Page 12 of Stone Cold Savage

“You’re ungrateful.”

“You’re spoiled.”

“You’re… big.”

“I don’t think that’s an insult.” He grinned. “But thanks for noticing.”

“Are you two done?” Coy asked. “Or do we need to send you two over to the children’s table?”

“I’d say put them in the corner together until they can get along like Mama used to do, but somethin’ tells me that’d be a bad idea.” Nash snickered.

“Eww.” Devyn sneered.

“Eww?” Rip flexed his pectoral muscles, making them bounce, and winked at her.

“That’s enough, you two,” Coy warned. “Dev, it isn’t his fault you were scared. It was mine. I didn’t tell you he was going to be here because you were outside with the kids when I got word he was on his way up to the house.”

“You should’ve told me, Coy.”

“You’re right, and I intended to. But to be fair, I did let everyone know I had help coming in, and Rip is the help. He is much needed around here and will be an asset while we get to the bottom of this shit. So, play nice.”

“Fine,” Devyn said, glaring across the table at Rip. “Just stay out of the woods next time –– I won’t aim for the jacket next time.”

“You only get to shoot me once before I shoot back.” He warned.

Her brow raised, “Noted. Let’s eat.”

4

“The body isn’t in the system.” Rip shared with the group as they finished up their meal.

“That’s a good thing, right?” Nash asked.

Coy shrugged, “It depends on how you look at it. If they were a known criminal, we probably would have had a match. They’d be in a database somewhere, and fortunately for us, our resources have us linked internationally.”

“The downside,” Kenzie chimed in, “Is we are back to square one, and just because they weren’t in a database doesn’t mean they were a well-intentioned individual. There’s a reason they’re dead, and their body was buried here.”

“It doesn’t mean they were ill-intentioned either, though.” Coy shared. “They could have been a victim of a crime.”

Nash let out a low and slow whistle, “Buried here? That means whoever did it…”

Coy nodded, “Likely had, or has, ties here.”

“So, we could be looking at a ranch hand?” Kenzie asked as an explanation. Or, a family friend?”

“Or family member,” Rip said. “I mean that respectfully, of course, but we can’t rule out anything without more information.”

The family traded looks of concern.

“My money is on our sharpshooter over there.” Nash winked at Devyn across the table.

“Not the time or place, Nash.” She fired back with a glare. “You’re lucky he was friendly, and you should be thanking me because if he wasn’t… I was the only one stopping him.”

“Because everybody else knew he didn’t need to be stopped.” Nash snorted. “You really freaked out.”

“You haven’t seen shit yet, brother,” Devyn warned. “You’re next if…”

“Told you she wasn’t to be underestimated.” Kenzie grinned and said to Coy under her breath.

---