Acres, Natalie - Bridled and Bucked [Bridled 3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme)

by Natalie Acres

  “I’ll give you a million.”

  “Got it on you, do ya?” Dallas asked, motioning for Lantry to move on down the hall.

  “Great,” Lantry whispered in passing. “Way to toss a brother to the front lines.”

  “Good luck out there,” Austin said, cheering him on. “I hope this doesn’t end like Legends of the Fall, where one brother is taken out in front of the other.”

  “If it does, make sure you go out in a blaze of glory, too. You know, screaming my name, rushing the perpetrator, and all that.”

  “You watch for me.”

  “With eyes in the back of my head,” Lantry teased, moving forward, keeping his back against the wall.

  “I can get it,” Gentry finally said. “Tomorrow.”

  “Nah,” Lantry said, finally pinpointing the dude’s location. “I don’t like credit and carry. Cash is the only way to go.”

  Gentry stepped out all at once and Royce screamed, “Move! Lantry! Move!”

  Gentry raised his weapon, but Royce took him out, firing twice when once would’ve been enough. The first shot caught the man right between the eyes. A loud thud announced the fall of a wicked soldier with deranged motives.

  “You got him,” Lantry said, releasing a huge sigh of relief. “Way to go, big brother. I’m starting to believe you’re cut out for this kind of thing.”

  Royce stomped down the hall. Dallas and Austin followed him. Lantry kicked the guy in the gut, using the toe of his boot to roll him over.

  “Yep, looks like he’s dead all right,” Austin announced.

  “Nice shot, Royce,” Dallas said.

  “I’m impressed,” Lantry added. “Remind me to never interrupt Royce when he’s in the middle of a good fuck.”

  They shared a group laugh. Then, Dallas said, “Hell, the other guy was in worse shape. One slug barely missed his pecker.”

  “Ouch,” Lantry said.

  Royce shrugged. “I figured we’d call it even, in the event I didn’t get to take him out altogether.”

  Lantry stared down at Paul Gentry’s lifeless form. “Wonder what drove this guy to do something stupid like come in here alone.”

  “Assuming he was alone?” Dallas asked.

  “He was alone,” Austin said, holding up a letter.

  Lantry stilled at the sight. He’d never seen a letter left behind by a killer that he’d wanted to read. “What’s it say?”

  Austin narrowed his gaze, mumbled a few words and then said, “Holy shit.”

  “What?” Lantry asked, peering over his shoulder.

  “It says he never wanted to hurt Lynlee, he only wanted to die himself.”

  “Bull hell,” Dallas said, grabbing the letter so he could read the man’s confession for himself.

  Then, all eyes averted. Royce looked as if he’d seen a ghost. “He was mentally ill.”

  “Of course he was,” Lantry said. “And don’t you dare feel guilty about shooting him. When a man comes into another man’s home, threatens those who live there and the safety they find behind their four walls, then that man deserves to be shot. So he wanted to die. He could’ve jumped off a bridge. He could’ve taken a handful of pills. He didn’t have to go this way and he didn’t have to destroy what Lynlee needs.”

  “Which is?” Austin asked softly.

  Lantry said, “She needs to feel loved and she longs to feel safe. She wants what every woman desires.”

  Dallas rolled his eyes. “I think they want a little more than love and protection.”

  “I don’t know,” Lantry said philosophically. “I believe once a woman has those two key elements, everything else falls in place.”

  “You may be right,” Royce said. “But I still wish I hadn’t killed a man who needed help.”

  Dallas shrugged. “Who knows. You may have helped him more than you realize. A lot of crazy people acknowledge they’re crazy but they can’t do anything about it. They have a hell of a time living in their own skin.”

  “That’s right,” Austin said. “Look at Lantry. I don’t know how the poor guy makes it from one day to the next.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lynlee bit on her thumbnail, awaiting the news. The shots resounding around them had taken their toll, and Lynlee was scared to death. What if one of her guys had been wounded? What if someone lost their life?

  She paced the bathroom floor.

  “Lynlee, sweetheart, why don’t you sit down?”

  Lynlee jerked. “How can you be so calm about this? Haven’t you heard all that commotion out there?”

  “Yes,” Carlisle replied softly, “but you have to look at who this guy is up against.”

  “He has a point, Lynlee. Whoever he is, he isn’t a match for Lantry or Royce for that matter,” Blaine promised her.

  “Royce?” Lynlee asked, halting all at once. “Why Royce?”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, Royce is the new McCain renegade,” Rhett said.

  Lynlee shook her head. At times like these, she felt like the McCains and Rhett stood in line and measured their assets. Royce a renegade? Hardly. He was kind and loving, not at all reckless and wild like Lantry.

  “What? You don’t believe Royce has it in him?” Carlisle asked.

  Blaine laughed. “You’d be surprised what a man will do when he’s hell-bent on protecting a woman.”

  “You have to admit, Royce was the last person anyone would suspect of picking up a gun and acting like the Terminator. He’s spent most of his life under your father’s foot, hiding behind your momma’s skirts,” Rhett reminded them.

  Lynlee felt a smile tug at her lips. They were right. Royce was a big momma’s boy. That was actually one of the things that appealed to Lynlee most. Part of the reason Royce was so loving and thoughtful of her was because he’d always been the same way with his mother.

  Royce provided a slight diversion. Lynlee started walking again and stopped suddenly. “Do you hear that?”

  “What?” Blaine asked.

  “I don’t hear anything now,” Rhett replied.

  “Exactly,” Lynlee said, rushing the door. “It’s over. It’s bound to be over.”

  Carlisle stepped in front of her. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “I need to check on them,” she said, her heart in her throat. “Something is wrong. It’s quiet out there, and if something wasn’t wrong, they’d already be here, right?”

  Carlisle studied her face.

  “Carlisle, please?” she asked without saying anything else.

  “No, Lynlee. Lantry will come for us when it’s safe out there.”

  Lynlee shot Blaine a sideways glance. His jaw was set firmly and Rhett looked just as stubborn. “This is not okay with me. The whole house is quiet.”

  “Which is all the more reason why we should stay right here,” Carlisle explained, gripping the one gun they had to protect them. “And you need to step away from the door, honey.”

  “Don’t ‘honey’ me, Carlisle McCain. You’re worried, too. I see it in your eyes. Now, we can all stick together and go out there and see what’s wrong, or sit here like scared chickens and quacking ducks.”

  “What?” Carlisle arched a brow.

  Her hands went to her hips. “They may need us.”

  “Lynlee—”

  “Blaine, don’t,” she said firmly.

  “I guess she told you,” Rhett said.

  Blaine grunted. “Well, I have a few things to tell her, too.” Blaine paused, walked over to Lynlee, and said, “You never do what you’re supposed to do. You never sit still when you’re supposed to wait, and sometimes, just sometimes, you could cost someone their life by jumping the gun and surprising the man behind it. Now, Lantry told you to sit still and wait until he returns for you and that’s what you’re gonna do.”

  “Wanna bet?”

  * * * *

  “Fuck my life!” Carlisle screamed, running behind her. “Lynlee, damn it! Lynlee! Woah!”

  Carlisle almost r
an over Lynlee when she stopped suddenly in the hallway, barely saving herself from tripping over a dead man. Lantry immediately glared at them.

  “What part of ‘I’ll come and get you when this is all over’ didn’t you understand?”

  Lynlee threw herself in his arms and kissed his cheek. Lantry’s expression softened at once. “I was so worried about you,” she said quietly, moving on down the line, hugging one McCain after the other.

  Carlisle snickered. “Blaine pissed her off.”

  “Blaine always pisses her off,” Lantry said, looking over Carlisle’s shoulder and staring at Blaine.

  “I try not to,” Blaine said.

  “You need to try harder.”

  “And Lynlee should learn this is not acceptable,” Rhett pointed out, watching Lynlee like he thought he might have a way to correct the error of her ways.

  “What happened to him?” Carlisle asked, looking down at Gentry’s body.

  Lantry shook his head. “He didn’t want to sit down for a cold beer, so we shot him.”

  “Royce shot him,” Austin said, apparently unwilling to let Lantry take the credit.

  “Told ya,” Blaine said. “We have another family badass on our hands.”

  “Perfect,” Lynlee said, focusing on the dead guy. “Another killer lives among us, and you think that’s just swell.”

  Royce took a shot through the heart with that. He acted as if he wanted to say something, but instead he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away.

  Lantry, as Carlisle expected, wasn’t about to let that one go. He walked toward her and said, “What do you mean, there’s another killer living here?”

  “That’s all that goes on here, anymore,” Lynlee whined. “Look at this place.” Her arm rose and fell in an outward show of exasperation. “It looks like we live in a compound under siege in a third world country.”

  Lantry softened again. If anyone could stroke his gentler side, Lynlee could. Carlisle hadn’t noticed that before.

  There was something extra special about the way he studied Lynlee, and how he spoke to her. Undoubtedly, Lantry was as hooked on Lynlee as the rest of them and for some reason, Carlisle failed to notice until now.

  His hard ass was nothing more than a marshmallow when Lynlee was around.

  “Honey, we’ve had a few trying times,” Lantry explained, bracketing his arms around her and holding her.

  “Trying times, he says.” Royce cleared his throat. “I hate to see what this place will look like when we have a really bad day.”

  Austin laughed. “Don’t ya know it.”

  Lantry frowned as he stroked Lynlee’s hair. “I tell ya what, why don’t you let the triplets take you somewhere. The rest of us will stay here and clean this place up. When you get back, it will look as good as new. What’d you say?”

  “Sounds like a fine plan to me,” Dallas said.

  “I won’t complain,” Austin remarked.

  “I’ll even pack us up tonight,” Houston added.

  Carlisle wondered what happened to the tough guy who swore he’d never let the triplets take Lynlee to bed without him there to oversee the activities.

  “Lynlee?” Lantry held her away from his body. “What about it?”

  “I don’t want to leave you behind. I can’t leave any of you.”

  Lantry drew her against him again. “Well, the house is demolished. Someone has to clean this place up. We can’t leave it for Jose.” A beat later, he jerked. “Oh no.”

  “What is it?” Carlisle asked.

  Lantry took off at a flat-out run. “Jose called right after Royce shot Gentry. He’d heard a lot of racket and wanted to check to see if he needed to call the police.”

  Royce finished explaining after Lantry disappeared out the front door. “He must’ve asked Lantry if he could take the day off, too. His wife and daughter wanted to go shopping in Columbia today.”

  “Oh shit,” Carlisle said. “Has he had time to leave?”

  “Probably not,” Royce replied, smirking. “But wouldn’t you like to see Lantry trying to explain to Jose why he put a corpse in his trunk?”

  Dallas walked toward the door. “We’ve already checked the house. It’s secure. Come on. Let’s go watch the show. Jose is bound to ream Lantry a new one.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jose’s trunk was opened. Lantry could see him standing there in the distance as he drove up the long driveway to the farm manager’s private spread. The sun was out and the birds were singing. It would’ve been a splendid day if Lantry didn’t realize what he faced at the top of that hill.

  Jose would take this personally. As Lantry wheeled into the driveway, he fully understood his suspicions were right. Jose stood there with his head bowed.

  Lantry punched the pedal and came to a screeching stop. “Jose!” He called out to him as he exited the Jeep Wrangler. With the Jeep doors and top off, Jose certainly heard him, but he didn’t turn around.

  Lantry felt a stabbing sensation in his chest. He’d never be able to explain this.

  “You set me up,” Jose said, shaking his head. “I give you and your family years of my life, and you set me up.”

  “No, Jose,” Lantry began, trying to explain. “It’s not like that.”

  Jose turned to Lantry with tears in his eyes. “I work for your father for twenty years. Those years not easy ones. I see blood and guts spilled. I see lots of things I not agree with, but never in one year did Casey McCain put a body in my car. He had too much respect.”

  Hurt poured from the kinder man’s eyes. He was truly confused and profoundly upset by the unexplainable turn of events.

  “Jose, let me explain,” Lantry began, watching as the others drove up the driveway in Austin’s pickup.

  “No,” Jose said, his eyes searching those joining them. “There’s nothing to say. You younger McCains are all the same. Rhett Mitchell, you, too. You have no respect. You become cowboy thugs. You don’t care who you hurt.”

  “That’s not true,” Lantry said, understanding right away there was nothing he could say to correct this in Jose’s eyes. “Jose, I put the body in your car because I had nowhere else to put it. Believe me. I’m going to call the police right now and ask them to come on out here. I’ll file a report and this will all go away in a matter of minutes.”

  “I’m not even a citizen! You understand?”

  Lantry pressed his lips together. Jose had been going on for years about becoming an American citizen, and for some reason, his father never helped him acquire what he wanted most in the world. “Jose, please believe me, I didn’t do this to hurt you. I would never try to frame you for murder. You know me better than that.”

  “Oh no I don’t, Lantry McCain. I don’t know McCains or Rhett Mitchell at all now.” Jose was angrier still. He ran his fingers through his curly black and white hair. “Jose is not happy about this! My wife and daughter will look at me and say, ‘you no good, Jose. This no good.’ Then what? I be without a home. Without a family. And behind bars.”

  “That’s not going to happen, Jose,” Lantry said, thinking the old man was actually a pretty good actor. Lantry believed this was a grand theatrical performance. Oh sure, Jose was hurt, but he was also letting his imagination get the best of him as well. “This will all disappear in just a few minutes.” He motioned for Dallas and Austin, the brothers with muscle. They reluctantly walked toward the car. A few seconds later, they hoisted dead weight from Jose’s trunk.

  “You’re a real asshole sometimes, you know that?” Austin asked, grating back a much harsher, and probably well deserved, cursing.

  “Not now, Austin,” Lantry grumbled.

  “I’d like to know why Jose is suddenly furious with all of us,” Dallas said. He frowned at Lantry. “I get sick and tired of your dumb fucking ass making decisions that affect us all.”

  “I’m sure,” Lantry said, helping them move the body. “At least somebody in this family is capable of taking charge in times of crisis. So
I made a mistake. Jose will get over it. Eventually.”

  Austin sneered. “Yeah? When?”

  Dallas shook his head. “Maybe sometime before the year 2050.”

  They returned to Jose’s car. Lantry said, “See how easy that was? All the evidence is gone now.”

  “No. Not good enough,” Jose said. “My car is haunted. A dead man slept in the trunk.”

  “What?” Lantry asked, taken aback by the aging fellow’s statement. Oh sure, he didn’t understand much about Jose’s beliefs or his cultural or religious background, but come on. Did he really believe there were ghosts or bad spirits in the back of his car?

  Lynlee stepped forward then. “Jose, why don’t you take mine today?”

  Lantry grunted and stared up at the morning sky.

  “It’s fine,” Lynlee said, patting Lantry’s arm. “I’ll ride down to the house right now and pick it up. Jose, let Lantry have your car keys. We’ll swap today. What’s mine is yours.”

  “A gift, sí?” Jose asked, shooting them the widest smile Lantry had ever seen. Lantry pursed his lips. He’d love to see how Lynlee wormed her way out of this.

  “Why yes!” Lynlee exclaimed.

  Lantry jerked. He stared at Lynlee, who apparently had no idea what she’d just done. He then studied Jose’s rusty old Buick. He immediately realized just as his brothers and Rhett must’ve, that Lynlee had just traded a Lexus LS Hybrid for a 2004 LeSabre in very poor shape. Once Lynlee saw Jose behind the wheel of her car, she’d never ask for the automobile back, anyway.

  “What do you say, Jose?”

  Jose smiled at Lynlee. “Thank you, Mrs. McCain.” He turned his back and walked away, grumbling something about the younger generation.

  “Why did you do that?” Lantry asked after Jose disappeared inside his ranch-style home.

  “You made the costly error,” Lynlee said, walking toward Lantry’s Jeep.

  Blaine and Rhett hopped in the back. Neither one of them uttered a word. They knew better. Lantry was mad. He’d been played like a fiddle.

  Sliding behind the wheel, he eyed the busty blonde next to him. Damn, she looked good sitting in that Jeep. Thank God she didn’t offer up his wheels.