Page 17 of Cowboy's Way

“Frost is coming back with some news,” Risk starts in without greeting. “Demo said to get your ass to the clubhouse.”

“News?” My voice is as horse as my brain is fuzzy.

“The kind they didn’t want to relay over the line. You got about forty-five minutes, not that you’ll need nearly that long to disappoint Faith.”

I hang up before he can get any more digs in and after a quick stop in the extra bathroom, stand in the doorway of my room, looking at the tangled mess of covers, pillows, and woman in the center of my bed.

It doesn’t look like she’s touched the glass of water I left on the nightstand, and not wanting to startle her, I softly call her name.

“Who?” The word pops out of her mouth as her head pops up, her eyes wide as she looks around my room.

Biting my tongue on a comment about owls, I make a clicking noise instead. “You feeling alright?”

She nods, and I can see one of her hands moving under the covers as if checking to make sure she’s fully dressed—and she is, or was, when I put her to bed.

“Sorry to wake you, and you can stay as long as you like, but I got some work I need to handle,” I explain, approaching and sitting on one side of the bed. “I was wondering if you’ve ever been on a horse before.”

“No,” she whispers, looking uncertain.

“I got a real sweet mare out in the barn if you want to go for a ride with me later?”

“What if I had said I had?”

“Well, her sister’s a real feisty one, but honestly, I wouldn’t let you ride Lucy until I saw how you did on Ava. Now, I gotta get my horses and chickens fed, then take off. Don’t worry about locking up, I rarely do.”

Not being in a position to easily lean across the king-size mattress to give her a kiss, I settle for patting the area I judged her legs to be and stand to go.

“Course, I’d be real happy if you were still here when I get back.”

“Are you leaving Bruno?”

“Are you trying to steal my dog?” My stern voice pulls a laugh from her. “But no, unless I’m on my bike, he’s generally with me.”

“Demo makes a strong case for how it’s his bike …” she teases me.

“I’ll pay you back for that later,” I call over my shoulder.

By the time I’m pulling up to the secondary dock for the clubhouse, I hear a lone bike pulling in just before the motor shuts off and assume I got here just in time. Entering church, I notice it’s just those of us who hold positions—with the exception of the guys who are still on the road.

“What has Nickel found?” Demo immediately asks Frost.

“You know how he gets when he’s checking books, right?” From the way Frost starts off, I settle into my seat, knowing he’s going to make it a longer story than it needs to be.

“Okay, so the past couple of days, he’s all work, no breaks—even though Mabel seemed like she was making a play for him. Now, he’s still keeping me busy, interviewing some people they’ve done work for and checking on records at city hall. All seems good until Cal drives up in a brand-damn-new Corvette last night.”

Havoc lets out a whistle.

“Right. The consensus with everyone is that the twins, Cal and Andy, for those of you—like me—who never cared to find out which is which before, have always spent twice as much as they’ve earned. They can’t afford to buy their parents out and they can’t get a loan for it either.”

“So, Nickel knows damn good and well that Cal can’t afford a Corvette,” Risk waves his hand, trying to get Frost to hurry along.

“Bingo. Then he sends me to go check up on Andy, see if he’s sporting any new toys, while he starts chatting up Cal. On the surface, it didn’t look like Andy had much of anything, but I jimmied my way into his trailer and found out he just placed an order for a Ninja H2R. With cash. And crotch rocket though it might be, it costs just north of fifty thousand.”

Demo and I exchange a look and all I can think of is the news he got from Sheila, that the Feds are digging for something in our part of the world and here are those two idiots dropping cash like beads at a Mardi Gras parade.

And how much do Sub-Zero fridges cost?The unwelcome question intrudes into my thoughts.Not to mention a new roof, new windows, and all the other work Faith contracted out to Hans.

“What did Cal and Andy have to say for themselves?” I ask, becoming more invested in this story.

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