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Chapter Thirty-Eight

L ooking Momma in the eye was tough, but it was nothing—nothing—to going to the office and seeing Lori, who walked right up to him and decked him, hard.

“Hey, honey.” Okay, that hurt. He rubbed his jaw, wiggled it.

“Fuck you! You bastard! You scared the piss out of me!”

“I’m sorry.” He was. He’d just shorted out, hopped in the car and run. “I lost my mind for a few days.”

“I was so scared.” She came to him and hugged him, and he held on. She’d been his friend forever, his right hand, his Lori.

“I-I didn’t know what to do.”

“I can only imagine. I dealt with things on this end. You owe me a raise.”

“Assuming we ever get another client, you’re on.”

“You have two new briefs to read.” She smoothed her hair into place. “You also have a mountain of paperwork to sign, two charity events to attend in Dallas next week and a sheriff who wants to talk to you very badly.”

“Right.” He looked down and Lori stamped her chunky high heel on the floor.

“No.”

“No?”

“No. You will not be ashamed. That motherfucker did this to you. You did nothing to be ashamed of. You are my fucking hero. I’ll go with you, if you need someone to take notes, but you’re going to go with your head held high, do you understand me?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He had to smile for her, because she was fierce and in his corner, and he loved her. “Have they brought him in? Last I heard they issued a warrant.”

“They found him in Rockwall this morning. Jake called. They’re bringing him in.”

“Okay. They don’t need me for that.”

“No. There’s a tape. There’s faces.” She got this grin that was pure-D evil. “And there’s Chris Baker, who flipped. He was holding the camera. Harris is going to burn.”

“Good. So what do they need me for?”

“Well, it will go faster if you press charges, and Jake needs everything you can remember, regardless. He’s worried about you, hon.”

“Right. I’ll call today. Any media stuff?”

“Who cares about a gay lawyer in the sticks, honey? I told the ones that called that they had to talk to the sheriff.”

“Oh, good deal.” Relief made him sag a little. “I mean, I’m not above going out there and pretending to be a scandal survivor, but if I don’t have to, yay.”

“Just go sit at your desk and know it’s over, Rory. You did it. You brought the king to his knobby little knees.”

He didn’t know if he remembered how not to plan vengeance. He guessed he’d have to learn. He had Luke and the Rocking W, and with two new dossiers to look at, he wasn’t hurting for work .

Besides that, he owned half the county. Land was always good, investment-wise. For the taxes, if nothing else. Some of his tenants were living rent-free. Mrs. Leeman did bees, though, and he had honey out his wazoo, and he got a side of beef butchered twice a year from old man Clawson.

Look at him, the small-town real estate mogul.

He reached for his phone and called his lover.

“Hello?” Luke sounded a little out of breath, which meant heavy lifting.

“I don’t need anything. Just to hear your voice. I’ll let you go.”

“Hey, no, I could use a breather.” Luke perked up a lot in just a few seconds. “I was moving a bale.”

“I just got in the office. They arrested Harris.”

“This morning? Because Matt didn’t hear anything on the scanner last night.”

“Yeah, they found him in Rockwall.” He felt a little lightheaded.

“Holy shit. You think the wife put in an anonymous tip?” Luke sounded about as stunned as he felt. His lover was right there with him.

“Who the fuck knows. I don’t care. I mean, I do, but I don’t, you know?”

“I get you. You need me to come into town, babe? I can.”

“Look at you, being all mobile.” He smiled, feeling his chest let go a little. “No. No, I have a shit ton of work. I’ll probably have Lori grab me lunch from the diner and bring it back. I just needed to talk to you a second.”

He imagined it would happen more than once today.

“You know I’m here. Anything you need.” Luke was a freaking tower of strength, which was amazing, considering how torn up he’d been when he first came home.

“You. I need you. You want me to pick up pizza on the way home?”

“I do. I could eat three.” Luke chuckled, the sound warm. “Got a double load of shit to do before I can quit.” That didn’t sound like a complaint.

“Well, get to it. I’ll call later. Love you.”

“Love you too. Holler if you need me.” Luke hung up, the line going flat.

“I will.” He totally would. Rory laughed at himself and opened up his laptop.

Time to get to work.