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“I told Allie I want this kept quiet. With nothing to go on, I don’t want the people in town to panic. Could be she was out there with her boyfriend, they had a fight, and she took off and ended up in the wrong pasture.”

“Or...?”

The sheriff focused on his daughter’s old man. They had a complicated relationship. Blade loved Beck. Dec tolerated Blade. And given that he had known her a hell of a lot longer than the sheriff had, he didn’t have much say in them being together. If he did, there was no way he would let his daughter get in bed with the Mob.

Ok, so Blade wasn’t technically part of the Mob. No more than King or Declan was. That was another mind fuck. Turned out Blade and Beck had a common uncle.

Braesal fucking O’Malley.

We all had concerns that Blade and Beck were related. Maureen assured us it was ok for them to be together. Something about Blade’s dad not being related to the sheriff, even though they were both related to the Mob boss. I didn’t fucking know.

“Or there is someone who had that woman out there against her will. She got away from him and ended up in the wrong pasture.”

“How much can we share with the guys?”

“As little as possible. If this was foul play, it could be anyone. I don’t want him knowing what we know. Tell the women less, but make sure they are protected. No one goes out alone. It will be a few weeks until I get the autopsy back.”

Foul play was a fucking given. Some bastard out there had done something. There was no question in my mind why the sheriff was sharing this with us.

“Once we’ve had time to go through the evidence, we might have more.”

Cash stood, coming around the table to shake Declan’s hand. “Thanks for letting us know.”

There it was.

The brush off.

Cash took the initiative so King wouldn’t have to. We had his back.

“King, we need to talk.”

He glared at the man he believed to be his brother. The man who raised him from the time he was ten. He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. Just sat in his chair, the scowl on his face letting the sheriff know he didn’t want to talk to him.

“I let you have a week, but we need to deal with this shit.”

None of us moved. Not unless King told us otherwise. Only he had the power to release us from this room. Finally, King stood and walked toward Dec.

He walked past him, intending to leave, and Declan grabbed his arm.

“We need to—”

Dec didn’t finish his sentence before King... well... decked him. Stumbling backward into the table, he caught himself before he hit the floor.

Straightening up, he walked over and stood in front of my president. I readied myself for whatever needed to be done. Declan may be the sheriff, and he may be King’s blood, but as an enforcer, I would do whatever was needed to protect my president.

“Do you feel better now?”

King reared back and hit him again. This time, his ass did hit the floor. He sat there, looking up at King. The two of them ignoring that we were all sitting here watching this play out.

“Get the fuck up!” King yelled.

“I won’t fight with you.” Dec could be a fucking pussy at times. He owed King this fight. King deserved to kick the shit out of him for what he did. What he kept from him. Secrets had no place inside a fucking family.

“You’re a fucking pussy. Grow some goddamn balls and be a man.”

“Be a fucking man? That all you got?” Dec pushed himself off the floor and stalked toward him.

When he swung again, Dec blocked him. He grabbed King’s fist and swung him around, pushing him against the wall. Holding his arm behind his back until he stopped struggling.