The hair on the back of Linc’s neck stood on end as he pushed open the front door of the cabin.
It felt like when he was in the service and would know immediately when something wasn’t right. But this time it wasn’t an ambush awaiting his unit, or a hidden IED. It was Emmett making himself at home… in Linc’s home. And he was sure making a mess doing it.
Beer bottles were strewn on the coffee table. One on its side as the remains of the contents leaked out onto the antique wood.
One of Eva’s Christmas ornaments had fallen from the staircase railing where Emmett had obviously knocked it off at whatever time he finally made his way downstairs from the bedroom.
The television was on, loud, and he was watching—mother fucker—a new release movie that he’d rented on Linc’s account.
His skin crawled as he itched to grab the remote and set up every protection he could to prevent his cheap ass, low life cousin from renting anything else.
The old adage about flies and honey crawled through his brain. As did Sun Tzu’s advice—friends close and enemies closer.
Forcing his anger back, Linc closed the door, but before he tossed his keys on the table he thought better of it and shoved them into his pocket instead. Emmett borrowing the truck without asking while Linc was looking elsewhere wouldn’t be a surprise. Not at all. Sad but true.
Linc had his own adage—once a piece of shit, always a piece of shit.
“Hey,” he said, standing actually in Emmett’s line of sight before the man noticed him.
“Oh. Hey. You back?”
“Uh, yeah.” Obviously, dickhead. “I’m gonna eat and rest for a bit, then head back out for the afternoon chores… if you’d like to come and help out.”
Emmett had the aw, shucks, wish I could expression down pat. He probably used it enough to get out of work.
He managed to look disappointed as he said, “I think I tweaked my back. Must have been sleeping on that bus getting here. I’m gonna rest it. Wouldn’t want to do any more damage.”
“Wouldn’t want that,” Linc agreed. Piece of shit. “Speaking of your trip here—what inspired this surprise? Anything special?”
Tearing his gaze from the movie, Emmett shook his head. “Nope. Just figured it was time for a visit.”
Linc dipped his head. “Yeah. We haven’t seen you since you and Maggie both left town. How is she doing, anyway?”
“How is who?” Emmett asked, eyes back on the screen.
“Maggie. Darcy’s old nanny.” The girl you got pregnant. “You two seemed pretty close there at the end.”
That got Emmett’s attention. “She still working for Wyatt?” he asked.
“No. She left town right about the time you did. I thought you two might be together.”
Emmett looked relieved at the news she was gone. Happy even as he shook his head. “Nope.”
“So you haven’t heard from her?”
“Not a peep.”
No doubt that was by design. Emmett’s cell number stopped working right after he left. He must have either canceled the account or changed the number.
Linc had tried calling to see where the hell his cousin had gone and if he was coming back since it was calving season and they’d needed the extra set of hands. But Emmett had made sure he wouldn’t hear from his family or the poor girl he’d left to deal with her pregnancy alone.
This conversation was going nowhere. All it had done was make Linc more angry. It definitely hadn’t moved him any closer to knowing why Emmett was back or how they could best get rid of him.
With a sigh, Linc turned toward the kitchen. “I’m gonna grab some lunch.”
“I’ll take some of whatever you’re making. Thanks,” Emmett called after him.
He let out another sigh. “Sure.”
Things didn’t get much better. Although Linc did sneak up to his bedroom, log into his account on his laptop and put a passcode on any future movie purchases. Thank God for child protections. They worked for unwanted houseguests too. That made him feel moderately better as he reached for his jacket by the door.
Emmett had moved on to playing video games now, on Linc’s console, of course.
“I’m heading out,” Linc said, raising his voice to be heard above the Call of Duty soundtrack.
“Okay. Oh. Wait.” Emmett actually paused the game. Linc figured what he had to say must be important. “We’re out of beer. In case you wanted to pick up more.”
Jaw clenched, Linc nodded and grunted a noncommittal, “Mm-hm.” Over his dead body. “You gonna be here when I get back?” he asked, hoping the answer would be no.
“Should be. I think I’m gonna take a nap after this. I’m feeling pretty tired.”
Laying around drinking other people’s beer while watching their TV and playing their games must be exhausting.
Linc drew in a breath. “All right.”
He’d channel his emotions. Use them as inspiration to create a plan of action.
His family needed to get this inheritance situation straightened out and fast. Because the situation there in the cabin could not continue or someone was going to end up hurt… or worse. And that someone wasn’t going to be Linc.
“Oh, one more thing.” Emmett again paused the game.
“Yeah?” Linc paused, wondering if Emmett was going to put in an order for some take-out dinner, as if he was some kind of a delivery service.
“Eva…” Emmett began.
Linc’s eyes narrowed. “What about her?”
“First of all, how is she here and living in my apartment?”
“Your former apartment. You stopped paying rent there a year ago. And she came looking for you.”
“Oh, did she?” Emmett’s eyes lit as he looked a little too intrigued and interested in that information.
The jealous streak Linc didn’t realize he had kicked in hard. Time to knock any ideas out of his cousin’s head. “I believe the plan was to castrate you for what you’d done. Why?”
Emmett didn’t look as worried as he should, proving he didn’t know Eva that well at all. Linc didn’t think she’d actually chop off Emmett’s balls, but there were other ways to punish a man and he believed Eva capable of any number of them.
“How did she know where to find me?”
Linc could have told him Eva was possibly a hacker and definitely a computer whizz, but providing Emmett with any information at all seemed dangerous. Call it intuition. Gut instinct. Whatever.
It would be best to keep any explanation to a minimum. Instead of revealing the truth, Linc shrugged. “Not sure how she found out you were in Bitter End, but she did.”
“Hm.” Emmett grunted. “Anyway, I gotta get into that apartment. I’m gonna need you to drive me down to town later and run interference with her so she’ll let me in. She seems to like you.”
Linc hated that Emmett’s comment about Eva liking him had his heart leaping. Yes, he wanted Eva to like him. He really liked her. But he didn’t want Emmett anywhere near her. And he really didn’t want his cousin’s opinion on his relationship with her.
He also didn’t want Emmett invading Eva’s space and upsetting her. “If you tell me what it is, I’ll get it for—”
Emmett shook his head. “Nah. It’s better if I look. You know, I’m not even sure where I left it.”
That stunk of a lie.
But if whatever this missing object was, was why Emmett had returned, it made sense that once he had it, he’d leave again. And if he snuck out of town without a word or a forwarding address or phone number like last time, then the will situation might be solved—or at least tabled until this particular bad penny showed up again.
That might be the best they could hope for, for now. And to make this happen, he’d have to get Eva to let Emmett inside her home, which was going to be fun.
“All right. I’ll work on it.” He hated doing what Emmett wanted but in this case, it might benefit all of them.
Outside, Linc pulled out his cell and instead of texting, called Eva’s number. Some things required a real conversation. Getting her to let the snake, as she called him, inside her home seemed like one of them.
“Yeah?” she answered.
“Hey, um, it’s Linc.”
“I know,” she said with a duh in her tone. Which he deserved because of course he’d come up in her contacts by name.
He cleared his throat and began again. “Hear me out. I figure if we can let Emmett find whatever it is he left in your apartment, maybe he’ll leave and we won’t have to worry about—”
“Fine.” Eva’s single word cut him off.
“Excuse me?”
“Bring the snake over. I’ve locked up all my valuables in my car and hid all my underwear, because I’m betting he’s a perv as well as a liar, but let him have at it. He can search the apartment to his heart’s content. But I’m not gonna be here for it. I’ll leave the spare key with Rosie. He can pick it up, and leave it there again with her when he’s done.”
Confused but relieved, Linc said, “Okay.” It took him a beat, but he finally asked the question uppermost in his mind. “Why are you so willing to let him look?”
“Because you’re right. This is what he came back for. Maybe he’ll leave once he has it.”
Something about her tone, her sudden change of heart about letting Emmett into her place, and the way she kept talking about the mysterious it, clicked in Linc’s mind. “Do you know what he’s looking for?”
“Nope.”
That answer had come too fast. She knew something. And if he knew her at all, she was going to try to use what she knew to do what she’d promised. To get rid of Emmett.
Pride and something else swelled in his chest as he cradled the cell phone close to his ear. “All right. I’ll bring him over right after I’m done with afternoon chores.”
She let out a snort. “Which he’s not going to help you with, I’m sure.”
“You would be correct.” He smiled at her accurate guess. Eva was smart on so many fronts. It didn’t matter if it was knowing people or knowing computers.
“I’ll make sure I’ve left for the mansion by then. Poppy’s attempting to cook family dinner. Do not bring Emmett with you.”
That might be tricky. “I’ll try my best.”
“Try hard,” she said before surprising him by disconnecting the call without even a goodbye. Although nothing Eva did should surprise him. It was one of the things he loved best about her.