Hard to Handle (Caine Cousins #2)(30)

“Figured you’d be out gettin’ yourself in trouble,” Cooter said, a smile on his weathered face.

“Takin’ a break,” he told his father.

“For what? Five minutes?”

Smiling, Lynx nodded. “Somethin’ like that.”

“You want some tea?”

“Naw. Gonna head over to Nana’s real quick. Check things out.”

“You seen your cousins lately?”

“Who? Travis and them?”

His father lifted one gray eyebrow, as though it was obvious who he was referring to.

“Not since the bonfire,” he told him. “Why?”

Cooter shook his head. “Talked to Iris. She mentioned Travis was helping to deal with that little gal’s … situation.” His eyes narrowed. “They find that asshole yet?”

Lynx knew his dad was referring to the Houston police chief, the man responsible for Amy’s abuse and the death of the police detective. “Not yet.”

Not that they’d proven the man was responsible for the car accident that had killed the woman who’d come out to Embers Ridge in an effort to find Amy. However, it seemed awfully coincidental that that woman had ventured this far to confirm that Amy was in fact the Jane Doe who’d been found on the side of the road a year ago only to wind up dead shortly after finding out the truth.

“He’ll fuck up,” Cooter said, his tone confident. “And they’ll get that bastard.”

They would. Not soon enough though. The asshole should’ve been chilling with the worms six feet under at this point.

“Need anything while I’m here? I can run into town, grab some groceries.”

“I’m good right now. Next time you’re out, maybe you could pick up some M&Ms?”

Lynx grinned. “Sure thing, Dad.”

“Thanks.”

“Cope, you ready, boy?”

The dog’s ears perked and his tongue lolled out of his mouth as he trotted over to Lynx’s side.

“Talk to ya later,” Lynx hollered as he headed toward the door. “And I’ll grab those M&Ms when I’m up that way. Love you, old man.”

“Love you too, kid.”

Clicking his tongue twice, Lynx directed Copenhagen to the truck.

Time to find something else to do to keep his mind occupied for a little while longer.



Kelly Jackson sat in the old truck he’d borrowed from a friend, watching the small bar. He’d been there for an hour and had yet to see Amy come out. He knew she was in there, knew she worked here in this shit hole every Saturday night.

And it was a shit hole. Not a place he would ever be caught dead in.

However, he wasn’t all that surprised that Amy would be there.

Every time he thought about it, Kelly remembered the day he’d decided he could never marry that girl. She was too young, too stupid, too … weak. No wife of his would’ve ever worked in a fucking bar. That thought triggered memories of his first wife. God, he’d held out so much hope for her. Unfortunately, he’d found out far too late what a fraud she was. The girl hadn’t been classy at all. She’d been … a tramp. Whenever he had hit her, she hadn’t fought back. After the second or third time, she had simply thrown herself at him, thinking sex would distract him.

It hadn’t worked.

They’d only been married nine months when he finally got tired of it. And he’d set it up perfectly. She’d drowned in the bathtub and no one had even suspected that he’d held her head under the water and watched as the life drained from her body.

Of course, his second wife had been wild and crazy, hot for him in ways he hadn’t expected. Their sex life had been intense. She’d thought his dominance was sexy, even turned it around so that she was playing the role of his submissive. Granted, Kelly hadn’t been into the real D/s relationships. There were too many rules involved in that shit for his liking.

He’d thought things were going to work there for a little while. He had enjoyed their games, the fact that she seemed to like when he hit her. Then the stupid bitch went and got pregnant. She had forced his hand at that point. He wasn’t about to raise a child with that woman. Or any woman, in fact. He’d had to work that one from a different angle. A few strategically timed conversations about her being depressed had worked like a charm. So, when she’d taken too many pills, no one had suspected him then, either.

Amy, on the other hand, was proving to be his biggest challenge yet. Out of the three of them, he’d thought she would be the easiest to break. When he had first set his sights on her, she’d been vulnerable, moldable. Even better, she’d had no one, and at nineteen, she’d still been rebellious against her aunt and uncle. Taking them out had been simple and it had allowed him to take possession of Amy.

However, she had proven him wrong by fighting back. The gleam of defiance he always saw in her eyes had turned him on for a while, but she had never cowered, never understood her true place. That had only incited his temper, making his dick harder than he thought possible. Honestly, he had enjoyed their time together in the beginning. But even that had worn off.

Fortunately for him, he’d figured out a way to handle her.

Little did she know, but tonight was going to be the end for her. Once she was out of the way for good, his life would be back on track, her memory a mere blemish in his otherwise perfect world.