Page 61 of Rolling Thunder

“But who is more determined…” Kayla repeated aloud to herself wistfully. She prayed that Trent would be like all the bully ponies who would take advantage of a kid’s weakness until they found out they couldn’t anymore.

CHAPTER 25

With Trent behind bars and Jake and Bill still on the farm with Kayla, Evan reluctantly went to meet Dan to work on the house with the fancy pool. They’d bought this house to flip as an investment before signing with the show. It was now the last remaining sell-for-profit property they had, as everything had now been converted to rehabbing hurricane-damaged homes for their owners.

There had been a couple of milestones. On the first house they’d finished, Evan nervously followed as the inspector went through signing off on his work. Evan knew what he was doing. He was confident in his work. But still, this would be the first tangible approval from the world that he had done something legal and done it well.

Many men released from prison returned to lives of crime. What they were became ingrained in them. They belonged in the shadows, they belonged on the edge where they didn’t really matter, and they’d had to fight for every breath. Their only freedoms were stolen, and their only good times were borrowed, to be taken away at any second. Evan had no intention of living his life like that. The one thing he held on to like a lifeline out of the dark was his righteousness. He knew the truth, even if no one else did.

Evan’s reintroduction into normal life had been a gentle climb. The first job they’d done was a humble bungalow. The For Sale sign went up the day they finished and Dan posted the listing. It sold quickly and sold well, and they moved on to a slightly nicer flip.

Each time, it got a little better. The profit was a little more exciting. Each one felt like a step on the road to redemption for Evan. He was making an honest living. There was no way he was going to turn back now.

The focus shifted with the show, and they were no longer flipping houses for only for profit. They were saving the multicolored cottages on the coast and the coastal islands and other offbeat secret gems that attracted equally colorful people. The ratings reflected the viewers’ enjoyment of their unique focus as well, and the network stopped pressuring them to refurbish the elite luxury homes.

This house with the pool had been their one concession, and it was already under contract for a cool million more than they’d paid for it. That evening, they sat on the attached boat slip and shared cold beers as the sun set.

“We really did it,” Dan said.

“You say that every time we sell one.”

“You’re right. But this isn’t just…getting by. We’ve really made it. Me and you are gonna be living in one of these three-mil bitches.”

Evan scoffed. “I wouldn’t want to. It’s nice to look at, but I don’t belong out here with the old money and the tourists.”

“You could at least move out of the swamp.”

Evan cocked a grin in Dan’s direction.

“But you got a reason why you want to stay there, don’t you.”

Evan nodded. He did. The mysterious struggling horse trainer.

He looked down at his healing knuckles. Dan followed his gaze, but said nothing. He’d had a close call with his past getting on prime time, but now he’d actually committed a real crime. He and Jake ran Trent down after he attacked Kayla at the farm. Trent crumpled pretty fast after being chased down like a bitch in the street. All his bravado was gone. In the moment, it had been satisfying to see him cower by his car, squinting out of his battered face. Now Evan looked at his hands and wondered if he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life. He’d already done his duty, which was to protect Kayla. Chasing after Trent had just been revenge. Would Trent squeal? Would Evan be charged with assault, or worse, would Kayla?

As if he knew Evan was thinking about him, Jake texted, asking Evan to meet for a beer in town.

“I gotta go,” he said to Dan, standing up and taking in the view from the waterfront one last time.

“There’s a place I want to show you tomorrow. Might be the next one,” Dan said.

“Sure. Text me the address.”

With that, Evan rolled out and headed toward the bar Jake had told him to meet at.

Halfway there, he was accosted by a colorful flashing palm tree and a sign reading the Dancing Palm with a silhouette of a naked girl. He rode by slowly, feeling bile in his throat. He hoped to God she never set foot in that shithole again. Happy to put it in his rearview, he headed on past it to the place Jake suggested they meet.

“Hey,” Jake said, stopping him before he dismounted in the parking lot. Jake looked deadly serious.

“Is something wrong? Who’s with Kayla?”

“Canyon Bill and Road Kill are there. The coast is clear. Listen,” he continued, “if anybody goes down for tuning up Trent, it’s gonna be me.”

Evan stared at him.

“If the cops try to pin it on you, I’m gonna take the ride for it. You got a good girl who needs you. Understand?”

Evan nodded grimly. The last thing he wanted was for either of them to go to jail over a low life like Trent. He understood that his brother was trying to make it right. It was the moment; this was Jake trying to balance the scales between them. He needed that as much as he needed not to go back to prison.

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