Inherit the Sky (Lang Downs 1 ) (29 page)

“Yesterday, I would have said Taylor,” Kyle replied immediately. “After today, I could add a few names closer to home.”
“He’s a bigoted Galah, to borrow a phrase, but that doesn’t mean he’d resort to sabotaging the station,” Caine said, “and wouldn’t someone have seen him if he’d done it in broad daylight?”
“Maybe,” Kyle said, “but with just the year-rounders here, the station isn’t exactly swarming with people. We trust the pens to keep the sheep safe since the dingoes don’t come down into the valley unless the weather gets a lot worse in the highlands, which means no one was actually standing watch. If he timed it right, he could have done it today.”
“Couldn’t he have done it last night?” Jason asked. “Or a week ago for that matter.”
“He didn’t know I was gay until this morning,” Caine said. “If that’s his reason for doing this, that is. He said he heard a rumor yesterday at Taylor Peak, but he didn’t confront me until this morning. If it wasn’t him or that wasn’t the reason, then yes, I suppose it could have been done at any time.”
“And then when something spooked the sheep, they charged the fence and it gave way,” Kyle concluded. “He, whoever he is, wouldn’t have to be anywhere nearby and it would probably look like an accident and no one would be any the wiser.”
“I need to talk to Macklin,” Caine said, stomach churning at the thought of going to Macklin’s cabin, where they had made love so tenderly the night before. “He needs to know what’s going on. Jason, could you find him and ask him to come to the big house so I can talk to him?”
“Sure, Caine,” Jason said, running off.
“In the meantime,” Caine said to Kyle, “it’s too late to check the other fences tonight. Is it worth setting a watch to make sure no other sheep get loose or that the person responsible doesn’t try again?”
“You’re the boss,” Kyle said. “If you think it needs to be done, we’ll do it.”
Caine stifled a sigh that would surely be misunderstood. Macklin wouldn’t hesitate. Macklin would order done whatever needed to be done. Taking a deep breath, Caine nodded. “Set a watch tonight,” he

said. “Two men at a time for an hour each. That way they can take breaks to get warm, and it won’t be too long for anyone. We’ll check the other fences first thing in the morning.”
“Yes, boss,” Kyle said.
Caine grinned.“Give Neil the 2 a.m. shift.”
Kyle grinned back.“With pleasure, boss.”

C
AINE paced the living room of the big house, waiting for Macklin to arrive. He didn’t think the foreman would refuse a direct request to come talk to him, especially if Jason explained any of what he’d seen or heard in relation to the pen and the sheep, but he didn’t expect Macklin to be happy about it.

When the door slammed open and then closed, he discovered how right he was.“You wanted to see me?”
No “pup”, no “Caine”, not even “boss”, just that one terse sentence.
“We have one problem, we may have two,” Caine said, struggling to keep his voice steady. If Macklin didn’t want to be his lover, then Macklin didn’t get to see his vulnerability anymore either.
“Besides Neil?”
“He might be part of it, but it’s more than that,” Caine said. “Ian said some sheep got out of their pen today, and they couldn’t find all of them before it got dark, and then Kyle came to tell me he didn’t think it was an accident that they got out. He showed me the boards they busted through, and it looks like someone drilled a hole in them to weaken them. Less obvious than using a saw on them but still enough to allow the sheep to break free.”
“You think Neil’s responsible? Until this morning, he’s been a model employee.”
“I didn’t say he was responsible,” Caine replied immediately. “I think Taylor is a much more likely suspect, although I don’t know how

we’d prove it unless we can catch him or one of his men in the act of sabotaging something, but I think we have to consider the fact that Neil is pretty disillusioned at the moment. He practically accused me of molesting Jason a few minutes ago. Jason jumped to my defense and Kyle told him to stuff it, but wherever his prejudice comes from, it’s pretty strong.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
Caine’s jaw clenched at the choice of words. Macklin hadn’t even treated him this way when he first arrived at Lang Downs. “I asked Kyle to set a watch through the night in case whoever did it comes back and tries again. I told Ian we’d search for the missing sheep in the morning.That said, if you have suggestions, I’d like to hear them.”
“That’s pretty much what I would have done,” Macklin said.
“Not all the men reacted the way Neil did,” Caine said softly when Macklin didn’t say anything else. “Ian and Kyle are still calling me boss like they always have, and they brought the problems to me when you weren’t around. Kyle even told Neil to stuff it when he made the pedophile comment. And Jason said his dad didn’t mind Jason and me being friends.”
“Just drop it,” Macklin said, his voice flat. “We said everything we needed to say this morning.”
“Did we?” Caine asked.“I don’t want to lose you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Really?” Caine asked. “Then come over here and prove it. Kiss me, or better yet, come upstairs with me and make love to me again. Spend the night in my bed and come down to breakfast at my side.”
“You’re asking for things I can’t give you.”
“Won’t give me, you mean,” Caine insisted. “You can do those things because you did them when we were in Boorowa. I won’t hide, Macklin. The men are shocked right now, but in the long run, they’ll respect me far more for being honest and not hiding who I am. If we skulk around and they find out about it, then it’s a dirty secret. If we’re proud of who we are and what we are to each other, they’ll accept it because it simply is. Isn’t that what you said happened with Uncle Michael and Donald?”