Page 140

“They’re big and hairy, too,” Kaz joked, and when Duke glared at him, he raised a hand as a peace offering. “The fire was started in three places. Two in the barn and one in the stables. The idea, I think, was to get y’all to the barn and then fuck with the horses.Butyou moved the horses out.”
“It’s protocol,” Duke explained.
“Yeah, but non-ranch types don’t know that.” Kaz traced a finger over the rim of his cup. “Now, I gotta tell you things you can’t tell anyone ‘cause I could get killed if you do.”
I rolled my eyes. “Can you be more dramatic?”
Kaz grinned. “That’s as far as I go, sweetheart. So, here’s the skinny. I’m with the FBI.”
Since Duke had shared his suspicions with me, neither of us was surprised.
Kaz arched an eyebrow. “You both look suspiciously unperturbed by my statement.”
“Unperturbed?” I looked at Duke. “My, my, look at him use them big words. Maybe they teach ‘em that in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” I turned back to Kaz. “I got no college education, pal, so you may want to tone it down with the ten-dollar words.”
“We lookunperturbedbecause we suspected,” Duke explained, a smile splaying on his lips, probably because I was sassing Kaz, and he enjoyed that. “I thought ATF.”
“I didn’t think,” I added. “I try not to think about you.”
Kaz nodded. “Okay, we done with the comedy routine?”
“Sure.” Duke picked up his coffee cup in a toast.
“We’ve been investigatingPiper Novak.”
I felt the tension snap tight between them, thick as barbed wire.
“Guessed that, too,” I remarked with false cheer.
Kaz smiled, but it was sharp, humorless. “Piper’s been on the FBI’s radar for years. I’m on the team that’s building a case against her and her people. What she’s doing to you is her playbook. She finds high-value land, pushes her way in, and when she gets resistance, people start having accidents. Fires. Sudden deaths."
My stomach turned to ice. “And then what happens?”
“She gets what she wants. We haven’t been able to connect the dots. Usually, she buys herself out of situations, which is not hard to do. Ranches are not easy money—hardly profitable, so when someone shows up with a big bag of cash, most people say yes.”
Duke shook his head. “You’ve been playin’ me.”
“Maybe,” Kaz admitted.
“You encouraged Piper to engage with?—”
“She was already interested in Wilder Ranch since she had a line to your girlfriend.”
“Ex,” I corrected him.
“Right.” Kaz grinned. “Fiona has worked with Piper before, which isn’t a surprise. She does land development, and Piper is a big deal in that business. Piper tried with Nash, and he asked her to go fuck herself. But with you, she thought she had a win.”
“And she did until you got me in touch with your godmother.” Duke chuckled. “You played the long game.”
“I didn’t do it just for the case,” Kaz remarked, and I could see he was genuine. “I care about the land, Duke, and…fuck, I’d hate having airplanes whizzing by while I’m having my morning coffee.”
“You weren’t going to sell in the end anyway.” I patted Duke’s arm. “So, we’d have been here no matter what.”
“How’s my mother involved in all this?” Duke asked.
Kaz shrugged. “Can’t say. I know Piper and she had a meeting. We had eyes on that meeting but no ears. It was during a party both were invited to, so I can’t say it wasn’t just ahello, is your bracelet Cartiersort of shit.”
“I don’t think so.” Duke took my hand in his as if he needed to touch me. I interlaced my fingers with his.