished the rest of the meal in silence, and for that, Rachel was glad. Afterward, Ty led her out to the parking lot. “My truck’s that one,” he said, gesturing. “I assume that’s you.” He pointed to her lonely sedan in the sea of pickup trucks.
She nodded.
“With the bridge out, the route to the ranch is tricky, but I’ll make sure not to lose you. You won’t be able to find it on your own.”
She nodded. “GPS couldn’t even give me an alternate route.”
He grinned. It was the first genuine smile she’d seen from him, and she was surprised by how much she liked it. Once again that strange feeling of attraction came over her. Crazy. Not only did she not need a romantic complication in her life, but she was certainly not going to fall for some controlling, manipulative lawyer, either. Been there, done that, and the only good thing to have come from it was Katie.
“I’ll keep up,” she said, ruffling her daughter’s hair. Thankfully, Katie had been too young to remember the nightmares of the custody battle with Chris. But Rachel would never forget. She just hoped that she could get a kidney in time and live long enough to watch her daughter grow up. She’d always promised herself that if she ever became a parent, her child would never face being put in foster care.
But if she died, what else was there for Katie?
The custody battle with Chris had isolated Rachel from all her friends. People she thought she trusted had turned against her and spewed lies on the witness stand. Since then, she hadn’t been able to trust anyone. The people she worked with were nice enough, but Rachel couldn’t bring herself to form a more meaningful relationship with them than the casual pleasantries one exchanged with coworkers.
As she followed Ty off the main road onto a dirt one, she hoped that yet again, she wasn’t misplacing her trust. Not that she planned on getting involved with Ty, other than following him to the ranch and convincing him that she wasn’t going to take some poor old man to the cleaners.
Maybe, as different as they seemed to be, she and Ty had a lot in common. Neither trusted easily, and it seemed like they both had their reasons.
They turned off the dirt road onto another that seemed even less maintained. It was barely a step above a four-wheel trail, and Rachel had to navigate the ruts and potholes slowly. As she looked at the scenery around her, the flat plain they were on, surrounded by mountains, the nearest houses were but specks in the distance. For all she knew, Ty could be a serial killer, leading her out to the middle of nowhere to murder them and leave their bodies behind.
No one would miss them. Her boss would be concerned when she didn’t show for work on Monday, and she supposed the school would wonder where Katie was. But other than that, she wasn’t sure anyone would care.
A sobering thought, especially since she was fighting so hard to stay alive. Just for Katie, but Katie was important enough to make it worth her time. Worth the effort. But it also meant that unlike a lot of other people needing kidneys, she didn’t have a huge network of friends and family to draw upon for donors. She was wholly reliant on the kindness of some stranger or the unfortunate passing of someone’s beloved.
Before she could reflect on that further, a large ranch house peeked through the trees, and she soon found herself within what seemed like an enormous ranch compound. The photos on the internet didn’t do it justice. From the majestic main building, which had to be the lodge, to another, equally impressive home that was likely Ricky’s personal residence, as well as various buildings scattered around the area, the ranch looked almost like a small town.
And even though Rachel had zero connection to this place other than a positive match from an online DNA test, she had the strange sensation that she was finally coming home.
Ty had already called Ricky on his way to the ranch, so Ricky wasn’t surprised by their arrival. He didn’t know what Rachel’s angle was, but something about her didn’t feel right. While he waited for her to get her daughter situated, he’d snapped a picture of the business card Rachel had given him and sent it to one of his investigator friends.
Ricky said Ty worried too much, but that was what Ty was paid for. Especially with all the crazies coming out of the woodwork. When Ricky’s son, Cinco, had died nearly thirty years before, Cinco’s wife had been pregnant. But because Cinco and his father had been estranged, Luanne hadn’t wanted anything to do with Ricky. She’d disappeared, and
