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“We’re friends, that’s all.”
“If I had a friend who looked like her, she wouldn’t be my friend for long.”
John picked up the heavy-duty basket he’d been using. “That’s why you’re still single. I’ll be back soon.”
John went outside and headed toward the woodshed. He’d talk to Rachel later, try and explain his brother’s overprotective streak. After what Grant had said about Rachel, he was glad he hadn’t told him about what was happening at work. He’d end up with a neurotic brother following him everywhere.
His cell phone beeped. He looked at the screen before answering the call.
Tanner’s voice echoed through the woodshed. “Rachel’s safely home, boss. Apart from Tank getting an even bigger complex about being her personal shopper, everything went well.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you later.” John ended the call. If Tanner had called ten minutes earlier, he could have stopped his brother from making an idiot of himself. Rachel wouldn’t have heard his comments about gold-diggers and he wouldn’t have another apology to make.
With thirty food parcels to wrap and a brother who’d decided to stay for dinner, it was going to be an interesting evening.
***
Rachel watched John’s brother as she ate the beef casserole that Patty Daniels had made. The two brothers were so different that she was still having a hard time believing they were related. Grant was as dark as John was fair. His thick wavy hair brushed the collar of his denim shirt and his brown eyes were even more secretive than John’s.
She had a feeling that their cautious nature was about the only thing the two men had in common.
Grant reached across the table for a bread roll. “You’d better put Rachel out of her misery, little brother. She can’t work out if we’re really related.”
“Some days I wish we weren’t,” he said dryly. “But for my sins, Grant Byers is my brother. Same mom, different dads.”
“Uncle Grant lives on a ranch,” Bella said proudly. “He has ten horses and lots of cows.”
Rachel smiled at Bella. “That’s pretty impressive.”
Bella nodded enthusiastically. “Uncle Grant said he’s going to teach me how to be a cowgirl.”
“That sounds exciting. What are you looking forward to the most?”
“Going on a cattle drive. Tank and Tanner are coming, too.”
Grant dipped his knife in the stick of butter in front of him. “Did you grow up on a ranch, Rachel?”
She shook her head. “No. My mom was a secretary and dad was a mechanic.”
“Must have been a busy life?”
Rachel cut a green bean in half. “It was, but I expect ranching takes a lot of time as well.”
“Too much, sometimes.”
Rachel waited for Grant to tell her more about being a rancher, but he didn’t. “What about you?” she asked. “Have you always been a rancher?” She was surprised when Grant shook his head.
“I tried other things for a few years. About five years ago I came back to Bozeman. When our mom and my step-dad died, I took over the family ranch.”
“Moving to Bozeman must have been a big decision to make?” Grant shrugged. It was a little too careless, as if he wasn’t going to tell her the whole truth.
“Not really. John was overseas and ranching wasn’t for him. It worked out well for both of us.”
Rachel looked at Grant’s hand. He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, so she assumed he didn’t have a wife or family.
“Dad, can I leave the table? I want to finish something important.”
John smiled at his daughter. “Sure, Bella. Remember to rinse your plate and put it in the dishwasher.”
Bella scrunched her nose up. “Do I have to?”
“Yes.”
Bella pushed her chair back from the table and looked at Rachel. “I’ll be in my room. You can come up later if you want?”
“I’ll do that.”
“But no boys,” Bella said quickly as she looked at her dad and uncle. “It’s a secret.” She waited until John and Grant had both agreed not to come into her room before leaving the table.
Rachel watched her head toward the kitchen. She knew all about the top secret project that Bella was working on and how much it meant to her. She just hoped it didn’t bring back too many sad memories for John.
Grant put down his knife and fork. “I have an apology to make. I didn’t completely mean what I said about being a gold digger. Some women get sidetracked when they know how much money John’s got.”
Rachel had calmed down enough to know that his comments weren’t entirely directed at her. She kept her gaze on Grant. If she looked at John, she’d blush beet red and never say what she needed to. “You don’t need to worry about me. In another few weeks I’ll be living in my own home, working at Bozeman Elementary. John’s paying me to teach Bella and that’s what I’m doing. Things just got a little complicated and it was safer for me to stay here.”
“Safer?” Grant’s gaze shot to his brother.
John stopped chewing.
Rachel looked between the two brothers. John hadn’t told Grant about the death threats. She thought fast, trying to come up with something that sounded logical. “The weather. Driving on the roads isn’t safe. It made sense to stay here.”
Grant pushed his plate away. “What’s going on?”
John clenched his jaw. “Nothing.”
“Are you kidding me? You’ve got extra guards around the house, Rachel is living here, and whenever Bella goes outside she has a bodyguard with her. Something has happened and I wouldn’t call it nothing.”
Rachel cleared her throat. “Do you want me to leave?”
John shook his head. “You might as well hear the whole story.” He glanced at Grant. “Someone found out about a surveillance project my team was working on. A group called the Oracom Corporation contacted me through their lawyers. They offered me a lot of money for a prototype of our security drone.”
“When did you start making drones?” Rachel thought Fletcher Security specialized in keeping people and their property safe, not designing surveillance equipment. When John had told her that he’d been sent death threats, she’d assumed it was because he was rich. She couldn’t have been more wrong if she’d tried.
“About four years ago. We haven’t told many people about our technical development program, but somehow Oracom found out. I turned their offer down and created a new set of enemies that I don’t need. A few days ago they sent me an email. It explained just how far they were prepared to go to get their hands on what we’ve developed.”
Grant’s face became a blank mask. “Where’s the drone now?”
“We sold it to the Department of Defense. The technology we used is more advanced than anything I’ve ever seen.”
Rachel looked at John. “If you’ve already sold the drone, why are you getting death threats?”
Grant’s mouth dropped open. “Death threats? Why the hell didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
John ran his hand around the back of his neck. “I didn’t want you to worry. You’ve got enough happening in your life without me adding to your problems.”
“You’re my brother,” Grant hissed. “The only one I’ll ever have. It’s my job to help you.”
John scowled at Grant. “If I’d told you sooner, you would have left the ranch and camped in my front yard. I don’t need you getting hurt.”
“So that’s why you’ve got extra security guards around Bella and Rachel all of the time?”
John nodded. “I’m not taking any chances.”
Grant didn’t look convinced and Rachel had to admit that she agreed with him. If the drone was important enough to kill someone over, there’d be no stopping the people who were after it.
John looked between Rachel and Grant. “The chance of Oracom getting anywhere near the drone is almost zero.”
“What about near you?” Grant growled. “You know as well as I do how easy it is to kill someone. If that’s what they’re intent on doing, a few extra bodyguards won’t help.”
“I’ve got more than a few extra bodyguards in place.”
“What about the people in your technical team?” Rachel asked. “Are they okay?”
“They have round-the-clock surveillance and bodyguards with them. I’ve done everything I can to minimize the danger everyone’s in.” John glared at his brother. “You might want to consider letting me send a security guard out to your ranch.”
“Like hell,” Grant muttered. “If I can’t look after myself, there’s something seriously wrong. Is anyone looking for the people behind the threats at Oracom?”
John took a sip of water from his glass. “The CIA and the FBI are working on it. We’ve told the local police department. There isn’t a lot we can do except keep everyone safe and wait for Oracom’s next move.”
“Or beat them at their own game,” Grant said. “Who’s in charge of the case?”
