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“Climbed up the outside of the house and in the window,” Cash mumbled, trapping Reese against him.
“And nobody supposed to be on watch outside so I could get a few hours of sleep saw you do it. Damn it. I need coffee,” Franks bitched, stumbling down the stairs.
“Please let me go,” Reese sniffled. “I can’t do this right now. I can’t have you ripping my heart out, prancing around with other women, and then coming back to me when my son is who knows where with my ex-husband and my father. I just can’t do it right now.”
“Beautiful, I am not seeing any other women.”
“Please, I am begging you,” Reese let tears fall again. How she still had liquid left in her body, she had no idea.
“I can’t do it. I am only so strong. I have to find my baby. After he is home and safe, you can tell me all about how you didn’t drive a woman home the other night in the middle of the night. How you two didn’t look like you just had sex, all rumpled and clothes missing. Maybe you can even convince me that she didn’t show up at your house again last night. Right now, what I need is to find my son.”
“Fine, we will put this on hold, but Reese, I swear to god it isn’t what you are thinking. I can understand why you thought that, and if it were the other way around, there would have been a dead man on your lawn. We can drop it for now.” Cash stood holding her close. He descended down the stairs without letting her out of his arms. He had gone too long without her. Now that he was touching her, he couldn’t bring himself to let her go.
Cash saw the mess Franks left all over the living room and decided on the kitchen. He knew papers everywhere would drive Reese nuts. Hooking one of the kitchen chairs with his foot, he regretfully deposited Reese in it while he started cleaning up the mess.
“Reese, you want me to get rid of him? If so, I am probably going to have to arrest him. That is going to be the only way I know where the hell he is at all times,” Franks asked, stirring sugar into his coffee.
“Go ahead and try it. That is my woman, and I am staying,” Cash growled, stepping toe to toe with his friend.
“Please stop,” Reese said quietly. Both men turned to look at her. “He can stay. Cash isn’t going to mention his other woman while he is here. What he does after this is all over is his own business.”
“Beautiful, there is no other damn woman,” Cash uttered again, not stepping away from Franks.
“Son, she let you back in the door. Don’t fuck it up again,” Pappy told him as he walked into the kitchen. “Are you sharing that coffee, or are you planning to drink it all yourself?”
Franks moved out of his way without taking his eyes off Cash. Pappy filled a cup for himself and another for Reese.
“Why don’t you two find something useful to do instead of standing there like a couple of Neanderthals about to pound each other,” Pappy suggested as he sat down beside Reese, giving her a steaming cup. “Good morning, girlie. Any news?”
“Nothing.”
“Why don’t we call them? We can offer them an exchange, me for Mav.”
“We can’t do that,” Reese told him. “what-if something happened to you?”
“Reese, my favorite granddaughter, I would much rather something happen to this eighty-year-old man than your fifteen-year-old boy. He has his whole life ahead of him. I, on the other hand, am in the sunset years of mine.”
“No, Pappy,” Reese’s voice was watery. “I can’t do that.”
“If something did happen, Mitchell would get my life insurance. It solves a lot of our problems, girlie.”
“Absolutely not, Pappy. Besides, your life insurance would only get him so far. Then he would be back wanting more.”
“It would solve his immediate cash issue,” Pappy tried to reason with her.
“But we could make it look like we were going to do that,” Franks said thoughtfully. “We call them and offer a trade. When we meet, we can nab them all.”
“No,” Reese told them. “No one is trading, and no one is offering themselves as bait.”
“But,” Pappy started.
“No,” Reese reinforced.
“Reese, Beautiful, they might be right,” Cash tried to intervene.
“I said no. The only thing you have left is your life insurance policy, which my father already has plans to use. He reminded me he is the executor of Pappy’s will. I don’t care about the money, but if he is crazy enough to nab Mav, he is crazy enough to off his own father to get the money.”
“Okay, we can revisit it later if we need,” Franks conceded.
