“Timing of that call seems suspect,” Hank said.
Wyatt’s brow shot up in outrage. “You’re damn right. That car was planted in the road. Someone knew I was here and lured me away so you two would be little more than sittin’ ducks.” He waved his hand toward the gun on Hank’s lap. “I suspect he paid for that mistake.”
Hank remained silent, but I’d had enough. Everything in me screamed that he could be trusted, and even if it made me a fool, I was going to listen. “You either trust him or you don’t, Hank. Time to decide.”
Hank didn’t answer.
“Are you shittin’ me?” Wyatt shouted. “After everything, you still don’t trust me?”
“Did your daddy have his hand in this?” Hank asked, sounding furious. “Are you coverin’ up his mess?”
All the fight bled out of Wyatt, and I could see that Hank had gravely hurt him. But I reminded myself that they had plenty of history, years of it, while I’d only been in Drum for a few days.
Wyatt turned to me, his eyes pleading. “What about you? Do you trust me?”
Time for us to put our cards on the table. “How did you know about the person from Georgia?” I asked.
My question had caught him off guard.
“Answer the question, boy,” Hank called out.
“I heard rumors,” Wyatt said.
“Did you find out from Seth?” Hank asked. “And don’t forget you swore to tell me the truth.”
Wyatt released a bitter laugh. “You don’t fully trust me, but you trust me enough to tell you the truth. Do you realize how ridiculous that is?”
“Answer the question,” Hank said.
“No,” he said, his voice hard. “Seth didn’t tell me, and had I guessed what he was up to, I would have handcuffed him to me to keep him from gettin’ involved.”
“That didn’t answer the question, now did it, boy?” Hank asked in a hard voice. “Who told you?”
Wyatt hesitated. “I can’t tell you.”
I watched the two men carefully, feeling like I was in the middle of an Old West standoff. Wyatt looked imposing with his stiff back and squared shoulders, while Hank’s face was set in stubborn determination.
Hank finally said, “Get off my land.”
Wyatt’s mouth dropped open. “You’re fuckin’ kiddin’ me.”
Hank lifted his weapon. “Do I look like I’m kiddin’?”
“Hank!” I shouted as I stepped between them. “Stop!”
“Carly,” Wyatt said in a low growl, sliding up behind me. “Go get in my truck.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Wyatt, then back at Hank, who had lowered his weapon. “I can’t.”
“Why the fuck not?”
I turned to face him. “I promised Hank I’d stay and take care of him.”
Wyatt lowered his voice so Hank couldn’t overhear. “He’s kickin’ me off his property. I’m not comfortable leavin’ you here when I have no idea what really happened tonight.” He gently grasped my chin with his hand and turned my cheek to examine my bruises in the beam of his headlights. His eyes turned murderous. “Did Henderson do this to you?”
My heartbeat took off like a jackrabbit. “No,” I whispered. “It wasn’t Dwight.”
“But you know who it was.” It wasn’t a question.
I lifted my chin and said with more confidence than I felt, “You don’t have to worry. Hank took care of him.”
Wyatt’s eyes widened slightly, and he glanced up at Hank. “Where’s the body? Did he ask you to move it?”
I shook my head. “No. He called someone to clean it up.”
He was silent for several seconds. “There are only two people in these hills I can think of who’d be capable of such a thing, and Hank Chalmers would sooner cut off his other leg than call my father. Which means he called Bingham. What did Hank offer him? Is he gonna grow pot for him? Word has it that Bingham can’t duplicate Hank’s quality and people are complainin’.”
“No. That’s not it.”
When I didn’t look all that surprised by his question, he said, “But you know about Hank’s previous profession.”
“He told me a short while ago,” I confessed. “But I’d heard some insinuations.”
Wyatt cast a glance at the porch then back to me. “You’ve really worked a spell on the old man.” I expected him to be pissed, but he sounded like he was in awe.
“He and Bingham worked out some kind of deal that involves Bingham leaving Hank’s kin alone.” I stared into Wyatt’s eyes. “Wyatt, Hank has claimed us both as kin.”
Surprise covered his face. “Yet he’s kickin’ me off his land.”
“Just tell him how you knew about the Atlanta dealer. He just needs to know he can trust you.”
“I’ve never once done anything to harm him,” Wyatt spat. “Never.”
“You’re the one who told me that trust has to be earned,” I countered. “Earn it by telling him how you found out.”
“I can’t, Carly,” he said, his voice breaking. “I swore I wouldn’t tell and my word means something to me.”
“Are you working with the sheriff?” I asked. “Or some kind of law enforcement to bring them down?”
He released a hard scoff. “You’ve watched too many damn movies or TV shows. No, I’m not workin’ with law enforcement. They don’t give a shit about what I’m doin’. They don’t give a shit about anything that goes on up here unless it lines their pockets.” He pushed out a breath. “This is between you and me and no one else, do you understand?” He flicked another gaze at Hank. “No one else. The old man’s not gonna like that you have a secret of mine, and he’s liable to kick you out too if he finds out.”
“You know I have secrets of my own, Wyatt,” I said. “You can trust me.”
“I’m workin’ to bring down my father, which makes Hank’s accusation laughable. But I have people I’m using to do it, and I can’t reveal my sources.”
“Your father had something to do with the outside drugs coming in?”
“I don’t know. I doubt it, but that piece of information about the Atlanta deal came to me with the rest.”
Was Carson the source of his intel? Was that why he wanted to talk to me?
“Wyatt,” Hank called out. “You’ve had plenty of time to say your goodbyes. Go!”
Wyatt grabbed my upper arms and looked into my eyes. “Check his blood sugar. When he gets mean, it’s often because it’s high.”
“He wouldn’t really shoot you, would he?” I asked.
“Nah,” he said softly. “He’ll come around in a few days, but that’s a few days that you’re on your own with him. And who’s gonna watch him while you’re at work? Who’s gonna watch over you while you’re sleepin’?”
“No offense, Wyatt,” I said, “but you weren’t around when this happened. And the guy who broke in knew you wouldn’t be.”