Page 5 of Stalked at Rescue Ridge

The thought of setting foot on ranch property after making a vow never to return made him sick to his stomach. His siblings were counting on him, and besides, this was their chance to sell off the no-good piece of family history and stick it to a cruel man in the process. Those thoughts reminded him of the reason he’d made the trip. For a bonus, he would get to see his five siblings all in one place. Kade couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.

The Sturgess kin were hours away from starting a process that would finally give them their freedom. Kade, for one, couldn’t wait to see what it felt like to finally be free.

The tall genehad skipped Chloe. She was a solid foot shorter than Kade.

“How’s my favorite sister?” he asked as she greeted him on the porch of the Sturgess home. The place was grand, a showpiece meant to display the family money, money that hadn’t trickled down to the children even if Kade would have accepted it. He wouldn’t have. But his single mother sister could have used a hand up. As it was, Kade sent half of his pay to her despite her protests, and he had no regrets.

Chloe smiled and rolled her eyes. “Don’t you mean youronlysister?”

He hugged her and then patted her on the head. “I might mean half a sister.” Short jokes always got an eye roll and a laugh out of her. Today, her smile didn’t reach her eyes as she gave him a once-over.

Concern lines scored her forehead as her gaze lingered on each battle scar. “What happened to you?”

He motioned toward the boot on his right foot. “This? It’s not bad.”

“It’s bad enough to be medically boarded,” she blurted out before realizing she should have applied a filter. “I’m heartbroken about Zeke,” she said, compressing her lips into a frown as she shifted topics.

More of that guilt slammed into Kade, threatening to consume him. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find the right words.

Chloe threw her arms around him and buried her face. “I’m sorry. He was a good person and a good friend.”

“Lot of good that did him,” Kade bit out through clenched teeth. He would never forgive himself for letting Zeke down. Ever.

“I heard you’re going to receive a medal for your act of bravery,” Chloe continued.

“I’m the last person who deserves to be decorated,” Kade said.

Chloe drew back. “You put your life on the line to save him, according to what I heard.”

Kade shook his head. “What good did it do?”

“I know you’re hurting, I just—”

“Talking about Zeke won’t bring him back,” Kade cut in. He was done talking. Looking over her shoulder rather than make eye contact, he asked, “Should we go inside now?”

His sister stood there for a long moment, studying him. Kade still refused to meet her gaze.

After a long, slow exhale, she said, “Everyone’s already inside.”

Kade was the oldest at thirty-four years old. Twins Archer and Owen were next at thirty-two. Hudson and Conrad had come in back-to-back years, thirty and twenty-nine, respectively. And then there was Chloe, the baby and only girl, who was twenty-four years old. Her son Grayson had recently turned three. She refused to discuss her son’s no-good father, except to say that he’d been clear about not wanting the responsibility of a kid after she’d delivered the pregnancy news. When pressed, Chloe had said the jerk moved to Santa Fe with his aunt to pursue his dream of becoming a jewelry artist, but something was off about the story. Maybe she was testing out explanations to figure out which one to tell her son later. It would be just like Chloe to want to protect Grayson at all costs so he would never feel less than. Abandonment did bad things to kids’ heads. The Sturgess kids knew that best.

Mostly, Kade figured the dude disappeared to shirk his responsibilities and smoke pot all day. His baby sister deserved much better than a guy willing to walk away from his own child.

His thoughts snapped to Zeke’s unborn child. He knew where the other half of his military paycheck would go if he could figure out how to get Bree to accept the money. She was proud and had an independent streak a mile long. Traits that had drawn him to her. But even she had to realize bringing up a kid was expensive.

Once this meeting was over, Kade needed to find a way to bump into Bree. She’d slam the door in his face if he showed up unannounced. Between now and then, he could only pray the right words would come to him. So far, he had nothing but a sincere apology for her loss.

“Are you coming?” Chloe asked, impatience edging her tone. He’d been lost in thought, unaware she’d turned toward the door.

Shake it off, dude.

Kade nodded, then followed his sister inside.

The massive tumbled-stone house looked more like the lobby of a fancy hunting lodge than a home. Deer heads hung on walls with cathedral ceilings. There was enough leather furniture to skin an entire herd of cattle. He shook his head at the cruelty and waste that surrounded him.

Stepping deeper into the house spiraled him back to a time when he’d been a defenseless child up against a grown man. Kade blinked, gave himself a mental headshake, and refocused. Compartmentalizing his emotions had gotten him through growing up under the thumb of an abusive father. His mother had finally fled after one beating too many. Now, he understood and couldn’t blame her, but as a child, the abandonment had changed him. Made him harder. Made him unable to trust. Chloe wasn’t old enough to remember much about their mom. Kade had kept track of the woman the best he could. Before shipping off, he’d tracked her down to a broken-down home in the bayou.

Kade shook off the memory. He needed to stay in the present in order to deal with the reading of the will. No doubt, Beaumont had written in some kind of loophole that would be a PITA, pain in the ass, for Kade and his siblings.

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