Chapter 38
CHAPTER 38
GRIFF
“ H ey man, you up for a meeting?” Kipp asked as he marched into my room, followed closely by Ryder, Nash, and Linc.
“Yeah, sure, at least it will break up the monotony of this book and staring out at my messed up yard that I can’t do anything about.” I threw the book over to the table on Elle’s side of the bed. “What’d you find out? Why were the cops swarming the place yesterday?”
“They found a body in the ashes,” Ryder said as he took a seat on the sofa.
“Who was it?’
“Quentin Hays.”
“He’s been gone from this place for years why the fuck did Quentin set fire to my barn? This better not have something to do with his brother’s obsession with Elle.” Anger bubbled through me, and it felt good to feel something other than pain and mild depression.
“We tracked down the guy who trespassed over east. He was one of Tucker’s men like you figured. And we got some information out of him.” Nash said as he leaned against the wall smirking. Silence hung in the air, the way it had after we’d completed a job in the past.
“Am I waiting for carrier pigeons to drop notes on my lap, or will one of you assholes tell me what you found out.” Shifting, I sat up. This wasn’t news I was going to hear lying down like an invalid.
“Part of the deal the three Hays brothers struck with Tucker was to get us out by whatever means necessary. That’s why the payment for the ranch was so excessive.”
“Tucker paid to have us taken out?” I asked as I swung my legs out of bed. I needed to move. Laying here was making me itchy, and I thought better on my feet.
“Apparently, and after Billy and Mitch, it spurred him on to finish what they’d started,” Kipp said quietly. “He knew you’d go in after the horses, so he started the barn on fire.”
“Then how’d he die?”
“Nobody ever accused any of the Hays boys of being smart, so he kept starting fires around the barn rather than just waiting for it to go up. When the loft collapsed, he was up there and fell. He was trapped under the floor and all the hay that we’d stored up there.”
“Who found him?”
“Kane Watson.”
“He okay?” Outside the five, Kane had been a steadfast friend since he’d arrived here a while back. He knew his stuff when it came to ranching and horses, and I respected the hell out of the guy.
“Yeah, he’s fine. You know Kane, not much gets to him,” Kipp said as he took a seat on the coffee table.
“So how do we find out what Tucker’s after.”
“Well, we know that now too. The guy said he went after the Hays place because he thought it gave him access to the ridge.”
“There’s nothing of value over there.”
“Only the most picturesque spot south of Lake Louise for a ski resort.”
“The lake,” I muttered. Deep in the shelter of the mountains on the back side of our ranch sat a secluded turquoise-colored lake. It was unmatched in its beauty and serenity in the entire state. We’d let cattle out in that part of the ranch every few years, and the wild horses had made it their home all summer, so we didn’t head out there very often. It wasn’t our place to disturb.
Over the years we’ve allowed a few people to access it for different ceremonies that honored the earth, but those who accessed it always kept strict NDAs in place. They knew how it could be destroyed if it fell into the wrong hands.
“How’d he know about it?” I croaked out.
“Drones, we think.” Ryder said as he’d spoken for the first time in what felt like hours.
“But we’re sure it’s ours, right?”
“Yeah, Fallon checked the titles today and then called Lexie to have her send over all the deeds they had. She’s got a call out to the county clerk and we’re just waiting for them to pull all the documents.” Nash’s voice was flat, and I wondered if there was more he wasn’t saying.
“We need to set up more security around that pasture,” I said as I sighed heavily.
“You need to rest.” Kipp said as he moved to my side.
“I need to fucking get back to normal.” Pushing him away from me made my ribs ache and the room spin, but I grabbed onto the mantle of the fireplace and let the world stop. “I missed this sale, and I missed all this happening because I wouldn’t ask for help. We wouldn’t be in this situation if I’d just given those fucking Hays brothers what they wanted, so I’m sorry if you don’t like me getting angry, but I need to feel something.”
“We all missed it, brother,” Ryder said as he came to stand in front of me. “What they were asking wasn’t reasonable.”
“It’s not like we’re short on money, Ryder. We could have paid it and never even noticed a dip in the bank accounts.” I was snarky, and I didn’t actually care. Everything could have been solved if I had just given them what they were asking. I wouldn’t be laid up, Elle wouldn’t have been harassed, and Parker would have been safe and not having nightmares. This all fell back to me.
“What if there’s another way to protect the ranch?” Nash said from the corner he was standing in.
“Then I’m all ears.”
“You can be all ears sitting your ass on that bed.” Elle’s angry voice said from the doorway. “You’re whiter than snow Griff. Sit down, or this meeting’s over.”
“I thought you went to work,” I grumbled, as I turning back toward the bed.
“Jake sent me home. He closed early.”
“The fucker better not be going to see my sister,” Kipp said as he glared out the window.
“No, she’s going to see him.” Elle grinned, her voice strained, trying to suppress her laughter.
“Fuck my life.” He grumbled under his breath. Kipp’s sister Tayla had returned home a few weeks ago. From what I gathered from Elle, she and Jake had something of a past, but it had been over for years. But when he found her stranded on the side of the road, they managed to exchange numbers, and with Jake being a single dad to two barrel racing-addicted girls, it had only made sense that he and Tayla gravitated toward one another again.
She hadn’t gotten into what pulled her off the rodeo circuit, but Elle was sure they’d get it out of her sooner rather than later.
“Okay, back to Nash’s plan, even though I quite enjoy making the big guy squirm.” I said as I took the painkillers Elle handed to me. “Thanks, babe.”
“I’ll leave you to your plans. Just don’t kill anyone again, please.” Elle stared at me and arched her brow.
“You told her about Billy?” Ryder asked while glaring at me.
“It was kind of obvious, don’t you think?” I rolled my eyes. Ryder had always been secretive about what we did and the fact the wives all knew made him antsy. Even his ex never knew what he did.
“You better marry her. She knows too much,” Ryder said as he shook his head.
“That’s the plan, but not because she knows too much, because I can’t live without her.” I grinned at my best friend. I still hadn’t gone to pick up her ring, but I knew the second I told Ryder it was ready, he’d be in the truck going to get it.
“Ok, so what’s the plan for Troy’s place,” I asked once we were done discussing my soon-to-be wife.