Risky Romance (Wolf Security #4)

12. Cody

CHAPTER 12

Cody

I lay on my side with the damp earth pressing against my hip. Behind me, Jewel’s steady breathing convinced me she was still asleep. Outside our makeshift shelter, I could just make out the trees through the gloom where the sun was trying its hardest to penetrate the lush foliage.

I’d been awake for a while, reluctant to move and disturb her. After Bruce’s brutal attack, she needed the rest. When I’d crawled into this shelter last night, it had been a long time before she’d conceded that I was not going any further. She was stubborn, and I hated that she still wasn’t willing to admit she was wrong about drugs being produced on my farm.

It pissed me off that she thought I was involved in anything illegal. I’d been trying to run from the legacy my criminal parents had lumped on me since I was eleven years old.

A few raindrops splattered the leaves above us, and the air filled with the distinct scent of oncoming rain. I loved that smell. Just like I loved the sound of rain drumming on the roof at the farm.

I inwardly groaned. After my fight with Uncle John, I would never be able to return to my home, or my job, or my corn. I’d poured my soul into that farm, and I couldn’t believe John’s comment that I didn’t work hard.

That plantation was my life.

The sky opened up, and rain drummed onto the ground outside our little refuge.

Jewel jolted awake, and I shifted aside to give her room to sit up. Her eyes darted from me to the curtain of rain. “How long is this going to last?”

“I don’t know—ten minutes, ten days,” I shrugged.

“Geez, that’s not helpful,” she muttered.

“Well, how the hell should I know?” I snapped, instantly regretting my tone.

She raked her fingers through her hair. “I thought people like you knew the weather.”

I blinked at her. “People like me?”

“Yeah, you know, a cowboy.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Right, because we all have a weather radar tucked in our hat.”

A stream of water found its way through a gap in our leafy roof and poured onto her shoulder. Scowling, she shifted away.

We fell silent, and the sounds of the forest enveloped me, a symphony I’d grown to love when it drummed on the roof of the shipping container I’d made into my home. Rain pattered the leaves above us and splattered the dirt beyond our shelter and an Eastern Whipbird’s call pierced the air like the sharp crack of a whip. I’d heard those birds many times, but I was yet to spot one.

The dense foliage was good at hiding things. Like my father. Or his body. A wave of anger raced through me at that thought, yet it didn’t take hold. It still surprised me that I found peace here, considering the anguish it also gave me. This rainforest was confusing like that. A place of beauty and of secrets. Paradise, and hell.

Whisper wrapped her arms around her knees and released a sigh. “This is so annoying.”

“We can walk in the rain, don’t bother me.”

“I don’t mind either.” She shook her head. “But let’s wait a bit longer.”

“At least the rain’s better than that bastard chasing us in the chopper.”

“I reckon. Who was that anyway?”

“The farm’s accountant, Grant Hughes.”

Her jaw dropped, and she fixed me with a glare that could weld steel. “And you still want to pretend you don’t know anything about the drugs,” she spat.

“I don’t. And I wish to hell that you would stop?—”

“Grant Hughes! He’s the accountant for a massive drug syndicate called Scorpion Industries,” she blurted.

I frowned at her.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of them.”

“Okay. I won’t tell you.” Shaking my head, I turned my attention to the pouring rain.

“What about Zǐháo Chui? Heard of him?”

I shrugged. “Nope.”

“Wow, it’s been in the news for years. Where have you been?”

I swiveled to glare at her. “Working my ass off, growing corn. I don’t have time to watch TV.”

She released a massive huff. “How long has Grant Hughes been the farm accountant?”

“Years.”

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you this, but he’s deeply involved in one of the biggest drug operations in Australia. Scorpion Industries is a front for their illegal activities.”

My stomach churned. “For the record, I never liked him, but that doesn’t mean our farm is involved with this Scorpion Industries.”

“Okay. Maybe you’re not. What about Bruce? Or that other guy?”

“Uncle John?”

“He’s your uncle?” Her shoulders softened. “Sometimes the people closest to us are the ones we know the least.”

I couldn’t believe what she was saying. Then again, when I’d told Uncle John that I’d saved him from running the plantation into the ground, he’d called me a fucking idiot.

“What?” she said, clearly noticing my expression.

“Nothing.” I shook my head. As the sun gradually rose, shafts of light pierced the canopy, turning raindrops into shimmering jewels. I wished that was all I could see, but instead, the rage on Uncle John’s face consumed the beauty. I had seen him angry—it was almost his constant state—but the fury he aimed at me was next level. I had a rotten feeling his anger wasn’t about burning that crop, something else was going on, but drugs . . . no way.

Whisper’s expression softened. “Grant Hughes is wanted for several crimes, including the attempted murder of one of my close friends, Lacey Brookes. She’s a police detective who got too close to exposing Grant’s connection to the drug operation.”

I frowned. “That may be the case, but I’ve never seen anything suspicious at the farm.”

“That’s the point, Cody. They were running drug operations out of Risky Shores and Rosebud for years without anybody knowing. They’re good at hiding illegal activity inside legitimate businesses. Trust me, I know.”

“How do you know?” I asked, suddenly realizing I knew very little about her.

“I’m a Border Force patrol officer.”

Huh. I wasn’t expecting that.

“We’ve been trying to shut down Chui’s drug and human trafficking business for years.”

Human trafficking now. What the hell?

The rain eased off and sunlight broke through the canopy in shimmering beams. I crawled out of our shelter, needing fresh air to clear my head.

Whisper followed, stretching her arms above her head. She bent over to touch her toes, turning her head from side to side, impressing the heck out of me with her flexibility. When she straightened up, she looked me square in the eye. “Now do you believe me that something is going on at your farm?”

If her belief about my farm was true, then I’d been working my ass off to provide cover for a criminal mastermind. Even worse, I could be found just as guilty as my fucking parents. Feeling like a tractor had driven over me, I scraped my fingers through my hair and heaved my breath.

“Cody, I know this is a lot to take in, but I promise you, Grant Hughes’ involvement proves that something illegal is going on at your farm. You have to believe me.”

“I don’t have to believe you. I don’t know what to believe.”

“Do you believe what I said about Hughes?”

I studied her, but my mind spun as I tried to piece together the connection between Hughes, drugs, and my farm. Nothing fit.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake.” She threw her arms out and stormed away, crashing through the wet leaves.

“Where the hell are you going?” I shouted.

“Away from you!” She ducked under a fat branch.

When I could barely see her in the distance, I snatched the rifle off the ground.

“Goddammit. Crazy woman.” I hooked the rifle over my shoulder and reluctantly followed. Her wild accusations rattled around my head, yet I couldn’t help my twinge of amusement as she charged onward with no idea where she was going. “You should slow down, you know.”

She ignored me.

“Where are you going?” I yelled.

“To find someone who can help me.” She spun toward me. “Clearly, that’s not you.”

I groaned. “How can I help, when I don’t know anything?”

“That’s it . . . just keep acting like you’ve never seen anything.” She spun away and shoved past a massive leaf.

“I haven’t,” I yelled at the back of her head.

“I saw that expression on your face. You know something but won’t even admit it to yourself.”

I clenched my jaw. I didn’t need to justify myself to her. All my life I’d been doing the right thing. I didn’t need her fucked up accusations making cracks in my armor.

“Many people have died because of Chui,” she yelled without turning around, “and that doesn’t even include those who died taking the drugs he makes. He’s a murderer and a?—”

“That’s not my fault. Why don’t you go after him ?”

She released a wild shriek. “He’s dead.”

“What? Now who’s not making sense? I thought you said he was?—”

“He drowned in his yacht, but Grant Hughes has taken over his drug empire.”

I scoffed, picturing Hughes with his neatly trimmed fingernails and fake blond hair. He wasn’t running a drug empire.

She spun around, walking backward. “I bet your farm has made extraordinary profits.”

“Yes. Because of my crops. If that’s the basis for your accusations, then lock me up and throw away the key.”

“That massive shed must have cost millions. Did your corn pay for that?”

“Yes.”

She turned around again, swinging her arms as she charged away. “Open your eyes, Cody. I bet you’ve seen things that you can’t explain, but you?—”

Her arms flew in the air and screaming, she vanished over the side of the steep hill.

I lunged forward. Dropping to my knees, I stared over the edge of a steep slope. She was swept away with a slurry of mud. “Oh fuck!”

Her screaming stopped.

Far below, I could just make out her form, sprawled motionless at the bottom. Shit!

“Are you okay?”

She didn’t reply. She didn’t even move.

“Whisper! Can you hear me?”

Nothing.

Son of a bitch!

“Hang on, I’m coming.”

I hooked my rifle strap across my chest and sat with my fingers digging into the thick mud. “I must be out of my damn mind.”

“This is gonna hurt!” I pushed over the edge, and as gravity yanked me downward, I prayed I’d still be conscious when I hit the bottom.