Free Kansas Nights [Kansas Heat 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Jenny Penn Page B

to cover Jack’s back. Clearly, no matter what else she might be, Kathy Coben was a distraction for Jack, making her dangerous.
    Of course, blind loyalty didn’t pay the bills or fund the resources to back Collin’s endeavors. Those two things came from Amos, meaning Collin couldn’t avoid answering his cell when it lit up with Amos’s number.
    “Yeah?” Collin answered, not bothering with a more formal greeting. It would be wasted on Amos. The man wasn’t known for his manners.
    “Hitchens?” Amos’s rough voice barked through the receiver. “Where you at?”
    “Sitting in Humble,” Collin replied, leaving it simple. He hadn’t agreed to work for Amos yet, and wouldn’t be sharing information freely.
    “You talk to Jack yet?”
    “Yep.”
    “And?”
    “And”—the jerk of Kathy’s door opening had Collin fumbling with his phone while he tried to straighten up and talk at the same time—“it’s just like I told you before I left. It’s going to take some time, convincing, and quite possibly a miracle to get him on board.”
    “Miracles happen every day, Hitchens.” The words might have been optimistic, but Amos’s tone was downright grumpy. “You just have to have hope. Like I got hope that you’re going to help solve this case before my clients’ patience and money wears out.”
    “I’m trying,” Collin assured him, turning over the Jeep’s engine as Kathy trotted over to her little compact and slid in behind the wheel.
    “Well, even if you fail at that, I got something you could use to brighten my days with.”
    Collin smirked at that thought. He didn’t think Amos ever relaxed enough to have a happy day. “Yeah?”
    “Nick Cooper came home.”
    It took Collin a second to digest that simple statement, his mind distracted by pulling out behind Kathy as she backed her car into the street. Even when Amos’s words made some sense, they still left Collin confused.
    “What?”
    “Nicholas Thomas Cooper,” Amos repeated with exaggerated slowness. “I believe you know the man.”
    “Yeah.” He could figure out what was coming, too, but what he didn’t understand was, “What do you mean by ‘came home’?”
    “I mean home, as in where his mommy and daddy raised him.” It was strange hearing the words “mommy and daddy” come out of the cranky old general’s mouth, but the obnoxious tone eased the awkwardness. “Which would happen to be up in Danville…Wyoming…Ring any bells?”
    “No. Why? You think he might be working on this case?” Collin offered up with his own false optimism, dawdling at a stop sign as he watched Kathy’s compact make a turn further down the road. It wasn’t until her car disappeared from sight that he eased forward.
    “I don’t really give a good crap about that.” Amos crushed any hope Collin might have harbored. “What I do give a crap about is Nick. The word is his last assignment blew up. A woman died. He feels responsible. They’re saying he’s used up, burned out, had his day—”
    “ I get it .”
    “I bet you do.” Amos sighed heavily, an almost sympathetic sound but Collin wasn’t fooled. “It’s kind of like how your marriage left you—a wasted shell of a man.”
    “Thanks.” Having heard these snide comments from Amos for over two months, Collin had grown kind of immune to them. There wasn’t any point in arguing with the man. He wanted Collin to be pathetic and heartbroken. That’s just what Collin was.
    “Well, anyway. I figure you know about that kind of stuff and could maybe offer your buddy a guiding hand in this, his time of need.”
    “And what if Nick isn’t interested in listening?” Collin caught sight of Kathy’s car making another turn onto the main highway and could tell she was heading back into town, probably headed back to work.
    “It never hurts to ask, Hitchens,” Amos shot back. “Worst you can hear is no.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind,” Collin replied dourly, though he was more sore at