Ultimate Cowboy Read Free Page A

really want to know?
    “I understand this is difficult,” Julie said. “Please, Brody, let’s go inside and get it over with.”
    That tone sucked the hope from him. Was she afraid of his reaction?
    Afraid of him?
    The need to apologize nagged at him, but he couldn’t make his voice work. She was right. Prolongingwhatever news she’d come to deliver was only putting off the inevitable. Better she tell him then she could leave.
    And he could deal with it in his own way.
    Resigned, he gestured toward the door, then opened it. She paused to study the foyer when she entered, her gaze sweeping across the hardwood floors to the winding staircase that led to his master suite and the guest rooms. The downstairsconsisted of his own office with other offices available for his partners, and he’d converted the detached garage into a clinic for medical and counseling purposes.
    “I heard about the BBL and the wonderful things you’re doing here,” Julie said. “You should be proud, Brody.”
    He gave a clipped nod, well aware they were both making polite conversation to avoid the real topic as he led herto his office.
    “Do you want coffee?” he asked, still stalling.
    She shook her head. “No, thanks.” Then she opened her bag and removed a file and laid it on the conference table in the middle of the room.
    His stomach twisted, and he leaned his hands on the table and faced her as she sat down. “For God’s sake, just tell me, Julie. Is Will dead or is he alive?”
    * * *
    J ULIE SIGHED , her heart aching at the pain in Brody’s voice. “We think he’s alive.”
    The air left his lungs in a rush. “What do you mean, you think he’s alive?”
    “Sit down, Brody, and I’ll explain.”
    “Sit down?” Brody exploded. “You know how long I’ve waited to find out what happened to him, and you’re dragging it out. Why are you torturing me like this?”
    Julie choked back a cry of denial.How could he think she’d be so cruel?
    Because he still hates you, still blames you...
    She swallowed back her emotions, plastered on her professional mask. She had to pretend like this wasn’t personal, treat it like any other case.
    “I’m not trying to do that,” she finally said. “But it’s been seven years, Brody. Children change as they grow up. They...Will won’t look exactly thesame as he did the last time you saw him.”
    Brody’s face grew pinched. But he sat down in the chair, then raked a hand through his hair. “Okay, tell me what you know. Where is he? What happened to him?”
    Julie inhaled a deep breath. “We’ve used facial recognition software, a program that gives us sketches of what Will might look like as he aged, to keep his file updated.”
    Brody nodded.“And?”
    “We’ve kept that photo in the national databases, and we got a hit.”
    “A hit?”
    She nodded. “Yes, but we’ll have to run DNA to be certain that this teenager is your brother.”
    Brody clenched his jaw. “Go on.”
    This was the hard part. “Will showed up in camera feed from a robbery at a convenience store in Amarillo yesterday.”
    Brody’s eyes widened. “A robbery? Whowas he with? Was he hurt?”
    Julie opened the folder and removed the photos they’d pulled from the camera feed. “He was with another teenager,” Julie said. “And no, he wasn’t hurt. Will was the one holding a gun on the cashier.”
    * * *
    B RODY ’ S MIND BLURRED for a moment. Did Julie say his brother had held a gun on a cashier? “That can’t be right,” he said. “Will...wouldn’t...”
    “Brody,” Julie said. “Like I said, we can’t be certain it is Will, but it looks like him.” She spread another series of shots on the table. “See for yourself.”
    Brody choked back another protest of denial then leaned forward to study the shots. He wanted to insist that his brother would never rob anyone or use a gun to threaten another person, but it had been seven long years since he’d seenhim.
    Seven years where Will had been