Page 32 of Steers and Stowaways
“Old enough to know better,” Tucker added.
Chip blew out a breath. “Old enough to know I’m in a no-win situation.” He glanced wearily at the Lonestar guys closing in on them and held out his arms to them, wrists together. “Just haul me away and be done with it. I’ve already said more than I should.”
Tucker grunted. “Do you see any policemen around, kid?” He wasn’t sure why he called him a kid. Maybe it was because of the defeat in his eyes. It looked genuine enough to him.
“They’re on their way,” Gil reminded coldly.
Chip ducked his head guiltily over his outstretched arms. “Figured that.” He was making no move to dodge what was coming, which Tucker found noteworthy. As far as he could tell, the only group the kid had hidden himself from was the gangsters.
Regardless, Chip Silva knew stuff that was material to the case. One way or the other, he was going to talk. He could do it either here or from behind bars.
Mallory wishedlike crazy she could get Chip alone. She was certain she would get more out of him without issuing threats and brandishing weapons. So far, Tucker was the only one who’d put his gun away. The other Lonestar Security guys were hovering menacingly over Chip, watching his every move.
She was forced to stand by helplessly while Conrad Cavender laid out a plan for moving everyone underground—people and livestock alike. It was several minutes beforeshe could pull Tucker aside to continue pleading Chip’s case.
She managed to corner him outside Mr. Cavender’s office. “I may not be a hotshot detective like the rest of you, but I’m the only one Chip is gonna open up to.”
His jaw hardened. “If you keep coddling him the way you do, you might very well end up a suspect in your own cattle rustling case.”
She gasped in outrage. “How dare you!”
He stepped closer, glowering down at her. “Look at it from their perspective. You hired these thugs. All of them. You brought them into your inner circle. You treated them like family. All while you were selling off land and trying to keep your ranch afloat. It doesn’t look good for you.” As usual, he didn’t bother sugarcoating things.
His biting tone made her heart sink. “Is that what you really think?” Had she imagined the tenderness he’d displayed to her earlier? Because it was long gone. It was enough to give a gal emotional whiplash.
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” he declared flatly. “All that matters is the truth.”
She flinched, feeling like he’d struck her.Oka-a-ay.The possibility that he was beginning to doubt her innocence made her insides chill. “I’m trying to get to the truth. I really am.” She shivered. “I’ll admit I may not be the best judge of character, but?—”
“Then stop playing whatever game Chip is trying to pull you into.”
Her heart grew heavier. “I still need to talk to him. What can it hurt?” She spread her hands shakily. “If you want, you can lock us in a room together. Just give me a run at him. Alone.”
His expression grew stony with disapproval. “Suityourself.” He pivoted away from her and stalked back to his security team.
She didn’t like the way their conversation had gone, nor did she like the mildly disgusted looks his coworkers gave him when he relayed her request to them. They put their heads together in an emergency meeting she wasn’t invited to be a part of.
In the end, Tucker escorted her and Chip to a storm shelter beneath the barn next door.
“Thank you.” She surveyed the blankets and cases of water in the room.
Tucker maintained a stony silence as he held out a hand to her and Chip. “Cell phones.”
Her heart sank. “You really don’t trust me, do you?”
His expression didn’t change. “We’re just trying to stay alive until the SWAT team arrives. As soon as we make sure they aren’t bugged, we’ll return ‘em.”
She was too shaken to argue. Digging her cell phone from her pocket, she slapped it into his hand.
Chip did the same, minus the slapping part.
Tucker pocketed the phones and held his hand out again to Chip. “And your gun.”
Chip nodded meekly. Producing a handgun, he passed it to Tucker with its muzzle down.
“And your knife,” Tucker demanded cooly.
To her surprise, Chip lifted a pant leg and unstrapped a blade.
