Chapter 9

When Hawke got back to the ranch, Kim was there to greet him. "String, where have you been?" she asked. "I thought you would come back with Dom and Caitlin?"

"Well you were the one who said we had to keep separated so the staff wasn't aware we knew each other," he replied. "Besides, I was having lunch with an old doctor friend I ran into at the hospital. I hadn't seen him in years and had no idea he lived out this way."

Hawke hoped his lie would work. Kim just smiled at him. "Oh, okay. That's nice," she replied. "I'm glad to see that Caitlin is doing well."

Hawke smiled. "Yeah, she's doing great," he replied. "Now we just need to prove that Paul tried to kill her."

"How do we go about doing that?" asked Kim. "He seems to be good at covering up his tracks."

"I say we set a trap," replied Hawke.

"A trap?" she asked. "What sort of trap?"

"I'm still trying to figure out the details," he replied. "As soon as I work it out in my head, I'll give you all the information."
Hawke hoped that what he told her would keep Kim off of his back for a little while until he could find out more information from Michael.

An hour later, String got the call. Michael informed him that Sarah had been in a mental institution right after her parents died and that Kim had taken her in as a guardian in order to have her released. He could find no information on Paul Lewis except that he was known as an outstanding and fair land developer. Hawke decided it was time to meet with Caitlin and Dom and devise a plan to flush Sarah and Kim out.

He found Dom in the staff kitchen assisting with lunch. "Hey," he whispered. "Find Caitlin and meet me at the tool shed in thirty minutes."

Dom shook his head and continued to work when the cook came back into the room.

Thirty minutes later Hawke paced back and forth in the shed waiting for Caitlin and Dom. Ten minutes when by before Dom showed up. "String, I can't find Cait," he said. "Sarah said she was in their room but left about hour ago."

"I don't like the sound of that," said String. He filled Dom in on all of the information he had found. "Let's go and see Sarah."

Hawke and Dom quickly walked back to Caitlin and Sarah's room. Sarah was sitting on her bed casually reading her book.

"Sarah, have you seen Caitlin?" he asked.

"Oh, not in some time?" she replied. "I think she mentioned that she was going to go horseback riding down to the lake."

String and Dom took off out of the room. They jumped onto two horses and headed to the lake as fast as the horses would go. When they got there they started calling out her name.

"Caitlin?" yelled Hawke. "Caitlin, where are you?"

"String, how do you know she's really even down here?" asked Dom.

"She's here," he said."If they've hurt her, they want it to look like an accident. Sarah wants us to find her."

Hawke and Dom continued to ride by the lake and call out Caitlin's name. A few moments later Dom saw something near the water. "String look," he yelled.

Dom and Hawke jumped off of their horses and ran over to Caitlin who was lying on her back near the water. They each went to one side of her and squatted down. She looked up at them and squinted to keep the sun out her eyes.

"Caitlin, are you alright?" Hawke asked.

She smiled up at them and then sat up. "I didn't think you'd ever get here," she replied. "Sarah thought she was smart. She hit me in the back. I fell and made her think that I was unconscious so she'd leave me alone. Then Kim came up and they were arguing."

"Are you hurt?" asked Hawke while helping her sit up.

"Just a little sore," she replied. Then she gave him a confused look. "You don't seem surprised by my story."

Hawke filled Caitlin in on the same information as he had Dom. "What were Kim and Sarah and arguing about," he asked.

"Kim told Sarah that she was tired of covering up for her and that they had better make what happened to me look like another accident," she replied. "They were trying to find a way to make you think this was connected to Paul."

"Well, guess we don't have to come up with a plan to trap them," said Hawke. "I think we have all the proof we need."

Before he could say another word, the trio heard several gunshots coming from the ranch. Dom jumped on his horse and Hawke helped Caitlin onto his. They quickly rode back to the ranch to find out the source of the shots.