Page 3 of The Roper & the Author

Benjamin Oliver was a depraved lunatic on every most wanted list, and the Colevilles had helped protect his daughters Jacey and Elizabeth from him. Walker had never known a human, let alone a parent, to be so corrupt and selfish. Aiden and his team of expert security personnel had been searching for Benjamin but to no avail.

King Frederick was a dictator who had taken over the country of Banida by a military coup two years ago and then proceeded to invade neighboring countries and kill millions of innocent people. He and all his closest supporters had been hunted down and terminated or captured by an elite Navy SEAL unit two years ago. His son Wilhelm had never been found and had been presumed dead in an earlier battle.

“Sadly, you heard me correctly.” Aiden spread his hands and shook his head. “The past few weeks, Benjamin has appeared to be colluding with the world’s most dangerous criminals to try to build up his financial reserves and return to power. The assumption is he’s doing a favor for Wilhelm Frederick for a large payout.”

“The favor?” Easton asked.

“Securing funds from Miss Richards, torturing her for the information they believe she has, and then murdering her.”

“No cap!” Easton exploded.

Walker’s eyes widened and he took the words like a gut punch. He looked from Aiden to Nick and back again. They both liked to tease and joke. Neither of them had a glint of humor in their blue eyes currently.

“What does torturing and murdering that angel do for either of them?” Walker asked. Money as a motivator for criminals made sense. Marci hadn’t come across as an extremely wealthy person, but even securing Aiden’s protection showed she had significant financial means.

“Marci Richards is a bestselling romantic suspense author,” Aiden said.

Walker’s brows lifted. That was impressive.

“She wrote and released a series of eight books featuring a dictator eerily similar to King Frederick right as he began his reign of terror. There was no way she could’ve known about the coup and Frederick’s intentions of possessing the Delta Weapon, a devastating hidden weapon of mass destruction. She claims it was inspiration from heaven like all of her books, but King Frederick and his people didn’t see it that way. They were certain there was a spy or mole who revealed it to her. They harassed her with emails and even some visits. Marci wisely hired me for her security and they left her alone. Plus the fact their world imploded not long after.”

He took a breath and continued, “Everything died down. My men installed security sensors and cameras in the guest house Marci had built on her grandmother’s Key Largo estate after she graduated university, but we haven’t had a guard assigned to her in over eighteen months. Her grandmother insisted her own security was good enough. Yesterday, Marci was away at a writing conference. When she returned home, her grandmotherhad been forcibly taken. The perpetrators must have planned to kidnap Marci but changed their plan when she wasn’t home. They left a handwritten note. The prints on the note are Wilhelm Frederick’s.” He nodded to Nick.

Nick clicked on his phone and read, “‘Tell us who the spy is, give yourself up, bring five million dollars, or Grandma dies.’” Nick glanced up. “Miss Richards is to meet them on a certain pier at Key West tomorrow night. We’re sending Autumn Cardon to impersonate her, with the money and a team of eight backing her up. We’ll have a boat and helicopter ready to follow.”

Walker nodded and saw his dad and Easton doing the same. Autumn was an impressive and gorgeous female op who loved to flirt and tease with Easton, and probably every other man she met. Easton was a player to the tenth degree and liked Autumn’s teasing. Just another reason his brother could not have ‘dibs’ on Marci.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this and hopefully capture Wilhelm Frederick and Benjamin Oliver.” Aiden gritted his teeth. “That man is treading on my last nerve. But we wanted Miss Richards safe and far away from any danger until it is finished. Which brings us to our favorite impressive cowboys.” He smiled and his charm was restored.

“How do you know Benjamin Oliver is involved?” his dad asked.

“Intel from the dark web.”

“Interesting.” Their dad turned to them. “Well, boys. Looks like we’ll be busy, as usual.” He smiled. Papa Jared was as driven as any man Walker knew. He’d expanded his great-grandfather’s ranch and land and his father’s successful bull-breeding business. He’d also invested in real estate ventures throughout the country and trained his sons and ranch hands to be warriors, his vision of a protective custody ranch coming to fruition. Papa liked busy, and he liked a challenge. “Easton,I’m assigning you to stay by Miss Richards’ side and sleep in the room next to hers.” He inclined his chin to the upstairs of the main house.

“Now wait a minute,” Walker protested. “I want that assignment.”

“I’ll bet you do,” Easton teased, grinning, but there was a load of frustration in his eyes. He’d never had Walker challenge him when he wanted to go after a beautiful lady. “But you didn’t get it. Papa and Miss Marci Richards chose ‘da bomb’.” He gestured to himself.

Easton and Walker hadn’t come to blows in almost three months. Walker was too laid back to let his twin goad him often. If Easton couldn’t talk about this reasonably and honor how deeply Walker felt for Marci already, apparently it was time for a battle.

He pivoted to his brother, fists clenched.

“Walker.” His dad’s voice was a warning. “You’re due in Amarillo tomorrow through Sunday. You can’t leave Joey high and dry.”

Walker ground his teeth. He mostly focused on steer roping, but his good friend Joey wanted to qualify for the NFR this year in team roping. He’d agreed to help his friend out and liked the challenge of a different style of roping. He’d won the national steer roping championships two of the past five years. Though it was recognized by the NFR, it wasn’t an event at the most epic rodeo on earth. He liked the idea of competing with the best in the world in team roping. Currently, he and his partner were number seventeen, and only the top fifteen were selected for the events in Vegas. They needed as many wins and as much practice as they could get at national rodeos before the finals in December.

“That’s right, bruh, you are.” Easton clapped Walker on the shoulder. “Guess I didn’t need to call dibs. Fate knew Marci andI were written in the stars.” Easton darted for the front porch steps.

Walker would’ve leaped after him and knocked him down, but his dad grabbed his arm and lowered his voice. “No need to go fighting about a lady you don’t know who will be gone before you know it. You need to let your heart heal from Lily and pray for the right one to come around.”

Walker shook his head. His brother or dad could claim it had only been a few gazes, one touch, and some words, but he knew Marci Richards was the right one for him.

He wasn’t a sucker who fell for any pair of pretty brown eyes. He’d been loyal to his dreams of Lily for years and had only stepped down because of his love for Clint. Now he realized the good Lord had been paving his path, as He always did, and had brought the right angel for him into his life. Marci could heal him, lift him, make him laugh, love him, and he would do everything in his power to love, inspire, and protect her.

How could he leave the woman of his dreams to the vulture, aka his twin brother, while he flew to Amarillo? Easton would chew her up and spit her out. Walker knew Easton would never move past his longing and pain for Cassie Johnston; Marci would just be another fling.

How could he protect his Marci from his twin? And get his own chance with her?

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