I used to try so hard to earn her approval. After a few years into my marriage to Matt, she told me once she didn’t like me at first because I had an “abrasive” personality. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but it stung.
She must be in town to see the kids because she doesn’t live here. Last I heard, she was going to college out of state.
Instead of continuing to walk past and ignore me, she walks right up to our table and bends down to whisper in my ear. The hair on the back of my neck rises as her lips get close to me.
“I just want you to know, you’re an evil bitch. And I always knew you were a whore. Everyone in our family does.”
27
DUKE
After a quick shower, I change into loose, distressed jeans and a plain white T-shirt. My balls ache.
I walk back out to where Cash is with the sheriff and Warner. Holden has now joined them, a scowl on his tanned face.
“Y’all wanna warn me next time you plan a family meeting here?” I say.
“We would have if we had known you’d be screwing the neighbor on the front lawn,” Cash fires back.
I laugh, reaching for the decanter of bourbon. Since I’m the only one who still lives here, it seems like I should be the one to offer it to our unexpected guests.
I grab five glasses and start pouring.
“Where’s Monroe?”
“She went to see Rosie and the girls,” Cash answers.
After pouring each of us two fingers of the liquor, I hand out the glasses. The sheriff takes it, his gray mustache twitching with a half smile.
“Hard to believe you’re old enough for this, boy. Time never stops.”
“Damn straight.”
If the sheriff is saying things like that, whatever shit we’re in can’t be that deep.
Then I see the look on my oldest brother’s face.
“Give it to us straight. How bad is it?” Holden says.
I feel a tightening in my gut when the sheriff turns to Holden and speaks.
“Well, it ain’t good. They found a half skeleton on your land while surveying for the county map updates. You can’t really do shit about it, unless you pay off the survey company. But the agent who found it … well, let’s just say, he knows this ranch is worth a pretty penny. If you wanna get out of this one, you’ll have to pay up and pay big.
“Or you let my team take it on as an open investigation, and we start looking into it. And then I got some pull, but I can’t predict how far it’ll go. Of course, I’m assuming you have no idea where the body came from. It’s fully decomposed, which means it’s several years old. Your family has owned the property for many years, but that doesn’t mean other people couldn’t sneak onto your land and use it to cover up their own crimes. You’re not liable just because it was found here. Unless, of course, it’s someone you’ve been tangled up with.”
My mouth forms a hard line.Fuuuck.
A surveyor found a dead body on our land.
And there’s a damn good chance it’s someone we killed.
My eyes meet Cash’s. He flexes his jaw before rubbinghis eyes.
“Well, obviously, we have no earthly idea who it is. Our ranch is extensive, and we’ve had a lot of ranch hands over the years with various criminal records and unlimited access to the property during the day and at night. It could’ve been put there by anyone,” Holden says.
Warner’s hardened face relaxes slightly. I realize then that he was just waiting for one of us to deny it because, of course, an innocent person would.
“Fuck, you think it’s safe here for Eden and Dallas? They could be in danger,” I say.