Page 18 of Lone Star Wanted
The truck rolled over a patch of uneven pavement, rattling slightly as the sun dipped lower, casting amber light across the dashboard. They had about two miles left before Clear Rock came into view. Trees thickened along the roadside, casting long shadows that stretched like fingers across the two-lane highway.
Kincade shifted in his seat, the phone still resting in his hand, but his thoughts were miles from the screen now. He glanced over at Cassidy, her profile lit gold in the fading light, her focus steady on the road ahead.
He exhaled through his nose. “About what Jericho said… back at the clinic.”
Cassidy didn’t look over. “What part? The pining, or the off-limits bit?”
Kincade gave a dry huff. “Both.”
That got her attention. She glanced at him, then back to the road.
He cleared his throat. “Travis did tell me to back off. He said no one from Maverick Ops touches his kid sister. Not even me.”
Cassidy’s grip on the wheel didn’t change, but something flickered in her expression.
“But it wasn’t just that,” Kincade continued. “He’s my partner. We work together too damn well, and I didn’t want to screw that up. Not for something that might…” He trailed off, searching for the right words.
She finally looked at him, eyebrow lifted. “That mightwhat?”
He met her gaze, jaw tightening, but not pulling back. “I didn’t plan on it being a one-off.”
The silence stretched for a beat. Then she arched a brow. “What did you plan on it being?”
Kincade looked at her, really looked. And realized he hadn’t stopped asking himself that question since the night it happened.
Before Kincade could even attempt an answer, Cassidy’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen, and her mouth pulled tight.
“Damn,” she muttered, then tapped to answer and hit speaker. “It’s Mayor Vance Harlan,” she let him know.
Kincade stilled. Vance. Daniel Harlan’s brother. This probably wouldn’t be a pleasant call.
The voice on the other end came through sharp and impatient. “Deputy Prescott. I hope you’re about to tell me where your brother is.”
Cassidy kept her eyes on the road, expression flat. “I’m not.”
“Then let me make this simple,” Mayor Harlan snapped. “Travis isn’t going to disappear into the hills and come out clean.He murdered my brother, and I won’t let some misguided family loyalty turn you into an accessory.”
“I don’t believe Travis killed him,” Cassidy replied, her voice low and calm.
“Bullshit,” Vance barked. “You’ve seen the reports. You know there’s an eyewitness placing him near the lake house. You think anyone’s going to buy that he was just taking a walk and Daniel ended up shot in the head?”
Kincade clenched his jaw but stayed silent. Cassidy hadn’t told Vance she was with someone, and he wasn’t going to give that away by speaking up.
“If you’re hiding him,” the mayor continued, “I swear to God, I’ll have you arrested. You’ll go down with him.”
Cassidy didn’t flinch. “I’m not hiding him. I’m trying to find out the truth.”
“The truth is, your brother’s guilty,” Vance growled. “And the longer you defend him, the more you go down with him.”
The line went dead.
Cassidy set the phone back on the console, her knuckles white against the steering wheel.
Kincade didn’t say anything right away. He watched her, the tight set of her jaw, the way her eyes stayed fixed on the road like she was holding everything else back. “He’ll push Sheriff Moran to hunt Travis down until they find a body. One way or another.”
Cassidy’s hands tightened on the wheel. “And if we don’t get to him first…”
She didn’t finish. She didn’t have to.
