“I did and I’m not yanking your chain.” Mason accepted the vigorous shake. “Good luck, Mr. Walker.”
“Little Bull.” The man hobbled away. He dragged his right foot a little when he first stood, but ended up moving a bit faster after he was almost to the exit doors.
“So, Mr. Walker. I can come by and take a look at your ranch and get you a top-of-the-line surveillance system set up for you, and it won’t cost you a thing.” Free opened the door for him and ushered him out into the warm Atlanta sun.
“Why would you do that? For free?” Mr. Walker stopped at the entrance to the parking lot. Free wondered if he’d driven there.
“Because I’d like to bring my boyfriend with me and maybe we can visit for a couple of days. He talks about ranching when he was young and how much he loved it. If he hadn’t made it as a cop, he’d probably still be there. He doesn’t get to go home much because of work… I think maybe he’d like the change of scenery.”
“I bet.” Mr. Walker started ambling again. “Okay. Sure. The nearest hotel to us is about twenty minutes, but we got bunk rooms and more than enough room in the main house with me and my boy. If you and your steady are cops then I trust y’all won’t do anything criminal.”
We’ll probably be spending most of the time in your barn doing lots of criminal things…to each other. Free struggled not to get aroused at the prospect. “I’m sure we’ll get the details ironed out on where we’ll stay. Officer Mason has all of your information in his report. I’ll look everything over and pull up some satellite images of your land and see the best way to get you wired-in and online.”
Mr. Walker held up his palm. “Whoa. You ain’t talkin’ my language no mo’. But whatever you jus’ said, it sounded legit.”
“Oh, trust me. I’m legit, Mr. Walker.”
“I done told ya. Call me Lil Bull, or just Walker.” Walker shook his head, laughing at a joke in his own head. “I ain’t never been Mr. Walker. That was my granddaddy.”
Free nodded, “And your dad was Big Bull, I presume.”
“He wishes. Nuttin’ was big ’bout him but his mouth. My poppa was even shorter than me.”
Free laughed. “So, no Big Bull.”
“Of course there is. I been talking about my boy the whole time. He’s owner and operator of the ranch. A big ole’ boy. Don’t know where he got it.” Mr. Walker surveyed the visitor’s lot. “He was parked right there, but…oh, there he is.”
Free followed the old man’s line of sight. He couldn’t believe the behemoth of a man leaning against the hood of an old Ford pickup. He looked like the all-American cowboy, complete with the dusty boots. At least six-four, Big Bull was thick and stocky, stretching his blue flannel shirt with the cut-off sleeves to its capacity. His jeans were threadbare in the most important places. Bloody hell. He couldn’t see the man’s face, since his head was cast down while he stared at his phone screen with a worn, black cowboy hat sitting low on his forehead. It was precisely the type of man Free would’ve avoided or walked in the other direction from. But not now. He wasn’t gonna approach him because Big Bull appeared a bit rough around the edges, but he wasn’t afraid.
Mr. Walker faced him. “I look forward to your call, Officer Freeman.”
“Oh no. No, no. Just Len. You can call me, Len.” Free said, still staring at Big Bull, who was now staring back.
“Need some help, Pop?” Big Bull’s deep voice carried across the street, his affection for his father evident as he started to head in his direction when he stepped shakily off the curb.
“You just stay right there and hold your horses, Bull, I’m comin’.” Walker glanced over his shoulder at Free, “Call anytime.”
“You’ll be hearing from me soon.” Free hurried back inside, eager to get a start on his plan. Hart had told him that God was gonna be shutting down the office for a few days next week, and Hart was considering going for a long ride. That would be perfect. He couldn’t wait to surprise him. And possibly see Hart’s big, sexy ass atop a horse.
Free was light on his feet on his way to the elevators. He wanted to see Hart. It was close to quitting time, and he was curious to know if his boyfriend wanted to eat out tonight instead of ordering in. If he hadn’t had a difficult day. Free pushed the button for the elevators, his mind going a mile on minute on the type of security system he was going to build for Mr. Walker. It was sort of his specialty. Watching out for, and catching bad guys.