Jax slid his phone back in his pocket and stared at Kane Cartwell. He quickly debated how he wanted to play this. Fearing Cartwell wouldn’t let him leave with Brianna if he knew the mob was still out there looking for her, he said, “It smells like rain.”
“That nose of yours needs an adjustment,” Cartwell said, rocking back and forth in the large wicker chair. “After that call, I smell trouble.”
“You heard.” Jax cursed under his breath. “Now listen, Cartwell, I know what you’re thinking—”
“You have no idea what I’m thinking, boy, but that’s a good thing because where I come from, we don’t take kindly to being pushed around. My girls have had stalkers and even a crazy woman who went to extraordinary lengths to kill my daughters. Ansley’s husbands had some complicated problems with the mob, too.”
“How’d you handle them? The problems, that is.”
His eyes turned nearly black and the shadows under them were a match. It was then when Jax saw the older cowboy for what he was—dangerous—and for what he wasn’t—afraid.
“I have friends in low and high places.” He slowly rose and looked out over the lawn. “Any idea how long those fellas have been released?”
“No, Sir.”
Kane paced the porch stretched across the front of the house. “Where I come from, we handle our own problems.” He stared at Jax as if he were seeing straight through him. “In small towns like this one and over in Fletcher, too, we can get by with handling our own problems because issues such as these are too dangerous for the locals anyway.
“Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll call my sons-in-law and ask them to get busy and find out what they can about this Handsome fella and where he comes from. I’ll talk to Alberto again if he calls and see if he’ll shoot straight with me, but he probably won’t. I’ll have one of my girls pick up Nory. She’s on spring break this week and doesn’t need to be here.
“Once my family starts researching a bit and a few friends arrive, we’ll cover this place and yours, too, if you’ll let us.”
“We can take care of Brianna. No one can breach our security system.”
“You might be surprised, boy,” Cartwell said, clearly upset because Jax didn’t respond as he apparently had hoped. “When a man offers you a hand, don’t be too proud to take it. Take it from someone who has been that kind of man. Do I think you’re willing to protect Brianna with your very life? Absolutely.” He stopped walking and his gaze bore into Jax’s as if he were willing him to see things his way. “This is the real deal, young man. I know more about Alberto’s business than I want to know. My cousin Ann ended up face down in the swimming pool over one of Alberto’s debts. The housekeeper died because a point was being made. Whoever Alberto has cheated decided to let him know when they wanted to collect, they could come for full payment anytime.”
“How much does he owe?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Kane said. “The point is we need to teach a few lessons ourselves. And we can start by letting Alberto Baldini’s friends in New York know that this ain’t New York and it ain’t Chicago. By the time we’re done with them, they’ll swear they went head to head with the Dixie Mafia.” He smirked. “Or the Hillbilly Mob since we’re here in the sticks.”
Jax thinned his lips and thought of how he might have to take up arms and defend what was his—his woman, his home and brothers. “Mr. Cartwell, I have a favor to ask. Do you have e-mail by chance?”
“What kind of question is that?” He muttered to himself and paced again. “Do I have e-mail?”
“W
ell, do ya?”
“Peyton does,” he snapped.
“I’d like to send you something to look over. It’s about my parents. You said you have connections. When this is all over, do you think you could find out who was really behind their deaths?”
Brianna joined them on the porch. “I’m ready when you are.”
Kane smiled at Brianna and then shook Jax’s hand. “I’ll see what I can do. E-mail what you have to Peyton Cartwell at Clink dot com. It’s all lowercase.” He then focused on Brianna. “Little woman, this is no time to run. Jax can explain everything to you, but if you get mad at these fellas, if you need a place to go in the middle of the night, you call me and I’ll come right on out and get you.”
“You know where they live?”
Kane smiled. “I made it my business to know where you and your sisters might go in the event of an emergency.”
“Don’t expect that call,” Jax said, a little irritated. Brianna would be happy at Circle J Farms because he and his brothers planned to make every last one of her dreams come true.
“Fill her in. Knowledge is power. Don’t keep anything from her just because she’s a woman.”
“I won’t,” he promised, bracketing his arm around her waist.
Kane looked out over the lawn. “All right. I’ll call in reinforcements. Keep your chin up, watch for tails. Get on home and stay inside for the night. When my boys arrive, I’ll let you know who will be heading out to help you.”
“Seriously, we can handle things from our end,” Jax said.