Chapter Thirty-Three

L uke arrived at Rory’s folks’ place at about seven a.m. They’d talked the night before, both of them trying desperately to get a hold of Rory, who had left without even telling Lori where he’d gone.

Dread had lodged in Luke’s belly all night, and even Matt wasn’t laughing and teasing him. What if Harris had gotten to Rory and he was dead in a ditch somewhere? Luke was going to kill something himself if that was the case.

He was shocked as fuck to see his momma’s truck parked in the drive.

“Have you heard from him?” Helen was right there at the door, Momma behind her.

“Momma?”

“I brought muffins and coffee.”

“She’s been a huge help,” Helen said, tired lines etched around her mouth and eyes.

“I was hoping y’all had heard.” Luke grabbed his arm crutches.

Matt unloaded his chair and brought it into the house before kissing Momma’s cheek. “I got to get back. I have a load of hay coming in today. Holler at me when you know something.” He took two muffins.

“You’re not staying?” Momma said.

“No, ma’am. I’ll hold down the fort, Luke will find him and help.” That was the way they worked.

Helen nodded. “Be safe,” she told Matt. “If Harris is on the warpath, who knows who he’ll come after.”

Matt nodded, his face set in stone. “I’ve got the shotgun. That bastard comes after anyone and I’ll give him what for.”

That was also how they worked. No one fucked with their family.

And Rory was his motherfucking family. Full stop.

“No news at all?” Luke asked after Matt left them.

“No. He won’t answer either one of us.” Helen pursed her lips. “That bastard sent it to the newspaper. Lori fielded calls all afternoon yesterday.”

“Why would he do that, Helen?” Momma asked. “That makes no sense. You can see him…violating Rory.”

“Yeah.” Luke nodded, that rage building up in him again. “That had to be one for his vaults. So who had a vested interest in sending it to all of us?” He had turned on the military part of his brain because he had to.

“Rory. Rory’s the only one that gains from this, Luke.” Rory’s dad looked like hammered shit, the big man brought low.

“No way. I mean, if he had this video all this time, why wouldn’t he take it to the police? So who else wants Harris out of the way?” He was being ruthlessly logical, but Luke had already eliminated Rory as the sender. Not his style at all.

Besides, Rory said he couldn’t remember any of it and he’d stared into his lover’s eyes. Rory had believed it.

His momma and Rory’s mom stared, both of them looking at each other with dawning horror. “What? What have you figured out?”

“Jeanette. Jeanette Harris is getting dragged through the dirt,” Helen said, and Momma nodded.

“Word is she’s been to a divorce lawyer in Greenville.”

“This would take care of a lot of her troubles, Jim, if he got arrested for rape.”

Jim stood up. “We’re, what? A month off ten years? That’s the statute of limitations in Texas. She’s given us enough to have the son of a bitch sent to the pen.”

Momma shook her head. “Makes divorce easier for sure.”

Luke was going to lose his ever-loving shit. “Is she capable of digitizing this stuff?”

Jim snorted. “Hell, no. Her son, though, is an IT guy in Dallas.”

“Fuck!” He slammed his hands on his thighs. “I need to find Rory!”

“He won’t answer. I called Aislin down in Austin, but she hasn’t heard from him.”

“Where would he go?” Luke racked his brain. “He doesn’t have any other properties he stays at, does he? I know he owns a place in Greenville that Harris was going to subdivide.”

“Oh, honey, that place has to be stripped to the studs. It’s full of cat pee and mice.” Helen shook her head. “Not my Rory.”

“Momma! Momma, he’s in Round Rock. He’s real drunk, but he says he’s in a hotel and safe.” Rowenna ran into the kitchen wearing SpongeBob jammies, tears on her cheeks. “I talked to him. He’s so sad!”

“Oh, thank God,” Helen said. “Luke?”

“My old truck is not gonna make it. I can drive it if I can get a vehicle.”

Momma shot him a worried glance. “Are you sure? Preacher can call someone from church.”

“I swear. He’s…he’s my lover, Momma. Mine. And he’s hurting and I need to be there to help. ”

“Take my car, Luke. It’s a comfortable ride and Aislin can drive it home when she comes home in a few weeks for Thanksgiving.” Helen grabbed her keys and pulled off a set. “Surely you can find that damned Mustang in a fancy-assed hotel parking lot.”

“There’s only one little pod of hotels in Round Rock proper, all off at the Rudy’s exit. If he’s not there, we have a house on Lake Travis. I’ll give you the address.” Jim scribbled that down. “I guarantee you he’ll go there eventually. He loves it down there.”

“Okay. Do you have it with an agency or something?”

Jim nodded.

“Can you call in a few hours and see if he’s picked up the keys? That way I know where to get off 35.”

Helen handed him the keys to her car. “It’s got a full tank. Do you need to go back to your place to pack?”

“No. I put a go bag in Matt’s truck. It’s with my wheelchair by the door. Jim, can you help me get all that shit in the car?”

“Son…” Momma’s face was a thundercloud. “I worry about you driving so far on your own.”

“I’ll stop if I get too tired. I swear.” He couldn’t wait for anyone else, and Preacher didn’t need to be volunteering to drive either. “I can do this.”

“Stubborn boy. Promise me you’ll text. When the car is stopped.”

“I promise.” He would have to check in, anyway, see if there was any change in the news. “Love you, Momma. Call Matty for me?”

“Coward.” She shook her head, but smiled. “I’ll tell him, son, even though he’ll know somehow. I love you.”

He nodded, then clumped outside, Jim following him with the chair and bag. “It pulls a tiny bit to the right after sixty or so. If you need anything at all, you call us. ”

“Yes, sir.” It meant a lot that Rory’s people trusted him.

“Tell him that we… Shit…” Jim’s face turned a deep, harsh red. “You tell him we have his back and we will fucking take that son of a bitch down. All of them. They’ll burn.”

“I’ll tell him.” He shook Jim’s hand. “I’ll also tell him to call his momma.”

Jim laughed roughly, then helped him get his crutches into the car. “Be safe, son.”

“I will. Thank you for this.” Okay, it was time to hit the road. Luke had Tylenol, and he would stop for a Sprite.

He could do this.