Chapter 17 #2
“No, you don’t.” Last night, she’d been raw and aching in my bed. This morning, she was a damn weapon. The shift was striking. Shoulders back, jaw set. This was the Sapphire who’d built a career under a boss who thought he had her fooled. He was wrong. “Bob and Frank don’t stand a chance.”
“No. They’re screwed.” She pulled on a plain blue baseball cap.
“Ready?” I asked, settling my hat on my head.
“Absolutely.”
I went down the ladder first, my arm burning on every rung.
As Sapphire came down behind me, I crossed to the workbench and pulled the canvas off my .
308 scoped rifle, the gun I used for shooting feral dingoes that come down off the ridges in winter.
A fresh magazine was already loaded. I slung the rifle over my good shoulder and grabbed a spare mag.
“What the hell, Kayden? You can’t bring that.”
I turned to face her. “Hell, yes, I can.”
“This is a police operation. I can’t have a civilian opening fire on a police officer, no matter what he’s done.” Her cap was low over her eyes.
“He shot at us yesterday, Sapphire. Bob’s gone well past being a police officer.”
She didn’t answer, just held my gaze for a long beat, working something out behind her eyes that I couldn’t follow.
“I’ve earned a seat in this thing,” I added.
“You have no idea what you’re asking me to allow.”
“Then don’t think of it like that. I’m just a rancher with his rifle on his own land, same as any other day. Cassidy will have hers, too. And Mitch was SAS. Do you think he’s flying in there unarmed?”
“Goddammit.” Her lips drew to a thin line. “Then we’ll talk about this when we’re all together.” She walked past me out of the barn.
I let out a breath. That woman. She gets sexier by the minute.
I grabbed my hat and rifle off the bench and chased after her.
As we crossed the grass, Cassidy and Xavier stepped onto the back verandah.
Cassidy gave Xavier a kiss, and he said something to her that made her smile.
My sister had done more smiling since she’d met Xavier than she’d done in her whole life.
Part of that was shedding the fucking family secret that’d been crushing her since she was a kid.
But this was different. Xavier had done something I hadn’t thought was possible.
He’d made Cass believe she deserved to be happy.
“Hey, you two look fresh.” Cassidy grinned from ear to ear as she walked toward us.
“Bloody hell,” I mumbled and rolled my eyes at Sapphire. “This is gonna be horrible.”
Sapphire pressed her lips together, fighting a grin.
Hooves thundered behind us. Mitch was galloping down from the old lodge on Zeus. He took off his hat and waved it overhead. “Don’t go without me!” he yelled as he thundered past, heading for the stables.
A few minutes later, Mitch jogged up to us, carrying a rifle and a stuffed backpack that hung heavily off his shoulder. “Morning. Great day for catching bastards,” he said, adjusting the strap on his pack.
Sapphire was not going to be happy. The way Mitch was carrying that pack, there was more than one weapon in there.
“You sleep in, Old Man?” Cassidy wriggled her brows.
“Hey, cut the ‘old man’ crap.”
I watched Sapphire study Mitch. He was about to get an earful. This was going to be interesting.
“Where did you serve, Mitch?” Sapphire’s tone left no room for bullshit.
Mitch frowned. “SAS. Twelve years. Sergeant First Class.”
“So why aren’t you still serving?”
“Punched my CO.” He shrugged. “I’m on permanent leave. Long story.”
Sapphire’s eyes narrowed. She was thinking, calculating.
Then she raised her hands, making us all stop.
“Listen to me. All of you. In Queensland, a civilian can’t lawfully fire on another person except in extreme self-defense.
That’s not a guideline, that’s the law. Bob is mine.
I’m the senior officer here, and I’ll be the one who engages him. ”
“And if he shoots at us?” Mitch asked.
“If Bob fires on you, you can defend yourselves, but that’s it. No bloody macho Rambo shit. Am I clear?”
“Clear,” Mitch said.
“Rambo? Jeez, Fire,” I joked.
“Kayden. I’m serious.”
“Okay, I get it. You shoot him first, and we’ll be happy.”
Sapphire rolled her eyes, then fixed them on Cassidy. “I assume you also have a weapon.”
Cassidy opened her plaid shirt enough that I saw the grip of the Glock 19 tucked into her waistband. She closed the shirt back over it.
“Are we clear?” Sapphire repeated.
“Of course,” Cassidy said.
“This is serious, guys. If any of you shoot Bob before I give the word, I will charge you myself. I don’t care which one of you it is. This is my operation. Are we clear on that?”
We all nodded, but every one of us knew the truth. If we got fired on, we’d shoot back. It wouldn’t matter if it was Bob or Frank.
She knew it, too. I could see it on her face. She stared at us for a beat longer, then turned and walked toward the chopper.
Mitch shouldered the pack and looked at me. “She’s good.”
“Yeah.” I grinned. “She is.”
Cassidy shot me that side-eye she got when she was plotting.
We walked to the chopper together and climbed in. I took the pilot’s seat. Cassidy slid in beside me. Sapphire and Mitch climbed in the back.
We all put on our headsets, and I started the engine.
Cassidy handed out the breakfast packs in brown paper bags. “Bella made these. She’s testing them out for the dinosaur fossicking and gourmet meals tours.”
“Tours?” Sapphire’s voice crackled through the headset.
“Remember how Charlie’s dinosaur bones got washed away in the flash flood?” Cassidy said. “Well, she’s been planning mini tours to find those ancient fossils again. Xavier has financed some proper safari tents that we’ve set up at the site, and Bella is making gourmet meals to make it even better.”
“Charlie has made arrangements with the University of Queensland to have student field trips out here.” Mitch’s voice had pride all over it.
“Yeah. It’s a win-win for everyone,” Cassidy said. “Charlie’s dinosaur bones get discovered again. The students get real fieldwork. Bella cooks her amazing meals. And Koolaroo charges extra for the privilege.”
“We’re already taking bookings, and we have our first glamping group coming in next week,” Mitch added.
“That’s brilliant,” Sapphire said.
“Sure is. I just hope we have all this Bob bullshit sorted by then,” Mitch said.
I lifted the chopper off clean and brought her up steady into the pre-dawn air. The sky was still dark overhead, but the eastern horizon glowed amber. We’d have sunrise within the hour. Below us, Koolaroo’s massive herd was barely visible in the darkness.
Once we reached cruising altitude, I leveled out and reached for my breakfast pack. The foil was still warm as I peeled it back to a bacon and egg roll. Damn, we were lucky Bella hadn’t quit after all that bullshit she’d been through.
My mind went to that diamond mine. The two dead assassins who’d come after her and Declan were still inside that mine. My brother and Charlie had just done what they’d had to do to walk out alive. Two more bodies, buried on Koolaroo. More secrets Sapphire didn’t know about.
I’d promised her the truth. All of it. When the time was right, I’d get Declan to tell her about that, too. She deserved to know everything, even the ugly parts.
“So,” Cassidy said, turning in her seat so she could see both Sapphire and me. “How do you two know each other?”
I groaned. “Cass.”
“What? I’m just asking.”
“We were together about ten years ago,” Sapphire said. “It lasted four years.”
“Four years?” Cassidy’s eyes went wide. “And you never told us?” She slapped my leg. “Jeez, bro, I thought we didn’t have secrets.”
“Fuck off, says the woman who had the biggest secret of all.”
“Hey, that’s not fair. I had to keep mine. But you and Sapphire ...” She gave me a look. “So, what happened?”
“We broke up,” I said. “Obviously.”
“And whose fault was that?” Her eyes were on me.
“Mine.”
“Honesty. I like it.” Cassidy grinned. “So, what’d you do?”
“Sapphire told me she wanted to be a cop,” I said, glancing at Sapphire in the mirror. “I told her she was making a mistake.”
“Oh,” Sapphire said. “Well, it wasn’t quite like ...”
“Yeah, it was. I fucked up.”
“Did you just admit you did something wrong?” Cassidy squinted at me. “Who are you, and what did you do with the real Kayden?”
“Ha-ha,” I muttered.
“No, like, seriously.” She raised her eyebrows, then pressed her index fingers together. “So, does this mean you two are ...?”
“We don’t know,” Sapphire said.
“Maybe,” I said at the same time.
I glanced at Sapphire in the mirror. She was looking right back at me, and the warmth in her eyes made my chest pull tight.
Cassidy leaned toward me. “So, did you tell her you love her?”
“Jesus Christ, Cass.”
“Well? Did you?”
I kept my eyes on the horizon, jaw tight. “Do we have to talk about this right now?”
“That’s a yes,” Cassidy said to Sapphire. “He gets all growly when he’s trying not to admit something.”
Sapphire bit her lip, trying not to laugh.
“I’m right here,” I said.
“We know,” Cassidy and Sapphire said in unison.
Despite myself, I grinned. “You two are gonna gang up on me now, aren’t you?”
“Probably,” Sapphire said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.
Mitch chuckled from the back. “This is better than television.”
“Not helping, Old Man,” I said.
“Actually, I think I am.” He leaned forward between the seats. “You know what your problem is, Kayden? You think too much. Always have. Sometimes, you just gotta take the leap and see where you land.”
“That’s rich coming from you,” I said.
“Yeah, Mr. I’ve-Been-Single-for-Twenty-Years,” Cassidy added.
“Exactly. Learn from my mistakes.” Mitch settled back in his seat. “Life’s too short for maybe.”
Sapphire’s eyes met mine in the mirror. She was smiling.
Cassidy laughed. “For the record, I like her, Kayden. Don’t screw this up again.”
“Jeez, thanks, sis,” I growled. “I’ll try my best.”
We flew in silence for a while, the country rolling out beneath us in the dawn light.