Lora Leigh - Midnight Sins

The fact that Ryan wasn’t happy was only eclipsed by the fact that Sheriff Tobias was glaring at the cousins with pure, vicious hatred.

“The little bastards fucking well better keep their asses in the county.” He shoved the key in each cell door, twisted it furiously, and slammed the iron doors open. “Fuck up and I’ll put a bullet in your heads myself.”

Rafe sneered. “Only if the barons give you permission,” he drawled, using the mocking nickname given to the patriarchs of the three families.

In the next second, Tobias buried his fist in Rafe’s ribs, stealing Rafe’s breath for a second and shoving him into the metal bars. Fury surged through Rafe in the next instant, pounding through his veins and throwing him forward after the sheriff, when Logan, Crowe, and Ryan suddenly grabbed him.

“Let it go, son,” Ryan snarled in his ear. “You should have kept your mouth shut or prepared for it.”

He was right. Rafe knew he was right. But still, Rafe wanted to take the bastard apart with his bare hands.

The sheriff sneered back at him.

Funny, Rafe thought distantly, the sheriff’s son, Archer, seemed to have a streak of honor and had been one of the few people in the county to come forward and object to the treatment Rafe and his cousins had suffered in the past few days. That was one of the reasons Tobias was so furious now. Having his son defend the three cousins couldn’t have gone over well with the barons who told Tobias when to breathe, when to fuck, and when to piss.

Rafe let his lip curl in the sheriff’s direction. “That’s okay, sir,” Rafe drawled. “You’re right: I should have been prepared. But I think the sheriff is very well aware of the price he’s paying for the orders he follows.”

He’d lost his son. Archer Tobias had stood in his father’s face the day before and told the other man he couldn’t believe they were related and that he prayed stupidity wasn’t hereditary.

“You little fucker,” Tobias snarled. “You’ll be back. When you do Archer will see you for the murdering fuck you are.”

Rafe shook his head. “Naw, he’ll see you and the barons for the manipulative monsters you are. That’s too bad, too, because I think Archer is tired of defending your eagerness to jump when they tell you to jump.”

“Get him out of here, Calvert,” the sheriff ordered. “Before I save the county the money to prosecute him and shoot him myself.”

Two military police laid their hands purposely on the butts of their weapons. The action didn’t go unnoticed.

“Let’s go,” Ryan ordered. “You all have a meeting with your lawyer, then you’re going to settle in somewhere until we can take care of this.”

“I have to take care of something else,” Rafe stated as they headed for the door.

“The hell you do,” Ryan growled as he followed close behind Rafe. “Don’t argue with me, Rafe. Not here.”

Rafe waited until they were outside. Turning back to his uncle, Rafe stared the other man in the eye, determination tightening his body and burning through his veins. “I promised Jaymi.” His fists clenched at the thought of what he had to do. “I’ll meet you wherever you need me to, but I have to take care of something first.”

“And what the hell could be more important than your freedom?” Ryan snarled as he gripped Rafe’s arm and pulled him around again.

“A promise,” Rafe snapped as he jerked his arm back. “And I don’t break my fucking promises.”

Cami was sick; Jack and Archer both had told Rafe she was alone at Jaymi’s apartment, and she hadn’t gotten her medicine. It was confiscated as evidence when it was found outside the pharmacy, and Rafe didn’t know if anyone had even cared to check on her.

He’d never imagined his life could come to this. At twenty, he thought he had the world by the tail, and despite the problems he and his cousins had faced in Corbin County, he’d believed it would all right itself in the end.

He couldn’t have imagine this could happen, not even in his worst nightmares.

That Jaymi could die in his arms. That he could have been arrested for her murder when he’d done everything he could to save her.

And as he stepped out into the bright summer light to the sight of nearly two dozen of Sweetrock’s residents glaring at him in accusation, he thought that perhaps he should have expected it.

Moving through the crowd was Clyde Ramsey, Rafe’s uncle on his mother’s side. A hard scowl covered Clyde’s face as he strode the distance in a bowlegged walk that bespoke his years on the little ranch he owned between Sweetrock and Aspen, Colorado, well away from the family his sister had married into.

Clyde had raised Rafe and his cousins when no one else would have them. Would he disown them now as well?

“Well, let’s go,” he growled as he stopped in front of them. “I have cattle to feed and horse stalls to clean. I don’t have time to waste.”

He’d come for them. When everyone else stood glaring at them, as usual, Clyde was there to protect them in his own gruff way.

“I have to make a stop first,” Rafe said quietly.

Clyde’s scowl deepened as he blew out a hard breath. “Course you do,” he harrumphed. “Let’s get it done so we can get home and figure this one out.” He shook his graying head. “Saving the three of you is turning into a mission in life, Rafe. And I’m an old man. Find a way to fix this.”

He didn’t give them time to answer. He turned on his heel and strode to his truck, expecting them to follow.

“Go on; we’ll be behind you,” Ryan told him. “And hurry with that stop you have to make. We have a long day ahead of us if we’re going to figure this out, as you say.”

They had more than a hard day ahead of them, Rafe thought. There would also be a hard life because he, Logan and Crowe would be back. He knew his cousins, he knew himself, and he knew there wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to let the barons get rid of him this easy.

There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the security footage would be enough to prove their innocence. They were never stupid, and they never let anyone know their plans. They’d learned better than that as young teenagers when they were accused of stealing cars, cash, and a variety of other items.

No one, not even Clyde, had known they were camping out at the lake that weekend. Most weekends they spent alone at the ranch after the ranch hands left, working on fences or equipment.

Killing Jaymi that close to their campsite was a clear attempt to frame them. Rafe was beginning to wonder if the murders the FBI had put down to a serial killer weren’t an attempt to frame the Callahan cousins instead.

“Here. The keys to the street and trail.” Logan stepped in front of him as they neared the vehicles parked on the other side of the town square. “You’re going to check on Cami, aren’t you?”

He gave a brief nod.

“We’ll follow behind you. Listen to me, Rafe,” he snarled as Rafe moved to shake his hand. “This town is crazy right now, man, and you know it. Let me call Jack and Tobias. They’ll come get her and make sure someone takes care of her. You can’t protect her right now. It’s going to take all we can do to protect ourselves.”

And he was right. Too damned right.

“Give me a few minutes to make sure she’s in the apartment,” Rafe told him. “If she’s not there, then she’s at her parents’. I just want to be sure.”

After stopping behind the apartments long enough to quickly change into the fresh jeans and T-shirt his uncle had thought to bring him, Rafe headed upstairs to Jaymi’s apartment.

He still had the key. She had never asked for it back. Unlocking the door, he stepped inside before closing it securely behind him and staring around silently.