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“I can dive in if you’d like.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
“What time is it?” I asked, looking up from my laptop.
“Almost five,” answered Rock.
I wasn’t asking about the time as much as I was about Buck’s whereabouts. He’d been gone most of the day.
“Have you heard from him?” I asked.
Rock looked at his phone. “Yeah.”
What was it with these guys that they insisted I ask a question when the information I was looking for was obvious? I mean, Rock knew who I was asking about without my saying Buck’s name.
When he didn’t say more, I played along. “And?”
“Me and one of the other guys are supposed to accompany you and Irish to the Flying R Ranch at six.”
“Will Buck be going as well?”
“I can’t answer that, Stella.”
“Which means you know, but you can’t tell me?” Jesus. And Buck told me he wasn’t going to play games. Actually, that wasn’t exactly right. He said he wasn’t going to play me. Those were two different things, weren’t they?
I wasn’t sure what I should wear to visit this other ranch, except that I shouldn’t wear Buck’s t-shirt. I closed my laptop, went into the bedroom, and took a shower. When I came back out, Rock was looking at his phone.
“Ready?” he asked when he noticed I’d walked in.
“To be honest, I’d rather just stay here.”
“You wanna get me in trouble?” he asked with a smile.
“Never.”
“Let’s get out of here, then.”
When we walked out the front door, Irish was waiting on the porch. Rock opened the front passenger door for me. “I can sit in the back.”
“No, I will,” muttered Irish, reaching for the door handle.
“We have one more to pick up,” said Rock, as if that made a difference.
When we pulled up to the main house, Irish’s desire to sit in the back made more sense. He got out, walked around to the other side of the vehicle, and opened the door. Flynn came out the front door and got in.
We pulled out behind another SUV identical to the one we were in. I looked in the side mirror and saw another followed. Was Buck in either of them?
If he wasn’t, or if he didn’t show up at the other ranch at all, I would regret agreeing to come along. I had no desire to listen to some band I didn’t know, or hang out with any of these people. I would’ve much preferred continuing my research.
16
Buck
Earlier, I’d stormed out of the cabin in a ridiculous fit of jealousy over the idea that Jinx Jenkins had spent any time at all with Stella. Making it worse, I’d just apologized for doubting her when she said it was over. But the idea that he’d had his hands on her naked body when I hadn’t, pissed me the fuck off. The only way I could stop from making a complete jackass of myself was to leave.
I went in search of my brothers and found them helping Decker’s crew with the security system installation.
“Hey, Buck, how are ya?” asked Zane “Rip” Kailor, one of the guys who had been with the agency like me, but now worked as a contractor for the Invincibles.
