Page 144 of Double Bucked

“Hell,” the man cusses. “You have to make such a mess?”

“Dumbass was spilling everything!” Holden snaps. “Couldn’t have him talking about Oculus all around the station, could I?”

The back doors open. One security guy grabs Everett; the other grabs me. I’m yanked out of the car, and I’m barely able to stumble forward before he’s dragging me away.

They pull us toward the stables. It’s a smaller stable than the one at the Preacher Ranch but a louder one. A couple of horses huff when we enter. I can hear pigs squealing down the way.

The guide kicks my legs out from under me, and I fall on my ass. He uses the rope to tie me down to the bars in the fence. Everett gets tossed down beside me, and they do the same to him.

Now, we’re both tied up. Unarmed. Trapped with two grumpy-looking security guards.

“If you’ve got a rabbit up your ass,” I tell Everett, “now’d be the time to pull it.”

“Why would I have a rabbit?—?”

We don’t get to chase that hypothetical train of thought. The barn doors open, and a pair of clean, black dress shoes walks in.

Arris Dagney crouches down in front of us. Jade lingers in the shadows behind him. Her eyes widen when she sees me, but then she looks away. At the floor. At the horses. At anything but the evil her husband has created.

He checks his watch and sighs. He motions to our bound bodies, as though this is all our fault. “We have to make this quick,” he says. “In ten minutes, the parade will be over, and Claire’s float will pull up to the estate. I’ve been waiting a long time for tonight. I’m not going to have you two ruin it.”

“Chaining us up isn’t going to stop it,” Everett says. He’s got this calm, hard edge to his voice. “It’s over, Sergey.”

Arris’s eyes flash. Then he smiles. It’s a slow, creepy smile. “It takes a liar to know one, doesn’t it, Everett Hollow?” He stretches out Everett’s name like a curse. Then, he rattles off his facts: “Lived at an orphanage from ages three to eighteen, at which point you were recruited to the military. Navy SEAL for two tours. And then…redacted. Which means you either got very smart or very gutsy. Valuable traits in my profession.”

Then Arris does something strange. He takes Everett’s chin in his hand. He pushes his thumb into Everett’s mouth and lifts his upper lip, inspecting his teeth. The same way we do when we’re finding a horse to breed. “Good genes,” Arris comments. He releases Everett from his grasp. “Good stock. Would be a shame to let it go to waste. Tag him and send him in with the ladies.”

“Why are you doing this?” I snap. “Money?”

Arris’s mouth turns downward, disappointed. “Money. The only motivation your small mind can think of. I seek perfection. Breeding horses is nothing to breeding heiresses. Some men will give anything for that level of perfection. The perfect legacy. Leaving nothing up to chance.”

“Is that what Randall Preacher wanted?” Everett asks.

Arris lets out a short sigh. “He was a special case. He used my services. Purchased a Belleflower Queen of his very own. And when he got his legacy…I never asked for money. I only asked for one thing. That when she came of age…she’d return to the flock. You can’t imagine what purebreds go for in my line of work.”

Coldness seeps into my veins.

Claire. They’re talking about Claire.

Mr. Preacher purchased her mother. Paid to impregnate her. And when Claire came…it was only under the stipulation that they’d sell her, too.

Rage climbs through my veins. It makes my voice shake. “You fucking psycho…you ain’t gonna get away with this.”

“But I have,” Arris cuts in. “For thirty years. Do you think you’re the first that discovered what was going on here?” He stands up then. He flicks his wrists toward us. “Send Everett in with the women. Kill the cowboy.”

The security guards lift their guns toward me. I feel my body tense up. I test the limits of the rope. “Hold on a minute?—”

“Wait.”

Help comes in a surprising shape.

Jade steps forward. She slips her arms around Arris and looks at me over his shoulder. “Don’t. I need him.”

Arris narrows his eyes. “For what? His children will have bad teeth and a poor man’s accent.”

“I resent that,” I say. “I’ve got all my teeth.”

Beside me, Everett chuckles.

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