BRANTLEY KEPT waiting for the next shoe to drop. He spent the next day with Lew, but was going a little stir-crazy. He wished he’d thought to bring his laptop with him, but he’d forgotten it in the hubbub of getting his art packed and tucked safely into the vault. It would give him something to do.
“Lew, what do you think about going for a ride? I need my computer, and we could go out to the ranch. It won’t take long.”
“Sounds good to me. These walls are closing in.” Lew wheeled his chair toward the kitchen door. “What are you waiting for? I got my keys, and the car is in the garage.”
“Okay.” He hadn’t expected Lew to be so excited.
“Mack thinks I’m helpless and need taking care of all the time.” Lew pulled open the door and wheeled himself out of the house and down the ramp that ran along the garage wall.
After locking the door, Brantley hurried to keep up. It seemed he’d started a ball rolling and now it was picking up speed, and when all the dogs raced after him, jumping in as soon as Lew opened the car door, it was pandemonium.
Brantley wondered if he’d have to help Lew into the car, but he got in easily, and all Brantley had to do was fold the chair and slide it into the backseat. Then he got in the passenger side and closed the door. Lew raised the garage door with the opener and backed out, using the hand controls.
Good God, Lew drove like a bat out of hell, with a dog in each backseat window and Lulu on his lap, tongues hanging out, watching everything. “I haven’t been out to the Richardson place, your ranch, in years,” Lew said as he drove. “It used to be a real busy place. Clair Richardson was one of the premier horse experts in the state. Everyone used to bring their problem horses to her, and she’d work out their issues. Bart was a cattleman through and through. He inherited the ranch from his father and built it up over the years. My folks were close friends of theirs.”
“What happened?”
“They got older. Clair couldn’t handle the horses any longer, and Bart had a stroke a few years ago. They stayed on the ranch until they died, but by then it was just them on an empty ranch. They leased the land to Erickson for a while.”
“That explains why he gave me such a hard time. I met Andy when I called the police because there were strange cattle on my land—they were his.”
“He wanted to buy your place from them, but he never had the money. He isn’t the best businessman, and his wife loves to spend money. I understand their house is full of stuff they don’t need that she bought off the television.” Lew was clearly amused.
Brantley once again breathed a sigh of relief when they pulled into the yard and everything looked the same as it had when he’d been there the previous evening. “I’ll run in and get what I need and be right back.”
“Help me get out, and I’ll wheel around for a little while,” Lew said. “I want to look at the place.”
Brantley opened the door and let the dogs out. They took off with yips and happy barks. He got out Lew’s chair and helped him transfer into it. “Do you need anything else?”
“Go and get your things,” Lew said as he whirled around and took off toward the barn. “I’ll be around.”
Brantley watched him go for a few seconds and then went up to the house. The dogs raced around his legs, followed him in, and took off once they got inside. Once again they explored while Brantley went into his office, grabbed his bag, and shoved the laptop and cords inside, along with his notes.
“Come on, guys, it’s time to go.” He whistled for the dogs, then locked the door. He stepped off the porch as a truck pulled into the drive. Brantley instantly tensed, wondering what the hell Andy Erickson could want. He was tempted to call Mack and ask him to come to the ranch, but he wasn’t sure if he’d be angry that Brantley had brought his dad out here, and besides, he needed to handle his own issues.
“You did this,” Andy snarled as soon as he was out of his truck.
Brantley jumped as he slammed the door, striding over to him with fire in his eyes, causing Brantley to back up. Leo stood next to him, growling low in his throat. That sound must have given Andy pause because he halted his charge.
“You need to see what the hell you did.” He pointed toward the truck.
“I’ve been in town with the sheriff. So whatever you think I’ve done, you’re full of shit. Now get the hell off my land. I’ve had enough threats and attempts on my life to last me a lifetime. So either leave or I’ll kick your ass into next week!”
Leo barked to accentuate his point, and Brantley patted his head.
“Look,” Andy said, pointing once again.
Brantley followed him to the truck, peered in back, and turned away instantly, trying not to puke on his shoes. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s one of my steers. It died of thirst because I don’t have enough water, and what you have, you aren’t using. I drove my herd off your land, and it was more than some of them could take. I have five more just like it.”
“And you blame me because you acted like a dick instead of simply asking for what you needed.” Brantley glared. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on in that head of yours, but this is not my fault. I’m not using any of the water, and it flows through your land, so if you don’t have enough, it’s because you never planned and did what you needed to do before it got this dry. So don’t go blaming me.” Brantley turned away as Lew came wheeling toward him.
“What are you doing?” Lew called as he approached.
Andy lowered the back of the truck and Lew stopped.
“Why bring that here?”
“It’s his fault,” Andy said again.
“Are you totally stupid?” Lew fumed. “Now take that poor thing back to your place and bury it, for God’s sake.”
“But if he would help…,” Andy said much more plaintively.
“Then you ask him like a civilized person. You don’t intimidate or just take what isn’t yours and deliver cow corpses to his doorstep. That’s crazy and stupid. Now take that thing away and give it a proper burial.”
Brantley was beginning to think that the people in this town were crazy.
“What am I supposed to do?” Andy asked.
“I suggest you pump water from the stream to watering stations. It won’t take much to set up, and your cattle will get the water they need.”
“I don’t have the money to do anything. I tried drilling and came up with nothing. I spent all I have, and if I don’t get water for the herd, I’m going to lose my ranch and livelihood.” Andy closed the tailgate, pulled open his truck door, and turned to Brantley. “I don’t expect you to understand at all. What does the life of a guy here in South Dakota mean to a man from New York?”
“It means just as much as anyone else. What I don’t understand is why you think being a complete ass is going to get you what you need. If you’re so hard up, then graze your cattle on my land for a month to give your pastures a rest. But you need to control them and make sure I don’t come home to find them on my porch or something.”
“Of course not.” Andy smiled for the first time, relief welling in his eyes. “What do you want for it?”
“I don’t know.”
“How about some beef for his freezer when you butcher for yourself,” Lew said. “It’s the neighborly thing to do.”
Andy nodded emphatically. “You got it. Definitely.” He started the truck and turned around, then drove away as Brantley thought his legs would go out from under him.
“I would have made him squirm for a lot longer,” Lew said. “You’re too nice a person.”
“He should have just asked instead of being a dick, but should his cattle suffer because of it? They didn’t get the choice, and if they did, I’m sure they wouldn’t have been raising their hooves.” He put his hand in the air. “Please, please, I want to go home with an asshole.”
“You do have a point, but somehow I doubt the cattle would raise their hooves. Maybe they’d poop their choice.”
“In that case, someone misinterpreted shitting for going home with an asshole.” Brantley smiled for the first time in days, and Lew looked like he was about to fall out of his wheelchair.
“You have to stop,” Lew said, coughing because he was laughing so hard. “And we should go back.”
The dogs had gone quiet and were circling their legs. A chill went up Brantley’s spine, cold as full-on winter. He scanned all around, trying to figure out where it was coming from, but he had no idea. All he knew was he had a sudden and overwhelming sense that he was being watched, and it creeped him out. It wasn’t like there were tons of places where someone could hide—the land was largely flat and open, but that also left Brantley feeling exposed. He pulled open the back door and the dogs jumped into the car. Once Lew was in, he got the chair in the back and hurried around to get in the passenger seat.
“Let’s get out of here,” Brantley said. “Just drive and get back to town.”
Lulu climbed from the back onto his lap, and he held her like a shield.
“What about checking the house…?”
He turned to Lew. “Just drive.” Brantley continued watching, dark places multiplying before his eyes.
Lew started the engine and once again did his race-car-driver impression.
Brantley kept an eye in back, making sure they weren’t being followed. Not that it would be hard to anticipate where they were going, but he thought it was a smart thing to do. He saw no one and only relaxed once they were back at Mack’s. Not that that was turning out to be a particularly safe place, if the incident with Mack’s truck was any indication, but he felt safer there than he would out at his ranch alone.
Once they pulled into the garage and he’d helped Lew get inside, Brantley spent the rest of the day on his computer with the dogs curled around him. Lew took a nap in his chair at one point, and Brantley remained hunkered down until Mack got home about dinnertime. And he wasn’t in a happy mood.
“You should have waited until I could have taken you out to get what you wanted,” Mack growled when he found out where they’d been.
“It was fine, Mackenzie,” Lew said. “I needed to get out, and he got his things. We were just fine. If Erickson hadn’t come over, the whole thing would have been routinely dull. So lay off.”
“Dad, someone is after him. What if it’s Erickson? He wants the water on Brantley’s land so bad, who knows what he’ll do.”
“Well, he’s got it now, so if it’s him, he should lay off.”
Mack swirled back to him. “What’s this?”
“He came over with a dead cow in the back of his truck. His cattle are dying, so I said he could graze them on my land for a month. I figured it was neighborly, and I’m hoping if he’s the one behind this, now he’ll back off.” Brantley was of two minds about Andy Erickson. “I’m not using the land, and it’s sitting empty, so I’m going to help him for a little while even if the guy is an asshole.”
“It’s your land.”
“Yes, it is, and Andy Erickson will be over on my land, so it isn’t going to be as empty or unwatched as it was before.”
“What?” Mack asked his expression softening. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
Brantley looked toward the kitchen, and Mack nodded. He put his gun away, and when he walked away, Brantley followed. “I could have sworn while I was out there that I was being watched. The dogs felt it too. They clustered around us at one point and stayed close. They had been running around up until then, and if that’s the case, it can’t be Erickson, unless he can move really fast.”
“Not to diminish your intuition, but many times we feel like we’re being watched when we aren’t. If you’re feeling vulnerable or scared….”
“I know. But I figured I should tell you.”
“As far as I’m concerned, Erickson isn’t off the hook yet. I have talked to him about where he was for both incidents, and his alibi is sketchy at best. He’s hiding something, and I’m going to find out what it is. Also, Erickson has military experience. He was in the army for four years, and he’s a hunter. I don’t have enough evidence to get a warrant for his guns, but he has the qualities we’ve been looking for.”
“I bet there are others who fit that description as well.”
“Yes, there are. I’ve been going through everyone in town to try to narrow the suspect pool, and it’s taking time. Based on the person I saw, I eliminated the women who fit our profile.”
“We’re making a lot of suppositions. Like that all these incidents are related. What if they aren’t?”
“My brake lines were cut. They didn’t fail on their own. I think they were trying to tell us that they could get to you anywhere, even if you were here. I’ve seen this type of personality before. Only the last time, the suspect wasn’t as well trained.”
“Do you need to ask for help?” Brantley asked.
“It isn’t like I can bring in the FBI by making a phone call. In the grand scheme of things, this is a small case in a small town. Even though for Hartwick this is a huge deal, and I need to solve this soon, but I keep spinning my wheels. There aren’t enough clues to go on, and I need a little more information. But to get it, I have to wait until they act again, and that puts you and other people in danger. But I have no idea what he’ll do next.”
“So let’s sit down and talk about it. Sometimes talking about things will jar an idea loose,” Brantley suggested.
Mack pulled out a chair but stopped when his phone rang. “What is it, Julie?” Mack asked. “Oh… all right… stay inside and lock the doors. I’m on my way.” Mack hung up and dashed to the front door. “Julie said she saw a stranger on her land, and he seemed to be heading across to your place.” He paused to get his gun. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“With you,” Brantley said, hurrying right behind him.
“Brantley, you need to stay here.”
He shook his head and followed Mack outside. “We’re wasting time arguing.” He pulled open the door to Mack’s cruiser and got in. Mack got in the driver’s seat and started the engine.
“The only reason I’m not kicking you out is because it would waste time.” Mack peeled out of the drive and raced out of town at near takeoff speed. Brantley hung on to the “oh shit” handle as Mack broke all speed limits. By the time they reached his neighbor’s ranch, Brantley wondered if he’d shat himself.
Mack jumped out as soon as the car pulled to a stop.
Julie came over to them as Brantley got out of the car, gesturing toward the barn. “He went behind it and continued that way.” Julie pointed toward his land.
“Did you get a look at him?” Mack asked.
“Thirties, maybe, wearing camo of some kind. Not sure if he was a hunter or what.”
The camo description sent Brantley’s heart racing and ice water pooling in his veins.
“Stay here!” Mack ordered and called for reinforcements. “You hear me?” Mack asked like Brantley was a child, and Brantley agreed, his jaw tightening. “Just go inside,” Mack added less angrily, and Brantley joined Julie on the porch as Mack headed off.
“I have some tea,” Julie said as she motioned him inside. She locked the door and continued through the house to the kitchen, where Nathan was having a mac-and-cheese dinner. She gestured for him to sit, and he did.
“Mr. Brantley,” Nathan said happily. “I can ride my bike good now. Can I show him?” He slid down off his chair.
“You need to finish your dinner, and Mr. Mack asked us to stay inside.” Julie’s calm was shocking, especially since Brantley was shaking like a leaf. Thank goodness the others couldn’t see his legs quaking under the table.
“But, Mom,” Nathan whined. “You said I could ride if I was good.” He turned back to the table.
“I saw another of those vagrants, like a few weeks ago. Mack is going to see if he can find him. We need to stay inside where it’s safe.”
“What about the horsies and the cattle?”
“They can take care of themselves,” Julie said. “Now go ahead and finish your dinner.” She tapped the table, and Nathan returned to his meal, acting like each bite was a huge chore.
“Have you had vagrants out here before?” Brantley asked as Julie placed a glass of tea in front of him.
“A few times. Guys come out West to escape or be on their own, and they end up living hand to mouth. Some of them take to the land and try to live on their own. It happened more a few years ago, during the downturn. When people are desperate, they’ll try just about anything to survive. One man shot one of our herd and then tried to drag it off. I think his idea was to try to carve it up, but these are big animals.”
Brantley nodded.
“I think the guy thought that once he killed it, something would magically happen and it would turn itself into steaks and hamburger. Mack caught him easily, and he worked in town for a while to pay for what he’d done and then moved on.”
Brantley wasn’t sure if he could relax or not. He told himself that Mack knew what he was doing. Sirens sounded and got louder, and then cruisers zipped past the ranch and headed on toward his. He felt better knowing Mack would have backup, but he hated this whole thing.
“Why did you come out here?” Julie asked.
“I wanted a change in my life,” Brantley answered. “I know I could have, I don’t know, moved to the beach or something, but I was hoping to get closer to the land.” He drank some tea and then set the glass down. “I keep wondering if I did the right thing.”
Julie nodded as she moved through the small kitchen. “This can be a very hard life, sometimes with very little reward.”
“I suppose,” Brantley agreed, worrying more and more.
“You can work a piece of land, pour your heart and sweat into it for years, decades, and then in a few short, lean years, it can all be taken away.” She stirred something on the stove. “It’s one of the facts of life out here. You know, a few years ago, when they bailed out those banks and General Motors? Because they were too big to fail or some such crap?”
“Mom, bad word,” Nathan scolded.
“No one comes along to help the little guy.” She continued working as she spoke.
Brantley sat still, wondering if she was speaking from personal experience or in general. He didn’t want to pry into her business.
“Can I play LEGOs?” Nathan asked.
“Sure, honey.” Julie turned down the stove, came over to the table, and picked up her glass. “I’m sure Mack will straighten this out and get this guy.”
“Me too.”
Julie absently held her ice tea without drinking. “I heard what happened to you at the diner. Did someone really take a shot at you?”
“It seems so. Mack is still trying to put all the pieces together. This whole thing is really unsettling. He has me staying with him until this is resolved. I wish I knew how long that would be or what this man is up to.”
“We all do,” Julie said. “I used to let Nathan out to play while I was working in the barn. Now I keep him close. It makes my work harder to do, but I don’t want anything to happen to him. I want things to go back to normal just as badly as you do.”
“I bet it will help to have your husband home,” Brantley said.
“Right now I’m doing both our jobs. But Denny set things up pretty well before he left. He’s going to have some catch-up chores to do because there is only so much I can do alone.”
“Do you have people who help?”
“Not right now. I used to, but things are really tight.” She looked about ready to cry, and Brantley didn’t know if he should comfort her or not. “Somehow I know we’ll get through it.”
“I was wondering, do you give riding lessons?” Brantley asked. “I’ve wanted to learn to ride. It’s on my list of things to do.”
“Yes, though I don’t do a lot of classes. A lot of the kids out here know how. It’s one of the things that comes with growing up in ranch country. But I’d be happy to teach you.”
“I’d pay you for your time, of course,” Brantley said.
A sharp knock sounded from the back, and Nathan ran through the house. “I’ll get it.”
“No,” Julie said sharply, and Nathan skidded to a halt in his stocking feet. “Go back and play.”
He stayed where he was and waited until Julie returned with Mack behind her. “Sheriff Mack!” Nathan cried and raced to him as Brantley stood nervously.
“Hey, buddy.” Mack hugged him. “Have you been good for your mom?”
“Yes,” Nathan answered really quickly, and Mack reached into his pocket and handed him something.
“Put that in your bank for the next time you go to town.”
Nathan nodded and hurried out of the room, clutching what Mack had given him.
“We caught up with the man crossing your land. He’s as you described.”
“Is he the shooter?” Brantley asked.
“We’re taking him back to the station, and we’ll question him, but I don’t think so. He said he’d been out of work for some time. He said he was on the way to your ranch because he’d heard it was bought by a man from the city, and he was hoping you needed help,” Mack explained. “We’ll talk to him some more. The guy is half-starved, and from the looks of him, he’s been on the road for a while.”
“If you’re convinced it’s not him, then please make sure he’s fed and help him somehow.” Brantley came closer to Mack.
“There aren’t a lot of social services out here.”
“Does he fit what we thought?” Brantley asked. “Is he a veteran?”
“I’m going to guess he is,” Mack said.
“Then when you’re done, I want to talk to him,” Brantley said.
Mack looked at him as though he were crazy, but Brantley had his reasons. “If that’s what you want,” Mack said. “I need to get back to town.”
Brantley knew that was his cue; it was time for him to go as well. Brantley finished his tea and thanked Julie for her hospitality. He said good-bye to Nathan as well and followed Mack out to his cruiser.
“Did you have a good visit with Julie?” Mack asked once they were inside the car.
“She’s going to teach me to ride.” He wondered if he should share his other impressions. They were only that and not facts—she might have hinted at some things with him that weren’t common knowledge, and it wasn’t his business to say anything. He thought about telling Mack, figuring Mack would keep it to himself, but decided not to unless it became part of the case.
“That’s very nice of her,” Mack said in a somewhat distracted way. “You know what I hate?” he asked after a few seconds. “Investigations like this always affect more people than you ever expect.”
“How so?”
“People have secrets, and sometimes those are at the heart of a crime. Most of the time they aren’t, but when we’re investigating a crime, everyone’s secrets get brought out into the open.”
“I suppose,” Brantley agreed. “One of the tough things about your job is to figure out how to handle those other secrets.”
“Mostly I keep things that don’t involve the case to myself. If they haven’t broken the law, then it really isn’t my concern, and no one is perfect.”
They rode the rest of the way to Mack’s house.
“I’ll be home late tonight. I have a lot of stuff to do.”
“Okay,” Brantley said, reaching across to take Mack’s hand. “I know you’re trying to help.”
“I’ll be happiest when this is over and you are able to go back to your regular life.”
Brantley sighed as the car idled. “If you want the truth, I don’t know what the life I’ll go back to will look like. Coming out here was sort of a spur-of-the-moment decision.”
“Why? Was it a bad breakup?”
“You could say that. I had a partner of sorts, but not a romantic one. I couldn’t do everything on my own to manage the fund I was in charge of. There’s just too much work, and my partner did some things that weren’t right and tried to pin it on me. I caught wind of it and stopped him before things got bad and people lost money, but he ended up in trouble with the SEC. The side effect was that my reputation went down the shithole right along with his. And in that business, your reputation is everything. No one would touch me with a ten-foot pole. It didn’t matter that I had made billions of dollars—literally—for my clients.” Brantley clenched the hand that wasn’t in Mack’s.
“Were any charges brought against you?”
“Yes. But they were dismissed because I could prove, by sheer luck and the fact that I was with a friend, and she could verify it, when the transactions were made. The asshole hacked my account and used that to make the transactions. He bragged about it once they caught him.”
“So that’s why you got out?”
“Yup. And most of the people I thought were my friends ran scared. They had their own reputations to worry about, and the last thing they wanted was to be tainted by association. So I found myself on the outside of a business I once dominated.” Brantley shrugged and looked away. “I needed someplace completely different and a change of scenery, so I started looking out here.”
“And you stepped right into the middle of something that we can’t explain.”
“Exactly. I still think it’s about the land. That’s the only thing anyone out here could want that I have. I’m not part of the town, and I don’t have a history out here.”
“I checked out the people you gave me, and none of them are in the area as far as we can tell. So I’m thinking you’re probably right. But why? For the water? It isn’t like you’re using any of it, so the stream that flows out of it is stronger than normal and keeping the ranches downstream alive.”
“Have you checked to see who else was interested in purchasing the ranch before I bought it? Maybe the realty office has records of anyone Renae showed it to.”
“I checked her appointment book, and there were a few people, mostly locals, and I’ve eliminated them. That’s what has me baffled. The usual things aren’t yielding any results.”
“Then we need to try something different. When I’m trying to dig out a fact about a company, I’ll make some assumptions and see if their behavior fits. It sometimes yields results. So let’s assume someone wants the ranch for the water—who would want it most? We don’t have to worry about alibis or anything. Just make a list of potential buyers, and then we can eliminate them.”
Brantley turned from staring at the garage door toward Mack and found him looking back just as intently. He was damn tempted to lean in and take those full lips. Brantley was hard just thinking about it. He wanted Mack so badly. His hands grew warm just from his touch, and heat radiated up his arm to his chest before spreading through the rest of him. Was it lust or something more? At the moment, he wasn’t sure, and it didn’t matter much.
“I’ll see what I can dig up, and we’ll talk it over when I get home. Have you been approached directly by anyone?” Mack asked.
“Not that I would sell, but no. I don’t want to let it go. It’s a great piece of land.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I think someone wants it pretty badly, and if that’s true, then it must have some real value. In my former business, you learn that something is only of worth or valuable when someone else wants it badly. It seems someone might want my ranch badly enough to kill for it. Renae sold me the ranch, and they killed her and took a shot at me. They also cut your brake lines. I think most of this is a fear campaign. If I leave town and put the ranch up for sale, they’re betting I’ll sell it cheap just to get rid of it.”
“Okay,” Mack said. “But we’re no closer to who that could be.” He sighed softly. “Let me get together a list of people who might have been interested and go through Renae’s appointment book again for any more clues. We can review it tonight when I get home.”
Brantley let go of Mack’s hand and got out of the car. He went right inside, while Mack drove off to work.
“How did it go with Julie? Was it him?” Lew asked.
“Mack doesn’t think so. This whole thing is frustrating.”
“Give it time. People make mistakes, and this guy is going to make one too.”
“Hopefully before I’m dead, though,” Brantley groused and then wished he hadn’t. Mack was doing his best, and this situation wasn’t his fault. It was the fault of the son of a bitch who’d killed Renae. Brantley hoped to hell he got the chance to look the asshole in the eye and take a swing at him. “Have you eaten? Do you want me to help make something?”
“I was waiting for you and Mack to get back.” Lew wheeled himself into the kitchen, and Brantley followed. Most things had been brought down to Lew’s level. “I made some chili, so all we need to do is heat it up.”
“Thanks, Lew,” Brantley said. “I know this whole thing is an inconvenience, and I’m sorry. I hope to get out of your hair as soon as I can.”
“Like you’re an inconvenience. Most of the time I sit here all day pretty much alone except for the pack, and they don’t talk much. You ain’t a burden or nothing.” Lew got two plates and bowls, then set them on the table. “Have you heard about your truck?”
“They said it’s going to take another week. There are lots of parts they have to order, apparently.” He had thought of just buying another new truck and saying to hell with it, but spending money just to spend it was a waste in Brantley’s book. He was a lot of things, but never wasteful if he could help it.
“You can use my car if you need to. You can drive it regular and not use the hand controls,” Lew said as he put the first bowl in the microwave.
“I appreciate the offer.” He hoped his truck would be done soon, but it warmed him that Lew had offered his vehicle. Most of his friends in New York wouldn’t have done that.
“Have you met many people in town?”
“Well, let’s see. You know I met Erickson, and he was pretty much a jerk.”
“Yeah, but I bet that changes in a hurry. You’re saving his ass, and he better remember that.”
“I met my neighbor Julie and her son, Nathan. They’re good people, and she’s going to teach me to ride. I haven’t met the people on the other side of me.”
“To the north, that would be Cal and Martha Younger,” Lew said.
“Cal…,” Brantley said, trying to remember where he’d heard that name. “Huge guy, face that looks like he’s been in one too many fights?”
“Oh, you have met him. That man was shot at and missed, crapped at and hit, but he’s a dang good rancher.”
Brantley swallowed. “He was at the diner when Mack took me.” He didn’t think it was necessary to go into their little altercation. “I’m hoping that once people realize I didn’t kill anyone, they’ll come around. I suppose being shot at through the diner window isn’t making me hugely popular either.”
“Folks will understand. It just takes some time. It would have even without this whole nasty business. People around here are good, and they look out for their neighbors. We don’t get many strangers, though, and it will take some time for them to warm to you. You’re a nice guy, and they’ll figure that out once they get to know you.” The microwave beeped, and Lew carefully took out the steaming bowl of chili and set it on the counter. He put the second one in and started heating it. “I have coffee, but if you want something else, help yourself.”
When the second bowl was hot, Brantley brought crackers to the table, along with napkins. Then he set the bowls on the table and waited for Lew to take his place. “This looks really good.”
“Everyone does chili different. In Wisconsin, they add macaroni. I don’t like that. And Texans will tell you that chili doesn’t have beans in it, but I like them.”
“Me too.” Brantley took a single bite, and the flavor exploded in his mouth. Lew’s chili was spicy, with plenty of onions, heat, and lots of meat. He ate a lot of crackers and drank tons of water.
Once they’d finished their bowls, Lew pulled a bowl of fruit from the refrigerator, and they both scarfed down the cool fruit to put out the mouth fires.
“That chili is something else.”
“Too spicy?” Lew asked.
“Nope. Just cumulative.” Brantley grinned and felt like he’d passed some sort of test. They finished their coffee, and then Brantley took care of the dishes. As he stood at the lowered sink, his hands in dishwater, he stared out the window as the wind blew through the trees, and he pondered how long it had been since he’d been part of a family, like this. Well, this wasn’t his family, but being here temporarily was nice.
“Where are your people? Your family?” Lew asked from the other room.
“They’re a real mess.” Brantley was glad he was in the other room so he wouldn’t have to see Lew’s expression. “My dad is a teacher at a college of divinity in Virginia. He helps turn out crops of fire and brimstone. My mom is a devoted wife, which means she goes along with whatever my father says and acts like one of those bobblehead dolls you see in cars. They raised me and my two sisters the best they knew how, but they weren’t prepared when I told them I was gay.” He held his breath. He wasn’t sure if Lew knew about Mack or not.
“Big deal,” Lew said. “Mack told me about himself when he was eighteen. He’s my son and I’m proud of him no matter what he does.”
Brantley took that as Lew accepting him as well. “My family and I agreed in a dish-throwing, yelling, and ‘you’re going to hell’ sort of way that it would be best if I didn’t stay around any longer. So I went off to college and pretty much left them behind. I always knew that being gay was something my father could never understand or accept.” He rinsed the bowls and put them in the dish drainer.
“Then he wasn’t a real father,” Lew said as he wheeled himself into the kitchen. “Parents are supposed to accept and support their children. Being gay is part of who you are, and you can’t change it, so rejecting you for something as stupid as that is just dumb.”
“It went against my father’s core beliefs, and rather than change them, he rejected me. I accepted it a long time ago. I hear from my younger sister every once in a while. She’s a junior in college, and she’s really starting to think for herself and get out of Dad’s shadow. My mother never will, and my older sister is just like her.” Brantley rinsed the silverware and glasses before letting out the water, then cleaned the sink and wiped his hands.
“Any man would be proud to have a son like you.” Lew patted his arm twice and then left the kitchen again, rendering Brantley dumbfounded. People seldom surprised him, but Lew had just accepted without batting an eyelash what his entire family had rejected.
“You know I knew about you already,” Lew said from the other room. “I’ve seen the way you look at Mack.”
Brantley swallowed hard. “I think a lot of him. It takes a strong man to admit when he’s wrong, and Mack not only did that but has gone beyond what anyone else would do to try to keep me safe.”
Lew came back into the kitchen. “You know that the way you look at Mack is the same way he looks at you. Mack has been alone for quite a while, and it’s a shame. He has a lot to offer, and I want him to be happy.” Lew went back into the living room, and when Brantley joined him, he was shifting to his chair. “It’s been just him and me for so many years.”
“Mack said his mother left when he was young,” Brantley said, and Lew nodded, settling into his chair with a sigh.
“His mother was gorgeous. Her name was Liliana, and I called her Lily because she reminded me of a simple, beautiful flower. I wooed her, and after we married, we moved to be closer to my family. We could have lived on the reservation, but I could get work here and there were no jobs on the reservation. I think that was my first mistake. Taking Lily away from her people and the life she knew was too much. But Lily didn’t complain. She and I were happy and in love. After two years, she got pregnant, and then we had the excitement of the birth to look forward to and everything was good. But after Mack was born, Lily went through bouts of deep depression. She’d go to bed for days and needed help I couldn’t give her.”
“Postpartum depression can be a terrible thing,” Brantley said.
“I think it was for Lily. She took care of Mack and was a good mother, but she was lonely, and eventually she came to me and said that she wanted to go home. I asked if she needed someone to talk to. I made an appointment with a doctor, but she didn’t go to the appointment and left Mack with a neighbor before going back to the reservation.”
“Did she see Mack after that?”
“No. I got a call from her brother a few weeks later that Lily had taken her own life.” Lew wiped his eyes on his sleeve. “So it’s been Mack and me ever since. I raised him and tried to be both mom and dad to him. It wasn’t easy.”
“Do you ever talk about her with Mack?”
“No. He doesn’t remember her. He knows what happened, and I’ve tried to keep him focused forward, rather than on the past. I have a few pictures of Lily around, but I never framed them and put them up. There was no need. I always answered Mack’s questions honestly, but she was gone, and we had lives to lead. Lily wasn’t coming back.”
It was clear that Lew still missed his wife. “This is still hard for you, isn’t it?”
“You wouldn’t think so after all these years, but it is. Friends encouraged me to date again, and I did a few times, but it didn’t feel right. And I had a hard time trusting again, so nothing ever happened.” Lew put the recliner up. “Sometimes when I’m asleep, I see her in my dreams.” Lew smiled and turned on the television, signaling that the heart-baring and soul-rending portion of the evening was at an end.
Brantley got his computer and sat with it on his lap while Lew watched TV and dozed in his chair. As the evening wore on, Lew said good night and went to bed. Brantley whiled away the time, waiting for Mack, who finally arrived home at nearly ten.
“Is Dad asleep?” Mack asked softly when he came through the door.
“Yeah,” Brantley said as he looked up from the screen, the dogs all curled around him. They jumped down and circled Mack for pats and scratches. Then Lulu walked down the hall, most likely to Lew’s room, and the others settled back on the sofa.
“What a night. The guys and I went over everything, and we’re no further ahead. I have them trying to run down a few things, but our leads are petering out fast.” He put his gun away and took off his belt and hat, then loosened his shirt buttons. “I know we were going to go over some things, but I’m so tired, I can barely think straight.” Mack flopped onto the sofa next to Brantley.
“I’ve been working on a few things,” Brantley said. “There’s Andy Erickson, who wants my land for the water. But you said he has an alibi.” And he’d hate to think that he was actually helping the guy who’d caused all this trouble. That would be a load of shit. “You said it was a man you saw outside the house the other night, so that rules Julie out.”
Mack nodded. “True. Julie doesn’t have military training, but she is a hunter. Erickson has military training as well. His alibi is a little weak, but he has one. I can press him for more if it comes to it, but he says he was with his wife, and she doesn’t deny it. I need to look into him further. There was something that bothered me.”
“And I found out that the Neanderthal at the diner is my other neighbor. Have you looked into Cal Younger to see if he has an alibi?”
“I did and he doesn’t. Cal said he was at home when Renae was killed, and he was in the diner when the window was shot, so either the incidents aren’t connected or Cal is off the list.”
“So that takes care of my neighbors and most of the people I’ve met since I got here.”
“The Clark place runs across the street from you, but they have water and are big enough that if they wanted the land, they could afford to buy it outright, so I doubt it’s them.”
“Then there has to be someone else, or we’re missing an important detail.” Brantley closed the lid to his laptop. “I don’t know the people here well enough to be asking a bunch of questions.”
“I’m going to pay visits to everyone tomorrow. It’s time to shake the tree and see if anything falls out.” Mack yawned and stood with a groan. Then he left the room, half dragging his feet down the hall.
Brantley watched him go, disappointment blooming inside and spreading like spilled tar. For most of the day, he’d looked forward to Mack coming home. Just seeing Mack was enough to get his heart beating faster. Maybe he didn’t have the same effect on Mack. Brantley turned off the television—he’d been ignoring it anyway—and put out the lights before going to the guest room. He sat on the side of the bed, listening as the water ran in the bathroom.
He wasn’t going to blame Mack if he was too tired or had forgotten about their make-out session the night before. Brantley had to remember that just because he’d felt something, or thought he had, didn’t mean Mack had felt the same thing. He’d made that mistake more than once in the past. Johnny came to mind first thing. Brantley thought they’d had a connection, but all Johnny had wanted was to try to cash in on him. Brantley didn’t think that was what Mack wanted, but he had been wrong before, and all the insecurity he’d endured after Johnny dumped him threatened to push its way forward. Maybe he just wasn’t meant to have a boyfriend.
Brantley was so deep in his own head, he hadn’t noticed the water stop or the bathroom door open. But he couldn’t help noticing the wide shoulders and light copper skin as Mack stood in his doorway.
“I feel so much better,” Mack whispered and took a step into the room. “Did you think I’d forgotten you?”
Brantley refused to acknowledge what he’d feared.
Leo raced by Mack, jumped onto the bed, and settled at the bottom, with Rex not far behind.
“Guys, get off,” Mack said, and they jumped down, looking like they’d been denied food for a week. “Go sleep in the living room.” Once they’d left, Mack closed the door. His gaze turned to Brantley, simmering. He stalked closer, towel swinging slightly, a bulge in the most important place.
Brantley lifted his gaze, raking it over Mack’s narrow waist and up his tight belly, which rippled slightly with each breath. He reached out, running his finger over a pink line above Mack’s hip.
“That’s where I was shot the first time. The bullet grazed me, but it hurt like hell.”
“And this?” Brantley asked, running his hand up Mack’s side to a long scar on his shoulder. “Another bullet?”
“Yeah. It goes with the job and the life.” Mack stilled. “A lot of people can’t handle it.”
Brantley nodded. The depth of the pain in Mack’s voice spoke of personal experience. “I can handle just about anything,” Brantley said. The scars brought into clear relief how dangerous Mack’s job could be, but it seemed that, out here, anyone could be in danger, and it was Mack’s job to keep everyone safe. Brantley leaned closer, bringing his lips in contact with Mack’s belly, kissing along one of the ripples.
Mack cupped Brantley’s cheeks in his large, hot hands, tilting his head upward until their gazes locked together with laser intensity. “I know you can.” He leaned down and brought their lips together.
The room grew very warm as Mack intensified the kiss, pushing him back onto the soft mattress. It cradled him as Mack added more of his weight. He smelled of soap and shampoo mixed with musk and desire. Brantley held Mack tightly, running his hands down his powerful back until he reached the edge of the towel. He yanked, and the terrycloth came away in his hand. Brantley dropped it to the floor and smoothed his hands over Mack’s firm butt. “I want you, Mack.”
“And I want you.” Mack sucked on Brantley’s ear. “I’m going to get you naked so I can finally look at you in all your enticing glory. Then I’m going to make you pant and shake for me.”
“I have little doubt of that.” Brantley was damn near shaking as it was, and while Mack was naked, he was still fully clothed. Though he got the idea that he wasn’t going to be for very much longer.
“Let’s get this shirt off,” Mack growled, pulling at the hem and tugging it over his head and off his arms.
Damn, it felt right and amazing when Mack’s chest met his. Skin to skin. He wanted to writhe just so he could rub against him. Hell, Brantley did it anyway until Mack stilled him and pulled open his belt and pants, then yanked them off his legs.
Mack stood next to the bed, staring intently at him. Brantley squirmed again, hoping Mack liked what he saw. Mack scooped him up and placed him with his head on the pillows.
“I feel like a teenager,” Brantley said.
“Why?”
“I swear I’m going to come just watching you.”
Mack climbed back onto the bed, and Brantley used the proximity to close his fingers around Mack’s cock—thick, hot, and long. He stroked, and Mack quivered above him. Damn, that was heady—a strong man like Mack shaking for him.
“You need to give me a chance to breathe, because thinking unsexy thoughts certainly isn’t working. You’ve pushed everything else from my head except you,” Mack said, and took his mouth in a kiss that drove everything from Brantley’s head. Shootings, truck brakes, fears, worry—they all shot out of him like they never existed, and Brantley clung to Mack. He slid his legs along Mack’s rough ones, their chests filling with air and pressing together. Brantley pushed Mack’s hips to his, thrusting upward just to get a hint of friction.
“Sweetheart,” Mack breathed into his ear. “Just take your time. We have all night.”
“Do we? What if someone comes and tries to sabotage your truck again, or shoots through the window?”
“Then we’ll stop. But it’s going to take something like that to get me to walk away from you right now.” Mack traced his finger along Brantley’s jaw. “Just let that go.” He slid his finger down Brantley’s neck and throat, and Brantley stretched to give him better access. Mack leaned forward and licked under his jaw and along his neck.
“Damn,” Brantley breathed and gripped the bedding in tight fists as Mack sucked his chest, clamping a nipple between his greedy lips. Brantley thrust his chest forward, desperately wanting more. He needed everything, wanted it all at once. He wasn’t sure where to put his hands and ended up lying back on the bed while Mack had his way with him. “God!” Brantley groaned. He was afraid he was too loud, but Mack didn’t wait any longer, sliding his lips down Brantley’s shaft, encasing him in scorching wetness that sent lightning surging through his veins.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” Mack said when he came up for air. “You taste like sweet honey.” Mack flashed him a smile and then sucked him into his mouth once again.
Brantley had been staring cross-eyed at the ceiling, but he raised his head—he had to see his cock sliding between Mack’s lips. God, that had to be the hottest sight he’d seen in a long time, and the way Mack smoothed his hands over Brantley’s belly and hummed around his cock sent little jolts of desire through him and was nearly enough to send Brantley over the edge.
“I can’t last…,” he pleaded, desperately wanting to hold him and last a little longer.
Mack thankfully backed away, and Brantley flopped back on the bed.
“You…,” he moaned as he gasped for air. “Were the one… who said… we had… all night.”
“We definitely do, but I wanted to give you a sample, and I couldn’t resist a taste of you.” Mack sat back and rolled Brantley onto his belly. Then Mack stretched out on top of him, his cock pressing along Brantley’s ass.
Brantley pushed back against him, moaning when Mack sucked at the back of his neck and then slid down his back. He yipped when Mack lightly bit one of his buttcheeks. “What are you doing?” he asked with a smile, nearly ready to chuckle. The sound died in his throat when Mack pressed apart his asscheeks and buried his face between them, licking his opening, sending Brantley into orbit. “Man….”
“Has no one ever rimmed you before?” Mack asked, then blew on his wet skin, threatening to blow the top off Brantley’s head.
“No.” He whimpered like a baby, wanting more but afraid to ask for it. Mack seemed to understand and sucked at his cheeks. Brantley had never considered himself a butt man. He’d liked anal sex and all, though he’d never been over the moon for it, but whatever Mack was doing to him had him wondering just what he’d been missing out on all these years.
“I know I can be a little pushy and demanding, so if I do something you don’t like, just say so,” Mack said.
“I… ah… I….” Brantley gave up. The only thing he didn’t like was the fact that he was looking at the pillowcase instead of Mack’s studliness.
Mack slipped away, and Brantley wound his arms under the pillow, stretching out, wondering what glorious sensation was next. “You look so ready for me,” Mack whispered as his warmth surrounded him, hovering right above him.
“I am, but is that fair?” Brantley slowly rolled over.
Mack held himself above him on his thick arms and then lowered himself down, covering Brantley and sending fire radiating through him. “Honey, it’s more than fair.” He stroked Brantley’s cheek. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
“Me?” Brantley clutched Mack in case he changed his mind and pulled away. “I’m not the one all full of huge muscles. I’m skinny and nerdy. I’ve spent my life indoors, so I’m pale and pasty.” Brantley shimmied away and sat up. “You’re the one all tan and warm, with eyes as deep as the night and hair that makes me want to run my fingers through it as I wonder what it would feel like to have these silky strands wrapped around my cock.” Brantley put his hand over his mouth as he realized he’d actually said those words out loud. A wicked little fantasy was one thing, but to actually say it out loud was something else. He blushed like a teenager and turned away from Mack.
“Is that what you really want?” Mack asked. “You have a thing about my hair?”
“Yeah, I do. But I didn’t mean to say that. It’s totally embarrassing. Just forget it, okay?” He wanted to crawl under the bed and hide forever. Hell, maybe the floor would swallow him up.
“Sweetheart, we all have our fantasies. Right now I’m thinking about what it would be like to slide inside you so deep, you feel me for days,” Mack whispered just loud enough for Brantley to hear. It sent a shiver through him, and his eyes lost focus for a few seconds.
“God, Mack.”
“Is that okay?” Mack parted his legs and settled between.
“I can’t believe you want me,” Brantley breathed.
“I don’t know the source of that insecurity, but I intend to do my best to wipe it from your memory.” Mack leaned closer. “See, you have this adorable little line that goes from your hip….” Mack traced it with the tip of his finger, and Brantley wasn’t sure if he was going to giggle or groan.
“I’m a nerdy guy who spends his days behind a computer.”
“You’re adorable.”
Brantley would never have admitted to anyone that being described as adorable or cute was a turn-on, but coming from Mack, it definitely was. He’d take being adorable if feeling alive and like the center of the universe came with it. Mack certainly made him feel that way.
“Did you ever see yourself with a county sheriff?” Mack said.
“I haven’t seen myself with anyone for a very long time,” Brantley admitted, and he wondered if he was going to have to adjust his image of himself. It was too soon to really put the two of them together in his head. Things didn’t usually work out for him in the romance department, and he was scared.
“I understand that.” Mack made little circles with his finger around Brantley’s belly button.
Brantley held his breath as Mack slowly rose from the bed and reached over to the nightstand. He pulled open the drawer and took out a bottle and packet before jamming it closed again. “Do you always keep condoms in here?”
“No. I suppose it was a ‘hope springs eternal’ sort of thing.” Mack returned his attention to him, quickly using his lips to make Brantley forget all about it. “I want you, sweetheart. I want to be inside you, with you. If it’s too soon, please tell me.”
“Too soon?” Brantley asked, tugging Mack down into a kiss. It was his turn to take Mack’s lips. It hadn’t occurred to him that Mack might have been hurt the same way he was or that there could be an ounce of insecurity in him. “No. It’s not.”
“I’ve been told I’m too aggressive—” Mack began, but Brantley cut him off with a demanding kiss.
Now was not the time for explanations. Brantley understood aggression. He hadn’t become the manager of a hedge fund by sitting back and letting it happen. He knew aggression because he had it as well, just focused in a different way. For him, physical aggression—contained and not meant to hurt, but to please—was the sexiest concept he could get his head around. So when Mack prepared himself and then got into position, pressing into him with banked power, Brantley met his steely gaze with one of his own.
“Fuck…,” Mack groaned, and Brantley arched his back when Mack breached him and then slowly slid deeper. The stretch and burn were overwhelming but settled quickly. What drove Brantley’s eyes to cross and made his skin tingle was the warm feeling of completeness that descended over him. It didn’t last long, because the heat Mack poured out was too great to ignore, but he loved that contentment for as long as it lasted.
“Damn,” Brantley moaned when Mack stilled, as if he were afraid to move. When Mack did finally move, he groaned. They moved together slowly, deliberately. Like Mack had said earlier, they had all night, and he seemed intent on taking his time, building the desire and passion slowly, stoking the fire one piece at a time until it turned into a raging inferno that Brantley feared might consume him completely.
Time stood still. Hours and minutes outside their bubble meant nothing as Brantley held Mack tight, urging him forward, wanting all he was willing to give—until he could hold back no more and cried out his release into Mack’s shoulder as Mack followed right behind him.
Brantley gasped and lay back, closing his eyes, letting the experience settle over him. Mack slowly pulled away and took care of what he needed to, then joined Brantley on the bed, tugging him close. They were alone, behind a closed door, and for a few seconds, Brantley could imagine that they were safe and that the world couldn’t touch them, but that was, of course, an illusion. The danger stalking him would show up once again, and they needed to be ready.