Rising Storm (19 page)

She hated to admit it, but all this gossip had been very good for business. Shelly had been answering phones and making appointments all day long. Now, the day was over and she was happy to get home and lay in bed, just as long as she didn't tell her grandma or she'd be stuck in bed for the next week.

Her car was parked outside the back door and as she climbed in she heard a horn honk. Looking in her rearview mirror she saw a very large pickup truck. The door opened and out jumped Marcy Davies. She looked so out of place in that truck. She was better situated for one of those wood-paneled station wagons from the early eighties.

"Yoo-hoo!" she called as she came over to her window. "I’m so glad I caught you. I was just on my way home and thought that I’d see if you wanted to come to family dinner this Sunday with your grandparents. Obviously we couldn't do it last week like we planned. I didn't know how you were feeling and wanted to make sure you'd be up for it."

"I'd love to."

"Oh wonderful!" Marcy clapped her hands and gave her a beaming smile. "See you at six on Sunday."

"Looking forward to it."

She rolled up her window and thought of what she'd have to do to bribe her grandmother to behave.

*     *     *

"Was that your phone again, Andre?" Camilla called as she stirred the pasta boiling on the stove.

"Yup. It's our contact. He said that it's been quiet all week. He said the sheriff and all the deputies are talking about the shooting and are worried about a shooter taking out random people. They’ve been going house to house and asking if anyone has seen anything. He said to not be surprised if they make their way here at some point."

"But what about the dogs?"

"It's no longer a priority. We did it babe!" He picked her up and swung her around their kitchen.

"Then it's on for Saturday?"

"Yes, eleven o’clock. And babe, to get the attention of International I’ve invited everyone."

"Everyone? Oh no, please tell me you didn’t, Andre."

"It had to be done. We'll get a cut of the local drugs and weapons. But to get the big shots here I had to pay them a cut of our local profit. We'll come out with some, but not much. However, they have major sway with who gets onto the circuit."

"You know I don't like those guys."

"I know, but if we get into the circuit we'll have to deal with them anyway. Better to get to know them now and have them help us pave our way. But, that doesn't mean I trust them one bit. We need to be prepared to protect our turf. We're the big dogs now and we'll show everyone that nobody messes with us and lives to tell about it.”

Chapter Sixteen

Marshall laid his cards on the table and grinned like fool. He had three aces and a king.

"Take that losers!" he ribbed his brothers at their weekly poker game.

This week it was his turn to host. Bob was always excited to see his uncles and enjoyed the massive amounts of chips they fed him as he sat in the sixth chair at the table watching the action.

"Who knew having old Mrs. Wyatt seeing you naked all the time upped your game?" Cade joked as he turned over his pair of jacks.

"Yeah, I might have to do a little streaking before next week's game. You cleaned me out." Pierce tossed his cards down on the table in disgust.

"How do you all know about that? Please tell me that it's not all over town," he groaned.

"I heard it from Paige, who heard it from Miss Lily. She confirmed with Katelyn. She thought there was no way her suave brother could be caught with his pants down three times so she had it verified." Cade pushed back his chair and slid his plate of leftover nachos to Bob.

"I heard it from Mom, who heard it from the girl that does her hair. Apparently she got it from her sister who delivers the paper and she got it from Miss Lily's neighbor, Edith." Pierce tossed in a chip as he picked up his new cards.

"Well, I better get home now that I’ve lost all my money. I need to stop at the gas station and pick up a variety of chocolate or I might not make it to morning," Cole said as he stood up and headed for the door.

"Oh, someone is whipped!" Pierce laughed.

"Better to be whipped than to need to go home and lie in bed alone. Come on, I'll drop you off at Ma's." Cade slapped his brother on his back and gave Cole a wink.

"I don't think you have any room to tease Cole when you live with your parents," Marshall teased as he scooped up what remained of Pierce's chips.

"Actually, I think I found a place."

"You did?" Marshall asked.

"Where?" Cade stopped at the door and looked at his little brother.

"You don't have any money to afford a place," Miles said, finally joining the conversation.

"I did. It's the abandoned Hunter property about three miles from here."

"I didn't know it was for sale or I’d have bought it. It joins part of my property," Miles contemplated. "It's around a hundred acres, isn't it?"

"Yup. And it's not for sale. But, I dug around the courthouse records and traced the owner through all the wills and approached them with an offer. They accepted and we sign the papers next week."

"Who's the owner?" Cade asked.

"Some woman in Ohio. She’s the great-great-granddaughter of the original Hunter family. She's never been to the property and only inherited it three years ago when her father died. She's tired of paying the taxes on it, so she's willing to part with it at a good price."

"How are you affording to buy this place? You just graduated," Miles, the always business-oriented brother, asked.

"I’ve only been working since I was able to walk. When I was a teenager and finally started getting paid to work I started saving. Now I have enough for a sizable down payment and have already qualified for a Rural Development Loan."

"Congratulations little bro. Welcome to the ranks of us landowners. Do you know what you’re going to do with the land?" Marshall asked as he put the cards away.

"I’m going to start clearing some of it for crops first. Then eventually I’ll get around to tearing down the old house and building a new one."

"Our little brother is growing up," Cade teased. "Maybe next week we'll teach him how to shave." Cade ran a hand over his smooth chin and laughed when Pierce mimicked him, running his hand over his five o'clock shadow.

"I've been told it's sexy."

"Whatever you say lover boy. Come on, let's go." Cade grabbed him by the shoulder and gave him a shove.

"I'm coming too. Thanks for the game." Cole stood up and gave Marshall a pat on the back before heading out with Cade and Pierce.

Marshall grabbed a beer from the fridge and tossed it to Miles. He took a seat opposite him and stretched out his legs. Miles moved to sit on the edge of the couch and looked him right in the eye.

"I've been thinking about all these events recently. I think you need to be more careful. I know we've been out of the Army and back as civilians for a while now, but you need to tap those instincts and that training again. I’m pretty sure those shots were meant for you if you had been more visible."

"It's been killing me. I didn't even hear him. I know he was a couple hundred yards away, but it didn't even register to me when the woods went silent. It was all my fault. I won’t make that mistake again." Marshall ran his hand over his face. The guilt had been eating away at him since that night.

"I know you've already looked into this, but I just did some research. I had no idea arms dealings, drug selling, and sex trading were all commonplace at big fights. I always thought they were some hicks who were just bored, but they’re not. It's a big business if done right."

"I know. It amazed me too. I don't think we're at that level here though. Although I think our ring is making a play for the big leagues."

"Be smart and wear your vest at all times."

"Yes big brother," Marshall mocked. "Now that you’re worried about me, tell me what's up with you."

"What do you mean?" Miles asked.

"You're acting different. Stressed, distant, and you're not even the one having dinner at the Wyatt's tomorrow. Something is going on that you don't like."

"It's nothing. Just a work issue."

Marshall looked at his brother and wanted to call it BS. But by the defensive body language Miles was displaying, he thought teasing may be better.

"Ah, the dangerous world of corporate agriculture."

"You have no idea. Just try to stay aware and safe. I need to get home. Call if you need me."

Miles left and Marshall took a sip of his beer. Miles had said to listen to his instincts and his instincts told him sooner or later, and whether Miles liked it or not, he was going to have to help his big brother out.

A knock at the door had him hoping Miles had changed his mind and had come back to ask for help. He opened the door and looked out at Ahmed.

"May I come in?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. You just missed poker night," Marshall said as he opened the door. Hopefully if Ahmed was here to kill him, he'd make it quick.

"I know. I waited outside for Miles to leave." Ahmed had his hands in his pocket and was looking around the house slowly.

"Oh." Dammit. He should have kept his firearm on him during poker. Pierce cheated anyway. At least he'd have a fighting chance against Ahmed.

"I wanted to talk to you about Katelyn."

"Yes?" Marshall asked when Ahmed didn't continue right away.

"We're good," he said as he brought his eyes to Marshall's.

"We are?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" Marshall asked.

"Yes. We're good. Goodnight." Ahmed held out his hand and Marshall shook it.

He smiled at Ahmed and walked him out the front door. He almost ran into Ahmed as he quickly stopped in his tracks.

"Your dog is in the tree."

"Oh, yeah, he likes the view up there," Marshall told him as he looked up at Bob sitting on a thick old tree limb.

The limb was thick and heavy. The end of it was just a couple feet off the ground. Bob liked to jump onto it and walk up it to where it leveled out about five feet above the ground.

"Have I mentioned your dog scares me? I swear he thinks he's smarter than us. I'm going to go before he starts talking to me."

"Ahmed," Marshall paused and waited for him to turn and look at him. "Thank you for coming over."

Ahmed just nodded and got into the car, never taking his eyes off Bob. Marshall waited for Ahmed to leave before turning to Bob.

"Really?"

Bob shook his ears and then slowly walked down the tree limb and strutted into the house, never looking back at him.

*     *     *

Marshall turned off his car and took ten deep breaths. When the Wyatts had insisted he come to dinner tonight, he had thought it was about them accepting him as part of Katelyn's life, but now he was unsure. For one thing there was Beauford standing by the door with a shotgun and a frown on his face.

Marshall pasted on a nervous smile and opened his door. He heard the crickets stop chirping as the gun cocked.

"You think you can make it through dinner with your clothes on, son?"

Marshall tried to fight the corners of his mouth from rising, but it was really hard when Mrs. Wyatt, dressed all in white, except for the scarlet red lipstick, swooped in and swatted Beauford on the arm with a handkerchief.

"Beauford, now that is no way to welcome our guests. Besides, I’m getting rather used to seeing him naked. The shock is quite gone I assure you. Now, come in dear."

He followed Mrs. Wyatt past Beauford and into a perfectly appointed formal dining room. A long table that could easily seat twenty was so well oiled it shined. Katelyn was setting the last plate down at the far end of the table.

A large crystal vase full of pink peonies sat in the center. Hand needlepointed placemats of the family crests with hundred-year-old bone china rimmed with real gold set on top of them. Displayed against one full wall were the horseshoes from all of Mrs. Wyatt's horses. Against the opposite wall were relics from her and Beauford's families’ history ranging from the oil painting of some woman and child that looked to be from the 1700s, to a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt with Katelyn on graduation day at Auburn.

"Good evening Katelyn. You look beautiful. How are you feeling?" Marshall said in his most polite Southern gentleman voice.

She had on a long flowing light blue gauzy skirt with a tight white tank top that accented her body perfectly. "Hi. I’m feeling much better, thank you. I woke up this morning and was just a little sore, most of the pain was gone."

"Excellent. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I was just about to bring out dinner. Why don't ya'll sit down?" Katelyn asked before disappearing through the swinging door into the kitchen. She was moving fast and he wondered if she was just as nervous as he was.

She was back before he had taken his seat and scooped out pecan-crusted chicken, green beans with chunks of bacon in them, and mashed potatoes. By the way she fidgeted all through dinner, he was sure his question had been answered. She was more nervous than he was. She had never sought her parents' approval so getting her grandparents’ probably meant a lot to her.

He tried to sit straight and engage in the nicest of small talk. That should show her how serious he was about her. He did not do small talk. He was exhausted by the time the apple pie was eaten and tea was served and pretty sure he had done enough to please Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt.

"So, son, what are you doing to find the person who shot my granddaughter?" Shit. Beauford's eyes had narrowed again and there was no doubt that a gun was trained on him from under the table.

"I have a meeting with my deputies tomorrow to go over the suspects and interview the ones we find promising. I’ve been doing research all day and have it narrowed down to just a handful of people," he said confidently.

The Army and subsequent black ops he had gone on had taught him to never back down. It appeared that Beauford was not going to blink first. There was a rustling noise and then Beauford grunted and rubbed his leg under the table. Mrs. Wyatt turned to him and smiled wide.