Chapter 10

10

Ethan

“ W hat do we know about her so far?” Mitch asks.

It’s been three days since the three of us shared her. Three days since we claimed Melissa and made her a part of us, whether we’re ready to admit it or not. It’s a dangerous move, I know. We should’ve done the digging first, but our instincts made the decision for us.

I don’t regret a single moment.

Hell, I relive it every night, every time I close my eyes.

“Born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska,” Colton says, going over the notes in his phone.

We’re in the stables, out of anyone’s earshot except for the horses. Elias is giddy and eager to be ridden. He’s itching for a run across the snowy plain, but he knows I have to brush his coat first. It’s part of our morning ritual.

“Melissa is an orphan. She was placed in the foster system when she was two years old,” he says, his brow furrowed with empathetic grief.

“She must’ve slipped through the cracks, bounced from one foster home to another, from one group home to another.”

“That’s precisely what happened,” Colton says. “She did try to stay out of trouble, but the other kids she used to live with kept roping her in. To her credit, she doesn’t have a juvie record, nor was she arrested until the big one, so either she’s smart and slippery or just—”

“Lucky as hell,” I say.

“She was living in Ainsworth with a Jake Miller when she was arrested for driving that cocaine van,” Colton continues, his thumb scrolling through lines of text on his screen. “She was working in the kitchen of a local watering hole. Diner-slash-pub, they called it.”

“Flipping burgers and tossing fries,” Mitch sighs. “She never really stood a chance, huh?”

“The system doesn’t help these kids,” I say. “Most of them end up in prison or dead in a ditch. A few join the military…”

Colton gives me a sad look. “Do you think she gave up on trying to keep her nose clean and just leaned into the drug distribution gig?”

“No,” I say with a firm shake of the head. “Not buying that.”

“Me either,” Mitch replies.

Colton frowns. “Her boyfriend testified against her.”

And now my interest is beyond piqued. I can almost feel a quiet kind of fury taking over as I begin to piece the whole picture together long before Colton finishes reading some of the details he picked up from his calls.

“What did he say in his testimony?” I ask, bracing myself for the worst.

“That it was his van, but Melissa had been using it for her late-night errands,” Colton says, sounding as doubtful as Mitch and I clearly are. “He didn’t know she was moving cocaine with it.”

“Does the guy have a record?” Mitch replies.

Colton sighs. “Not that I could find and none of Melissa’s past friends who I reached out to could tell me much about him. Just that they seemed deeply in love. He moved in with her about a month after they met, and then she pretty much fell out of touch with everyone.”

“Something stinks here,” I say.

“We need law enforcement help,” Colton says. “I don’t have access to any more information, especially where this Miller guy is concerned.”

Sammy’s boots alert us to his presence just before he speaks. “What are you three sneaking around for?”

“Who’s sneaking around?” Colton replies but, at the same time, slips his phone into his coat pocket, looking like a kid who just got caught stealing candy. “We’re not sneaking around.”

“I would’ve agreed until I saw that look on your face,” Sammy croaks and bursts into laughter. “What are y’all up to? We’re supposed to revisit the south gate today.”

“We’re getting the horses ready,” I tell him.

Mitch gets busy putting the saddle on Cosmos while Colton does the same for Apex. Elias loves an extra brush on his hind first, so I oblige, then grab his saddle and carefully set it on his strong, muscular back. It’s sunny out there, despite the biting cold.

“Where’s Darla?” Mitch asks Sammy.

“Heck if I know. Somewhere around the house, probably yelling at a supplier over the phone,” he grumbles. “Gotta make everybody miserable just before Christmas.”

“Oh, shove it, you love her when she’s snapping at suppliers,” Mitch shoots back, laughing. “It’s how she gets the deliveries done on time. If it weren’t for Darla, we’d all be eating canned beans and stale bread for Christmas. Let the woman work her magic.”

“I’m not gettin’ in her way,” Sammy replies, then goes over to the stalls.

His horse, Murdock, neighs with anticipation. He’s stockier than our mustangs, but he’s got plenty of strength in his legs. That horse has seen some of the harshest winters in recent years, and he has yet to bat an eye when Sammy takes him out. Then again, today’s going to be mild compared to the incoming blizzard announced for this weekend.

We let the old fella lead the way on horseback, and we follow.

It’s going to be a long and loaded day since the southern gate needs some serious repairs. The damage occurred overnight, but it didn’t exactly come as a shock. We knew the pillars might need replacing, and it took a hefty load of snow to prove us right. That gate needs to be back in full form before the weekend, otherwise we’re going to have trouble.

Of course, said trouble is nothing compared to the mess we’re going to embroil ourselves in if we don’t cover our bases with Melissa. I want to know everything about her, including the things she doesn’t want to share. I want to know her secrets, her darkest most sinful side, if only to find myself somewhere in there.

Colton and Mitch are the only people who truly know me.

They’ve seen me at my worst, deep in the bloody battlefield. They know what I’m capable of if I let loose. Secretly, I hope Melissa does have a dark and dirty side, just so I can better resonate with her. Just so she won’t be appalled when she gets to see mine.

That’s real love in my book.

And it’s the most dangerous kind.