Page 18 of Stone Cold Sinner

“Most, not too long, but you’re implying that whoever did this knew where they were and how to avoid them. That’s a very small group of people,” Cut argued. “People we trust and who have been with us a very long time.”

“Or, it was done on the property, and the trail cams aren’t part of the theory,” Ransom added, playing devil’s advocate.

Coy nodded in agreement. “You’re right, and that makes it an even smaller group of long-trusted individuals who are now on a suspect list. Either way, this is something sinister, and it happened right here on our land where our family lives.”

“We could all be in danger,” Ransom deadpanned.

They all looked toward the main house, where he could hear the faint laughter of small children.

“We need to call the Sheriff,” Cut fumed. “Instead of standing around here and playing who done it like a game of Clue, we need to call the Sheriff and get this figured out.”

“Not yet. I’m running this one until we know more, and we’ll use my resources. They are far better than the local law has access to anyway.”

“Coy…” Cut seethed. “That’s my family in that house over there.”

“Cut, I hate to say it, but he’s right. We have no idea what we’re dealing with or who. Give him time to run this –– at least get a jump start before we bring in local law enforcement. I’d offer up my resources, but I’d worry about a potential leak to the press and additional danger it could provoke.”

“Good point. Let’s keep this contained. BK Security will be fast and discreet. Besides, it doesn’t hurt to run through past cases of mine and Dillon’s –– this could be a revenge case or sending a message, especially with all of us here together.”

“Good point, Coy,” Ransom agreed. “Can’t forget political adversaries either. Better start a damn list. I’ll brief my detail, no real information, just escalate security. I can bring in more agents if needed.”

“Don’t worry about that. We don’t want to draw attention,” Coy said. “I already took care of extra security and started running this with a team back at BK.”

“Y’all work fast,” Nash said under his breath.

“What about Nora and the kids? Devyn, too.” Cut was concerned. “I know Dillon can handle herself, but they’re not prepared to face this kind of potential danger.”

“I’ll loop Dill in when we’re done here,” Ransom said. “Let’s keep her near Nora, Dev, and the kids for now. They tend to break off together anyway, so it won’t feel out of the ordinary.”

“And nobody leaves the property until we know if this is a current threat or old and resolved. Not alone anyway. Not even you two.” Coy pointed between Cut and Nash.

“It’s getting close to the baby coming, so Nora has more frequent appointments. I can go with her to those, and it won’t seem unusual to her. But the kids have preschool, dance, karate, and whatever else Nora has them signed up for. And if I offer to go shopping for nursing bras with her, she’s going to know something’s up. It’s going to seem really odd if suddenly I’m going to everything and no longer ranching.”

“Dillon. She can handle those outings. The doting aunt who just wants time with her niece and nephews and happens to have secret service in tow because she is the First Lady despite how much she hates the role.”

“Perfect. If Dev takes off and Dillon isn’t around for any reason, we’ll have to put a tail on her. Can you handle that, Ran, or will that leave your detail too light?” Coy asked as he pecked at his phone screen.

“I can handle it, assuming you have a few extra firearms and ammo that I can keep on me. As President, I’m not supposed to carry, but desperate times… And you know I can handle myself. It’ll be like old times.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, but best to be prepared.”

“We’re not going to be able to keep them in the dark forever,” Cutler said, “I don’t like keeping things from Nora. I also don’t want to worry her, not now, not when she’s so close to having this baby.”

“We’ll loop them in when we have something to tell them,” Coy added. “There are just too many unknowns, and we’d likely add more worry than necessary. When we start narrowing this thing down, everyone is in the loop. I already have extra help enroute.” Coy held up his phone, indicating that’s who he had been messaging moments before. “They’ll work on finding out whatever they can on the remains and anything else we might need, and it’ll all be under the radar. You see a chopper fly over –– it’s them. Pay it no attention. Easy in and out that way.”

“Should I turn off the trail cams?” Cut asked.

“Nah. They can skate around them fairly easily with jammers. They’ll never be detected,” Coy replied.

“Never detected? I don’t feel as safe with those cams as I did five minutes ago.” Nash nervously chuckled. “You sure we shouldn’t just get the sheriff here on this?”

“You sure you even want to ask that?” Coy snorted. “‘Oh gee, I plowed up my brother’s illegal pot farm and found human remains underneath, sheriff. What do we do?’ The first thing they’ll do is put you in cuffs and take you in for questioning. Then, the rest of us.”

Coy turned to Nash. “What do you know about the people you were in business with over those plants? We need to find out everything we can and quick.”

“Oh no.” Nash began to pace. “You think that’s what this is? That I brought this here?”

“Well, what do you know? Were they ever here? What do you know about them, Nash, but more importantly, what do they know about us?”

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