Brash Read Free Page B

muscle, Deac.”
    â€œTell me something I don’t know,” the man returned.
    â€œAlcohol is one, I imagine,” Sheridan continued, her tone still edged with boardroom coolness.
    Cole groaned.
Christ. Nothing sounds better than a cold beer right now.
    â€œAnd sex is probably another.”
    Except that.
    Fuck.
    â€œIs it sex or alcohol, Cole?” Deacon asked, then drained the rest of his beer.
    â€œKill me now.” Cole grunted.
    â€œNo can do. Fontana wants that chance,” James said. “So just keep the faith and—”
    â€œKeep your fly zipped?” Mac tossed out in a questioning voice, grinning like a cat.
    The table erupted into laughter.
    â€œIs this the reason you guys wanted me back here tonight?” Cole demanded peevishly. “To jerk my chain fifty ways to Sunday?”
    The question quickly blanketed the laughter. Eyes dropped to drinks and the tabletop. Of course that wasn’t the reason they’d asked him to come home, and Cole knew it. He took a swig of his ice water. Wished it was tequila.
    â€œPalmer.” Deacon said the word in an almost menacing voice.
    Teeth tightly clenched, Cole uttered, “You able to get in to see him?”
    â€œYep.”
    Cole’s gaze came up, narrowed. “Shit. And?”
    The man’s once amused expression was now stone cold. “I got in, but he refuses to see me.”
    Cole rapped the table. “Goddammit, Deac. With all your money and connections you couldn’t get that done.”
    â€œHis rights supersede my influence.”
    â€œRights,” Cole ground out. “That piece of shit shouldn’t have rights. He knows the truth about Cass.”
    â€œThat’s what he claimed,” James said quietly.
    What was this? Cole stared at the blue-eyed horse whisperer who had found love like some people find God. “You don’t believe it now?”
    The man shrugged. “I had him in a chokehold at Deac and Mac’s wedding, for Christ’s sake. I was amped up, ready to take him out—”
    â€œShould’ve done it,” Cole ground out.
    â€œMy point is, he could’ve said he knew who killed Cass just to get my hands off his neck. Could’ve been a bluff.”
    â€œBullshit.” Cole couldn’t believe his brothers were thinking this way. “He knows something—and so does his best friend, Sheriff Hunter.”
    Deacon dropped an arm across Mac’s shouldersand sighed. “It’s possible. But we can’t get to either of them. Because of you and James and that unwelcome visit to Hunter’s care facility, there’s a restraining order out against us. And Palmer’s wife and daughter are no longer working at the bakery. The place is closed indefinitely.”
    â€œWhat?” Cole hadn’t heard that.
    â€œCouldn’t take the scandal,” Mac told him. “All the questions. A couple of reporters came down from Dallas. Palmers ain’t sophisticated people. It was too much.”
    As the waitress placed the burger before him, a sinking feeling started to move through Cole. What the hell was going on here? He’d been away for a few days training, and he’d come back to roadblocks and no plan. They had to get to Palmer, find out what he knew—what he believed.
    â€œSure, there are lots of
maybe
s and
possibly
s going around here, but that doesn’t mean we don’t check out every lead we got.” His eyes shifted between the two men. “Or maybe things have changed in the past couple of days? Maybe you two are so caught up in your new and shiny lives, you want to put our sister on the back burner.” He sneered at his brothers. “That what happens when you’re getting laid regularly? Your brain shrinks and your balls disappear?”
    â€œHey!” Mac called out.
    â€œDon’t go there, little brother,” Deacon began, his tone a low, clear warning.
    â€œYou know