Page 53 of Flight of the Omega

Jack almost breathed a sigh of relief as Duckie rattled off the order and Dr. Vogel went about getting it all together for them. Then, just before Duckie was about to head out to the truck, they turned back to Jack. “Just so you know, Burr’s hopping mad. I’d watch my step if I were you—the job’s there, and Burr would be an idiot to fire you, but he’s so mad, I bet he would.”

“Thanks,” Jack said.

“And don’t mention nothing about the boss’s son,” the cook said with a wink, then flounced out the door, leaving Jack standing there, heart hammering in his chest.

Did Duckie know? Did the cook see through his lies, and would they tell anyone else? Someone like Burr?

Amanda laid a hand on his shoulder. “Duckie’s a good one,” she said, like she’d read his mind, giving him a reassuring squeeze. “If they know, I think they’ll keep it quiet.”

“Y’think?” In Jack’s experience, Duckie couldn’t keep a secret for much longer than two minutes.

Dr. Vogel smiled. “I know. C’mon. I’ll give you a lift over to Midlothian so you can get your things.”

“Thanks.”

Jack had already decided that, as soon as it was safe for JP to move again, they’d ship out for the city. JP needed access to more people and services than ranch country could offer him. Jack wasn’t looking forward to city life, but it would be better than JP losing it and running off into the wilderness again.

Burr was waiting for him when they rolled up. He was standing on the porch, his arms crossed, looking for all the world like a vulture. He frowned as Jack clambered out of the vehicle.

“Hey,” Jack said.

Burr’s face twisted into a snarl. “Hey yourself,” he sneered. “The hell have you been? You disappeared during the Plate, been gone for a month now. What’s that all about?”

“Something came up,” Jack said. The porch steps creaked under his weight.

“Oh yeah? Like what.”

“Like a sick bird,” Jack replied, feeding the lead hand the same lie he’d told Duckie. Burr’s eyes bored into his. “Dr. Vogel took me down and I stayed there, about twenty miles from here.”

“I know the town,” Burr said. “I know the ranches. Duckie came back and told me all about it. So I made a few phone calls.”

Jack watched as Burr paced around him, slow, measured steps in his leather cowboy boots. “Seems no one saw you, and no one had a sick bird either.”

“Maybe you went twenty miles in the wrong direction,” Jack suggested with as much ease as he could muster.

Burr grinned. His laughter was nothing more than a sinister breath. “Maybe,” he drawled, stepping in front of Jack, drawing himself up to his full height. “You wanna know what I think?”

Jack really didn’t. “What?”

Burr leaned in. “I think you were fucking the boss’s kid. I think you got him knocked up and the two of you ran off together.”

Jack huffed in irritation. “Duckie said that’s the rumor. But I’m here now and where’s he at? Not here, now is he?”

Burr tipped his head. “Nah,” he agreed, “you probably left him in your little hidey hole, sitting on a nest.”

“If he’s got a nest, I don’t know where it is.”

Burr snorted. “Now I know you’re full of shit.”

“I ain’t—”

“You reek like him and a nest. You’ve been with him, and you’ve been minding his nest, looking after his eggs too.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack protested.

“How many eggs were there, I wonder?” Burr’s footsteps thudded against the wooden planks. “Probably a good-sized clutch. Bet they were a pretty blue color too, just like the bird that laid ’em.”

Jack glowered at the lead hand. “I’m telling you, I wouldn’t know. I don’t know where the boss’s kid ran off to.”