For Him, I Would

Chapter Forty-Six - Nothing is that easy.

"I still don't know why you won't let me walk you in at least," Kayce mumbled as he drove Oakley toward Helena early Thursday morning.

"We've talked about this, Kace," Oakley sighed in her seat.

"Still doesn't mean I get it," Kayce looked over at her.

Oakley looked over at Kayce before his eyes found the road again. To get to Helena, they had to leave before the sun was up. Right now, the sun was just starting to come over the horizon, turning the clouds pink and yellow.

The last thirty-six hours had been long. Oakley and Kayce had basically sat at their kitchen table, going over every possible situation Jamie had been a part of the past decade in relation to the ranch. Oakley needed more fingers to count the number of times she had told Kayce to stop so she could take a breath.

What Oakley learned most about Jamie as his need for approval from John. She had always assumed there was a weird dynamic between them, but Jamie desperately wanted his father's approval...well, his adoptive father's approval. Then she learned of his actual father, the raid on the ranch at his orders to kill them, and finally the train station.

That had been the worst conversation she had ever had with Kayce.

Flashback

"Oaks," Kayce bowed his head at the kitchen table while Oakley was standing up.

"No, Kayce..." Oakley was angry. "You mean to tell me, there's this pit where you have dumped bodies in...for years?"

"It was the only way," Kayce sighed. "And it's a gorge."

"Are you hearing yourself?" Oakley yelled.

"I didn't start it," Kayce glared up at her.

"You sure as hell ain't stopping it!" Oakley fired back.

"You promised you'd listen and understand," Kayce leaned back in his chair.

"I said I would listen," Oakley snapped. "That doesn't mean I'll understand."

The two of them stared at each other.

"How many are down there?" Oakley asked.

"I don't know," Kayce shook his head.

"You don't know because you don't know?" Oakey sighed. "Or you don't know because you don't count?"

"It's been happening since before me," Kayce chose to answer.

"Those were people," Oakley frowned.

"They were bad," Kayce tried.

"They were still people," Oakley slowly sat in her chair. "They had lives, families."

"They tried to take ours," Kayce looked at the table. "We aren't evil for trying to protect this place."

Oakley was quiet for a moment.

"What would you do with me?" Oakley asked.

"Hmm?" Kayce looked back up at her.

"What if I was the enemy?" Oakley said softly. "What if you had to get rid of me?"

"That's ridiculous," Kayce rolled his eyes.

"Is it?" Oakley raised an eyebrow. "What if my testimony doesn't work? What if it points to you? What if they go after you because of me?"