Page 43 of Destined Predator
Rhett thumbed the bruise at his jaw, then dropped his hand when he caught Casey noticing.
“He got me good, too,” Rhett admitted. “Socked me in the jaw and the temple.”
“He’ll pay.” Casey scowled. For that crap he’d pulled before, being a bigoted jerk about not wanting to work for a gay ranch owner, and for this. Whateverthislatest thing was.
“Well, he hasn’t been living at home for a week or so.” Jack looked from his brother to Casey. “I called on the house, saying we had some final paperwork from the Double T he had to sign, and his mother said he’d gone.”
“Where?” Rhett demanded. “With Vince?”
Jack shook his head. “She’s old and a little confused. Couldn’t recall. But she did know he’s working on another spread in the county and living-in there. Maybe the Bar J? They were hiring.”
“Lone Pine,” Casey and Rhett said together.
“Next door?” Jack’s forehead creased. “Look, you’d better start at the beginning. Wait. What’s that look for? I saw you glance at Casey, Rhett.” He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t tell me that whatever’s going on, with the traps, and the predator attack, and whatever else that craphead Aldan’s done, you two are plannin’ on handlin’ it alone? C’me on, bro! You’ve told me time and again that this is my home, that I’m a co-owner, which means I share the responsibility, the good and the bad.”
Jack was slim and pretty-looking, but he could stand his ground and even look menacing with the best of them.
“And if anything, this is my fault.” Jack was glaring now. “No, okay, not exactly”—his upraised hand stopped them interrupting—“I mean, if it’s Aldan and Vince getting their revenge for being fired, well, remember why you wanted rid of them? Because of me. Which makes it my business. Well, mine and Ben’s.”
The way he said his destined mate’s name had Casey suspicious. He brushed past Jack out into the corridor…where sure enough, his brother was lurking.
“If it’s Jack’s doings, it’s mine,” he said by way of explanation.
“Rhett!” Casey made an exasperated appeal to his mate. “Little help here?”
“Or a lot of help, here?” Rhett called, and Casey barreled back into the office to see Rhett at the window, leaning out. “I heard a noise and…”
“Dang it!” Casey gritted his teeth to see his two younger brothers crouched down, obviously having been listening until Rhett caught them.
“We saw Jack and Ben take off like men on a mission, so we tailed them,” Emil admitted.
“Andwefollowedyou!” came Anne’s voice from the office doorway.
“And you didn’t notice!” Lacey crowed.
Casey narrowed his eyes at his brothers and sisters. “You know y’all are trespassin’?” he drawled.
“No, we ain’t.” Lacey set her hands on her hips. “We’re here for some lunch! What? Not gonna offer us anything?” She tsked.
“Lord above,” Rhett muttered, half amused. “You Akers multiply faster than jackrabbits.”
“You work in a diner,” Ben reminded her. “Seems to me, you need food, it’s there.”
“Why don’t we all head into the kitchen?” Rhett raised his arm to show the way. “There might be chili and rice, and you’re welcome to whatever else you can find.”
“I’m sorry,” Casey tried to apologize as his brothers and sisters took over the Tucker kitchen, heating up leftover chili and rice for those it would serve and broiling burgers and frying eggs for the rest of the hungry mob. They had the radio on, playing a rock station, and were in the icebox for sodas.
“It’s okay.” Rhett paused, the coffee pot in his hand. He looked lost in memories. “It’s like when we used to look after our cousins in the summer vacations. Remember, Jack?”
Jack groaned. “Yeah. You loved it. More kids to boss around.”
“Hey, someone had to!” Rhett smiled, scooping coffee from the tin. “Our aunts and uncles used to dump their kids here—cheaper than a camp, Pa said, and they liked it here more, Ma said. Pa couldn’t take all the noise and mess so he used to give a cash prize to whoever would stay out the longest.”
Casey watched Rhett laugh, shoulders loose for the first time all day. He liked seeing him that way—easy, open, surrounded by noise and family instead of worry.
“Longest as in hours? Like, until dark?” Anne asked.
“Like in days!” Rhett corrected. “We formed teams and had a tent, food, water, a shovel to dig latrines…” He laughed, holding on to the counter. “I remember Cousin Josh, thinking he was so tough and rugged, heaving at the smell of the chemicals you throw into the hole.”
