Devil Hills: #1 Scarlet, Lexi & Lily

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “I’ll just let your dad know lunch is ready,” Amelia pulled her phone out and tapped over the surface.

  “Mom…he’s right over there,” Lucas laughed.

  “You really think they can hear us with those ear things on?” She raised a brow but kept on texting. “He has his phone set to vibrate so he knows it’s me,” she grinned when he looked up and nodded at her.

  “Good system,” Eli laughed with the others.

  “You go ahead and start while they wash up,” Amelia went inside for something, leaving them at the large tables.

  Jess stood up when he saw his father head into the house through his den. He saw Lily wave absently, her head nodding even as she slid her fingers into the back pockets of her jeans and she kept looking over the things laid out on the counter in front of her. He sighed and headed toward the target cage his father had built at the back of the house.

  “Lily!” He shouted since she was still wearing the ear protection. She tossed up a palm he was coming to recognize as, ‘Yeah, sure…in a minute.’

  Jess sighed and stepped into the cage. Since her hands were free, he figured he was safe. He plucked the ear protection from her head and tossed it to the counter before he took the hand she raised at him and pulled. Hard. She landed against the shoulder he had lowered and he stood up, his arm tightly around her knees.

  “Hey! Just one minute!”

  Lucas looked at Eli with both brows raised. Very unlike Jess to be first, public; second, physical.

  “No, I will not wait because you’ll stand there drooling over those guns and forget to eat,” Jess told her when she demanded he put her on the ground. He slammed the cage door shut and turned the lock, removing the key and showing it to her. “This…is yours after lunch.” He dropped it into his pocket and carried her toward the expansive back patio filled with bright noon time sunshine, food and people.

  “That is just plain assed wrong,” Lily growled when he set her on the ground, about to protest when he turned her toward the open patio door.

  “Get washed up and come eat lunch, Lily,” Jess shook his head as she stormed off mumbling to herself. Then he realized people were staring at him. Not all the people. Just his family. “What?”

  “Um…nothing,” Eli reached for the rolls and began building a sandwich.

  “That’s a new side to you,” Lucas tried filling in the silence when his parents came back through the patio door with glasses and pitchers of tea and lemonade.

  There was laughter and stories about boys growing up that had the men actually blushing and trying to offer the corrected versions to old stories. Most of the food vanished and Alex Daniels looked purposefully at his sons when the table was being cleaned off.

  “We’ll be out in a bit, Amelia.” He went to his den and waited for his sons to follow.

  “Should we ask?” Lily finally asked when they were all in the kitchen.

  “It’s about us, isn’t it?” Lexi looked from one to the other and then toward the closed door.

  “Probably. Mitch James and the purists,” Amelia put her palm over Lexi’s. “This isn’t twenty-five years ago. Yes, they still exist. Yes, they are annoying, pig-headed bigots. They are not a threat to us or our town or our pack,” she looked firmly at Lily and Lexi. “I don’t know how my sons got so lucky,” she continued softly, affectionately. She’d felt it from the first with each of them. As different as her sons and just as precious.

  “How do you know about James?” Lexi asked quietly.

  “Connie is my sister,” Amelia said with a smile. “Not much happens in this town that she doesn’t know about. She has friends in every store and I swear…Lucas mentioned him. If I’d been a little more blood thirsty when I was twenty-five, I’d have let Alex kill him for what he tried to do to me. I…the thought of him living with that…” She shook her head and shrugged. “You know men. Claims it would never have been a blip in his thoughts.”

  “Twenty-five…” Lily did some quick math. “But you already had children by then.”

  “I had Lucas and Jess,” she nodded with a smile. “And was pregnant with Eli. I can’t explain a man like James. I never did a thing to encourage him but he was relentless. Always knew when Alex was out of town on business. Always knew when I was working in the ranch office. He wanted to get at Alex and tried using me to do it. They’d been business rivals before Alex bought this property and started the ranch and sales of prime meat for restaurants. Alex is usually very relaxed, a lot like Jess, of the three of them. But not when it came to James trying to force himself on women, especially me.”

  “I remember females who went out of their way to be with him at family gatherings,” Lexi said quietly. “And I remember others who made sure he wasn’t alone with any of us females. But no one would ever tell us why. If they had told us…” She shook her head and dragged her hand up, pulling the band from her ponytail and dragging two sets of nails against her scalp.

  “The pack is on the watch for him,” Amelia told them.

  “If he steps foot anywhere near any of us, Lucas won’t be generous,” Scarlet said, not a doubt in her mind that the man would be dead if he came near them.

  “I know this might sound silly,” Lily stood up and paced. “Why aren’t we included in the discussion?”

  “You’re not going to like the answer,” Lexi answered while the other two looked at one another.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Lily responded, all heads up when a chirping began near Scarlet.

  She pulled her phone from the pocket on her shirt and stared at the read out, frowning. “Excuse me a minute…Gina? What’s wrong?” She listened for several minutes, standing up and starting to pace. “Looking for me? Around my Inn? No, no, thanks…and thank Charlie for me…I’ll be back in a little while.”

  “What’s up?” Lexi knew that expression on her friend’s face.

  “I have to go home. I have to find out what’s going on there. It’s my town.”

  Amelia stood up and went to the table by the front doors. “I’ll tell them where to find you. I taught my sons well…truck or SUV?”

  “Truck,” Came the three answers, a set of keys tossed in the air and caught by Lily.

  “Thank you,” Lily went up to her and hugged. “You raised very good men.”

  “Please…tell them we’re okay. We’re not little girls and will be back as soon as we can,” Scarlet said firmly.

  “We know they have obligations and careers,” Lexi continued with a nod. “And we really can handle ourselves.”

  “Be careful,” Amelia kissed and hugged each of them, standing on the porch and watching them drive off in Eli’s truck.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lily climbed into the truck and turned the engine over, making sure the doors were locked and belts buckled as she headed them along the road. Street lights were coming up as the darkness of clouds and fall began to shroud them. Gold and red leaves swirled over the dry roads.

  “They aren’t going to be happy,” Lexi finally said after they’d driven silently for almost an hour.

  “Too bad. Morning Star Lake is my place. And those people didn’t ask for any headaches from anyone,” Scarlet stared out into the early afternoon. “And don’t you dare say anything because you didn’t ask for it, either. We’ve always managed problems on our own. The least they can do is include us in the discussion.”

  “I knew that would grate,” Lily murmured.

  Lexi reached for the radio at the same time phones began chiming.

  “Guess who’s out of their meeting?” She said with a sweet smile, peering at the readout and rolling her eyes. She tossed it to the dash.

  “Driving…can’t check,” Lily said with a chuckle, watching Scarlet toss her phone to the dash. “This is a big assed truck.”

  “Naw…you’re just short…” Lexi assured her.

  “Petite…” Scarlet threw in. “They’re all over six-three for pity sake. Lucas has this huge bed just so his f
eet don’t hang off the bottom.”

  “Really?” Lily looked across Scarlet at Lexi with a raised brow. “And just how do we know that?”

  “How…the bed…” she growled at her friends’ laughter. “You can’t tell me Jess doesn’t make your brain shut down,” Scarlet tossed back.

  “I asked a few questions while shooting with Alex,” Lily said carefully. “About the females trying to mark Lucas.”

  “I’ve met two of them,” Scarlet shrugged. “They’re kids, for pity sake. I’d bet just past twenty-five.”

  “It’s the third one that has coincidence popping out at me like a skeet target,” Lily continued. “Her name is Caroline Bentley. She arrived in town a couple weeks ago. Opened a little boutique. Like the others, drop dead gorgeous about twenty-eight, I think he said. Evidently she started immediately visiting Lucas. First with her pet. Silly little foo-foo dog – Alex’s words, not mine,” she said with a laugh.

  “So we think coincidence,” Scarlet let her head rest against the glass.

  “You aren’t a secret in the town, Scarlet,” Lily told her. “However, according to Alex, Lucas didn’t tell anyone what he was doing until the day before.”

  “So she came there sniffing around looking for me…because they couldn’t find me on their own,” Scarlet sat upright. “The only reason Lucas finally found me was a friend who passed through and stayed at the inn.”

  “They were trying to find you because they couldn’t find me,” Lexi finished the thought. “I left about thirty days ago. Just drove, mostly, using cash and not sure what to do. I didn’t want to cause trouble for you guys,” she ducked at the two hands that came at her from both sides. “Hey! Drive safe…I know, I know…what’re friends for.”

  “Seems we all have that issue now and then,” Lily said with a long sigh. “We complain about the guys locking us out of the whole discussion, but if we could, to keep them from being hurt, we’d slam the door in their faces.”

  “I hate it when you’re right,” Scarlet grumbled after a long pause.

  “Damn rational human,” Lexi added.

  “Yeah, yeah…it’s what keeps us alive usually,” Lily snickered, sobering and glancing at the dash. “Did they leave messages?”

  Lexi and Scarlet reached for their phones, each of them sighing.

  “I guess that means yes,” Lily said quietly, looking quickly from one to the other as she changed lanes, frowning at the sedan trying to climb into the bed of the truck. “Idiot driver.”

  “They are not happy with this,” Scarlet said with a little wince.

  “Gee, that’s a surprise,” Lily chuckled.

  “He’s been on us for a couple miles now,” Lexi murmured, pulling her lower lip between her teeth, her eyes glued to the side outside mirror.

  “I know,” Lily sighed. “I really was hoping it was a coincidence. Because if it wasn’t…”

  “That means someone was watching their parent’s house,” Scarlet watched the lights behind them from the driver’s side mirror. “I don’t like that. I really don’t like this whole thing. I especially don’t like Caroline Bentley and I haven’t even met her yet,” she grimaced when Lily hit the gas pedal and shot them forward, grateful the road was a pretty straight stretch to Morning Star Lake.

  “It really doesn’t make sense,” Lexi scowled into the mirror. “I’m nothing special. I know, I know…but I’m serious here. Mitch James is going to all this trouble for me?”

  Lily looked over at Scarlet with a frown. “We love you…but if you’re right, then what’s going on?”

  “Was it coincidence you came to Devil Hills, Lily?” Scarlet frowned, hands rubbing her face, nails raking through her hair.

  “I got a text from Lex that you guys wanted my help with something,” she looked over and saw the denial on their faces.

  “Wasn’t me,” Lex said quickly. “Seriously. I was headed for the Inn ‘cause I knew it’d be snowed in within the month. But the idiot car…”

  “So the car either chose to break down near Eli’s…” Scarlet said softly.

  “Someone hurt my car?” Lexi went board stiff in between them both.

  “And someone dragged the three of us together with a purpose in mind,” Lily said slowly. “We aren’t related. No family ties. We don’t own anything of significance that someone would hunt us down for. I’m human, she’s cougar and we don’t belong to packs.”

  “I do,” Scarlet corrected. “The one thing we have in common other than being female, are the Daniels’ brothers.”

  “That’s insane. How the hell could they orchestrate us being involved with them? You, I get…but us? She got conked on the head on Eli’s porch, but that still doesn’t mean he’d have anything romantic to do with her,” Lily pointed out logically. “Us being in one place is a bit of a stretch.”

  “They sent a text to you,” Scarlet said slowly, thinking through the last week. “Whoever they are, they’ve had the town staked out because they knew it was where I came from. Maybe he bothered Lexi to the point where he knew she would run and eventually come to us, because it’s what we’ve always done.”

  “It doesn’t make sense, Scarlet,” Lily wanted to pull her hair out. “Isn’t the aggression thing either about females or territory?” A low snarl escaped her lips as she sped up again when the car behind her came a little too close for comfort. “They’re pretty damn basic, Scarlet, nothing personal.”

  “I understand that…and I’m thinking here…” she growled back. She shifted her back to the door of the truck and stared at her friends. “What if it was about the Daniels’ territory all along?”

  “Then why bother with us? That’s a shitload of planning but to what end? And there’s no guarantee whatsoever that me and Lexi would get involved. She could just as soon as headed for Vegas or some big city and got lost. We’ve done it before.”

  “Distraction,” Lexi said as it dawned on all of them at the same time.

  “They’ve been so focused on us the last several days…” Lily swore loudly and growled. “Eli has a lot of steel and chrome on this thing for a reason, right?”

  “I’m guessing male livestock that is less than co-operative? Or slightly aggressive?” Scarlet looked at Lexi and both shrugged and then frowned. “Lily…”

  “Just recall Vegas and hold the hell on,” she growled, sped up and a minute before hitting the breaks and jerking the wheel at the same time, her front end now aimed at the much smaller car barreling toward her. She kept her foot firmly planted on the brake and hit the high beams, waiting. She wondered if the chrome gleamed as much as she hoped it did.

  “I swear, you are more predator than either one of us at times,” Scarlet closed her eyes and waited.

  “This is Eli’s truck! A guy and his truck? You want him to kill me, right?” Lexi sunk down and buried her face in Scarlet’s side with a little whimper.

  “It’s called chicken for a reason,” Lily told her flatly, pale lashes narrowed as she hit the gas aggressively.

  “I hated this game!” Lexi shouted, the sound of squealing tires and a slight bump on the left side making her head pop up. The truck came to an immediate and precise stop. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness when Lily lowered the high beams. “Should we go check?”

  “Don’t care,” Lily said flatly, expertly executing a three point turn and heading them back on the road. “He’s in the ditch and not likely to get out soon. Back to our discussion,” she said, exhaling slowly. “Someone played an awful lot of wild cards.”

  “Okay…I’m okay…” Lexi groaned and stayed slumped down. “Now I’ve got to explain to Eli why there is a dent in…in something…at the front of his truck.”

  “Doubt it even got dented,” Lily shrugged. “Scarlet, send a text to Lucas. Tell him this isn’t about Lexi. It’s about their territory. Who does Morning Star Lake belong to? What pack?”

  “No one. At least no one’s ever said,” Scarlet had her phone and was busy typing away. She winced. “
He wants to know why I won’t answer.”

  “But you’ve been more or less running things there,” Lexi said with a little shrug. “We’ve been there visiting. It’s you they come to for answers and decisions, Scarlet. I’d say it belongs to you.”

  “Which now means it’s part of Daniels’ territory,” Lily said quietly. “This is a really big section of undeveloped property. It might go dormant in winter, but from March through to October, it’s profitable.”

  Scarlet sighed heavily. “We have to talk to them. And if that’s the case, why would they be in Morning Star asking questions about me?”

  Lily eased her foot onto the brake, both hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.

  “Okay…paranoia aside…they either wanted us separated…or they wanted the Daniels’ boys away from Devil Hills,” Lily swallowed hard and swore. “I hate political shit!” She shouted loudly, banging her head on the wheel. “Can you get one of them on the phone? Put it on speaker…they have to stay in town.”

  Scarlet nodded and dragged in a breath, setting the phone down after hitting speaker. “Lucas…”

  “Scarlet why the hell have you all been ignoring our calls? Where are you?”

  “We need you to calm down and listen, Lucas,” Scarlet began carefully.

  “Fuck that shit. Where are you?”

  “Lucas, listen. I don’t know what is going on, but we think this is being done on purpose to separate you from the town and the pack,” Lily said firmly, her voice strong and hard. “We are going to the Inn. Trust me. We’ll be fine. Scarlet has her town well trained to watch for strangers and I have extra weapons stored at the Inn. We’ll check things out and be back in a couple days.”

  “And in whose playbook is this even remotely sane?” Jess growled back.

  “We will attempt to explain it to you if you will stop growling at us. We are adults. We are not possessions,” Lexi had a hard edge to her voice that made Lily and Scarlet look at her with a little frown.

  “Lexi, now isn’t the time for a feminist lecture,” Eli had his teeth as close together as possible as he spoke.