Chapter 17 Liam
LIAM
“Did you find him?”
Jeff strode up to me with a massive grin on his face. “What do you think?”
Sinking back in the office chair, the tension running through my body eased just a little.
“Where is he?”
“He should be here by sundown.”
That was a load off my mind. If he agreed to this, that would solve at least one of my problems.
“Are you sure about this?”
“I can’t tie Bailey to my bed and make her stay there until I figure this out. She’d never go for it.”
“Well, you could do something even crazier than asking this guy to help. You know, maybe tell her what’s going on.”
But I couldn’t be sure Wyatt wasn’t involved, and until I was, Bailey had to think everything was perfectly normal.
“You know, you might be pushing her into another man’s arms.”
I’d thought of that, but Archer was a good guy. He’d never do that to me, even if he was a little rough around the edges.
“I’m well aware of what I’m doing.”
Jeff shook his head. “Just as long as you are.” Taking the seat opposite me, he jerked his head at the open books on the desk before kicking up his heels. “Monthly accounting?”
“Pop wants to meet.”
“Well, that’ll be a joy.”
“I need to convince him to add more houses.”
A snorted laugh left my brother. “Yeah, good luck convincing him to do that.”
“He’s gotta face the facts. This ranch is no longer what it used to be. We have to keep earning or we’ll have to sell the land.”
Groaning, he tossed his head back. “And I suppose you want me to be there when you talk to him.”
“It would be nice.”
“You know he doesn’t like me.”
“You’re his son. Of course he doesn’t like you.”
“If only I were Lizzy,” he sighed. “That girl can do nothing wrong.”
“That’s because she’s the baby in the family.”
Gathering the books, I tucked them under my arm and headed for the door. This was one meeting I wasn’t looking forward to, but it was necessary.
Pop was stuck with the idea that we could somehow salvage the ranch and take it back to its glory days. That was never going to happen without an influx of money, and since none of us were millionaires, it was doubtful we’d ever see cattle roaming on this land again.
“When we get there, just try to keep things positive.”
He slid into the truck beside me and nodded. “Right, so no talk about how we think Austin is trying to sabotage the business.”
“That would help.”
“And I suppose we should leave out the fact that your accident was not an accident.”
Gritting my teeth, I glared at him. “What do you think?”
“Then I guess we shouldn’t tell him that you’ve called in Archer either.”
“He never liked Archer.”
“Well, he did get the tractor stuck in the river,” Jeff muttered.
“I’m aware.”
“And then there was the time he knocked over the lantern and nearly sent the hay up in flames because he was making out with Krista in the hay loft.”
“You know, you don’t need to remind me of all the ways Archer has pissed off Pop.”
“I’m just saying, bringing Archer back seems like a precarious idea.”
I shifted into drive and hit the gas. “Look at you, using big words and shit.”
“Hey, I’ll have you know there are more brains in this head of mine than any of you give me credit for.”
“Then why don’t you try using them for once?”
“And waste my talents on the likes of you?” he snorted. “No thanks. I’m saving up all my ideas for something big.”
“Yeah? The ranch is barely holding on by a thread. Don’t hold those big ideas back too much longer, or you’ll lose your house along with everything else.”
When I parked outside my parents’ house, Pop was already sitting on the porch, drinking coffee as he stared out at the empty pasture. There was a time when he would be out working before the sun even rose, but now, not much could get him motivated.
“I can tell this is gonna be fun,” I muttered.
Jeff grabbed my sleeve just before I could get out. “If he mentions anything about his missing toolbox, just pretend you don’t know what he’s talking about.”
“But…I don’t know anything about it.”
“Then you’ll have no problem lying.” Jumping out, he raised his hand as he walked toward the porch. “Morning, Pop!”
Grabbing the books, I got out, slamming the door behind me. “Morning.”
Pop eyed the books, his lip curling in a snarl. The screen door opened and Ma stepped out, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Morning, boys.” Everything about her looked tired and worn out this morning. She wasn’t her usual perky self, but then again, she’d probably been up for hours.
I climbed the steps and pressed a kiss to her cheek before taking a seat across from Pop.
“How are things this morning?”
“Not much to do,” he grunted, gesturing to the empty pasture with his coffee mug.
“Pop, I know this isn’t what you wanted—”
“We need to talk about renting out part of the land,” he interrupted.
Glancing over at Jeff, he shook his head slightly. He knew nothing about this. “Uh…rent it out to who?”
Instead of answering, he grabbed a map of the property and rolled it out on the table in front of us, setting a rock on either side to hold it open.
“Right here,” he tapped at the upper right corner of the map.
“Pop, that’s where we’re building a new cabin.”
“Then it should be no problem to finish building and rent it out.”
That didn’t make any sense. That would have been one of the better locations for a rental. It was right near the falls and had a great view.
“The amount we could rent that cabin for would help bring in a lot of money, Pop.”
“And I said I need to rent it out.”
“To who?” I pushed.
“Whom,” Ma corrected. “Honestly, sometimes it’s like you boys never went to school.”
Pop removed the rocks and rolled up the map, then stood. “Let me know how much longer it will be until the cabin’s ready.”
“Pop, we need to discuss this—” I started, but he was already walking away.
“Last I checked, this is still my property,” he called over his shoulder.
The door slammed as he walked back inside. Ma grabbed his mug, shaking her head at the abrupt departure.
“Did you know anything about this?”
“No, but he’s right. It’s his property. He can do with it as he wishes.”
“Ma, that land would bring in a lot of money for us. We need that to keep things running. That’s why we made the decision to build in the first place. If he takes that away—”
“Then you’ll figure out something else,” she snapped. “Your father already lost his ranch over the past few years. Do you really want me to tell him he’s not allowed to rent out the property?”
“He didn’t lose the ranch. We still have all the property—”
“Have you seen him sitting on the porch every morning? He used to be out working as soon as the sun rose. You took away something that’s been in his family for generations. You can’t expect him to forget that overnight.”
“So, you blame me, too,” I huffed. I couldn’t believe my ears. I was working my ass off to save the land and everything we owned, but it wasn’t good enough.
Ma’s face softened as she walked over, pressing her hand to my cheek. “No, I don’t blame you. Everything you boys have done over the past few years has been for the best, but you can’t expect your father not to feel the loss.”
Turning, she headed back inside.
“Well, that didn’t go exactly as planned,” Jeff sighed. “Guess we could always turn your house into a rental.”
Very slowly, I turned my head and narrowed my eyes at my brother.
“What? You have the next best view. It’s not like anyone’s going to want to rent a cabin next to a gigantic wood pile.”
He held up his hand over his eyes as he pretended to look out a window. “Ooh, look at that piece of wood. They sure know how to cut ‘em out here in Montana!”
“I’m heading into town,” I muttered, taking the books with me under my one good arm.
“Yeah, sure!” he called out. “I’ll just stay here and take care of all the work!”
“You do that!”
“I was being facetious!”
When I didn’t say anything, he called out, “That means sarcastic, by the way!”
Maverick looked up at me from behind his desk as I strode into the station. All it took was a single look to know he had nothing new for me.
“There’s nothing new,” he said immediately.
Shutting the door behind me, I took a seat across from him, not even sure why I was here.
“There has to be something we can do.”
“Well, yeah. I can go arrest the fucker and toss him in a cell, but we both know that won’t stick.”
“If he isn’t stopped, things are gonna escalate, and then you’re gonna have a big problem on your hands.”
“Yeah, like helping you bury a body,” he sighed. “You know, this job was supposed to be easy.”
“Would you?”
“Would I what?”
He knew exactly what I was asking. Maverick didn’t have a single legal bone in his body. He might like to appear moral to the rest of the town, but I grew up with him. I knew exactly the kind of shit he got up to, and the lengths he was willing to go to do what he considered right.
However, with the bad blood between my family and the Callahans, if anything happened to Austin, John Callahan would be out for blood.
And there wouldn’t be a damn thing Maverick could do to cover for me in any way.
Maverick’s lips turned into a smirk the longer we stared at each other. “I think we’ve known each other long enough for you to know exactly where I stand. But don’t do anything stupid.”
“Not planning to,” I shrugged.
“But you have that look in your eyes. Liam, I’m telling you right now, if you do anything to that fucker, there’s not a damn thing I’ll be able to do to protect you.”
“He tried to kill Bailey,” I snarled.
“And until I get some evidence of that, I need you to keep a lid on that anger of yours. If Austin suddenly disappears, it’ll be your face on every news station around here.”
“No one in town would believe them.”
“Doesn’t matter. Your name would be attached to that fucker’s murder for the rest of your life. Is that something you can live with?”