AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m so scared for Mal,” Prince said as he sat with them on the porch on that third day. “Dex, of course, when he was out there last night, I was crazy worried, but Mal is so…”
“Small,” Ruben finished. “I know. Marius and Dex both are way bigger. Mal’s no bigger than me, and I’m a shrimp.”
Just then, they heard a motorcycle, and Sel’s stomach did a flip, thinking it could be Indio, but as it neared, they saw Kirk coming.
“What? I thought he was on the team watching Mal,” Binx said, a quiver in his voice.
Nathan and Pappy came out of the house, and by their faces, they were worried, too. All those left at the house ran down the stairs to meet Kirk as he parked his motorcycle and cut the engine.
“Is Mal okay?” Sel asked first.
“He’s fine, everyone. Sorry for worrying you. He doesn’t want me there. He said he’s too worried about my reaction if the guy shows up, and I hate it, but he’s right.”
They were all relieved, but Sel could see how upset Kirk was. “He’s right, but this has to be torture for you.”
“I wasn’t going to leave, but he threatened to take his GPS tracker and toss it away if I didn’t go.”
As they all accompanied him up the stairs, Sel hung back as those words dug a hole in his head and nestled there as his hand slid into the front pocket of his jeans to rest on his own tracker.
Anywhere the tracker was, that was where Sel would be, at least to anyone watching the screens. He could be on Indio’s watch crew and no one would be the wiser. He could tell the others he was allowed to be there or Dante would have a fit. No. For sure, someone would know. Someone would call Dante to make sure.
No, he’d have to go alone. Sure, that was dangerous, but he wouldn’t be far from the watch crew. He was sure he could scream loud enough to be heard if anyone tried to snatch him. Suddenly, his excitement overwhelmed him.
He went to take the tablet that Mal had been using to watch over Marius and Dex when they were out alone, heading up the stairs into his room, closing the door behind him. After sitting on his bed, he quickly went to the screen that showed them all, everyone at the ranch. It wasn’t hard to find Indio, as he was one watcher for Mal. He’d just been up all night, being the guinea pig. Now, he was watching Mal. It was a lot.
Knowing Indio would be out there alone that night, Sel made a plan. First, however, he needed help. And not one of his new friends could know what he was planning. They’d never let him.
Also, they’d never believe he was still there if he kept his GPS in his room. He had to convince both his uncle and new friends that he was in the place they weren’t. That wouldn’t be easy.
“Binx,” he said. Indio would be gone at night. Alone in the dark. Sure, he was a tough guy, probably tougher than half the men who worked for their family, but still…if anything happened to him before Sel could figure out what he felt for the asshole…
No. He’d be sent home. If anyone found out what he was even thinking, he’d be back in LA before he knew what was happening. Sitting on his bed, his head in his hands, he thought about it for over an hour.
The plan was simple enough, and he wouldn’t get caught if he was careful. Leaving his phone in his room, so he couldn’t be tracked by it either, and taking the tablet with him, he went down to the kitchen where Binx seemed to live, and sure enough, he was stuffing orange halves into a line of whole chickens.
“Hey, Sel! Where you been?”
“Headache,” he lied, and felt like an ass. He hated lying, especially to his friends. “My uncle gave me a chore. Busy work,” he complained, again feeling like absolute dirt.
“Oh, what’s that?”
“I need to check everyone’s trackers, make sure the serial numbers match the person. With so many having more than one, you know, partner…”
“Ah, I see.”
Binx washed his hands after stuffing the last of the four chickens, then took his tracker out of the pocket of his jeans. “Here you go.”
Sel turned around and took his own from his pocket, while pretending to look at Binx’s numbers that were on the back of each tracker. Trading them was an easy sleight-of-hand, and he handed Binx his own tracker while pocketing the one Binx had been given. “Thanks.”
“No problem. What’s up, anyway? Are you…still worried about Mal, or…maybe someone else?”
“Can it be both, and that’s the end of it?”
“Sure,” he said kindly. “You know, Sel, we’re on your side, no matter what.”
He knew that was true, but Sel also knew that Binx wouldn’t be on his side if he knew what Sel was planning. “Thanks, Binxie. I, uh, I’m heading to my uncle’s tonight, you know, after dinner. I don’t want to miss your food.”
“It’s only roast chicken. I need to send someone out to get some more provisions for me, unless everyone likes rice and beans for every meal.”
