Brad woke the following morning to a clear blue sky. Today they were flying to the Buchanan land. Dressing in the gray shorts Declan had selected for him and another T-shirt. He laced his feet into sneakers, and then shoveled in two pieces of toast. After scalding his mouth on his coffee, he climbed on to his Harley and headed for the McBride residence further along the road.
He’d spent the evening alone, and his equilibrium was restored. He would do this, go and see if his father’s tentacles had reached here yet, and then he’d leave this place. Maybe one day he’d come back for a visit, perhaps when he had a niece or nephew, but for now he needed to put some distance between himself and Lake Howling.
Long and low, the McBride house sat nestled into the trees and looked like it had been there since the beginning of time. Like Ethan’s place, it was rustic and suited the environment.
He saw Ethan as he parked his bike. He was running through a final check of his helicopter before they left. First to arrive, Brad hesitated to approach. The time he’d spent alone with his brother had not gone well.
“Morning,” Ethan called.
“Morning.”
Brad made himself move closer, and then stood and watched, while his brother went through his preflight procedure.
“So, I hear you met the lovely Delany Reynolds.”
“Yup.” Brad jammed his hands in his pockets and slowly turned a circle, taking in the scenery.
“I just meant for you to drop her off, sorry you got dragged inside. Macy told me how weak her dad’s got. Thanks for doing what you did.”
“She's a bitch, that mother.”
“And then some. She thinks I'm a loser because I walked away from our father's millions.”
“Some truth in that loser comment.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“That was your favorite comeback when we were kids,” Brad said, looking over the lake. It was still early enough that the mists were rising.
“I still use it, ’cause it annoys Annabelle.”
“I bet. Still annoys me, and I haven't heard it in years.”
The waters were rippling as a breeze brushed the surface. He needed to take a swim in them, could almost feel the cool water as he submerged beneath it.
“Job done then.”
Brad snorted.
“You been in touch with Mother?”
“Some. I send her an e-mail every now and again. Have called a few times, but he intercepts it, and we get into things, then I hang up.”
“Yeah, same goes.”
Ethan was now at the rear of his helicopter, and Brad knew exactly what he was doing, because he'd done the same thing a few times.
“I can fly now.” He hadn't meant to say the words; they'd just come out before he could stop them. Strange how he still felt the need to impress his brother after all these years.
“What?”
Ethan stopped what he was doing and came to stand in front of him.
“I learned to fly after you left. Uncle Mitch made me.”
Ethan was always way more emotional than him, and his eyes flared as he dragged in a lungful of air.
“Do you fly much?”
“Every chance I get. Is that a problem for you?”
“Hell no, it's not a problem. It's awesome, is what it is.” His brother's eyes narrowed. “Why would it be a problem?”
“Hell if I know.”
“You want to fly her in today?”
“No.” Brad didn’t let his surprise show. “You know this territory.”
“How rich are you?”
“Are we comfortable enough with each other to ask that kind of question?”
“We're Texan and our father is a billionaire. You learn to be comfortable with that shit in school.”
“True that.” Brad found a smile. “But are we comfortable enough with each other for that conversation?”
He knew in his rational moments that Ethan had left to survive. Knew it, understood even, but that didn't make the hurt go away.
“You can't hate me forever, I'm just too nice a guy.”
“And so humble.”
“What can I say, it's why everyone loves me.”
“Not everyone.”
“You love me; you just won’t let yourself.”
Poking around the edges of his head, he wondered if those words were true.
“I invested in stuff, Uncle Mitch guided me, and yes, I have money.”
“You got a bird?”
Brad shook his head. “I don't have a base, so I hire one when I want to go up.”
They both turned as a car pulled up. Brad watched Macy Reynolds get out of the driver seat.
“Macy's coming to take notes and photos, so I'll drop you two, then come back and pick up Jake, Buster, and Willow.”
“Thought Branna was coming?” Brad hated the way his heart kicked hard in his chest as he looked at the woman now getting something out of the trunk of her car.
“Rose had a bad night.”
“Doesn't Macy have to work?” Brad should really shut up, but he found himself talking.
“Jany's covering, and Militant is picking up Billy.”
“Militant?” Brad admired the sight of Macy, morning light at her back as she walked toward them. She wore black shorts that sat several inches above her knees and a fitted white T-shirt. Around her neck was draped a sweater and a camera. Blue trainers were laced on her small feet.
That woman was sweet, Brad thought. Far too sweet for the likes of him.
“Town crazy woman, and part of the book club.”
“Book club?” He was sure Macy didn't mean to swing her hips from side to side, it was just her natural walk, but damn that woman was sexy.
“They run the town.”
“You’re shitting me?”
“Straight up.”
“Hey,” Brad said, taking a few steps to meet Macy as she drew near, and relieve her of the large bag she carried.
“Morning, Geldermans.”
“What's in there?” Ethan opened the bag Brad held and looked inside.
“I brought a couple of thermoses filled with coffee to go with the food Buster will bring.”
“My day just got better. Can I have a cup now?”
Brad watched Macy slap Ethan's hand aside.
“When we get there.”
“You're a hard woman, Macy Reynolds. Especially as I have to fly back and pick up baker boy, his missus, and the doc.”
She gave him a smile but didn't answer.
“How come you don't have a nickname?” Brad said, helping her into the front of the helicopter.
“I'm sure I had a few, but no one ever said them to my face.”
His knuckles brushed the planes of her stomach as he did up her harness. They both inhaled, but Brad didn't look at her.
“And why would that be?”
“I wasn't a very nice person during school, or after, for that matter.”
“I'm sure that's not true.”
“No, it is, ask Annabelle.” Ethan climbed into his seat.
He would make sure to do that, because anything to do with this woman interested him far too much.
“I'll only be here for a few more days, not sure I'll have the time.”
Ethan muttered something, but as the engines were roaring, he didn’t catch it. Brad buckled himself in and then felt the rush of exhilaration as Ethan took the bird up.
“God I love this.” He hadn't realized he'd said the words out loud until Macy laughed.
“You both said the exact same thing at the exact same time.”
He didn't look at his brother, instead fixing his gaze on the scenery. The trip wasn't long, but spectacular. They flew over long ribbons of blue water and acres of land. They scaled a mountain and followed a tree line.
“It's spectacular.”
“Hard to find any place nicer,” Ethan answered him.
“There,” Macy said, pointing. “See that lake? Buchanan land starts there and borders the water on three sides.”
Ethan flew them over it as low as he could, and Brad saw the huge old trees, and then the homestead. Isolated, and yet peaceful, he thought.
“You see those two choppers there?”
He followed Macy’s hand and found them. Some distance off, but he saw the rotors.
“Are they on the land?”
“Yes.”
“I'll take her down over there, where there’s a clearing away from those other birds,” Ethan said. “I don’t recognize them as charter flights.”
As they dropped, Brad saw men. At least a dozen of them, and all close to where they were landing.
“Do you see him?”
Brad knew which him his brother was referring to. Searching the group, he found EG in the middle.
“Yes.”
“You two need to stay in control, because I'm not breaking up any fights. I don't want either of you giving these men any reason to go after us. We’re trespassing here, not them, because I can see that bitch Nadine down there.”
Ethan shot Macy a surprised look. Obviously he'd never heard her speak with such authority. Yet it didn't surprise Brad. He knew she was strong; she’d had to be.
His insides were churning as Ethan landed, and he felt the anger and insecurities surface. You’re not that man now, he reminded himself. The one who did whatever his father had wanted, and taken whatever his father had handed out to him.
“I need your word on this, Geldermans.”
“Aww, do we have to?”
Ethan's words were supposed to sound whiny, but they came out clipped.
“Now,” Macy said.
“You have my word,” Ethan said.
“And mine,” Brad added.
“My stomach suddenly hurts,” Macy said.
Mine too, Brad thought.
“Looks like I'll be late back to pick up the others.” Ethan wrenched off his headset and opened his door. Brad opened Macy's, got her out of her harness in record time, then gripped her around the waist and lifted her out.
“Take a breath, Brad.”
He did, and then another, before moving to his brother's side.
“Who are you?”
The man who approached wore a lightweight suit and had a tanned face. Brad didn't recognize him as one of the consortium.
“You’re trespassing.”
“Technically, yes,” Ethan said, “but the Buchanan land has been open for public use for years. People hike through it daily, and camp on it. I’ve been bringing in charters for months.”
“Well it’s now private property. No more charters and hiking allowed.”
“I didn’t catch your name?” Brad said to the man.
“Macilvoy, Stephen Macilvoy.”
He felt Macy move to his side, her body pressing into his.
“What the hell are you doing here, Macy Reynolds Delray?”
The woman who’d been in the middle of the group stepped forward. She was looking at Macy like she was something that needed to be picked out of the heel of her shoe. Brad didn’t like the look.
Polished, every inch of her was sleek and smelled of money. Her suit was white, the skirt short and tight, and jacket fitted. She wore a pale blue satin shirt with the top buttons open, which allowed him and anyone else looking to see the lace edge of her white bra and swells of her breasts. Her hair was long and blonde, face perfectly made up, and Brad had met plenty of women just like this one when he was still living under his father’s roof.
“What the hell, Nadine?”
Macy said the words in an even tone, unlike the Buchanan woman, who'd shrieked at her.
“Your parents wanted this place to stay untouched. It's got the oldest Redwoods in these parts. Tell me you're not actually considering turning it over to them so they can build a resort?”
No flicker of guilt crossed the woman's face. She just smirked, and she may have been a woman, but Brad's fingers itched to slap it away. He looked for his father in the group of men, but for now EG had chosen to remain hidden. Gutless bastard.
“My land, my choice.”
“I don't think so,” Macy said, taking a step forward.
Brad's hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back so she was once again settled between him and his brother.
“There's a whole town of people not far from here who are willing to do what it takes to stop them, Nadine.”
Nadine Buchanan's eyes narrowed.
“Don't challenge us on this, Macy, you won't win.”
“Well now,” Ethan said. “That's where we come in, isn't that right, brother?”
Brad nodded. “Damned straight. We have money and a legal team, Miss Buchanan, and we’re willing to fight you on what’s being proposed for here.” He then looked to where his father was hiding. “You going to stay out of sight until we leave, EG?”
“Just letting the dust settle, boys.”
EG walked out from behind the wall of suits, his usual charming smile in place. He carried his cowboy hat, wore a blue suit and cowboy boots, and looked exactly as he had the last time Brad had seen him. Exactly as Brad would have looked had he not changed his life for the better.
He felt Ethan's body clench at the same time as his, but got strength from the fact that for the first time in his life, he and his brother were opposing their father together, a unit.
A small hand touched his spine and settled there, and Brad felt the warmth, let it calm him.
“A long way from home aren't you?” Brad addressed his father first. “I thought you’d be organizing the destruction of another piece of land somewhere in the name of oil.”
His father tilted his head slightly. Brad had always loathed that particular gesture because it made him feel like an insect under a microscope.
“Thought I'd diversify.”
“Carrying your revenge a bit far don't you think, EG?”
His father's eyes switched from him to Ethan.
“I blame you for what he's become.”
The smile had fallen away and in its place was the true head of the Gelderman family. An evil, narcissistic bastard.
“A strong, intelligent, caring human, with friends and a future? Well hell, I'll take the credit for that any day, even if I didn't have a hand in the man Brad has become. He's fifteen of you now, Father, and more than likely twenty of me.”
Brad didn't blink. He kept his eyes focused on his father as Ethan talked. Inside, however, now that was another matter. He could feel something hot and fierce spreading through him at his brother's words. A realization that his brother had his back.
“You tried to mold him, but he was stronger than you and got away, and I thank fuck every day that he did.”
“You're both a disgrace to the Gelderman name!” Anger had flushed his father's face red. “I disown you!”
“Ouch,” Brad drawled. “I'm sure that will hurt later, maybe in say a hundred years or so when I give a shit, but right about now it only makes me happy.”
“I'll do this, and fight you both every step. You’ll be sorry!”
Ethan and Brad folded their arms at the same time.
“Game on, then,” Brad said.
“Who are these men, EG?”
Another suit stepped forward to ask the question.
“My sons. However, unlike me they have no loyalty.”
Brad never so much as twitched at the insult. He'd long since developed armor plating where his father was concerned, and figured his brother had too.
“You pathetic little bitch!”
Nadine Buchanan, sick of not being the focus of attention, hissed these words at Macy.
“You shut your mouth,” Brad said, pointing at her.
“She's worthless, and couldn't even keep her husband. Poor Brian, we all know she set him up.” The woman’s face was contorted and ugly in rage.
“Oh hell no, you did not just say that, Nadine Buchanan!”
Before he could stop her, Macy charged forward and slapped the woman’s cheek.
“Never speak to me like that again. You should be ashamed of who you've become, your parents raised you better than this!”
Brad grabbed Macy and hauled her away as Nadine prepared to launch herself at her.
“Enough!”
The suit moved to Nadine, who was clasping her sore cheek and sobbing. “We'll get what we want, and there's nothing these idiots can do about it. Now let’s leave.”
“What, no good-bye hug?” Ethan taunted his father.
“I’ll make you both pay. Your precious Lake Howling will be destroyed by the time I’m done with it.”
Brad felt something cold slither down his spine at his father’s words. He had enough money to do some serious damage to Lake Howling if he wanted to follow through with that threat.
He watched the men and Nadine leave, disappearing down a trail, and then minutes later the helicopters rose and flew away. Brad's hand was still attached to Macy's arm, and he thought that was a good thing as his head felt all over the place.
“Nice move, Mace, remind me not to piss you off,” Ethan said.
“I can't believe I did that.”
Brad saw she was genuinely shocked by her actions.
“She deserved it. I hate that man.”
“Same,” Brad answered his brother. “Seeing him just reinforced for me how much.”
“We need to move on this fast, now he's on to us. I'll go and collect the others.”
“Ethan.” Brad made himself speak.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
They watched his bird rise, both silent, still attached.
“Are you okay, Brad?”
He made himself release her, made himself move a few feet away, because what he wanted to do was haul her close and lose himself in her lovely body. She'd chase the memory of his father away. Help him with the adrenaline that still coursed through him.
“Sure. You?”
“Nadine and I were friends in school. I changed, she didn't, and I'm not proud of some of the things we got up to.”
She looked pissed off, and Brad found himself closing the distance between them again.
“Well, I think you won that round.”
She smiled up at him. “I did, didn't I?” She rotated her wrist. “Not sure how men can throw a punch and not break something. My wrist is stinging.”
He took her hand, rubbing the tender skin.
“Tell me to step away, Macy.” The urgency in his voice made her eyes widen.
“I can't.”
He lowered his head slowly, giving her plenty of time to pull back, and then she was his. Her soft lips opened and he kissed her. The emotions that had ridden him when his father was there made him take her deeper. Cupping her head, he devoured her.
Her hands crept to his neck, his to her back, and then he was running one under the leg of her shorts. Her skin was warm and sleek as his fingers moved to the edge of her panties. He swallowed her moan as he slid around to the front and touched her through the satin.
He heard the crack behind him, and instinct had him throwing Macy to the ground beneath him.
“What?”
“Someone's shooting, and I think at us.” He whispered the words into her ear.
“My God, are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“C-could it be hunters?”
“It's possible, but I'm not willing to take the risk that hunters didn’t realize we were people and not prey.”
Her hair brushed his cheek as she nodded.
“We need to get out of this clearing now.”
Lifting his head, Brad looked around them, but couldn't see any movement.
“I'm going to roll off you, then I want you to get to your feet and run in a crouch to the closest trees, then keep moving, but not in a straight line.
“But—”
“Do as I say.”
He looked down into her frightened eyes. “Now.” Brad rolled off her, and as she rose, he crouched behind her, hiding her as they ran. The next bullet hit the tree as they reached it. Brad cursed, but kept following Macy as she ran. She did as he asked and moved from side to side, ducking behind trees as she went.
Her breathing started to rasp the further they ran, but she kept moving.
“Y-you're protecting me by making me go first.”
“Yes,” Brad said. “Keep going.”
She huffed out a breath and then did as he asked. He saw a fallen tree with a fat trunk, and grabbing her arm, he took the lead and dragged her behind it. Pushing her down, he took the space beside her.
“It's okay.” He touched her shoulder. “We're going to be okay.”
Her eyes were wide with fear as she looked at him, and it was instinctive that he open his arms, and that she would dive into them.
“I w-want to see B-Billy grow up.”
“You will, baby, I promise.” He held her close for a few seconds, and then released her. “My guess is that someone was left behind out of that group and this is a scare tactic on the part of my father.”
“He’d do that?”
“Honey, he’d do just about anything to win.”
“I hate him.”
“Me too. Now, I need to check cell phone coverage.”
“There won't be any out here, Brad.”
“Okay, that makes sense now I think about it. We need to warn Ethan somehow. I don't want him to fly in with some asshole shooting at him.”
“We need to get to the lake. He followed that in, remember?”
Brad nodded. “Okay, let's go.”
He took her hand this time and led as they ran on. He had no way of knowing if the shooter was in front now or behind. The going was hard, and they both stumbled, but she didn't complain and soon he could see the light through the trees.
“You stay here and I'll go out and wait for Ethan.”
“Two people are easier to see than one.”
“Macy, let me do this please.”
She moved to stand in front of him, and before he could resist, she'd tugged his head down until their lips met. It was a hard, fierce kiss that Brad felt to his toes.
“No. Now let's go.”