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Cash whirled around and stared up at Nick. “Squat down here so I don’t have to strain my neck while we have our first argument as a couple.” He also kept his voice low so as not to disturb Keegan.
Cash and Nick had argued plenty of times as friends, but he expected this battle to land differently. Nick snagged the doctor’s stool instead and sat down so they were eye to eye.
Nick had instigated the first blow and didn’t wait for Cash to counter. “How could you possibly think I’d changed my mind about us?”
Cash flinched as he took the verbal volley on the chin. “I didn’t think you changed your mind about us.” But wouldn’t that have been the natural conclusion his brain would’ve drawn if he hadn’t slammed on the brakes? “And stop trying to circumvent the way my brain processes information. You’ve done that three times in the last…” Cash tilted his head to the side. “I lost track of time. Day?”
Nick chuckled, leaned forward, and kissed Cash’s lips. “I will never try to disrupt your brilliant brain for business stuff.” He kissed him again and lingered a little longer. “But there’s no room for doubt with us. I love you. I want to be with you, not just for now while I heal. I want forever with you, Saint.”
Cash leaned his forehead against Nick’s. “Hearing Dr. Rashid use your FBI credentials threw me. I’m sorry.”
“Habit,” Nick said. “Being an FBI agent has been my total identity for the past twelve years. I naturally slipped into that role when I discussed the logistics of Keegan’s protection. I haven’t changed my mind. I want more from life than my career provided me. But I need you.”
“So touching.”
They looked up to see Burke standing inside the curtain. Cash rolled his eyes, and Nick flipped him off.
“I’ll head out as soon as Keegan’s security detail arrives,” Burke said.
Nick told him about the conversation he’d had with Dr. Rashid, and Burke thanked him.
“Why can’t you get an arrest warrant based on Keegan’s condition alone?” Cash asked. “You heard what Dr. Rashid said. It’s one of the worst abuse cases she’s seen. Why isn’t Keegan’s word enough?”
“Because Burke didn’t get the allegations directly from Keegan,” Nick replied. “He got them from me, who only heard bits and pieces from Keegan. Tyler and Owen did most of the talking. It’s really murky, Saint. If the evidence couldn’t hold up in court, and it wouldn’t in this case, then you shouldn’t arrest someone solely on the information.”
“Arrest him now and make the case afterward,” Cash growled.
“The longest I could hold them is forty-eight hours, and I can’t corroborate Keegan’s story for three days. Not only would they walk away with no charges filed against them, they would know we were on to them and would hide the evidence of their crimes. No judge in his right mind would give me a search warrant based on the circumstantial evidence we have now. Even if I could finagle one, even the most inexperienced defense attorney would get the evidence thrown out at trial. I will have only one shot to do this, and I need to do it right.”
“I know it’s frustrating, but we are forewarned, thanks to Keegan,” Nick said. “We can take actions to protect our people until Burke can arrest the Carsons.”
Cash huffed a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. He’d waited twelve years for Nick. Allowing Keegan to recover for three days would normally seem like an insignificant amount of time if his crew wasn’t in danger because of him. Nick narrowed his eyes and shook his head as if he knew the trajectory his thoughts had taken. Smug bastard. “Okay. You do what you need to, Burke, and we’ll do what we must to stay safe.”
Federal law prohibited most of the ranch’s residents from owning guns, so they’d have to protect themselves in other ways. Mainly by avoiding the threat altogether. Cash’s problem-solving brain kicked into high gear. By the time they transported Keegan upstairs with his deputy detail, Cash had commandeered a notepad and a pen from the hospital staff and had started making a list. So far, everything he’d come up with restricted the crew’s movements. The ranch was their refuge, so the last thing Cash wanted to do was make it a different prison. He dropped the notepad on his lap and emitted a soft growl of frustration.
Nick had wedged himself in to lie sideways beside Cash on the narrow spare hospital bed. “Gimme,” he said.
Cash happily handed the notepad to him and they switched positions. He lay down on his side, and Nick sat up in the bed.
“I agree you need to limit your exposure, so having groceries and supplies delivered to the ranch accomplishes the exact opposite. You don’t know how far Carson’s reach extends and you don’t want his minions sizing up the ranch from inside the fence.” Or attacking. Nick hadn’t said as much, but he wasn’t the only one in the relationship who could read minds. “Burke doesn’t have enough deputies to provide the level of security we’d need, but you could hire a private team to offer protection on and off the ranch. They’d have a license to carry weapons. A lot of ex-military men go into that line of work, so Burke might have a recommendation.”
Cash deflated in the bed. “Why the hell didn’t I think of that? I’ve hired a security detail for overseas business trips.”
Nick set the notepad aside and lay down to spoon behind Cash. “Because you’re exhausted after several traumatic experiences. We’ve got a guard outside the door and each other. Let’s try to rest so we can make smart decisions.”
Cash knew Nick was right. He closed his eyes and clung to the hope that the ordeal would soon be over and the true healing could begin for everyone.
Two weeks later, and with no end in sight, Cash’s optimism fizzled. It wasn’t because Keegan hadn’t provided actionable information. He’d not only warned of bigger, bolder plans for Redemption Ridge’s residents, but he’d revealed there were large storage buildings on the property that were only accessible to Mick and Quinton. As for Burke, he hadn’t sat idly by while waiting for Keegan to recover. He’d set up surveillance near the compound to track movement coming in and out. He’d struck out there but had recovered viable fingerprints from the wrecked truck’s bumper and undercarriage. They matched the prints on the stolen tools and the canvas bag seized from the trash after the frame job. Quinton Carson didn’t have a record, so his prints wouldn’t be on file until Burke arrested and booked him. A fingerprint match could convince Quinton to roll on Mick. But they’d need to arrest the duo of doom first, and to do that, they’d need to find them. Burke had conducted several interviews with the Carson family members, who either wouldn’t or couldn’t provide insightful information.
Keegan’s bravery had provided Burke the evidence to secure warrants to arrest Mick and Quinton Carson and search the compound. Unfortunately, the men were long gone by then. Keegan may have slashed their tires to help himself get away, but they stole a truck from a neighboring farm and fled once they realized he was gone. The Salvation Anew compound was divided in a weird hierarchy that allowed the women to live in the house with Carson while the men and children lived in tents or campers on the property. The cowardly leader left his followers to their own fate, which hadn’t been promising in the first place.
Someone had locked all the food and staples in one of the storage rooms. The refrigerator and cupboards in the home were completely bare. The only cold storage for fresh food was inside the shed. Instead of seeking help, Carson’s brainwashed and browbeaten followers stayed put, existing on whatever they could forage from the land. The contents in the other storage shed revealed the kind of bigger and bolder plans the Carsons had wanted to carry out. Guns, ammunition, homemade pipe bombs, and various other deadly weapons filled the space. Some items were still in their original USPS shipping material. Since they’d crossed state lines, Burke brought the feds on board to assist. The decision wasn’t a happy one, but the sheriff wasn’t foolish enough to resist the personnel and additional tools at the FBI’s disposal. And since Nick hadn’t tendered his resignation, the agents assigned to the case kept an open line of communication with him as a courtesy.
Seeing Nick flourish in his element had made Cash queasy about Nick’s decision to leave the FBI. Whenever those doubts arose, Nick would calm them—privately and usually in the nude. He proved the tufted ottoman in the walk-in closet really came in handy for more than putting on shoes. And Cash’s ties made an excellent gag to muffle his screams of pleasure when Nick hammered his point home. Sex with Nick went beyond a consolation prize for the turmoil the Carsons had thrust upon Redemption Ridge. It was downright therapeutic, though they’d curtailed shenanigans in the hot tub with the security team on-site. Cash reminded himself frequently that the situation was temporary, and they’d return to their normal lives eventually.
The crew had responded well to the new challenges. Well, Rueben had pouted a little when Burke postponed their date until after he caught Mick and Quinton. Instead, Burke had joined them for dinner on the ranch a few times and even played a few rounds of poker. He blushed at Rueben’s overt flirtations but didn’t return them in front of the crew. No one missed how long it took for Rue to say goodbye when he walked Burke out to his truck nor did they miss the sappy smile on his well-kissed lips when he returned. Rueben deserved his date with Burke, and the crew should’ve been able to come and go as they pleased without their security shadow. They weren’t in the wrong, yet they were the ones getting punished. There were moments when Cash felt stifled and just the brush of a shirt collar against his neck was suffocating. He worked out more and fucked harder, but those only provided temporary relief.
Cash’s brain would start looking for trouble as soon as blood flowed back to it, and he’d start the process all over again. He worked through problems best on paper, so he’d started making lists of things they knew and things they didn’t. Burke’s team uncovered the items stolen from the local homes inside one of the storage buildings. He surmised that Salvation Anew only took them to cast a poor light on Cash and his crew. Mick Carson had meant to turn the community against Redemption Ridge with his allegations. When that didn’t work, he tried to frame them. Since that failed, he’d stepped up his game again and cut the brake lines on Cash’s truck. It didn’t take Cash long to realize the list of things he knew eclipsed the things he didn’t. It only increased his frustration, so he turned his attention to the positive things he could do. Keeping morale up on the ranch and making sure Keegan was comfortable were his top priorities.
