Page 21 of Dark Horse

“It’s a political appointment until the next election. He could get it if he was kissing the right ass. Which is apparently what he’s been doing since he left,” I answer him absently. My mind is already rushing ahead to a list of possibilities, each one more dire than the next.

Jay had been part of the mess we found ourselves in last year—not immediately speaking—the double homicide and the arson and the whole rest of the ugly summer the three of us shared was ours alone. But the impetus behind it—the robbery gone wrong and the fact that we’d ended up with something someone very clearly wanted on the black market—that had been a gambit my uncle and my father had been running together. It was one they’d largely kept Levi and me out of the loop on. When I’d asked questions in the wake of my parents’ deaths nearly six years ago, Uncle Jay had told me it was need-to-know only, and apparently, even as the new head of the Horsemen, I didn’t need to know. He’d said it would needlessly complicate my life, and he could handle it on his own.

I hadn’t trusted him then, and I certainly don’t trust him now. On his way back to Purgatory Falls without a single word to his family? On the side of the law, no less. Something had me wary in every new layer of this information, and I needed to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible.

“When? Did they say when?” Levi immediately starts asking about the facts. He’s usually more in a rush to unravel a problem than I am.

“Nah. No details. I just caught the tail end of a conversation. They didn’t seem happy about it. Seemed to think he wasn’t the right one for the job,” Ramsey explains.

“Wonder why?” Levi rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

Corruption runs rampant on both sides of the law aroundhere, but it’s more than a little odd for someone from our family to start swimming on the right side of it.

“Has he reached out to you yet?” Ramsey looks at me.

“No. Nothing. Still silence.” It leaves an unsettled feeling in my gut. I turn my glass as I think through how to handle it. “We’ll see if he decides to check in when he gets here. Until then, you’d better start keeping an eye on it.” I look at Levi.

“Do I want to know what that means?” Ramsey looks between us. Ramsey’s the youngest of all of us, and since he went from college straight to playing pro ball right around the time our parents died, he missed out on the family business. Last year dragged him all the way back in, and he’s still trying to adjust to that circumstance. It doesn’t help that his wife, for good reason after last year, wants him clear of it all.

“Probably not,” Levi responds casually, watching as our server walks by. “I’ll look into it though. Could make it work for us.”

“Somehow I doubt that.” I shake my head. “He might not cause trouble for us, but given his silence, I don’t think he’ll be inclined to help.”

“Won’t want to bring too much attention to the family name.” Levi surmises.

“Let’s at least give him a chance to reach out before we decide what he wants. I thought he and Dad were close?” Ramsey’s the optimistic one. That’s the thing when you don’t have to be neck-deep in the family business—you can pretend that people aren’t their worst selves.

“They were close out of necessity for the business. There wasn’t any sort of real love lost between them. Especially when Uncle Creighton left everything to Dad and us. It set him off,” I explain.

There’d been times when Jay played the uncle to us kids. We went fishing and camping a few times. He alwayscame over to play cards with dad and there was the occasional summer barbecue. But the older we got, the less we saw of him.

“Any chance he’s feeling remorse for the way he handled that now that he’s on his own? Maybe he’s hoping he can come crawling back to the family?” Ramsey asks.

“After all the silence, you mean?” Levi shakes his head. “I don’t care if he shares our last name. I’ll treat him like every new sheriff we’ve gotten. If anything, we should be more wary, given that he knows too much about our business model. With everything he’s seen over the years…” Levi’s eyes lift to mine as he trails off, concern etched across them.

“He won’t. There’s no way he wouldn’t go down as collateral damage. And if there’s one thing that man values, it’s his own interests,” I counter.

“Don’t we all.” Levi’s practical nature comes through. “I’ll look into it. See what I can find.”

“Good. We’ll monitor it. If anything comes of it, we can discuss what the next steps should be.” I down the rest of my drink and slide the glass to the edge of the table.

“Well,if that’s settled, I’ve got the second thing I’ve gotta drop on you.” Ramsey looks between us and swallows another sip of his drink before he motions to the server for a water.

“Which is?” Levi looks at him expectantly.

“If this is another special request for the wedding…” I narrow my eyes at my younger brother. I’d do just about anything for him, especially now that he’s back in town, at least part-time when he’s not playing, but the attention to detail for this wedding has reached official state-event levels.

“Not exactly a special request, but Hazel’s decided she wants to do something special at the ranch in lieu of a weddingshower. Wants to do a couple of days and an overnight. Her family, mine, and the folks on the ranch if they want to come too.”

“What exactly are we doing?” Levi looks as suspicious as I feel.

“Just sitting out by the fire, some games, good food… that kinda thing.” Ramsey sits back in an awkward way that makes me feel like he’s not telling the whole truth.

“What kind of games?” I press the issue.

He smirks and looks into the distance like he’s thinking about her now. I have to suppress my own smile in return. It’s been so fucking good to see my kid brother smile again, and his happiness is almost contagious.Almost.

“If I tell you, you won’t come, and she’ll have my ass for ruining it.” He looks at me, his brow worried.

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