A Man of Means

She smiled back. ‘‘My fault, for wearing a costume like this on the streets,’’ she admitted. ‘‘I won’t do it again. Thanks for the ride.’’

Back at the hospital, Rey Hart sat by his brother’s bedside until dawn, in the private room he’d obtained for him. He was worried. Leo was the hardiest one of the lot, and the most cautious as a rule. He was the prankster, always playing jokes, cheering them up in bad times. Now, he lay still and quiet and Rey realized how much his sibling meant to him.

It infuriated him that that woman had thought nothing of robbing his brother while he was sick and weak and helpless. He wondered what she’d hit him with. She wasn’t a big woman. Odd, that she’d been able to reach as high as Leo’s head with some blunt object. He recalled with distaste the way she’d been dressed. He was no prude, but in his early twenties he’d had a fling with a woman he later found out was a private call girl. He’d been infatuated with her, and thought she loved him. When he learned her profession and that she’d recognized him at once and knew how wealthy he was, it had soured him on women. Like his married brothers had been, and Leo still was, he was wary of females. If he could find a man who could bake biscuits, he told himself, he’d never let even an old woman into the house ever again.

He recalled their latest acquisition with sorrow. He and Leo had found a retired pastry chef who’d moved in with them—the last of the Hart bachelors—to bake their beloved biscuits. She’d become ill and they’d rushed to the drugstore to get her prescriptions, along with candy and chocolates and a bundle of flowers. But her condition had worsened and she’d told them, sadly, that the job was just too much in her frail state of health. She had to quit. It was going to be hard to replace her. There weren’t a lot of people who wanted to live on an isolated ranch and bake biscuits at all hours of the day and night. Even want ads with offers of a princely salary hadn’t attracted anyone just yet. It was depressing; like having Leo lying there under white sheets, so still and quiet in that faded striped hospital gown.

Rey dozed for a few hours in the deep night, used to sleeping in all sorts of odd positions and places. Cattle ranchers could sleep in the saddle when they had to, he thought amusedly, especially when calving was underway or there was a storm or they were cutting out and branding calves and doing inventory of the various herds.

But he came awake quickly when Sanders, the police officer who’d arrested that woman last night, came into the room with a murmured apology.

‘‘I’m just going off shift,’’ Officer Sanders told Rey. ‘‘I thought I’d stop by and tell you that we’ve gone over the scene of the attack and we have some trace evidence. The detectives will start looking for other witnesses this morning. We’ll get the people responsible for the attack on your brother.’’

Rey frowned. ‘‘Get ‘them?’’’ he queried. ‘‘You’ve already got her. You arrested her!’’

Officer Sanders averted his eyes. ‘‘Had to turn her loose,’’ he said uneasily. ‘‘She had an alibi, which was confirmed. She gave me a statement and I took her home.’’

Rey stood up, unfolding his intimidating length, and glared at the officer. ‘‘You let her go,’’ he said coldly. ‘‘Where’s my brother’s cell phone?’’ he added as an afterthought.

The policeman grimaced. ‘‘In her purse, along with his wallet,’’ he said apologetically. ‘‘I forgot to ask her for them when I left. Tell you what, I’ll swing by her house and get them on my way home…’’

‘‘I’ll go with you,’’ he said curtly. ‘‘I still think she’s guilty. She’s probably in cahoots with the guys who attacked Leo. And she could have paid someone to lie and give her an alibi.’’

‘‘She’s not that sort of woman,’’ the policeman began.

Rey cut him off angrily. ‘‘I don’t want to hear another word about her! Let’s go,’’ he said, grabbing his hat, with a last, worried glance at his sleeping brother. He wondered how the policeman could make such a statement about a woman he’d just met, but he didn’t really care. He wanted her in jail.

He drove his rental car, with the off-duty policeman beside him, to Meredith’s home, following the directions Officer Sanders gave him. It was in a run-down neighborhood, and the house was in poor condition. It only intensified Rey’s suspicions about her. She was obviously poor. What better way to get money than to rob somebody?

He went to the door, accompanied by the policeman, and knocked. Hard.

He had to do it three times, each with more force and impatience, before someone answered the door.

Meredith Johns was disheveled and white-faced. She was clutching a bulky washcloth to her face and wearing a robe over the clothes she’d had on the night before.

‘‘What do you want now?’’ she asked huskily, her voice slurred and jerky.

‘‘Been drinking, have you?’’ Rey Hart asked in a blistering tone.

She flinched.

Officer Sanders knew what was going on. He read the situation immediately. He stepped past Rey, grim and silent, grimacing when he saw Meredith’s face. He went by her and into the living room and began looking around.

‘‘Hard night, I gather? It must be a continual risk, in your profession,’’ Rey said insinuatingly, with a speaking glance at her dress in the opening of the old, worn robe. ‘‘Do your marks make a habit of beating you up?’’ he added with cold contempt.

She didn’t answer him. It was hard to talk and her face hurt.

Officer Sanders had gone into the bedroom. He came back two minutes later with a tall, disheveled but oddly dignified-looking man in handcuffs. The man, who’d been quiet before, was now cursing furiously, accusing Meredith of everything from prostitution to murder in a voice that rose until he was yelling. Rey Hart looked at him with obvious surprise. His eyes went to Meredith Johns, who was stiff as a poker and wincing every time the man yelled at her. The policeman picked up the telephone and called for a squad car.

‘‘Please, don’t,’’ Meredith pleaded, still clutching the ice-filled cloth to her face. ‘‘He’s only just got out…’’

‘‘He isn’t staying. This time, he’s going to be in jail for longer than three days,’’ the officer said firmly. ‘‘You get to the hospital and let one of the residents look at you, Miss Johns. How bad is it? Come on, show me,’’ he demanded, moving closer.

Rey stood by, silent and confused, watching as Meredith winced and moved the bulky cloth away from her face. His breath was audible when he saw the swelling and the growing purple and violet discoloration around her eye, cheek and jaw.

‘‘God Almighty,’’ Rey said harshly. ‘‘What did he hit you with?’’

‘‘His fist,’’ the policeman replied coldly. ‘‘And it isn’t the first time. You have to face facts, Miss Johns,’’ he told her. ‘‘He isn’t the man he used to be. When he drinks, he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’ll kill you one night when he’s like this, and he won’t even remember doing it!’’

‘‘I won’t press charges,’’ she said miserably. ‘‘How can I? He’s my father! He’s the only family I have left in the world….’’

The policeman looked at her with compassion. ‘‘You don’t have to press charges,’’ he told her. ‘‘I’ll provide them myself. You’d better phone your boss and tell him you won’t be in for a few weeks. He’ll have kittens if you walk into the office looking like that.’’

‘‘I suppose he would.’’ Tears ran down her pale cheeks, all the more eloquent for being silent. She looked at her raging, cursing father and sadness claimed her features. ‘‘He wasn’t like this before, honest he wasn’t,’’ she told them. ‘‘He was a kind, loving, caring man.’’

‘‘Not anymore,’’ Officer Sanders replied grimly. ‘‘Get to the hospital and have your face seen about, Miss Johns. I’ll take your father outside until the unit comes…’’

‘‘No,’’ she groaned. ‘‘Please, spare us that! I can’t bear to have the whole neighborhood watching, hearing him…like that, again!’’

He hesitated. ‘‘Okay. I’ll watch for them out the window. The unit can drop you by the hospital, since it’s going there first….’’

‘‘I’ll take her,’’ Rey said at once, without wondering why he should do such an about-face. He didn’t trust the woman, or even totally believe her story. But she did look so pitiful. He couldn’t bear to leave her in that condition to get to the hospital. Besides, whatever her motives, she had gotten help for Leo. He could have died if he hadn’t been cared for.

‘‘But…’’ she began.

‘‘If,’’ he added coldly, ‘‘you change clothes first. I am not being seen in public with you in that rig!’’

Two

Meredith wished she felt up to a fight. Her long blond hair was down in her face, her grey eyes were sparking fire. But she was sick to her stomach and bruised. She would rather have gone to bed if these stubborn men would just have let her alone. But her face could have broken or shattered bones. She knew that. She grimaced, hoping her insurance would cover a second ‘‘accident’’ in as many months.

When the unit arrived, Meredith turned away from the sight of her raging father being carried off and closed the door. Probably it wasn’t surprising to the neighbors anymore, it happened so often. But she hated having everyone know.

‘‘I’ll get dressed,’’ she said in a subdued tone.

Rey watched her go and then shoved his hands into his pockets and looked around the room. It was shabby. The only bright things in it were books—hundreds of them, in bookcases and boxes and stacked on tables and chairs. Odd, he thought. They were apparently short of cash, judging by the worn old furniture and bare floor. There was only a very small television and a portable stereo. He glanced at the CD case and was surprised to find classical music dominating the discs. What a peculiar family. Why have so many books and so little else? He wondered where the woman’s mother was. Had she left the father, and was that why he drank? It would have explained a lot. He knew about missing parents, especially missing mothers—his had left the family while the five Hart boys were young, without a backward glance.

Minutes later, Meredith came back, and except for the bruised face, he might not have recognized her. She was wearing a beige sweater set, with a tweed coat over it. Her blond hair was in a neat bun and her face devoid of makeup. She wore flat-heeled shoes and carried a purse that looked new.

‘‘Here’s your brother’s cell phone and his wallet,’’ she said, handing it to him. ‘‘I forgot to give them to Officer Sanders.’’

He glared at them and put them in his pocket. He wondered if she’d have given them back at all if he hadn’t come here. He didn’t trust her, regardless of what the policeman had said. ‘‘Let’s go,’’ he said stiffly. ‘‘The car’s outside.’’

She hesitated, but only for a minute. She wasn’t going to be able to avoid a checkup. She knew the problems that negligence could cause. Even a relatively minor problem could become major.

Unexpectedly Rey opened the car door for her. She slid in, surprised to find herself in a new luxury car. She fastened her seat belt. His brother, Simon Hart, was state attorney general. Rey owned a ranch. She remembered how his injured brother, Leo, had been dressed last night, and her eyes went to Rey’s expensive hat and boots and silk shirt. Of course, they were a wealthy family. Considering her state of dress—or undress—the night before, she could understand his misgivings about her character.

She sat wearily beside him, the ice-filled cloth still in her hand. She held it to the side of her face that was bruised and hoped that it would spare her some of the swelling. She didn’t need a doctor to tell her that it was a bad blow. The pain was almost unbearable.

‘‘I took a hit to the face a few years ago in a brawl,’’ he volunteered in his deep, slow drawl. ‘‘It hurt like hell. I imagine your face does, too.’’

She swallowed, touched by the faint concern. Tears threatened, but she never cried now. It was a weakness she couldn’t afford.

He glanced at her, puzzled. ‘‘Nothing to say?’’

She managed to get her voice under control. ‘‘Thank you for taking me to the hospital,’’ she said huskily.

‘‘Do you usually dress like that when you go out at night?’’ he asked belatedly.

‘‘I told you. There was…a Halloween party,’’ she said. It hurt to talk. ‘‘It was the only costume I had.’’

‘‘Do you like parties?’’ he asked sarcastically.

‘‘My first one…in almost four years,’’ she managed to say. ‘‘Please…hurts…to talk.’’

He glanced at her and then was quiet. He didn’t like her. He didn’t trust her. Why was he taking care of her? There was something unexpectedly vulnerable about her. But she had spirit.

He walked her into the emergency room. She filled out forms and was ushered back into a treatment cubicle while Rey sat in the waiting room between a squalling toddler and a man coughing his head off. He wasn’t used to illness. He’d never seen much of it, and he didn’t know how to cope with it. Accidents, sure, he was a good hand in an emergency, and there were plenty on a ranch. But he hated hospitals.

Meredith came back a good thirty minutes later with a prescription and a frown.

‘‘What did he say?’’ he asked conversationally.

She shrugged. ‘‘He gave me something…for pain,’’ she said, waving the prescription.

‘‘They sent me to a plastic surgeon,’’ he volunteered as they went through the automatic door.

She didn’t speak.

‘‘I had a shattered bone in my cheek that they couldn’t repair,’’ he persisted.

‘‘I’m not…going…to any damned…plastic surgeon!’’

His eyebrows arched. ‘‘Your face could be distorted.’’

‘‘So what?’’ she muttered, wincing because it really did hurt to speak. ‘‘It’s not…much of a face, anyway.’’

He scowled. She wasn’t pretty, but her face had attractive features. Her nose was straight and elegant, she had high cheekbones. Her mouth was like a little bow, perfect. Her eyes, big and grey, fascinated him.

‘‘You should go,’’ he said.

She ignored him. ‘‘Can you…drive me by the pharmacy?’’

‘‘Sure.’’

She gave him directions and he waited while she had the prescription filled. He drove her back to her house and left her there reluctantly.

‘‘I’ll be at the hospital with Leo if you need anything,’’ he said as if it pained him to say it.

“I don’t need any help. Thanks,” she added stiffly.

His eyebrows arched. ‘‘You remind me of me,’’ he murmured, and a thin smile touched his lips—a kind one. ‘‘Proud as Lucifer.’’

‘‘I get by. I really am…sorry about your brother. Will he be all right?’’ she asked at her door.

He nodded. ‘‘They want to keep him for two or three days. He’ll want to thank you.’’

‘‘No need. I would have done it for anyone.’’

He sighed. She was going to look bad for a long time, with her face in that condition. She’d been beaten and he felt responsible, God knew why. He took a breath. ‘‘I’m sorry I had you arrested,’’ he said reluctantly.

She pursed her lips. ‘‘I’ll bet…that hurt.’’

‘‘What?’’

‘‘You don’t apologize much, do you?’’ she asked, as if she knew.

He scowled down at her, puzzled.

She turned away. ‘‘No sweat. I’ll live. So long.’’

She went in and closed the door. Rey, who’d done without companionship for a number of years, suddenly felt alone. He didn’t like the feeling, so he shoved it out of his mind and drove back to the hospital. He wouldn’t see her again, anyway.

Leo came back to himself with a vengeance late that afternoon. He had Rey lever the head of his bed up and he ate dinner with pure enjoyment.

‘‘It’s not bad,’’ Leo murmured between mouthfuls. ‘‘But I wish I had a biscuit.’’

‘‘Me, too,’’ Rey said on a sigh. ‘‘I guess we could buy a restaurant, as a last resort,’’ he added dejectedly. ‘‘One that serves breakfast.’’

‘‘Who was that woman who came in with me?’’ he asked Rey.

‘‘You remember her?’’ Rey was surprised.

‘‘She looked like an angel,’’ he mused, smiling. ‘‘Blond and big-eyed and all heart. She held my hand and sat down on the sidewalk in the cold and talked to me until the ambulance got there.’’

‘‘You were unconscious.’’

‘‘Not all the time. She even came in with me on the ambulance,’’ he said. ‘‘She kept telling me I was going to be all right. I remember her voice.’’ He smiled. ‘‘Her name was Meredith.’’

Rey’s heart jumped. He felt uneasy. Leo usually didn’t pay much attention to strange women. ‘‘Meredith Johns,’’ he agreed.

‘‘Is she married?’’ Leo asked at once.

Rey felt threatened; it irritated him. ‘‘I don’t know,’’ he said.

‘‘Do you think you could find somebody who knows how to get in touch with her?’’ his brother persisted. ‘‘ want to thank her for saving me.’’

Rey got up from the chair where he’d been sitting and walked to the darkened window, peering out through the blinds while he played for time. ‘‘She lives near the place where you were attacked,’’ he said finally, unable to lie.

‘‘What does she do for a living?’’

‘‘I don’t know,’’ Rey said, feeling uncomfortable. He couldn’t get her father’s accusing remarks out of his mind. She’d said she was dressed up for a party, she’d even found someone to give her an alibi, but Rey didn’t completely believe her. What if that whole defense was a lie? What if she was some sort of prostitute? He didn’t want his brother getting mixed up with a woman like that. He didn’t trust women, especially strange women. Then he remembered her poor, bruised face and he felt bad about his suspicions.

‘‘I’ll ask one of the nurses,’’ Leo said abruptly.

‘‘No need,’’ Rey told him. He turned back around with his hands in his pockets. ‘‘If you’re determined, I’ll go get her in the morning and bring her in to see you.’’

‘‘Why not tonight?’’

Rey let out an impatient breath. ‘‘Her father roughed her up because she got home late last night. I took her to the emergency room this morning before I came back here.’’

Leo’s eyes narrowed and went cold. ‘‘Her father beat her? And you took her back home to him?’’ he said angrily.

‘‘He wasn’t there. They took him off to jail,’’ he said. His face hardened even more. ‘‘She’ll have a hell of a bruise. They said she couldn’t go back to work for a few weeks.’’ He moved one shoulder restlessly. ‘‘Considering the way they live, I don’t know how she’ll manage,’’ he added reluctantly. ‘‘They don’t seem to have much. Apparently the old man doesn’t work and she’s the only one bringing home any money.’’ He didn’t volunteer his opinion of how she made it.

Leo leaned back against the pillows. His big frame was without its usual vibrance. His dark eyes were dull, and his lean face was drawn. His blond-streaked brown hair was unkempt, and looked odd in the back where they’d had to shave it to put stitches in. It was a reminder of how tricky head wounds were. Leo was very lucky not to have brain damage. Rey thought about the assailants and his eyes blazed.

‘‘I’m going to phone Simon tonight,’’ he told Leo. ‘‘I’m sure the local police will do all they can to catch the guys who waylaid you, but they’ll work even harder if they get a call from the state attorney general.’’

‘‘There you go again, pulling strings,’’ Leo mused.

‘‘It’s for a good cause.’’

‘‘Did you find my wallet and my cell phone?’’ Leo asked.

‘‘The woman had them. They’re in my pocket.’’

‘‘Good. I didn’t think she had anything to do with mugging me. Don’t forget your promise to bring Meredith here in the morning,’’ he said.

Now it was ‘‘Meredith.’’ Rey didn’t like the whole idea of having Leo around the woman, but he didn’t have a legitimate reason for keeping her from Leo’s side. It would sound even more suspicious if Rey started throwing out sarcastic remarks about her. Leo did love to pull his chain.

‘‘Okay,’’ he said reluctantly.

‘‘Good man,’’ Leo replied with a wan grin. ‘‘Nothing like family to look after you.’’

‘‘Next time, watch your back instead of daydreaming about forage grasses,’’ Rey said firmly. Then he leaned forward in the chair. ‘‘So, tell me what sort of grasses the Cattleman’s Association is advocating.’’

Rey got a hotel room near the hospital, so that he could have a bath and get some rest. The night staff had the phone number, so they could call him immediately if he was needed.

He phoned Simon before he went to bed.

‘‘Leo’s been mugged?’’ Simon exclaimed. ‘‘And you didn’t call me last night?’’

That tone was still intimidating, even though Rey was thirty-one. Simon was the eldest of the five brothers, and the bossiest, next to Cag.

‘‘I was too upset to phone anybody,’’ Rey returned, ‘‘and too busy trying to handle…another problem that cropped up. He’s all right. Honest. I didn’t find out until the early hours of the morning, and it’s been a long day. He was already out of danger before it occurred to me that I needed to let you know.’’

‘‘All right,’’ Simon said, sounding as if he was more relaxed. ‘‘Do they have a suspect?’’

‘‘No. I thought we did, but it turned out to be a dead end,’’ he added, without going into details about Meredith Johns. ‘‘There were two of them, and they haven’t been caught. It’s a miracle he wasn’t killed, and that they were stopped in time before they robbed him. You might give the local police chief a call. Just to let him know we’re all interested in solving the case.’’

‘‘You want me to use my influence for personal gain?’’ Simon drawled.

‘‘Hell, yes, I do!’’ Rey shot back. ‘‘This is our brother, for God’s sake! If a big, strong man like Leo can get mugged in a residential neighborhood, so can anybody else! It doesn’t say a lot for the security in this area.’’

‘‘No, it doesn’t,’’ Simon agreed. ‘‘I’ll point that out to the police commissioner, first thing tomorrow. Then I’ll run down to Jacobsville and get Cag and Corrigan and we’ll be right up to see about Leo.’’

Rey chuckled. It was the first bit of humor he’d felt so far. The five brothers rarely went so far as to gang up on people, but considering the size and reputation of them, they got results when they did. This was an emergency, anyway. They could have lost a brother. The perpetrators had to be caught.

‘‘They should be home by now,’’ Rey replied. ‘‘I couldn’t phone them because they were showing those Japanese businessmen around the ranch and the town.’’

‘‘I’ll see how much luck they had. Japan is very careful about its import beef. The fact that we run organically raised cattle will certainly go in our favor,’’ Simon said.

‘‘Yes, it will. Get some sleep. And don’t worry about Leo. He’s fine. I’d never have left the hospital if I’d had one doubt about that.’’

‘‘I’ll stop worrying.’’

‘‘Give my love to Tira and the boys,’’ Rey added.

‘‘I’ll do that. See you tomorrow.’’

Rey hung up, thinking about Simon and his family. Tira was redheaded and gorgeous, and the boys favored both of them, although they had Simon’s dark eyes and hair. Corrigan and Dorie had a boy and a girl. Cag and Tess had just a boy, but they were talking about how nice a daughter would be. Meanwhile, Rey and Leo enjoyed being uncles, but had no interest in joining the ranks of the married.

If it wasn’t for those biscuits, Rey thought miserably. It was going to be expensive to have the local café make biscuits for them every day until they employed a new biscuit maker, but if they got desperate enough, and offered enough of an incentive, they could probably manage it.

Turning his attention elsewhere, Rey gave a thought to poor Leo with his stitches and his headache, and another to Meredith Johns’s bruised face. Tomorrow, he’d have to deal with Leo’s request to see her, and he wasn’t looking forward to it. He wished he knew why.

Rey went to Meredith Johns’s house the next morning after he’d had breakfast. It took her a minute or two to answer the door, and for an instant, he thought that perhaps she might not be in any condition to answer it. She’d been badly bruised.