Luke (Armed and Dangerous Book 2) Read Free Page B

getting into some bad feed.
    But Fenning had recovered quickly. Maybe too quickly. DEA financial snoops were doing their best to figure out where Fenning’s stream of cash came from, since his insurance and the income from his stock, weren’t sufficient to cover that kind of disaster.
    “Glad to see the Bar F made it back so fast from losing so much of your herd.” Luke kept his tone conversational, relying on his cover as a ranch hand to make him nonthreatening. “Skylar said she’d never have been able to come back from a hit that big.”
    “Skylar trusts banks. The government.” Fenning drank his scotch in one gulp, then set his glass on the bar for a refill. His cheeks flushed maroon—maybe from emotion, maybe from alcohol. “My daddy taught me not to put all my bullets in one gun.”
    Luke responded with a practiced silence, but he widened his eyes, playing his role as a younger man interested in Fenning’s wisdom.
    Fenning picked up his refilled scotch. “Diversity. That’s the key. You want to stay in business, you better know how to diversify. Always have one stream of income that won’t let you down, and a stash of cash the government can’t touch.” He killed the drink, and his face turned redder as his expression relaxed.
    Luke shifted his weight back and opened his stance to give the appearance of even greater interest. “So, if I get to the point where I can buy my own ranch and run my own cattle, what other streams of income should I think about?”
    The hard wariness came back in a rush, and Fenning answered with a snort. “Son, if you disappeared from Douglas tomorrow, I wouldn’t miss you. What makes you think I’m ready to tell you my business secrets?”
    Luke shrugged, as if to say, fair enough. “Maybe down the road, I can do some work for you—show you what I’m worth.”
    “I got myself a good foreman,” the old man grumbled, but Luke heard the hint of interest. Fenning’s foreman, Brad Taylor, was infamous in the community of ranch hands for partying hard, staying out late just about every night, and barely getting to work on time. Luke also heard that Taylor had a penchant for twins... at the same time. Maybe Fenning found that interesting enough to keep Taylor around.
    “If something changes, let me know.” Luke gave a short nod then took a drink of his beer as he moved away from Bull Fenning before he overplayed his hand. Every detail of the conversation was recorded in his mind to share with Rios.
    Diversity. Secrets. Cash the government didn’t know about. Definitely merited more digging—though the old man might be making his bucks filming Taylor’s exploits.
    Luke made his way across the room to Gina Garcia, a statuesque blond who had bought the old Karchner K, a couple miles north of the Bar F. Drug activity had escalated since her arrival in the area, and some big busts had been made in a corridor discovered between the Bar F and the K & K. Luke’s gut instinct told him that the single mother had nothing to do with Guerrero or the new operation that was starting the turf war, but it wouldn’t hurt to question her and check out the K & K for good measure.
    Gina was decked out in a long green dress and a glittering gold locket. Classy. Definitely easy on the eyes. Looked like she was born to wear evening gowns and sip champagne—so why was she so nervous she was picking lint off a branch on the Christmas tree?
    “Evening,” he said as he approached her, then felt bad when she jumped.
    Gina’s long fingers fluttered against her chest. Her green eyes went wide, but she seemed to relax when she saw who was speaking. “Luke. What are you—oh. Skylar MacKenna couldn’t come because she just got married.”
    Luke nodded. “Skylar says every ranch owner around Douglas has to do their part for this shindig to work. But yeah. She wasn’t ready to give up her alone time with her new husband.”
    Gina’s smile trembled. “I wish I had an excuse. Especially a good