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Port laughed. “Why’d you leave?”
“The CIA?”
He nodded.
I had no business telling Port what I was about to, but he deserved to know. Particularly since it was the reason Stella and Irish were here. “There was some shit goin’ down that I couldn’t stomach. Worse, I could’ve easily been on the same firing line as other agents.” I made sure my brother was looking me in the eye. “This goes no further.”
“Understood.”
“Agents—good ones—were being targeted. Irish, the guy staying in the next cabin over, was the one who started paying close enough attention to get suspicious. Decker, the guy you referred to as my boss, almost brought the whole mission down, but in the end, he joined up with Irish and his handler, a guy named Cope. When the CIA director was arrested, we thought it was over.”
“It isn’t?”
“Afraid not.”
Porter shook his head. “Shit.”
“That’s why Stella and Irish are both here. Also why Decker and the Invincibles are investing in the security system. You should know we’re expecting one or two other people. I mentioned Cope a minute ago. His wife is on her way here, but I have no idea her ETA. I’m also not sure if Cope will be staying here too.”
“Thanks for telling me all this, Buck.”
“I’d prefer not telling our sibs, but I’ll leave that decision to you.”
“I guess if there comes a time they need to know, I’ll tell ’em. To be honest, I figured most of this out, just not the particulars. I’m sure they have too.”
I laughed. “Deck can be over-the-top cloak and dagger, so I’m sure everyone has their theories.”
“Back to the meeting with Flying R.”
“Right. I guess it would be good to know what kind of investment we’ll need if we want to make a real go of it.”
“Billy Patterson, one of the partners, said there’s also a possibility of going in on a few bulls. Broncs too.”
“As in, get people to invest?”
“Exactly. If they’re rank, we either buy them out at the end of the year when we can get our hands on more cash, or we sell and split the profit.”
“I like the sound of this, Port.”
“There’s something else you should know.”
I was getting damned tired of being blindsided. “What’s that?”
“Bethany Strom and I were seeing each other for a while.”
“She said.”
“When you walked in on us at the visitation, she was ending it.”
“If you’re asking, I’m not interested in Bethany, Porter. Not the slightest bit.”
He motioned with his head toward the cabin. “Yeah, I kinda got that impression.”
15
Stella
Part of me felt guilty for cracking the window open so I could listen to Buck’s conversation with his brother. Another part of me had accepted my incessant need to eavesdrop a long time ago.
