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Ghost and Chips give me an appraising look, and then they both high-five me.

Chapter 19

*~* Vortex *~*

There seems to be some peace and quiet at the ranch since Marisela arrived, at least in respect of the Cottonwood Glades side of things. I can’t see there ever being any peace with Allegra and Marisela being there together. Allegra takes every opportunity to bait Marisela, and she stupidly takes the bait every time. Chips and Ghost spend more time at the ranch house now, just to watch the fireworks.

I get so much attention from Allegra when I go, and I just lap it up. I know why she does it, but I don’t care. As soon as I turn up now, Marisela disappears and Allegra and Silas have been timing it to see how fast Allegra can make her vanish. Those two are what a father and daughter should be like.

I still have my concerns as to where the damned husband is. He hasn’t been seen around town, and he hasn’t visited Marisela. Where is the asshole and what is his part in all this?

Chris is out of the hospital after two days, and I’m going to have a chat with him today. He won’t want to talk, but I don’t give a shit what he wants. It’s time he told us what he knows before Brandon Smiles makes him disappear for good. The realtor's office has been closed, so I can only assume that Candi has been at his bedside. She certainly changed her tune toward Chris, I must say.

As I walk through the rec room, I’m intercepted by Hellion. “Where you headed, Vortex? Want some company?”

“I’m going out to the lake estate where we went the other day. I want to speak to Chris and get some information out of him. He must have some shit we can use.”

“Are we taking Pattie with us? She’ll make him talk.” Hellion grins an evil grin.

“No, we are not taking Pattie with us. We want him alive, not full of freakin buckshot.” I shake my head, but then wince as a new voice joins in.

“Who needs filling full of buckshot? I’m in!” Pattie rushes over and hangs onto my arm.

“No one needs any of your buckshot, thank you for the offer. We’re going over to the lake estate to talk to Chris.”

“Let me grab a jacket and I’ll ride bitch with Hellion. I need to get out more.” She dashes off, and I head out to my hog to wait for them.

Watching as she mounts behind Hellion, I know she’s hiding her damn shotgun in her coat. She’s going to shoot the wrong person one day and get herself into some deep trouble. Riding side by side as we head out to the lake road, I can’t help but notice how much Pattie is enjoying the ride. If one of the brothers could look past her background, she’d make someone a hell of an old lady. That would be a tough thing to do, though. Pulling up outside the house, we are only just off our hogs when the door opens and Candi is standing there. She looks relieved when she sees who we are, and I have to wonder if they haven’t had another visit from the little man in the suit, Brandon Smiles.

As we approach, I’m surprised when Candi throws her arms around me and hugs me tight. “I’m so glad you’re here, Vortex. He’s talking crazy. He wants to shoot that horrid little man, and it’s all he talks about.”

“What? Chris wants to shoot Brandon Smiles?” Now that’s the last thing I would have expected to hear. I thought Chris was more likely to run and hide rather than go on the offensive. “Take me to him, Candi. He isn’t up to that task. He’ll be dead before he gets anywhere near enough to take a shot at Brandon.”

We follow Candi into the house, and she leads us to an enormous living room. Chris is on a couch, feet up, wrapped in a blanket. A side table has a bottle of bourbon and a glass half full of ice and bourbon.

“Come to gloat? Look at the mess I got myself into? I’m going to kill that skunk, Brandon Smiles, as soon as I can get around properly. I’ll wipe the smile off his face and him from the face of the earth. He got me mixed up in all this. Showing me a life I always wanted but couldn’t afford. Throwing cash my way and giving this house to me. I’ll show him. He’ll get what’s coming to him.”

“Chris! Shut the fuck up, you dumbass. You haven’t got it in you to look someone in the eye and kill them. You couldn’t even do it from a distance, so stop wasting your breath and worrying the hell out of Candi. There’s a far easier and more effective way for you to get back at Brandon.” If I can get him on board with a revenge trip, he could give us what we need to stop Cottonwood Glades for good.

“The man has everything. He’s a millionaire and has friends that make him untouchable.” Chris takes a swallow from his glass and coughs as it bites the back of his throat.

“Take away everything he has. Reduce him to nothing. Those so-called friends of his will throw him to the wolves as soon as they get a whiff of scandal. They won’t go down with him. Tell us all you know about his operation, and we’ll do the rest. You can just sit on the sidelines and watch as we burn his house down around him.” I give him an encouraging nod, and he sits up a little straighter.

“I want to watch him bleed, the same way he watched me bleed. Promise me that and I’ll give you everything I know.” His eyes are almost glowing, whether it’s pain meds, thirst for revenge or just my own imagination, I couldn’t say.

“We’ll see what we can do on that score, but no promises.”

“Candi, pass me my phone. I’ll set up a meeting with someone who knows more about his operation than I do. I have enough evidence to put her before a grand jury. She should be able to do the same for the Cottonwood Glades Company and its CEO.” He takes his phone, sends a brief text and then waits. In less than a minute, his phone buzzes. He reads it and grins.

“Our lady mayor will be at the Italian restaurant tonight at seven o’clock. She has been more than cooperative with them since they promised to make her mayor. She can give you what you need.”

“This gets messier by the day. We all wondered how she’d got so high in the opinion polls so fast. Now we know.” I look at Hellion and Pattie as they take it all in.

“If I get the chance, Chris, I’ll make sure they all bleed for you,” Pattie tells him and I cringe. I knew we shouldn’t have brought her. Hellion looks at me, sees where my thoughts are, and grins his evil grin. Shit. He’s all in with her.

Chris tells Candi to go to his safe in his office and fetch the brown envelope from the top shelf. She’s back in only a few moments and hands him an envelope. He takes a quick peek inside and passes it to me. Why do they always have to be a brown envelope? Why not a white one?

“Here’s everything you need to get the mayor to spill her guts. It’s not the only copy in existence either.”