"You’ve been gone so long, you'll probably get lost,” Kayden said. “You’d better take it."
"Trust me, I remember this place too well. But I'll have the phone." I snatched the satellite phone off the table.
"You remember how to use it?" Declan asked.
"Yep." The radio was much more archaic than the ones I’d used in the special forces, but it would work the same.
"Let's roll." Kayden jammed on his hat and strode out the door.
I watched him go, then turned to Declan. "He's still a hothead, huh?"
Declan snorted. "That was him being nice."
As we stepped onto the back verandah, a wall of heat hit us. Koolaroo stretched endlessly in all directions, it was sunbaked country carved by dusty windblasts and its share of torrential downpours. Timber fencing divided the station into sectors, and a line of cattle trucks was crowded near the yards. In the shade of an ancient gum, two stockmen slept while their horses swished their tails in an endless battle against the relentless flies. The morning air carried the familiar scent of dust and sun-warmed earth.
A sense of being home swept through me that was unexpected. And damn unwanted. I'd been living out of a duffel bag for so long, I wasn't even sure what home meant anymore.
Shoving the bullshit aside, I said, "Did Frank usually take off without telling anyone where he was going?"
Declan scoffed. "Frank didn't tell anyone shit. But he always came back."
"He's never been gone this long." Cassidy swept her cowboy hat onto her head.
Declan passed out maps. "We'll split four ways. Mitch, you take the northern ridge. Cassidy east, Kayden west. I'll sweep south."
My gaze drifted to the northern ridge where heat made the air dance. "Roger that."
"We'll ride two days out and two back," Cassidy said. "Angus is running the place while we're gone, and he knows to call if anything's up."
"Angus?" That wasn't a name I remembered.
"Angus Bryant, Gus. He’s been here about three years now." Cassidy adjusted her hat against the sun. "Had a drinking problem when he first showed up, but I slapped that out of him. He's been sober for eighteen months. The dogs love him, so I know he's solid."
I chuckled. Cassidy trusted the animals' vibes over human opinions any day.
"We'll meet back here on Friday morning. Clear?" she said, her tone shifting to all-business
I tucked the map into my pack. Not that I needed it. I knew this land better than the bed in my apartment, which I rarely slept in anyway.
We moved into the stables where dust floated in lazy beams of light as horses shifted restlessly in their stalls.
"You sure you're up for this?" Declan clapped me hard on the back. "You haven't gone all soft on us, have ya?"
"Nope. I'm good." I huffed a dry laugh. Since I'd last seen my brothers, I'd led recon missions through bombed-out cities and tracked insurgents across mountain passes with nothing but gut instinct. But Declan didn't need my lecture on tough conditions. Living out here was about as brutal as any terrain I'd ever faced.
"See ya on the flip side." Kayden let out a laugh as he launched onto Meteor's saddle. He gave his horse a kick and bolted out of the stable like lightning.
Declan checked his horse, Apollo, then jumped into the saddle. "Don't get lost," he said, grinning at me before he too galloped out of the stable.
Cassidy led me down to the last stall, and my breath hitched. "Zeus." I blinked from my horse to Cassidy. "You been looking after him."
"Of course. He's been a pain in the ass, though." Cassidy huffed. "Only lets me touch him when he feels like it."
"Sounds about right." Zeus's sleek black coat gleamed, and the white star on his forehead was perfect. He tossed his head, and his ears flicked toward me as I stepped into the stall. "Hey there, Zeus. I missed you, mate."
Zeus snorted and let me press my forehead to his, same as we did ten years ago.
Cassidy leaned on the doorframe. "You should thank me for keeping him alive. Dad had other plans."