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“Sure is.” River elbows Ezra. “You two nerded it up years ago, didn’t you?”

“We’ll owe him. Again.” Ezra frowns, letting all of us know his disgruntlement with the situation.

I finger the USB. “There has to be something we can get off this that leads us to this Please guy.”

“And then what?” When I’m silent, Ezra’s frown deepens. “We distill whiskey, Cole, we’re not fucking detectives.” His voice drops. He looks furious. “You killed a man.”

“We’ve all killed a man.”

“What would Dad say?” Ezra asks.

“Dad would say good fucking job,” River flings back. “If Mom were in danger, you know Dad would be the first to protect her.” The heat in his voice tells me he’s thinking of April. “So don’t play that self-righteous bullshit game with me, Ez.”

“We don’t need more bodies in the Pit. We’ve got liabilities,” Ezra argues. “The distillery. Bugs.”

“Nothing will happen to Bugs.” Warren leans back against the island, face resolute. “We’d die before anyone touches her.”

A pang of guilt hits my stomach. None of us want this risk, but we also don’t turn our back on those who need it. Even if there’s a damn good chance trouble will show up here. Sooner rather than later.

“What about Delilah?” Warren asks.

“She’s staying with me.” I cross my arms, ignoring their exchanged looks of concern. My brothers can fuck off if they don’t like it. I’d crawl out of the fucking grave before I let another man take Delilah again. “I want a security guard on the ranch. Patrol at night. Fixes to any of the cameras. Until we get to the bottom of this, we have to be on watch.”

“I’ll talk to Langford, see who he can hook us up with.” Warren turns to Ezra, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Ez. Keep your fucking head centered.”

Ezra relaxes a bit at Warren’s words. He’s the big brother, and if he says it’s okay, we believe him.

“Not a word to Wells,” Warren orders, and we all nod. It’s always been an unspoken agreement to keep Wells out of our messes. Keep that kid as innocent as we can.

“You get the barn cleaned up?” I ask, directing my gaze to River.

“Yeah. Took it all to the Pit and sent it back down to hell.” River hands me Dino’s cell phone. “Except this. Thought maybe it’d come in handy.”

It’s a burner phone. There are no texts. Only one number.

I dial it.

“What the hell are you doing, Cole?” Ezra looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.

Maybe I have. Maybe I always will when it comes to Delilah.

The line rings, five times, then picks up.

Silence. But over the line, I hear breathing.

I lean in close. “Don’t say a fucking word,” I growl. Hate for a man I’ve never met sinks like venom inside of me. “Your man’s dead because of one simple fact. He touched what’s mine. And if you come near Delilah again, if you so much as breathe in her direction, I’ll kill you next.”

35 Cole

“Favors cost.” Syd crosses his arms over his chest.

River glares. “That’s bullshit.”

“It’s business, brother. Not personal.” A white car pulls itself into the garage, its muffler rumbling like thunder. “Bay two,” Syd calls to his guy without turning around. A tattooed hand goes to his chest. “Put yourself in my unique position. How’d it look if I got into the business of favors to friends?”

“He’s right,” I tell River, who still looks pissed. It’s not the kind of reputation any of us want to have. I reach into my pocket and pull out the USB. “Just warning you now, it’s trouble.”

“Tempest trouble?” Chili, Syd’s younger brother, asks as he walks past us, a bag of spicy cheese puffs tucked under his arm.