AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We will send federal agents, deputies, and our security team undercover to mingle with the crowd,” Rory said.
“We’re private citizens,” Nick corrected. “We can’t send deputies and agents anywhere. Our security team is too small to cover us in a crowd that size. And besides, if we are all in town hoping to draw Mick out, what’s stopping him from setting fire to everything Cash holds dear? This ranch is surrounded by forest.”
As much as Cash wanted to reject that idea outright, Nick spelled out a serious threat—one that would be Cash’s worst nightmare. He could replace buildings and possessions, but he couldn’t risk anything happening to their animals.
Rory frowned and bobbed his head back and forth. “Okay, that’s a valid point I hadn’t considered.”
“And we just can’t risk something happening to our community,” Cash said. “It’s not fair to invite our chaos into their streets.”
Rory huffed a sigh. “Fine. You’re right.”
“I appreciate your input,” Cash told him. “At least you’re doing something. I’ve just twiddled my thumbs for two weeks.”
“And moped,” Nick added. “You’re using your extra free time to imagine problems where there are none.”
“Sounds like this is a good time for me to skedaddle,” Rory said. “See you at breakfast.”
Cash wanted to dispute the claim, but Nick was right. He needed to do something besides worry about things he couldn’t control. “I have this niggling idea the solution is contained in a locked memory.”
“Let’s go see if we can shake it loose.”
Nick had given everything he had, but Cash staggered out of the closet on limp legs, no closer to a solution than when they’d entered. He collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep that ended abruptly when he dreamed of panicked horses and a smoke-filled barn. Cash was simultaneously cold and hot, sweaty, shaking, and his chest had hurt so badly. He suspected a heart attack but cycled through some deep breaths before calling 911. The tension eased, and his pulse returned to normal, but he still trembled all over. Cash took a shower to wash away the cold sweat and ended up sitting in the middle of the tiled floor to let the water beat down on him.
He had to stop trying to shoulder the burdens of things he couldn’t control. The ranch already had a contingency plan in place for wildfire evacuations. They’d have to adjust it slightly to include Jake and the goats, but he believed in his crew. Cash realized he also needed to have faith in a universe or higher power that would help good triumph over evil. He pulled himself together, turned off the shower, and dried off. He pulled on a pair of sweats and a long-sleeved T-shirt and went to his office to avoid waking Nick. Cash made a cup of herbal tea, curled into a corner of the sofa, and started scrolling through Mick and Quinton Carson’s social media posts. When that triggered nothing, he started looking at their family members’ posts. Quinton’s brothers had their accounts locked down pretty tight, but his father, Mick’s nephew, wasn’t worried much about privacy. It looked like he put every thought out there for the world to see. Cash slowly scrolled through the posts, going back farther than he had with Mick’s. He stopped on a Father’s Day tribute from ten years ago. It was a screenshot of an old photo from what looked like the late seventies or early eighties. There were several generations of Carson males at what looked to be a family reunion or picnic at a lake. The caption was a tribute to all the fathers in his family, and he waxed poetic about the fun times at the family cabin. Several of the men posed with stringers of dead fish.
Cash sat up so fast he sloshed tea over the side of his mug. That niggling notion tickling his brain transformed into a solid memory. Mike had once told him how much he hated fishing. The subject of hobbies had come up while the crew worked on Cash’s race car. Someone had said they fished in their spare time. Mike had piped in and said he loathed everything to do with fishing. His parents forced him to go to the family’s cabin in Twin Lakes as a kid. He didn’t start appreciating those outings until he was old enough to appreciate girls his age in bikinis. He’d started calling it “Twin Peaks” from there on. Bolting to his feet, Cash ran into his bedroom and woke Nick.
“Again, Saint?” He rolled onto his back and rubbed his eyes. “I just got Spiffy to fire on all cylinders again, and you’re going to wear him out.”
“I remembered something Mike told me years ago. I think I have a possible location for Mick and Quinton.”
Nick sat up and was immediately alert. Cash showed him the photo he’d found and repeated the Twin Lakes story.
“It might be nothing,” Cash said.
“Or it could mean everything.” Nick kissed Cash firmly on the mouth before dialing someone on his phone. “Hey, Burke,” he said. “Sorry to wake you. Cash remembered something Mike Carson told him.”
Cash listened to Nick’s side of the story, marveling that he’d called Burke first. “Twin Lakes is not his jurisdiction,” Cash said once Nick disconnected.
“No, it’s not, but Burke deserves the opportunity to take the lead and make the calls.” Nick tugged Cash onto the bed and rolled so he was spooning up behind him again.
“What are you doing?” Cash asked.
“Trying to get you to go back to sleep. You’ve done what you can. There’s no need for you to stay awake all night for something that could take hours or even days to develop. It’s time to let the professionals handle it.”
Cash suspected the last bit was for his benefit, but he fell for it anyway. Please don’t let it be days.
He woke sometime later to a trail of kisses along the back of his neck. “Do you know what day it is?” Nick whispered.
Cash arched his back and pressed his ass into Nick’s crotch. He hadn’t stripped down when he returned to bed, so there were too many clothes between them. “Mmmm. I’ve lost track of the days.” Cash reached behind him and stroked Nick’s cock. “It’s bound to be a great day if I start off with this beast inside me.”
Nick canted his hips to press harder against Cash’s palm. “Keep it up and you’ll distract me from my mission.”
Cash stilled and looked over his shoulder. “I thought I was the mission.”
Nick nipped the back of his neck. “Always, but there’s something I wanted to tell you first. Something exciting.”
Cash’s pulse leaped. “More exciting than sex with you?”
