Chet by Leigh Greenwood

Author:Leigh Greenwood [Greenwood, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: General, Romance, Western, Historical, Fiction, Universities and Colleges
ISBN: 9780843945942
Google: r_5BOAAACAAJ
Amazon: 0843944250
Publisher: Leisure Books
Published: 1990-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Luke accepted the cup of coffee from his brother, then settled himself on a low shelf of rock. He took a swallow. "You always did make lousy coffee."

"Some things never change."

Luke took another swallow. "I thought you'd be halfway to New Mexico by now."

Chet searched his brother's face, but flickering shadows cast by the firelight obscured his expression. "I'd planned to."

"What's keeping you?"

"Your boss and his son. I can't leave those two women with no one to protect them. I'm ramroding their outfit until they can find someone else."

"It's not your problem."

"That's not the way I see it."

He could see enough of Luke's expression to know he didn't like what he heard. But Chet hadn't expected he would.

''You know Royal is after your head."

"Blade, too, I imagine."

"He won't be allowed to leave the house until he's fully recovered. I was able to convince Lantz you might be out to kill him."

Chet tensed and directed a hard stare at his brother. He'd never distrusted Luke, but their interests had never come into conflict before. "Now why would I do something like that?"

"He figured you must be a gunfighter. You couldn't have beaten Blade and Billy if you weren't. Everybody knows gunfighters don't like people trying to kill them."

Luke might as well have put a price on Chet's head. "So now Lantz sends his men out to find me."

"So Lantz locks his son up in the house where he can't pull another fool stunt like setting up an ambush for Tom Neland and then nearly killing that kid."

Chet had hoped Luke would look out for him, but he wasn't sure what kind of game Luke was playing. He seemed to be straddling the fence, but Chet knew Luke never took any side but his own.

"Has Lantz sent you to kill me?"

"Would I be here if he had?"

"Yes. You'd tell me first so I'd have a fair chance."

Luke looked directly at his brother, his face devoid of any trace of emotion. "Do you think I would?"

The whole time they were being thrown out of one foster home after another, and later when Jake and Isabelle adopted them, Chet had been certain he and Luke would always stand together. But Luke had changed since they'd left the ranch. They both had.

But each was all the other had. That was important to Chet. In his gut he felt it was important to Luke, too.

"No," Chet said. He was relieved to see Luke relax, even allow a hint of a smile to curve his lips. "But it's got to put you in a very awkward position. Does Royal know we're brothers?"

"No. Do the Jordans know about me?"

"No, but that'll change if anybody sees us together."

"I've thought of that," Luke said. "I managed to convince Lantz I needed to stay around the house to protect Blade from you."

"What are you doing out here?"

"I can't be around that boy all the time, or I'd shoot him myself. I'm doing what Lantz hired me to do in the first place, trying to find the rustlers.

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