He clears his throat and tucks his hat back in place. “Nice to see you boys acting like brothers again.”
“We’ve always acted like brothers.”
Carlos harrumphs like he doesn’t believe me.
“Maybe not those first years.” For a long time after we left, I was more like Dad, checking on them and asking if they needed money. As the years passed, they began discussing their financials and investments with me. We didn’t talk much outside of that. “We got busy with our own lives. Then Dad started calling.”
“If you’d hung up on Ram, those boys would’ve too.”
They follow my lead, but is there a limit? They’re both set on returning to their lives. If I don’t…will I see them again?
The drone of an engine sounds in the distance. A pickup truck is heading toward us and starting to slow, the sun glinting off its windshield and silver body.
“Ah, hell,” Carlos mutters. “Gil.”
“When’d he get a ninety-thousand-dollar truck?” I’ve never bought a pickup, but I might’ve priced them since I’ve been home.
“More like an even hundred with all the add-ons.”
I narrow my eyes as Gil coasts to a stop in the middle of the highway. He used to flaunt his steady stream of oil money and the success of his ranch when I was growing up. Looks like nothing’s changed.
Gil rolls his window down and drapes an elbow out. I bite my tongue to keep from reacting to the change in him. His once brassy hair is thin and white and pressed around his head from a cowboy hat. Deep creases wing out from his eyes, crinkling liver spots that weren’t there the last time I saw him. That was when he was ordering Dad to pay him three grand for one of his bulls we found dead in our pasture. I half-suspected he’d put the damn thing there after finding the carcass to scam some money out of us.
He squints at us, scowling. “What’s going on?”
“Paying our respects,” Carlos answers.
His lips flatten as his gaze sweeps over me. One cheek is puffed out. “The Cross boys are still within city limits. Hard to believe you didn’t throw a shovel full of dirt in the hole and speed out of town.”
“Jesus,” Carlos says under his breath.
Fury is a brush fire along my skin. “I see you’re stooping lower than normal, Gil.”
Chagrin loosens Gil’s jaw as he spits a sunflower seed shell out the window. His gaze skates away. “Hell of a thing.”
“Yup. Know anyone who saw something?”
Gil tips his head, and his shrewd gaze rakes over me. “Why?”
“Just asking.”
He works his jaw. “Finn was the first one on the scene. You’ll have to ask him.”
Irritation scratches at the back of my neck. Finn and I used to play baseball together. I might’ve gotten along with him if our parents didn’t despise each other.
“Keep an eye out,” Gil warns. “There’s been some guys snooping around property, getting into unlocked buildings.”
Surprise lurches in my chest. “You know who it is?”
“Kids, probably. School’s out, and they’re bored.”
It makes sense. Old friends from school used to party in empty shops. Security cameras weren’t prevalent in those days. Since Gil’s been shockingly helpful for once, I stop him just as he’s rolling away.
“Happen to see a camera lying around anywhere around here?”
It’s a long shot.
Gil sniffs and spits out a sunflower shell. He stares out the windshield. “Nope. No camera. Talk to Finn about that, too, while you’re at it.”
