Page 75 of Between a Rock and a Hard Cowboy

She wobbled her head. “Not exactly home. You know I’m staying at the lodge—temporarily—but yeah, I was going to head out now. I thought I’d find Linc down here. Did he leave already?”

Jeez. How surreally mundane was this conversation?

The sound of the front door opening and male voices drew both their attention.

“That should be the boys now,” William said, moving toward the hall.

Of course she followed, curious as to wherethe boyshad gone.

“So we went to the apartment—” Ethan began but stopped dead when he saw Eva emerge from the office behind his father.

“And?” William asked.

Ethan’s gaze still on Eva, he said, “And um, he’s gone. Emmett left town.”

“Did you see him?” she asked.

“Uh…no.”

Ethan might be the worst liar on earth. Only surpassed by Linc who had his lips pressed together so tightly it was like he was trying to seal the truth in.

Wyatt, who couldn’t meet her gaze, or apparently be in the same room as her, said, “I’m gonna check on Darcy.”

He fled up the stairs, two at a time.

Amused, Eva turned to Ethan. “Poppy’s staying here for tonight.”

Divide and conquer. She’d be able to get more out of Linc once she had him alone.

Her plan worked. Ethan’s eyes flew wide. “Yeah? I’m gonna go up and see her.”

And then there were two. William, who she had a shared secret with. And Linc, who she didn’t, as odd as that was considering their… relationship for lack of a better word.

She glanced sideways at William.

“It’s getting late. You two head out.” The older man appeared as amused by his suddenly mute son as she was.

Linc nodded. “All right. Night, Dad.”

“Night.” William waved and turned toward the stairs as well.

Eva moved to the front door and pulled on her jacket. “So the apartment’s empty?”

Linc’s gaze shot to her. “Uh, yeah. Empty.”

“And you didn’t get to see Emmett?”

“Nope.” Linc shook his head a bit too adamantly.

She nodded, convinced more than ever that he was lying. “I wonder how he knew the FBI was after him.” Of course what had sent him scurrying to leave town might have been a call from his parole officer instead. Who knew?

“No clue.” Linc shrugged, then met her gaze. ”You’re not going back tonight, are you? To the apartment?”

“No. Not tonight.”

He visibly brightened. “Okay. Good. That’s good. It’s dark. And you’ve been drinking.”

“Mm-hm.” She nodded, not believing those were the only reasons he was happy she would be sleeping at his place tonight.

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