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“So, how did it go?” Tripp asks, I can hear the desperation in his voice.
I sigh, placing the bottom of the mug on my bare thigh and welcoming the burn that radiates through me.
“Well, for starters he said that you ranchers were basically just doing a dick measuring contest when it came to your ranches, so I named you the big dicked ranchers.” I hear Riggs splutter, coughing and Pacey’s jaw drops, Tripp just stares at me wide eyed and I giggle.
“I mean, I really like the nickname, B-D-R,” I sound the letters out on my tongue, “Could also be Big Dicked Rivera’s…”
“That’s enough,” Riggs pushes his hand through his hair and I giggle a little more at his flushed cheeks.
“Did you say who had the biggest dick or…?” Pacey asks dead pan, his face serious all of a sudden and I lean over and swat him on the arm with the back of my hand.
“Idiot,” my laugh is a little louder now, but it’s only me and Pacey who are laughing, the other two grumpy fuckers keep their poker faces on. “Anyway,” I manage to calm myself down after a moment or two, “he didn’t really say much more than you already know. I asked for the buyers number but he wouldn’t give it. I said I overheard someone saying they wanted to sell,” I hold my hand out, “he said that there was more to the ranches thanjustthe ranches.” I watch as Riggs sits a little taller, him and Tripp exchanging looks.
“What was he on about?” my eyes bounce around the room and I feel clammy suddenly.
Tripp cocks his head slightly, as if trying to give a warning look at Riggs to not open his mouth.
“There is an old gold mine that sits beneath us all, bang in the middle. If you were to look at a birds-eye view of Lovelock Bay, you would see the point where it’s situated. No one has been down there in decades, there was nothing down there, but it seems whoever Clay is working with is aware of this little abandoned mine and they think they can destroy our heritage just to explore a redundant mine.” A heavy sigh leaves him.
“Is it redundant?” I ask twisting round to look at Riggs.
He shuffles on the arm of the sofa, his palms rubbing up and down his jean covered thighs, silent words move between the three brothers. My eyes jolt to each one of them and none of them can look at me.
“What are you not telling me?” My palms start getting twitchy, my heart thumps in my chest and I can hear the blood thumping in my ears.
“Dinks,” Riggs pauses and clears his throat as his brothers look between us. “Aspen,” he sighs. “Our understanding was that it was, yes. But the suits began moving in and Clay became more known in our little town so we started digging.” I pin my eyes to him. “No one has been down there since the early 1900’s, they bled it dry.” He breaks his gaze.
“So why do you think he is interested in the mine if it’s empty?”
Riggs shrugs his shoulders up.
“He might not even be hinting at the mine, I just think it’s weird how they’re so focused on our town. Why, all of a sudden, the interest in buying all the ranches when we all sit on a common denominator.”
I sit back, my fingers clasped round my mug as I just listen for a moment.
“Could it be drug related?” I shoot my question towards Riggs and he returns another shrug of his shoulders.
“Could be, I mean they could be using the livestock carcases that are…” he pauses and uses bunny ears, “‘dying’ to carry the drugs out without anyone even realising.”
And it’s like a lightbulb has just gone off over all of their heads at the same time.
“No fucking way,” Pacey’s tone is slow and low as the realisation kicks in.
“Easily done, we had ours cremated… didn’t we?” Riggs asks and Tripp steadies his gaze.
“Yeah, our usual guys couldn’t do it so I had to call on someone else, Harlow said they were fully booked.”
Realisation smashes them all in their pretty faces for the second time in as many minutes.
“I’ve got to go,” Tripp stands, placing his mug down as he darts from the room, and with a curt nod, Pacey follows behind him.
“Well, that escalated quickly,” anxiousness courses through me and I hear a deep rumble that leaves Riggs.
I stand slowly, stepping towards Riggs and after three steps I’m in front of him.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have gone out with Clay,” I whisper, and for some reason I feel guilty. Riggs didn’t want me to go, but I wanted to help.
“No, baby, no,” Riggs lifts his face to look at me, his eyes volleying as his large hands rest on my waist. His eyes look dull, a smile forcing across his lips but it doesn’t meet his eyes. “You helped. Fuck,” he drops his head for a moment, shaking his head from side to side. I clasp his face, lifting his face to look at me. “I didn’t want you to go, but you managed to possibly find out what these assholes want with our land.”
