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“No one?”
“No one.”
Those words for Craig were synonymous with bargain basement prices. He leaned back in his seat and grinning at his cousin, announced, “Let’s make a deal.”
They were on the road for a little more than half an hour when Dev turned up a dirt road that probably hadn’t seen even ground in centuries. “I’m pretty sure the last vehicle to work its way down these ruts had to be a covered wagon.”
Dev nodded, almost hitting his head as they went over an unexpectedly deep pothole. “I’m inclined to agree with you.”
Curiosity had taken hold. He had no idea where the boundaries began and ended, but he could safely assume all the land from the broken fence posts along the road to the crop of buildings in the distance was part of the deal. That feeling that came over him when something was very right was tickling at his cheek bones. He wasn’t ready to grin yet, but he could already see the possibilities. From the traditional oversized red barn; to what had no doubt once upon a time been a smoke house; to the silo, or what was left of it; to the carriage house; to the old ranch. His mind already had designated the carriage houses as his offices. What he assumed was the main home had the mid-century look to it that folks inside the loop would have paid big bucks for regardless of condition.
“Where do you want to look first?”
The sun was already winking over the horizon. They had a window of twenty, thirty minutes tops to scan the property. The main area needed for soundstages would have to be the massive wooden structure ahead. He could even paint it Barn Red so it wouldn’t be a country eyesore. “The barn.”
Dev pulled up at the only section of the lot that wasn’t overgrown with grass. Leaning over, he opened the glove compartment and handed his cousin a nine millimeter hand gun. “Get out here, and take this. With all this tall grass there might be a few rattlers. I’m going to turn the car around now and park in front so it will be easier getting out of Dodge.”
Shaking his head, Craig gently nudged his cousin’s hand, and gun, back at him. “And what if there’s a family of rattlers between the front of the house and here? We both go park and we both walk to the barn.”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re one stubborn colt?”
“Never.” He grinned, and his cousin rolled his eyes. Nothing more was said, probably because Dev knew as well as he did that he was right. No one in these parts walked tall grass without a weapon. No one.
Parked, the two exited the vehicle and searching the immediate area, Craig grabbed a nearby fallen branch, stripped a few wayward twigs, and holding it in front of him, swatted at the grass in hopes of shooing away any unwanted houseguests.
They’d barely reached the faded building leaning to one side when Dev’s phone buzzed in his pocket. A quick glance and he stopped in his tracks and held up a finger. “I need to take this. You go on inside.”
The last vestiges of daylight were almost completely gone. Hesitating a few moments for his eyes to adjust, he took a careful step through the open doorway. Still on its hinges, to his right, one door was firmly shut, but the barn door that should have hung at the open doorway rested against the side at an odd angle. None of which had lessened his growing interest in the property. The real test would be how far from town was this location if they were taking the more direct route.
Looking up at the rafters, he stumbled over something on the ground. A rather large something that had tangled in his feet, sending him wavering about like a massive flag dancing in the wind. Another second and he managed to upright himself and take a closer look at the offensive item that had sent him stumbling awkwardly. A sleeping bag?
And not an age-sheered remnant of long ago, but a shiny, warm, and fairly new insulated number intended for some serious camping. Glancing around the immediate area, there was a small cooler and a battery-operated lantern. What the heck? Lifting his gaze from the ground to what little he could see around him, he wished he’d thought to take the gun from Devlin. Whoever was squatting here could be as harmless as a butterfly or as dangerous as a hibernating bear woken too soon.Crud.
Unsure if he wanted to find out who was camping out, or just get the heck out of here and reconnoiter in full daylight, he blinked as the sun took a final dip below the horizon sending him into near pitch black. Just what he needed. Taking a step in retreat, he hoped his eyes would once again adjust to the darkness. A full moon would help, but he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be tonight. Another step and he wondered why the heck, today of all days, he’d left his phone charging in Dev’s car instead of putting it in his breast pocket the way he usually did. Another step and he turned on his heel, hoping to see his cousin and his phone in the distance, only to trip again.
This time he crashed into something nearly as big as him and a heck of a lot softer. Before he could mutter a gasp or word of warning, a deep loud growl echoed through the high ceilings at the same time a forceful hard surface landed at the small of his back, doubling him over in pain seconds before another object akin to the strength of a brick came down hard on the back of his neck, sending him sprawling across the ground. Right about now, a sleeping bear didn’t seem so awful.
“What the heck?” a man’s voice muttered over the flash of bright light that almost blinded Kate before illuminating a small swath of area in front of her. Now she could see a well-dressed man prone on the ground, but not where the voice came from. When she’d decided to come back and camp out at the barn after she and Joan had lost track of the owl, she’d been prepared to be here a good long while waiting for Mr. or Mrs. Owl to make an appearance. She had not, however, expected company to come snooping.
“Craig, are you okay?” That same voice grew louder as a shadow breached the doorway.
“Turn that thing off.” Pushing to his knees, the guy on the ground kept one hand at his head and waved the other in the direction of the flashlight. “I’ve got a nasty little man with a hammer banging at the inside of my head and that light isn’t helping any.”
“Don’t come any closer.” She was as good a shot with a handgun as her instructor, sometimes better, but this was the first time she had to point the weapon at anything breathing. Hopefully, they couldn’t see how much her hands shook, or that she still had the safety on.
Coming to his feet, one hand still hanging around his neck, his other hand up either in a gesture of surrender or blocking the light, the man muttered, “I wouldn’t think of it.”
“What the hell is going on?” The light from the other man’s phone swung away and landed on her.
“Funny.” Not really, she thought. “That’s what I was wondering. Who are you and what are you doing here?”
Extending his free hand, the man with the hammering in his head reached forward. “I’m Craig Baron. This is my cousin Devlin. If you’d please put that gun away, we can explain.”
Craig Baron? It had been a few hundred years since her college days. She’d forgotten many things, but the good-looking men coming and going from the townhouse down the block had not been one of them. Especially not the one from her Spanish Literature class. Squinting, she tipped her head toward the guy with the flashlight. “Shine it on his face.”
The one Craig introduced as Devlin did as he was told.
“Hey,” Craig nearly growled at his cousin.
