Page 33 of Austin (The K9 Files #29)

R ox waited anxiously at the door. The feds had been all over the place all morning and had taken Austin in to the local station to get statements and to identify some stuff that apparently he’d seen—something about the video he had taken.

He had to get things notarized or some bullshit.

She didn’t know what was going on, but she’d been pacing impatiently ever since.

Her father looked at her and muttered, “He’ll be fine.”

“Of course he’ll be fine,” she spat, with an eye roll. “It still doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like that they took him in with them.”

“Sure, but he’s a good man,” Jake noted. When she glared at him, Jake added, “Hey, I’m just saying he’s a good man.”

“I know he is,” Rox replied, easing back.

“Have you checked on your mother recently?” Jake asked.

Rox nodded. “She’s still sleeping, which is good because it’ll help stave off that migraine. Your getting shot didn’t help her any either.”

Jake just shrugged.

“How about Mom and you? How will that go?”

“It’ll be fine,” he said, “and it’s just one of those things about life and marriage.… I’m happy for you,” he added suddenly.

She looked at him and smiled. “It’s not a done deal yet,” she murmured.

“Yes, it is,” he declared, with a nod. “Austin knows what’s good for him.”

She stopped, turned, and frowned at her dad. “What do you mean? I know what’s good for me too.”

“Good for both of you,” he agreed, with a smile, “but he’s no fool, and he knows a good deal.

As I told you, you’ve always been a great daughter, and I haven’t been very good at letting you know it because I was so hooked on having a son for the longest time.

But somehow, over these past five years, I completely forgot about that because I realized I didn’t need a son because I already had you. ”

She stared at him in amazement as he went on.

“I know I’m not the smartest, and I’m sure as hell not the fastest at figuring shit out,” he added, “but I do realize that I damaged something between us. Between me and Chris too. I didn’t mean to do that, and I have to ask if you’ll forgive me.”

Tears immediately came to her eyes, and she wiped them away impatiently. “Of course, but you don’t have anything to be forgiven for. You’re allowed to want a son.”

“Sure, I’m allowed to want a son,” he conceded, “but not to the detriment of the family I already had and who loved me so much,” he murmured.

“I hurt you. I hurt Chris. I hurt your mother. That is one of the reasons why your mother and I had some problems. It was… I was a little too focused on what I thought I wanted, needed, liked, yet couldn’t have,” he admitted, “not being grateful for what I did have, and, for that, I’m sorry. ”

Rox walked over, bent down, and gave him a gentle hug. His shoulder had been treated. As it turned out, the bullet creased his arm, resulting in a bad burn and several stitches, but wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.

“I’m just sorry I was so thick-headed and stubborn, and I didn’t get there before all this happened,” Jake shared, “and, yes, I would have loved to have had a son with your mother, but, in reality, I have everything I could ever need.”

Rox nodded, tears in her eyes. “Thank you, Dad,” she whispered. “All I ever wanted was to be everything you needed, and being your son was the one thing I couldn’t be.”

“And you shouldn’t have to,” he said, with a headshake. “However, if you decided you want to keep that damn son-in-law of mine around, you won’t get any complaints from me—but only if it’s right for you.”

She gave him a wry look. “That’s another thing I’ll need to work on with Austin.

He’s absolutely right for me, and I’ve grown and changed, and I am hopeful we can make a go of our marriage now,” she shared.

“It’s been interesting having him here, and I couldn’t have imagined the way this all came about. ”

“Me either,” he muttered. “But you still need to do what’s right for you, not craving the dream of the relationship from before because, if it ends up being something other than that dream, you won’t be happy.

” Shaking his head, he added, “If all that didn’t make sense, then let me say this.

All I really want is for you to be happy. ”

He was saying absolutely everything she ever possibly wanted him to say, and he was doing it with such honesty that she knew it was coming from his heart.

She gave him another gentle hug and said, “I’ll keep it in mind, but I know that I never stopped loving Austin.

In my heart I always expected him to come home. ”

“He did come home.”

“But you know, he’s kind of like some other people I know,” she quipped, casting him a sideways glance as she stepped back. “They’re a little stubborn at figuring things out too.”

He gave her a grin. “Isn’t that the truth?” Then he winced in pain as he shifted in the chair.

“Damn it, Dad, you’ll have to baby that shoulder for a while,” she muttered. “You don’t get to cause all this chaos and then not look after it.” He rolled his eyes. “Plus,” she reminded him, “we’re not out of danger until we can figure out what the hell is going on here.”

“And that’ll be the hard part,” he said, “because, until that asshole sings, and we know for sure that he’s the one behind all this, it’s not over.”

“I know,” she agreed, “and that’s what I mean. We’ve got to see it through.”

“And we don’t know what this will end up looking like, and it might not be pretty.”

“It won’t be pretty, I’m afraid,” she said, “and just because Austin seems to think he knows who it is doesn’t mean he’s right.”

“Everything has been so discombobulated, it’s hard to know what’s going on, but I hear what you’re saying.”

She poured him another cup of coffee. “Now Austin damn well better get his ass home again or…”

He laughed. “Or what? I remember when you used to say that after he left, and it took him five damn years to come home.”

She nodded. “I said a lot of things back then, but now we’ve promised that I won’t be issuing ultimatums and that, if I ever break that promise, he won’t listen to me,” she explained, with half a laugh.

“Sounds to me as if you’ve got some basics already ironed out.”

“We do. We really do. It’s been so nice to see him again, and it makes my heart feel good to know he’s here, especially now.”

“Yeah, and he’s doing a lot for us. And if you guys can work out your stuff, then maybe your mom and I can work out ours too.”

“Yeah,” she muttered, “there’s no excuses for anybody in this world.”

He chuckled. “Even Chris, though he might be a different case. I’m not sure how much he’s involved in all this, but he’s still got a big damn chip on his shoulder.”

“He sure does,” she said, with a groan.

When the back door suddenly flung open, and somebody stepped inside, Rox frowned at the stranger and asked, “Can I help you?”

Her father slowly stood up. “Well, there you are. The dirty rat right from the beginning.”

“What the hell?” Rox muttered, looking at the stranger and then finally understanding. “Joe?” she asked, with a frown, “You can’t be Joe.”

He looked at her and asked, “Why can’t I be?”

He looked so different. “I didn’t recognize you.”

He shrugged. “That’s normal for you guys, isn’t it? Too high and mighty and too perfect to recognize the people below you.”

She realized this was the man they suspected of being behind the gun caches being stored on their property. “Sounds like you and Chris have personal problems in the way you see things.… So, you’re the one behind all those guns being stored on Dad’s property, huh ?”

Joe shrugged. “Kind of, but not really. Business associates of mine were just looking for a location, and I was trying to make a bit of money, and they knew I was from around this area and had a connection to the ranch, so I could keep an eye on their supplies for them.”

“Connection to the ranch?” Jake repeated, his voice dangerously low.

“Yeah, with my boy all set to inherit and all.”

Jake asked, “What do you mean, Chris is all set to inherit?”

“That’s how the will was supposed to be anyway. I wasn’t going to kill everybody, but now that you went and had all the legals changed, I don’t really have a whole lot of choice.”

“What?” she asked. She turned to her father. “That’s what the lawyer stuff was all about?”

“Yeah,” he said, with a nod. “Did you kill my lawyer too?”

“No, but he was having a heart attack when I saw him. I just… didn’t help and watched him die.

It’s a fascinating process really, and it gave me the chance to get all the paperwork we needed, transfer everything over to the new lawyer, and make a few changes.

That is until you went and raided everything and screwed that all up. He’s pissed at me over that.”

“You think? Or did you decide you needed to get rid of him too?”

“I didn’t get rid of anybody. He’s on his way out of Texas anyway because he didn’t want to get caught up in having done something illegal, which he certainly has done. It’s not my problem. I didn’t do it.”

“You watched a man die and didn’t render aid? That is a criminal offense,” Rox pointed out, staring at him in disgust. “How could you do that?”

“It’s not my fault, dear, and the guy was old, like,… really old.”

“And you aren’t?” she snapped.

He stiffened slightly. “You’re pretty damn mouthy, aren’t you? No wonder your brother hates your guts.”

“Chris doesn’t hate my guts,” she declared, “and, if he does, it’s because of the poison you’ve put in his head.”

“I didn’t have to put any poison in his head.” Joe smiled and added, “Yet it’s been fun to stoke the fire. He’s been thinking this was his all this time. That this whole ranch was his.”

“Because you told him so, I suppose.”

“It should have been his. There’s nothing wrong with my boy, and he should have it, but just because you wanted your own spawn in here, that doesn’t mean Chris should have been kicked out.”