Stockman’s Showdown (The Stockmen #4)

Twenty-four

‘Are you going to tell the police?’ Bree asked.

‘I’ll have a quiet word with Marcus in the morning. I’ll let him sleep, like you should be.’ After dropping Dex off at the stockman’s shack, Ryder drove Bree around to the caretaker’s cottage. It was just after one o’clock in the morning, when Ryder opened her car door.

‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m walking you to the front door.’

‘I’m fine. I know the way.’

A rich and sweet floral fragrance floated up from the cottage’s front garden as he rushed to open the front gate for her. ‘I’m already halfway there.’

‘Why? It’s not like this was a date or anything.’

‘Normally dating is a boring time for me. And it doesn’t involve guns, war paint, and hiding from a drug lord in the long grass.’

There it was, that slight smile.

‘What are you doing tomorrow?’ He knew Bree wouldn’t sit still for long. And that’s what bothered him, because he didn’t want her rushing off and doing her own thing—not when he had to keep her safe.

‘I’m taking Charlie into town. We’re going to the morgue to talk about Harry’s remains, and Charlie wants to visit Porter at the police station.’

‘I’ll take you.’

‘Why?’

‘If I’m going to talk to Marcus, it’s better to do it face to face. I can show him the evidence I taped tonight. And, if you’re with me, you’ll be fully informed of what’s going on.’ Not to mention he could keep an eye on her.

‘My grandfather and I live here, of course I want to know.’ Knowing Bree, she was probably planning some elaborate defence system already.

‘Which is why I promise to tell you everything. But you need to do the same as well.’

She hesitated.

‘Bree?’ With his fingertip, he gently lifted her chin. ‘It’s a two-way street of communication between us. No more secrets. Okay?’

She narrowed her eyes, as if trying to get a read on him. He had nothing to hide.

‘Deal.’

He grinned with relief. ‘Good girl.’ He kissed her forehead.

‘You know, I’m not a good girl.’

‘That’s true.’ His forehead rested against hers. ‘Good girls don’t kiss like you, my pretty little outlaw.’

Her cheeks heated. Was Bree blushing?

She turned away from him. ‘I’m going now.’

‘Want me to come inside?’

The look she gave him only made him grin wider. ‘I can guard the cottage from the couch.’ Which was right next to her bedroom.

She paused, her hand on the door handle, and turned back to him. ‘I’m not going to tell Charlie what we found tonight.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because it’ll stress him out and he may react one of two ways.’

‘Which are?’

‘Charlie might freak out enough to want to dig landmines around the cottage and organise hourly patrols with shotguns.’

Which was how Dex was reacting, and Ryder had yet to tell Ash and Cap, hoping to have a plan in place first to stop that pair from panicking.

But Bree had been unusually quiet the entire drive back from Starvation Dam. No interruptions. No smart-arse comebacks while he discussed with Dex about upgrading their property’s security. For the moment, they had to proceed carefully, and that meant prioritising Elsie Creek Station’s defences ASAP before they even dared to think about switching off the water pipe and upsetting Leo, the drug lord, who lived next door.

Yet Bree never said anything.

For someone as highly intelligent as Bree, who could have already nutted out over a hundred different scenarios, it was unusual. It worried him that she might go off on her own and do something risky, or let her temper flare—putting herself in danger.

‘What’s the second option?’

‘Charlie will burn it all down and blame it on a bushfire out of control.’

He shook his head. ‘Charlie’s not like that, is he?’ But it’s something Bree would do.

‘Where do you think I got my scheming temper from?’ Surprisingly, she kissed his cheek. ‘Thank you for keeping me involved. But you don’t need to come with us tomorrow, it’s a business trip. We’ll have deliveries to make, too.’

‘Nope, I’m coming. It’s a date. I’ll even shout you lunch at the pub.’ Which didn’t sound very romantic at all. But, then again, he’d never tried this hard for a woman when they normally bored him, or he just couldn’t trust them. There was no one like the redhead closing the door on him.

The smile left his face and he headed back to his car, allowing that heat to strike deep in his chest. This was his backyard. His home. His family. And Ryder was going to do everything he could to get rid of Leo, once and for all.