Chapter 26
The grainy, gritty feeling in Dunc’s exhausted eyes didn’t stop the clicking of her right finger, tapping her computer mouse.
Nothing more than pure self-preservation kept her looking.
She’d been awake for a solid forty-eight hours, and Rich hadn’t stopped calling.
He was proving to be the pain in the ass she knew he’d be.
She needed something, anything, to give to him.
Rich was too loud and could cause too big a stink online, jeopardizing everything she’d worked so hard to achieve.
Surely, Austin Grainger’s parents hid something she could use. Hell, maybe she should go back to her original idea and make some shit up.
The biggest problem in her way was that the Graingers hung on to so much crap in the files.
Grainger’s parents were boring as hell and straight as arrows.
Their little Farmville accounting of the company was solid.
The purchases, the payroll and all its accompanying documentation were all catalogued in nauseating order.
Nothing looked out of place, and nothing indicated Austin Grainger participated at all in this company.
Eight email accounts were associated with the ranch. So far, she’d been through six of them, dating back over the last ten years. She’d done the obvious searches. Tried for the quick finds and was now going file by file, and dear lord, did these people led boring lives.
She opened the seventh file, with a big jaw-cracking yawn.
She kept going, not wanting to lose access, because at some point some system software would have to alert them she was digging around.
There was no chance she could sleep even a few hours and hope to get back in as easily as she had the first time.
Dunc went back months when an IP address from Texas caught her eye.
She’d seen some purchases in Texas coded in the accounting, but it wasn’t really a surprise.
Austin’s parents were from that area, but to have an active IP address in Texas where Cara and Seth were also vacationing…
Dunc slapped her face and downed another five-hour energy shot from the mini-refrigerator at her feet, trying to gain a little more clarity in her head.
Of all the places in the world, why would Austin go back to his hometown?
He wouldn’t, it was too easy. The place would be swarming with reporters and photographers.
It was too obvious of an answer. Maybe this was a brother or sister, maybe a cousin, but it was someone close to the family.
As she explored the emails, the conversations she found flowed too easily.
Someone was making decisions for the ranch.
They were never told no, just asked how much or how big.
“Goddammit! Glenda, you fucking stink. Get off that thing and go to bed!” Her mother’s voice sounded from the top of the stairs at the basement door. The smell of cigarette smoke wafted down as Dunc kept staring at the screen, trying to ignore her mother.
“Keep smoking, hag, maybe you’ll die. Shut. The. Fucking. Door!” Dunc yelled, but as before, her eyes stayed on the screen. She clicked file after file, reading the contents.
It was clear this person ran the business.
Ranch hands, as well as security, reported to him.
This person would lead her to Austin, if he was in this company.
Dunc kept going. Cara’s name was mentioned, as was intervention, and flight schedules.
There was also a string of files from an overnight security watch.
Dunc opened the only picture files in the email.
They were of a naked man. Well, a half-naked man.
He was having his picture taken in the dead of night, walking out of some log cabin.
The whole right side of his body showed.
He was good-looking if you liked tall handsome men.
Dunc didn’t. Dunc preferred the ladies, but she could see where someone would find that picture hot.
Dunc saved the file on her computer, planning to sell it later.
From there, every shot showed only this guy, until he was bending down, kissing another man.
It wasn’t Austin, but the car was expensive, and the license plate showed.
Dunc sat back, looking at the screen. Why would this be here?
The car was from Texas. The pictures were taken in Texas.
After a minute, Dunc kept going through the messages, paying closer attention.
Cara, Texas, gay men kissing. It wasn’t three emails later Dunc found a series of emails from Cara, addressed to Austin.
None of them made sense to Dunc, and it didn’t look like Austin ever responded to any of them.
They were from months ago, but about the same time the photos were taken.
As the pieces came together in Dunc’s mind, she opened the photo again and ran a scan on the face.
Thirty seconds later she had a name, Kitt Allen Kelly.
Austin had photos of an almost naked man in his email.
Those were the only photos in all his emails.
She didn’t follow entertainment news because it wasn’t about her, so Dunc quickly opened a browser and did a quick search of Austin’s name and the word gay.
The results filled up the page. She opened story after story.
There were too many rumors swirling about Austin’s sexuality for this to be a coincidence.
Now, all she needed to do was pin it down.
The cell on her desk rang. Rich. Enabling the voice-altering device, she answered on the fourth ring. “I said I would call you when I found something.”
“Your time’s coming up and we’re out of money. What’ve you found?” There was fear in his voice, and Dunc smiled. There was that internet group reputation at work.
“Fuck off! You’re wasting my time.” Dunc disconnected the call and scrambled the number.
As she sat staring at the screen, her heart began to pound.
She had what every other news agency on the planet wanted, a link to Austin Grainger being gay.
No way was she giving the information up for a measly ten thousand dollars. Try ten million dollars.
Dunc worked faster now, the drink and adrenaline kicking in. She arrowed in on the IP address and pulled up Kitt Allen Kelly’s background in a few keystrokes. As the pieces fell together, a smile tore across her face. Now, what tabloid would pay the most for what she had?
=?=
The stars twinkled as Kitt lay on his sleeping bag, trying to get some shut-eye before his midnight shift of watching both the cattle and the kids began. He tucked himself away from everyone while he tried for sleep. It was their last night out. He was dirty, gritty, and still fully clothed.
He dropped his cowboy hat over his face, but quickly punched it off when only images of Austin appeared behind his closed eyes.
Austin smiling, sulking, angry, disappointed.
It didn’t matter which look, they all clouded his mind.
He was so in love with Austin. The hiding made everything harder.
It was love he felt to the depths of his soul.
Austin proved every single promise he’d ever made to Kitt.
He stuck around. They were solid, and it sure did seem their futures were tightly woven together.
Kitt crossed his arms over his chest and adjusted his body, trying to get comfortable on the hard ground.
The smile formed easily. His life couldn’t be any better than it was right now.
A shooting star shot across the night sky, and as Kitt closed his eyes to sleep, he sent a wish to the heavens.
No matter what happens, let Austin stay just like this in his heart forever.
=?=
After so many months of pulling off this secluded, private, and secret home, Austin couldn’t believe he stood on his front porch with Sheriff Wilson, the local law enforcement.
A man he’d apparently gone to school with.
Sheriff Wilson was a few years older than Austin, and he tried hard to pair the right kid in his memory to this man.
Wilson had grown into a full-fledged seasoned lawman. Despite his age, he’d apparently been sheriff of this community for quite some time. He was balding, with deep gray in his hair and didn’t take too kindly knowing Austin lived here and he’d had no idea.
It was early in the morning, the day after Verne’s attack and a full investigation had begun.
Austin supposed that, by the time the sheriff made it to his door, Wilson had known Austin lived in the area.
Wilson didn’t seem surprised when Austin opened the door, but the sheriff also wouldn’t come inside the house.
The entire interview took place on the front porch.
Wilson asked the usual questions. What did Austin see?
What occurred, from his perspective? And how had he helped in getting Verne to the hospital?
Jose had stopped by last night to let him know Verne survived, but was in critical condition.
It didn’t look good. His blood alcohol levels were high and that tied the hands of the hospital staff on treatment options.
Per the sheriff’s update this morning, Verne was still in about the same condition.
Life support kept him alive, and they were trying to find any next of kin while hoping for a miracle.
“So how’s it all looking from here?” Austin asked, his arms crossed over his chest, his stance matching that of the officer in front of him. He was concerned about his men. None had been detained last night, but he’d called his attorneys, preparing to fight any charges filed against them.
“Every story’s holding together. Your ranch hands all have proper ID and up-to-date permits to carry concealed weapons. Right now, it looks like Verne brought it on himself, but it’s still under investigation. Verne was intent on causin’ harm, and Jose could’ve been killed.