For Him, I Would

Chapter Eleven - First call is the hardest.

"Okay, so one more time," John Dutton cleared his throat from his lounge chair.

"Dad," Kayce said in a warning tone.

"She can do it," John interrupted, looking back at Oakley from across the coffee table.

Oakley was sitting back against the cushions, her mind already exhausted from the past few hours. It was getting closer to ten o'clock and she knew the wranglers and sheriff deputies were probably close to getting back to the main house.

Taking a deep breath Oakley repeated her story again, "I came downstairs around ten or so because I hadn't heard from David or Corey, they had decided to camp out overnight. I found you and Kayce, and you both decided it was best to go out and look. We took a few wranglers and found the campsite but didn't find David or Corey. After searching for a while, we didn't find them, but it didn't look like any foul play had been made. Maybe they were taking a bath or hiking...something. We came back here, and I called both David and Corey a few times but still didn't get any response. Around five we decided to call it into the sheriff's...and well, here we are."

"Good," John nodded. "Keep it simple, less information is more."

"Right," Oakley sighed. "Do you think they'll be back soon?"

"Oakley..." John's voice pulled your eyes back to his. "This is going to work out."

"I hope so," Oakley knew her voice didn't hold much confidence.

John leaned forward, "Oakley I want you to know what I'm asking you to do isn't going unnoticed."

"No offense John," Oakley let out a humorless laugh. "But right now, I don't really care what you notice."

"Nothing will happen to you," John said.

"Not all of us have the Dutton name to fall back on," Oakley was growing tired of John and this whole situation.

"Let's take a break," Kayce stood up.

John stared at Oakley for a few more moments before nodding his head and standing up, making his way out of the living room. Oakley leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands, and rubbing her temples. She could tell Kayce had made his way and sat on the coffee table in front of her, she could see his boots in her line of vision. Taking another deep breath, she pulled her hands down and looked up at Kayce.

"Tell me what to do to help you," Kayce said, his eyes cautious.

"Build me a time machine?" Oakley offered. Kayce gave her a small smile and reached out his hand to hold one of hers. "I just keep feeling like this is all going to blow up in our faces."

"I promise you,"

"Kayce," Oakley shut her eyes as though she was in pain before slowly opening them. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"This will work," Kayce nodded his head.

"How do you know that?" Oakley asked. "How can you trust your dad like that?"

"Because he's doing this to protect this place. In his own way," Kayce sighed. "He does that for me and for Tate."

"This being the man who branded you for disobeying him?" Oakley raised an eyebrow. She watched Kayce lower his head and she knew it was a low blow to him.

"If anything happens to you," Kayce said lowly. "I'll say it was me."

"What? No, Kayce!" Oakley stood up, keeping hold of his hand. Kayce looked up into her face. "Stop protecting him."

"It's not that simple," Kayce stood up too, towering over Oakley. "You're not understanding."

"Doesn't seem too complicated to me," Oakley rolled her eyes. "Kayce...he murdered David and Corey because they were what? Going to figure out another thing that's been happening on this ranch that's questionable?"