Page 97 of Bourbon and Lies

“Call it in.” I hang up on him and floor it. “Fuck!” I shout, hitting the steering wheel.

My pulse hammers and adrenaline notches up, making me floor it up the private road and throw it in park. The truck is barely stopped when I get out and go running inside.

We didn’t move fast enough.

As I throw open the front door, Julep wags her tail, waiting for me. If she was waiting, that means Laney’s not here. “Baby, you here?” She must still be at the rickhouse with Ace.

“Jules, where’s Laney?”

She barks at me. She knows who Laney is, and if anything is going to protect her outside of me, it’s Julep.

“Go find her, girl.” I give her a whistle. And a command she hasn’t heard from me in a long time. “Jules, go! Protect.”

She runs like the devil out the back dog door, so fast, like she knows exactly where she’s headed.

I dial Laney’s phone again, but that’s when I hear it buzzing on the kitchen counter. “Fuck.”

I rush to the door and shut it behind me. There are only a few places she would be, so I’ll start at the rickhouse and then head to Ace’s. But my steps falter as the stranger from Hooch’s circles the front of his old Chevy pickup just as I step off my porch.

“Evening, sir.”

“You’re trespassing. This is private property. No soliciting.” My firearm is in my truck and a hunting rifle is in my workshop, but not a single weapon is at my disposal right now.

He holds up his hands. “I’m just looking for something I misplaced. Thought you might be able to help me find it, Mr. Foxx.”

“Like I said?—”

“And I’m not sure I’m making myself very clear.” He reaches for the back of his waist and pulls a Glock, pointing and aiming like he’s familiar with exactly how to use it. “I have a veryparticular request. And I believe you know exactly what I’m talking about. You and I seem to have similar taste.”

It makes me snap forward without thinking. In a breath, my right thigh is hit with excruciating pain. But that doesn’t stop me from moving toward him. I’m not going down without a fight here. I rush for him and nail him in the jaw unexpectedly with a right hook. But the movement has me off balance. The gun rings out again, and this time, I can feel the bullet just graze my side. It hurts like a motherfucker, enough to take me down. I hit the ground with a thud as pain radiates up my thigh. But it’s the back of my leg that burns more. The exit wound.

He hovers over me as my side bleeds and my thigh pulsates. I can hear Julep bark in the distance. Turning his head toward the sound, he smiles as he looks down at me. He digs the barrel of the gun into the wound on my thigh, and I yell so loud that my ears ring. I swallow the dryness and blink, trying to get it together.Fuck, do not pass out.I need to move.

“I’m going to ask you one more time. Where?”

“Go fuck yourself,” I spit at him, but it’s weak as my vision starts blurring.

He wipes the barrel of the gun, soaked in my blood now, along the shoulder of my shirt, but I can’t even feel it. I’m fighting to stay conscious.

“I’ve done plenty of that,” he says eerily. “Now I’d very much to play with my pretty little thief.”

But I can’t move to warn her. Fight back to save her. Or cause any type of damage to this piece of shit to keep him from her. I know Julep got to her in time. They’ll take care of each other. I know it.

“You’ve been very unhelpful.”

And then everything goes black.

Chapter 42

Laney

“This was a good idea.”Ace smiles as he walks along the front of the rickhouse. It looks more like a rustic wedding reception space and not an old-as-dirt storage spot for bourbon.

“You could put some barrels over there.” I point toward the side exit. Use that as a selfie spot for your guests, then you’ll get a great backdrop of the full racks. And during the day, with the double doors open, the lighting would be good.

He eyes where I’m talking about. “I’ll send Griz out here. Make sure there are no more snakes lurking at the end of the rows. That’s the last thing I need—a fucking rattlesnake appearance. It’s bad enough that you and Grant won’t be here.” He gives me a tight-lipped smile. “I’ll miss him. And you too. But he wasn’t built to be alone. Punished himself for long enough trying to stay that way, but my brother was always meant to be with someone like you, Laney.”

I give the oldest Foxx brother a “you should listen to your own advice” smile and then wrap my arms around his shoulders.He doesn’t return it, but he doesn’t pull away either. “I don’t think any of you are meant to be alone. There’s too much love in this place.”

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