Page 57 of The Wrong Ride Home (Wildflower Canyon #1)

elena

I was out by the makeshift stables, brushing down Riot, trying to clear my head, when I heard the low rumble of an engine pulling up.

With the barn and stables gone, we’d had to get creative.

A few of the larger turnout pens had been converted into temporary shelters, reinforced with extra fencing and canvas tarps to keep the worst of the wind and sun off the horses.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to keep them safe and settled until we could rebuild.

The scent of charred wood lingered in the air, a bitter reminder of everything we’d lost, but the work didn’t stop.

Standing around feeling sorry for ourselves wasn’t going to fix a damn thing.

Because the horses still needed care, the cattle needed to be moved between pastures, the fences checked for breaks, and the water troughs cleaned and filled.

Tack needed mending, feed bins had to be restocked, and the breeding schedules had to be managed.

The ranch dogs still needed running, the bunkhouses needed maintenance, and the supply run for town couldn’t be put off much longer. Hell, even the paperwork alone was piling up—grazing leases, contracts, vet reports, payroll for the hands.

The daily grind didn’t wait for fires or for us to lick our wounds.

There were cattle to doctor, calves to brand, irrigation lines to check, and equipment to repair. The hands had already started clearing out the burnt wreckage of the barn and stables, but that was just the beginning—rebuilding would take time, money, and manpower.

It didn’t matter what had happened the night before, Wilder Ranch kept moving, and so did we.

I ran the brush down Riot’s flank, my movements slow and steady, more for my own sake than his. The big stallion had handled the chaos better than most—a little rattled but still standing strong.

Unlike some of us.

Duke had been in a mood since the fire—tense, on edge, like a wolf pacing its cage. So, when Kaz Chase drove up to the ranch house, I patted Riot and followed the man who somehow seemed to be in the middle of all this drama.

Duke was on the porch, which told me he’d been informed about Kaz’s visit, and he’d let him in. Security was the bomb at the ranch now (pun intended); everyone was on high alert .

I thought some of the hands would quit, but they were all staying put.

“Assholes think they can fuck with us? We’ll show ‘em,” Cal declared.

Roy patted his holster. “I can shoot a dime off a fence post at fifty yards. Let’s see how they like that.”

Kaz tipped his hat to me, then settled it back on his head. “Howdy?”

“Doin’ about as well as you’d think we’d be doin’ after a fire.”

“I heard.”

“No kidding.”

“Kaz,” Duke cut in, his tone sharp. “Darlin’, why don’t you?—”

“Come on in and hear what Kaz has to say?” I offered sweetly, cutting him off.

“Fuckin’ hell,” my man muttered under his breath.

“Duke,” Kaz greeted with a nod.

“What is it you want?” Duke asked, hands planted firmly on his hips.

Kaz took the stairs to hit the porch. The man had a nice ass, I noted, but those jeans were a bit too designer and not cowboy at all. He tilted his head, looking way too relaxed. “Now, Duke, is that any way to greet a friend?”

“You ain’t my friend.”

“You slay me.” Kaz put a dramatic hand to his heart.

“He’s not in the mood,” I warned him as I walked past Kaz and Duke, standing across each other like they were gonna back up twenty paces and shoot. “So, you may want to tone the cool cowboy down,” I threw over my shoulder and walked into the ranch house.

We settled in the dining room. I poured three cups of black coffee and set a plate of biscuits, Itzel and Miss Patsy had baked fresh that morning.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” Kaz picked up his coffee cup. “I hear you’ve had a couple of interesting days.”

“A few weeks.” I patted my shoulder where I’d been shot.

His eyes narrowed. “I stand corrected.”

Duke sighed. “You gonna talk about why you’re here, or are you gonna flirt with my woman?”

“The way they say my woman around these parts.” Kaz shook his head, feigning surprise as if he wasn’t born and bred in Wildflower Canyon.

Duke growled.

“Kaz, I just told you he’s holding it together by a string so if you don’t want your face rearranged, you’ll get to it.

” I slouched on the chair, moving my shoulder to make myself comfortable.

If I so as much as winced, Duke would be carrying me off to bed so I’d started to become careful about how much discomfort I showed, not that he didn’t catch on.

Duke shot me a look, but I just tilted my head. “Not stayin’ out of this.”

Kaz sighed dramatically. “Alright, I’ll make this quick. I need your help.”

Duke’s jaw ticked. “You’ve got some brass balls.”

“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. But you 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 look unperturbed because 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 investigating Piper 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 a hello, is your bracelet Cartier sort 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.

“I got no proof.” Kaz straightened.

“What do you want from us?” I asked.

Kaz looked at Duke. “Need you to talk to your old girlfriend. Make a play about wanting her back, wanting the deal back.”

My eyes widened. “Huh?”

Kaz shrugged. “And you’ll need to be wired for that.”

Duke's voice was low and deadly. "You knew this whole damn time what the fuck was goin’ on, and you didn’t say a damn thing? Elena got fuckin’ shot, Kaz.”

Kaz looked penitent for the first time since he’d walked in, hell since I’d known him. He was always too cool for school, but right now, he was remorseful. “I used you, that’s true, but I did warn you.”

“ After Elena was shot, you son of a bitch.”

Kaz sighed. “I can’t just spill my guts to anyone, okay? I did what I could to protect y’all. Didn’t want any of this to happen. Even now, my superiors are not happy I’m here. But we need to force the issue, and I believe Fiona is our weak link.”

I frowned. “How is she the weak one?”

“She’s in love with Duke. She wants him back. He can reel her in.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Ugh!”

Kaz smiled at that. “Yeah. Ugh!”

“My mother is the Oscar-winning actress, I’m not,” Duke protested.

“We’ll work with you on that. Go through the script. Role play,” Kaz assured him. “We’ll prepare you for this. You’ll meet her in a public place. If it goes to shit, no harm, no foul.”

“Except Piper wants to cap his ass?” I reminded him.

“She wants to do that anyway, so it’s not like you’ll be in any new danger by talking to Fiona.” Kaz drank some coffee, which I knew was cold by now.

Duke dragged a hand through his hair. He looked at me, and I nodded. Yeah, we’d do this. We had to, or we’d always have to live in fear.

"Set it up,” Duke said.

I sniffled loudly. “You’ll have to tell her you love her and shit.” I feigned hurt, pulling my hand away from Duke’s. I turned to Kaz. “Will he have to have sex with her? I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle that. It might break my poor heart.” I clapped my hand on my chest dramatically.

“Shut it, Elena,” Duke muttered .

“Oh, come on, you have to go back to that bitch in high heels and spill your guts, which is going to piss me off. I’m allowed some entertainment.”

“You can be in the surveillance van if you like?” Kaz offered cheerfully.

“Kaz,” Duke warned him.

Kaz nodded, holding up a hand. “You know what, sweetheart? We’ll record it, and I’ll send you a copy.”

Kaz and I high-fived at that.

Duke sighed. “Fuck me sideways, but this is goin’ to be a clusterfuck.”

“If you kiss her, I’ll knee you in the nuts,” I promised him.

Duke looked at me coolly. “Darlin’, I’ll have to convince her I’m in love with her, so I may have to do a few things…you know, for the sake of law and justice.”

I punched his shoulder. “You keep your hands and mouth…you know, keep all parts of your body away from that terrible woman.”

Kaz rose. “Well, I’ll be in touch. In the meantime, try not to make any public appearances together. I’ll be meeting with some key people in the county and letting them know that you’re both on the outs. It will help when you reach out to Fiona, Duke. You know, make it more believable.”

“Yeah!” I said in disgust.

After Kaz left, I looked at Duke, who did not appear happy—nope, not at all.

“Well?” I asked.

“How the hell is this my life?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “People shootin’ at us, burnin’ down property. I was a fuckin’ businessman in a suit, and now I’m a cowboy who has a target on his back.”

“But you have me now.” I wrapped both my arms around him, crawling onto his lap.

He held me and kissed my nose. “Yeah, I got you.”

“And that makes it all worth it, right?” I asked expectantly.

He laughed. “Yeah, Florecita , it makes it all worth it.”

I leaned into him. “You have to do this,” I whispered.

“I know.”

“We need to close this tight so we can get on with our lives.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he promised.