Page 19 of Stone Cold Savage

“Well, I…” she paused, unsure what to say. “I… Kenzie?”

“Honey, I love you, but he’s right,” Kenzie said as she turned in her seat to look Devyn in the eye. “That was dangerous. Your heart was in the right place, just at the wrong time. I’m glad Rip was able to rescue that kitten for you, but that could have gone a hundred different ways.”

“And Coy?” Devyn asked with a quivering lip.

“Will be fine,” Kenzie said with hesitation. “He’s… going to be fine.”

Devyn shook her head and cradled the kitten tighter, “Who are you trying to convince Kenzie? Me? Or yourself?”

6

“I found the car in town, but nobody was around. My guess is they had another vehicle waiting and ditched it,” Coy said as they all sat around the table. The car came back stolen from Oklahoma, and the plates were stolen from a different rig from the other end of Texas.”

“That car had a purpose, and it wasn’t a good one,” Kenzie added.

Rip looked at Devyn, “So this was an attempt on a hit. No accident.”

“We don’t have proof, but how could it not be at this point?” Coy asked.

“Sis, I don’t think you should leave anymore,” Nash said, landing a comforting hand on Devyn’s shoulder. “I don’t like how this is going.”

“I’m pretty content just staying right here on the ranch,” Devyn said, holding the kitten they’d rescued as she fed it a bottle. “Besides, this little lady needs round-the-clock care. You don’t suppose she was part of the plan, do you?”

“I doubt it.” Coy grinned. “They didn’t really need to lure you with a cat to do what they were trying to do. And to be fair, they were likely aiming for any one of us.”

“Well, coincidence or not, she’s either the reason I was in danger or the reason I was lucky,” Devyn said, kissing the top of the kitten’s head.

“Danger’s a good name. Suits her.” Rip said as the kitten tried to make his way to Diesel, whose curious head was in Devyn’s lap while Rip was working diligently on a computer. “I’d watch him close with her.”

“Aw, Diesel’s a good boy. I think he likes her.” Devyn said.

Rip snorted, “Yeah, as a snack, maybe.”

“He’d never…” Devyn rubbed his nose, and Diesel quickly pulled his head away from her touch and used it to push the kitten back up to Devyn’s chest. “See? He’s protecting her.”

Rip watched Diesel, gentle as can be, “You’re going to untrain all the tough shit right out of him.”

“Nah. He’s still a tough guy on the outside. He just has a gentle soul. Common theme around here.” She said, looking around the room.

“Right.” Coy said, rolling his eyes, “I did a sweep, and there aren’t any cameras anywhere in this damn town. Whoever was behind the wheel today had just enough of a jumpstart on me to get into a different rig and disappear. For all I know, I drove right by them and wasn’t the wiser.”

“Dashcam,” Rip said. “My rig has one. I’ll download the footage and run it. See if anything hits.”

“It’s worth a look, but I don’t recall seeing but maybe a couple of other vehicles, and a couple were people I knew that have lived here as long as we have.”

“Still might be worth a look, though,” Dillon said. “Get me the footage. I’ll do the analyzing. I’ll know who’s local and who isn’t.”

“Did anyone else find the timing of that car suspicious?” Kenzie asked.

“Like maybe our friend Ellis Steele gave them the heads up were on the move?” Coy asked.

“Bingo.”

“Yeah, I thought about that too. We have his phones being monitored. Anything comes out of that office, we’ll know it. As of right now, it doesn’t appear there was a call made or message sent.” Coy shared.

“You have a warrant for that, right?” Devyn asked.

“Of course.” Coy winked, then looked at Ransom, “He’s the warrant.”

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