Page 67 of Not A Whisper

“My father wouldn’t have done it himself. It’s too messy,” Grant shakes his head with disgust. “But he’d have hired someone to do it to get under Kai’s skin. Dad has to know that the help on the ranch would hear things he wouldn’t about who bought the property our ranch sits on and is pressing Kai in particular to find information out.”

Jason shakes his head with disgust. “No doubt about it.”

“This… this is….” I grimace, unable to find the right words.

“This is fuckinginsanity.” Grant places a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Your dad isn’t going to know about this, and we’re going to make sure they don’t get any more packages like this again. Tonight, Jay. We’re doing this tonight.”

The tendons in Jason’s neck tighten as he gets to his feet. I rise with him, watching for signs he might still be dizzy. With a nod, he snatches his phone off the table and moves away from Grant and me.

“I’ll go grab my parents.”

“If he’s going this far with your parents, he might do something to upset Carlos,” Grant hedges. “I’m going to call Trip.”

With that, the two of them step back and bring their phones to their ears. What is happening? Clearly something is being put in motion. The Nani’s and Mr. Baniker are being taken somewhere…

Grant gets off the phone first. His jaw ticks as he looks off, deep in thought. I reach out and take his hand. He flinches, his head whipping around until his gaze lands on my face.

“What’s going on? Where are you taking the Nani’s?”

The worry melts away. Not completely, but when he smiles, it’s soft. “We’re taking them to their new home. It’s ready. We were going to wait until this weekend to show you, and them, but I think it's time.”

“Wait, really? You managed to pull it all together in just twenty-four hours?”

Grant nods.

“Alright then, let’s go now.” I move toward my front door. “Oh, let me get you that key. I think it’s safe to say all games are over.”

Seventeen

It’s nearly two hours later when we turn down the long stretch of driveway that leads to the ranch.

That’s mostly my fault. Grant wanted to head out right behind Jason, who took off after checking to see where his parents were, but I’d made him stop so I could grab food for everyone. It sounded like we were in for a long night. Food is the least I could do.

Now, with a tray of sandwiches, bags of chips, and cases of drinks in the bed of the truck, we’ve arrived. Parked out front is Jason’s truck and a Baniker work van. Inside the house, I catch movement. Whoever it is moves too quickly for me to identify them.

“The lights are on.” I’m not sure why I expected the house to be dark, but seeing it lit up excites me.

“I had the power turned on over the weekend when the first of the work crew came by,” Grant says as he parks in front of the house.

Grant turns off the truck and stares into the darkness around us. It’s not too late, barely past eight, but it's so dark outthat where the light from the house doesn’t touch, it’s nearly pitch black. Even the stars are blocked out by thick clouds. Is it possible we’ll get a snow flurry soon?

Despite the darkness, there's no missing the stately property before us. Outdated and needing a great deal of TLC, it won’t be ready for guests for a while. Still, there is charm in the antiquity of what’s here. One day, there will be other buildings on the property, grand and awe-inspiring. This place is going to be amazing.

“Yeah, it will be.”

I jump a little as Grant agrees with the thought I’ve unknowingly spoken out loud. When I turn to face him, he’s staring straight ahead. He must feel my eyes on his profile though because he turns to face me.

“But one step at a time,” Grant says quietly. “I didn’t think thefirststep would be moving my extended family out of my dad’s reach right away, but it’s the best,safest, move right now.”

I can’t agree more. Reaching for the door, I mutter, “We should go in and?—”

“Hold on.” Grant grabs my other hand, his long fingers wrapping around my wrist and holding me firm. When I turn to face him, Grant’s staring at me intensely. “First I need to reiterate something.”

“Um… ok?”

Grant’s shoulders rise and fall as he sucks in a deep breath and lets it out.

“Jason’s parents, Trip’s dad… They don’t know about the money we inherited from my uncle or our business plan. The guys have told them the bare minimum: that we came into some money and that this is our property. They don’t even know this is the property Garry’s been asking about.” Our eyes meet. “If they ask, youcan’ttell them anything, alright? The less they know, the safer they’ll be.”

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