Ron and Luke discussed how he would go about telling the brothers, deciding it would be best to have Ron there when he did. It would give credibility to his story.
The next day, Luke took Seth aside and asked for an appointment to talk to not only him and his brothers, but also Stacie, saying he had information about Stacie’s mom. Seth immediately found a time for all of them to meet in the house to talk, knowing Stacie would be more comfortable there. They could use Jake’s office. It would be big enough for all of them.
The next day, Ron Ayers came to the ranch and they all went into Jake’s office. Stacie sat staring at Luke, wondering where she knew him from.
“Let me start by introducing everybody.” Ron started the conversation. After the introductions, he noticed Stacie staring at Luke. Luke and the brothers must have noticed it, too, because everybody was quiet for a minute.
“Stacie, why do you keep staring at Luke?” Grant finally asked.
“He was in the casino.” Stacie finally figured it out and scooted closer to Jake, who was sitting beside her. She suddenly didn’t feel so safe anymore.
“Is this true?” Seth was starting to see red. He started to stand, when Ron put a hand on his arm.
“Let him explain,” Ron said quickly.
Luke quickly explained who he was and that he was undercover for the FBI investigating Ramona. He had been in the casino that night to watch and make sure nothing happened to Stacie. He had been watching her and the brothers since Ramona made her first call to Stacie.
The brothers all started talking fast, explaining why they couldn’t leave the ranch and that Stacie was going nowhere and who did he think he was, when Ron stood up and let out a loud whistle.
“Okay, we got it. Nobody’s leaving. Luke will stay and work like he has been, and everything will look normal from the outside. If Stacie needs more protection, we will have some of my officers work as ranch hands until this is over. The FBI is closing in on Ramona and the people she works with. It won’t be long before she is in custody. We just have to keep Stacie and all of you safe until then. Stacie, you are not to leave this ranch or go outside the house without an escort. There is no way on a place this big that we can watch all the borders. It’s too easy for someone to sneak on here. I think you are safe with the brothers and Luke for now. What do you guys think?” Ron asked the brothers.
Everyone agreed that, as long as Stacie was never left alone, she would be safe, and since Seth had been teaching her to hunt and shoot, she was to have a gun close at all times. They also decided that, for now, her rides around the ranch would have to stop as they didn’t want her leaving the house. They were going to make her as safe as possible.
* * * *
It had been a week and Stacie was going stir-crazy. She was never alone in the house. One or more of the brothers were with her all the time and it was starting to get on her nerves. It wasn’t so bad when Jake stayed with her. He would go in the office and she was kind of on her own, but knew he was just a scream away. But when Seth or Grant stayed in, they followed her around constantly, getting in her way or asking questions. She was lucky she got any work done when one of those two was in the house.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. “Look, you two,” she told Seth and Grant, “when you’re in here, you have to let me work. This place is a mess and you two following me around isn’t helping.”
“What about Jake, doesn’t he bother you?” Grant asked.
“Jake stays in his office and lets me do what I need to. You two follow me around like lost puppies.” She let them have it, hands on her hips.
At that, Jake wandered in.
“We do not.” Seth wasn’t going to put up with this.
“What did you do when I was trying to do laundry yesterday? You followed me up the stairs to gather it, then insisted on carrying it down, then dumped it all on the laundry room floor, where I had to pick it up again. Then you decided to distract me and we ended up playing all afternoon, and the laundry is still on the floor.”
She wasn’t really mad, but she needed to get some things done. Playing with Seth all afternoon had been fun and she enjoyed the time alone with him, but it didn’t get stuff done.
“And you,” she said, turning to Grant. “You were in here the day before and I started to make cookies, remember?”
Grant had the nerve to look sheepish. “Yeah, you bent over to get the cookie sheet out.” Grant was grinning like a fool.
Stacie stood there, glaring. “So tell Jake where the cookies are,” she told him.
Grant looked at Jake and said, “Well, when she bent over, you know how she looks. I couldn’t help myself, and I guess she never got around to making them.” All the men burst into laughter.
“You all think it’s funny, but none of you got yelled at when the cookie monster couldn’t find his cookies this morning.”
Jake was a bit of a cookie monster and Stacie made really good cookies. She always kept some in the jar for him, and when it was empty this morning, he did kind of yell.
‘I’m sorry, babe, but you always have cookies for me.” Jake did apologize.
“And I would have today, if not for your brothers. You two need to go work off some energy in a different way and let me get some laundry done and make Jake his cookies. If you have to stay with me, find something besides me to do,” she yelled then stomped off.
The three brothers decided it was time to take Stacie to the playroom again. They all needed to work off some nervous energy, and the playroom was the perfect place to do it. They couldn’t wait.