Free Having It All by Kati Wilde Page B

haven’t moved either. For hours now, I’ve been sitting in window seat in my room with a burner phone in my hand. Scarecrow is standing at one of the other windows. Bottlecap’s out in the orchard, making the rounds. Uncle Thorne is downstairs.
    Just in case it all goes wrong and Reichmann comes straight for me.
    Light suddenly fills the window alcove. The phone. I blink against the sudden spots in front of my eyes and try to read the message. It’s from the second burner that Saxon picked up.
    It’s done.
    My heart clenches tight. I’m not supposed to respond. I’m just supposed to toss the phone. But I’m going to hold onto this message until he gets home.
    Scarecrow pokes his head into the alcove. “That was them? Is everything all right?”
    I let out a ragged breath. “I think it is.”

Chapter Eight
    Saxon
    Landauer comes by the ranch house two evenings later. Red goes out on the porch to greet him. I stay with Jenny in the kitchen, where she’s chopping tomatoes. Her dark hair’s up, so I kiss her bare nape before drawing her back against my chest. Her heart is racing.
    “All right?” I ask softly and she nods.
    Good. I kiss the side of her neck before grabbing a couple of beers from the fridge. I offer one to the sheriff as he comes through.
    Hat in hand, he shakes his head. “Still on duty.”
    I nod and open one for Jenny. Landauer looks us over. I’m pretty damn sure what he’s looking for. But the only one who walked off that compound with an injury was Zoomie—a flesh wound in her upper arm—and the women we found chained up.
    I didn’t look back as I walked away from House Nine. I simply told Red to burn it down.
    Landauer’s gaze settles on Jenny. “My son tells me that you’ve been showing him around your place, teaching him a little about brewing.”
    “Hashtag?” Her brows shoot up. The prospect isn’t shadowing her anymore but he’s been showing up at her barn for a few hours every day. She’s already asked me if hiring him will create any conflicts within the club. “I didn’t realize he was your son.”
    “His mom and I haven’t been together for a while.” He clears his throat and shifts his hat from his right hand to his left. “Anyway. He seemed real interested in what you were doing.”
    She grins. “Every guy that age is interested in beer.”
    “True.” His amusement tightens into a grave expression. “You probably know the reason for my visit.”
    “We can guess, or you can make it real explicit,” Red says.
    “You heard about those six women who showed up at that church in La Pine?”
    Jenny grimaces. “I read about it this morning. Are they all okay?”
    “I suppose in cases like that, ‘okay’ is relative. They’re better off than they were.” He scratches the side of his jaw but he’s watching her close. “They came off the Eighty-Eight’s farm.”
    Her pink lips part in sheer surprise. Brow creasing, her gaze shoots to me, then back to Landauer. Her shock’s genuine. Red and I haven’t said a damn word about it. “They were trafficking women?” Then surprise bleeds into anger. “Women?”
    “Seems like.” He shrugs. “It’s just what I hear. Like the rumors that the investigation’s going to be taken away from Deschutes County and put into federal hands. Something about them finding weapons that suggest a big cartel was all mixed up in it, and the women saying that they thought it was law enforcement or military who came for them.”
    A cartel? Jesus H. Christ. “What cartel?”
    I’m not faking my surprise, either. Blowback has some goddamn giant balls, that’s for sure.
    “That’s all I hear. Except for what I came to tell you about.” He looks to Jenny again. “The medical examiner just confirmed that some of the remains they found in a burned-out house belonged to Luke Reichmann.”
    Her face stills. She stares at him for a long second, then her eyes fill. “Are you sure?”
    “We’re sure.”
    Her breath catches and