“Come on.” I pat my leg, and the friendly dog immediately hurries over to me. “I’ll take good care of him.”
“Have a good day. See you around.”
Seth waves and hops into his late-model Ford F150, then takes off down the drive.
The last time I saw him, he was just a kid, not even a teenager yet.
And now he’s in college.
I shake my head, feeling damn old as I knock on the door.
“You live here! You don’t have to knock on th—” A petite blonde opens the door and then smiles sheepishly. “Sorry. Thought you were Seth. I’m Cara, Josh’s wife.”
“Liam.” I hold out my hand for hers, and she shakes it, then steps back to welcome me inside. “Are Zack and Josh around?”
“They’re out back,” she says with a nod. “Zack tried to get Seth to stay, but he’s too busy looking at bear poop in the Park to hang out with the likes of us. The little kids are hanging out with the grandparents this week.”
She’s chatting away, leading me through the open house to the kitchen.
“Which, I admit, has been nice and quiet, and it’s freed up the guys to get some serious work done. You know, running a ranch this size is a full-time job.”
“Do you work here?” I ask, completely mesmerized by her. She’s friendly, adorable, and just…likeable. I can see why Josh snatched her up.
“Oh, no. We want the ranch to be successful.” She winks and reaches into the fridge for two bottles of water and passes one to me. “I’m a teacher here in Cunningham Falls. So I’m off for the summer.”
“Oh, nice.”
“And you’re the head of security for the royal family?”
She watches me with curious blue eyes.
“Here in Montana, yes.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m surprised our paths haven’t crossed before.”
“I only spent summers here when I was a kid.”
“Are you harassing my help?”
We turn at the sound of Zack’s voice.
“I’m just getting to know him,” Cara says, already walking out of the room. “It’s called being friendly, Zack. You should try it sometime.”
“I’m fucking friendly,” Zack mutters. “Hey, man, thanks for coming over. I’m sorry for the third degree from a certain annoying sister-in-law.”
“I heard that,” Cara calls from down the hall where she disappeared.
“I wasn’t whispering,” Zack calls back with a grin. “I love to harass that woman. We’re out back. Follow me.”
We walk through a sliding glass door to a deck. Josh is sitting at an outdoor table with a laptop open, his face in a scowl.
“So, what’s going on, guys?” I ask.
“We have fucking poachers,” Josh snarls. “It’s not even hunting season, and some asshole keeps coming onto our property to kill animals.”
“They’ve got elk and moose so far,” Zack adds.
“Do you have cameras?”
“No,” Josh says, shaking his head. “We found the carcasses. The fucker took their heads for trophies.”
I feel my blood begin to heat. Poachers are the lowest of the low. There are laws surrounding hunting for reasons, and what this jerk is doing includes trespassing.
“How can I help?”
“We’re going to invest in one hell of a security system.” Zack’s voice is grim. “With cameras. And we need your help with what to get, who to have install it, all of that shit.”
“Your operation out here is big. I’m surprised you didn’t do this years ago.”
“We have some cameras set up on the far side of the property, but we can’t get to it quickly. We’ve kept things fairly simple. Hell,” Josh says, standing to pace the deck. “We’ve survived wolves and other predators before this. But humans, poachers, are a whole new arena.”
I nod, understanding perfectly. “A new threat means new security measures. How many acres do you have?”
“Fifty thousand, give or take,” Zack says.
“That’s a lot of ground to cover. What’s your budget?”
“Whatever it takes to get the job done,” Zack says. “How much did it cost to outfit the royals’ place on the lake?”
“Four million dollars,” I reply without missing a beat.
“Okay, that might be a bit high.” Josh rubs the back of his neck.
“I can get you set up on a great system for half a million.”
“Jesus,” Zack mutters. “I want to punch this fucker in the face. He’s costing us a fortune.”
“Remember last summer when we had that asshole vandalize the fence on the north pasture?” Josh asks his brother. “It’ll be worth the investment.”
“People suck,” Zack mutters.
“Oh, you have no idea how strongly I agree,” I reply. “And if you’re running into issues with vandalism on top of the poaching, it’s worth the investment. Not to mention, you’ll be able to keep tabs on livestock, as well.”
“Good point,” Josh says. “And the parents. We have our parents and our aunt and uncle in little houses a couple of miles from here. A camera pointing that way will help us keep tabs on them, too.”
“Mom’s not going to love being spied on,” Zack says.
“The cameras won’t record inside the homes,” I remind them, “just on the outside of them. So, in case someone gets their car stuck, or if there’s wildlife hanging around that you don’t want there, you’ll be able to see it.”
“Mom came face to face with a mountain lion last winter,” Josh says. “Okay, we’re in. Who do we need to call for this?”
“You called him.” I smile and take out my phone, sending messages to my contacts. “I can have this all taken care of and up and running in a week.”
“Damn, you’re fast.”
“This is what I do. Do you think the royal family would be willing to wait a month to have their security put into place? Not likely. We can move on this, and maybe have a poacher on video by the end of next week.”
“Awesome. Thanks, Liam.” Josh shakes my hand. “I’d better go move some money so we can pay for this little investment. Zack, I’m headed out with the hands this afternoon to check the fences.”
Zack nods, and we watch Josh pick up his laptop and head inside.
“I’ll go get this in the works right away.” I shift from foot to foot, suddenly feeling unsure of my next moves.
“Appreciate it,” the other man says. “What else is on your mind?”
“What do you mean?”
He lifts a brow. “I wasn’t born yesterday. You have something going on in your head. Might as well talk about it.”
I cross my ankle over my opposite knee and sigh heavily.
“How did you manage to go through all the fucked-up things you did in the Army and then come out of it with this normal life? A wife and kids.”
He blinks, thinking it over. “I fucked up a lot, I’m not going to lie. When Seth was little, I was a shitty dad. I was never home. And his mom was a piece of shit, too. Thank God she dropped him off here, and Josh and Cara took care of him until I came home.”