Page 72 of Laying Low

“It’s the old snake reserve,” he said, and Anthony’s snort made him smile.

“No, really,” Dean added.“See, rattlesnakes are protected unless they’re threatening stock.Sometimes they’re an immediate threat, but if somebody discovers, say, a nest of them—that’s something they need help dealing with, and, well, senseless slaughter is—”

“Senseless,” Anthony supplied.“So why’s it for sale?”

“Got a better venue,” Reg told him.“There’s still a couple of buildings out in the middle of that, though.A house, actually, for the ranger who used to stay on call, and a big building for the, uhm, other occupants.”

“So, uhm, Snakeshit Acres,” Anthony murmured.“And judging by the rust on those For Sale signs, I bet it’s cheap.”

Dean made an “oolf” sound, and Reg remembered flying to the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert to retrieve his older brother that summer.They’d called that Snakeshit Acres too.

“Yeah, why?”Reg asked.“It’s been deserted for at least five, six years.What did you have in mind?”

“Mm… another branch of the business,” Anthony said absently.“A house with a loft, close to the high school where my husband teaches art.You know.The necessities of life.”

Reg almost turned around in his seat.“That’s… uhm… that’s pretty well thought out,” he said, feeling small again.

“Well, yeah.It’ll take a while,” Anthony told him, sneaking his hand out from the back to rest on Reg’s shoulder for a moment.“At least a year.Long enough, maybe, for my future husband to get used to the idea.”

“Oh,” Reg said in a small voice, but suddenly, with that lightning quick clarity he got sometimes, he could see it.He could see Anthony’s new branch of the business on one side of the property, and his house—their home—on the other side.He could see that he’d be close to his parents’ house, and his siblings, and the job that, now that he’d thought about it, hereallywanted.

He could see himself painting on the weekends, and attending barbecues, and maybe even hosting a few, and how he could go from being a quiet presence on the periphery of the life of everybody he loved to being the center of his own life, his own family, with Anthony holding his hand, his bright and shining sun.

Both of them glowing with the promise of a future together.

“I think,” he said slowly, the idea growing thunderous like the dawn, “that’s anawesomeidea.”

“Yeah?”Anthony asked, and even though he was in the back seat of the now familiar Subaru, Reg knew his voice was for Reg and Reg alone.

“Yeah,” Reg said, and he felt that sneaky hand through the seats, and he squeezed it on his shoulder, until Dean grunted in disgust and the conversation returned to how Reg was going to break the law to forge the education he should have allowed himself in the first place.

Dean, his law-abiding brother, who should have had Reg arrested for communicating with a cartel leader or, at the least, brought in for questioning for the extent of his use of the dark web, was 100 percent behind that plan.

BUT WHENthey pulled up toward the house, they saw that they weren’t yet allowed to bask in all their plans.

Three unmarked SUVs with light racks on top could be seen from the main road as they pulled up, and Dean grunted.“Okay, how do we want to play—”

“Pull around toward the mother-in-law cottage,” Reg said.“I’ve still got the key, and hopefully Connor is there with Catherine and staying out of whatever bullshit is going on inside the house.”

They all breathed an angry prayer of assent, and Dean did what Reg asked.“Be careful,” he said.“I take it you’re going to sneak into the computer room?”

“Yeah,” Reg told him, smiling grimly.“Believe it or not, I’ve got a plan.”

Dean snorted.“Duck down, guys.I don’t want anybody to go looking for you after I park.And yeah, Reg, I believe you’ve got a plan.”

Reg was huddled under the dashboard, and Anthony was lying on the floor as Dean pulled past the gate and toward the mother-in-law cottage, which sat behind the pool.He swung around the house and pulled out his ever-present badge and the gun he kept in a lockbox under the passenger’s seat before he got out.

“Wait until you hear me identify myself,” he said.“I can buy you some time to get into the cottage.”

“Be careful,” Reg begged.

Dean winked at him as he climbed out of the SUV.“You worry too much,” he said.

Reg stayed crouched and listening through his open window.He heard Dean shouting toward the house and could imagine his brother, gun held by two fingers on the trigger guard, ID presented in front of him, and he prayed—prayed—that the men on the other side of the guns and tactical gear didn’t decide to take Dean out because they’d gotten away with it so far.

And then he didn’t have time to think at all as he and Anthony scrambled out of the vehicle, closed the doors softly, and then sprinted toward the side door to the cottage.

Catherine didn’t even bark as Reg let himself in with his spare key, and Connor held his hand to his lips and gestured toward the kitchen and the stairs to the passage to the house.