“Kind of prepared— for kids.” Zander swiped the top track and looked at the black traces on his fingertip. “Didn’t you say other farms have had trouble recently?”
“Yeah, a few.”
“Any of them owned by white folk?”
He and Yasmin exchanged glances, but she said, “Yes. The horse farms for sure. It’s probably not that.”
Brian wished he knew what to say to help. “Should I check out the tractor? Or I could, um, turn Luger loose, maybe?” He wasn’t sure that was a good idea, but the dog was trained to guard property.
“Not a chance.” The glare Yasmin gave Luger showed she hadn’t forgotten or forgiven him for chasing sheep the day after he arrived. “Zan, check the tractor. Tell me if it’s as bad as it looks.”
Zander muttered, “I’m a doctor, not a mechanic.”
His mother kicked his shin with her bare foot. “You better not have forgotten everything you learned on the commune. Go have a look. You’re wearing shoes.”
“You should be too. Give me the light.” Flashlight in hand, Zander headed toward the crashed tractor. Despite his denial, he moved confidently as he checked the front and underside. When he came back to them, his high forehead was deeply furrowed. “In my medical opinion, it should be eased out of this life with as much motor oil as it takes for pain relief. Sorry, Mama, looks like a major repair, if it can be fixed at all.”
“Well, crap.”
Zander patted her shoulder as he went into the barn and picked up a roll of chicken wire. “I’ll block the gap in the gate for now, keep the sheep safe. We’ll look again in the morning. Maybe it won’t be so bad.”
“And maybe pigs will fly.” She moved aside to let him carry the wire out. “I guess I’ll head back to bed. Brian, can you tie up that dog of yours and give Zan a hand with the gate?”
“Um, sure.”
Yasmin snapped her fingers at Laddie and Lass, and picked her way across the yard to the front steps with a dog at each side. Brian found a lead rope on a hook by the door and used it to leash Luger inside the barn.
Zander called, “Hey, Brian, bring some rope with you? There’s a bunch in the feed room, on the shelf.”
By the time Brian had found a long piece and made his way down the dark path, Zander had the wire mesh unrolled and stretched across the gap beside the bent gate. Together, they tied the ends in place.
“Pull it tight.” Zander gave the rope another tug. “Damned sheep get through anything.”
Brian crooked his fingers into the mesh loops and pulled, feeling the bite of the wire. “If this wasn’t kids, who do you think…?”
“I don’t know. Bastards. This’ll kill her budget.”
Brian knew how that felt— the lurch in the pit of your stomach when you’d thought you were getting by, and then had a bill you couldn’t pay. Sometimes they’d ditched an apartment and disappeared, rather than face the bill collectors. “I can’t get at my bank account, but maybe Nick has enough for a loan.” Surely Nick wouldn’t mind using his money to keep this safe haven going?
“Oh, no, thanks, she’s not that bad off, and I’ll have money coming in soon.”
“Good. That’s good.” He eased his fingers out of the chicken wire as Zander threaded the rope through and around. Here, in the dark, working together to repair damage done out of spite, seemed to be the time to ask, “Do you ever worry about what Damon said?”
“I try not to think about all the crap your brother says.” Zander huffed a breath. “Which bit?”
“That Turov’s people might try to find me and Lori.” He couldn’t help shivering as he remembered the cold, arrogant old man who’d tried to force him to help kill his brother. Who he in turn had actually thrown under a boat… Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t, don’t, don’t.
“Oh. That.” Zander bent to tie a last knot, then straightened. “Yeah. Sometimes.”
“I’m scared they might come here.”
“Hopefully, with your names changed and your hair dyed and all, they won’t ever make the connection.”
“I hope so too.” He ran a hand over his hair, which didn’t feel any different even though his familiar white-blond was now sandy brown like Damon’s. “You don’t think… this tractor was maybe them?”
“Nah. Damon said they were worse guys than him. Can you imagine your brother crashing a tractor and then sitting around with his thumb up his ass watching his target fix a fence?”
“Maybe they’re trying to lure one of us out here alone, to kidnap us.”
“Pretty half-assed way to do it. I don’t think so, especially since we’re not the first place ’round here to get hit. I’m sure this is separate.”
“Oh. Good.” He channeled the way Nick would say that, half angry, half eager for trouble. It didn’t come out quite right.
Zander put a hand on the small of his back, urging him back down the path. “Let’s go get some sleep. Worry about it in the morning.”
He shivered and covered it by saying, “I didn’t think it got cold in North Carolina. This is pretty cold. Not Minnesota cold, but—” He bit back the pretty cold he’d almost tacked on the end. Repeating words was a Bry thing. It’d been a while since he’d let himself fall back into those old patterns.
“Yeah. We even get a little snow. Not much, but sometimes.”
As they approached the barn, Luger came trotting out, trailing a short, chewed bit of lead rope from his collar. He wagged his tail at Brian and presented his butt for a scratching.
“He doesn’t look worried,” Zander said.
“No. That’s a good sign.” Brian indulged Luger with a quick rub. “He’s trained to guard. If strangers were still around, he’d know.”
“Maybe we should tie him out at night.”
Brian hesitated, not sure how to say that he hated seeing dogs chained up. It seemed ungrateful.
Luckily, Zander glanced down at Luger’s frayed rope and added, “On second thought, he’d probably get loose and do even more damage. Never mind.”
“I can patrol with him at night,” Brian offered. “Or maybe when Nick gets here, he can.” That might appeal to Nick more than farm work. Brian was worried about Nick getting bored.
“That’s probably overkill.” Zander turned off the barn lights and rolled the door shut. “I might get better locks. Maybe a motion-activated light.”
“Sure.”
“Let’s go sleep. Damn it, I have an early start at the clinic tomorrow. You’ll help Mama with whatever needs doing in the morning?”
“Of course.”
“I’m glad you’re here, man.” Zander slapped Brian’s shoulder.
Brian ducked his head to hide the warm rush from hearing that. For years, he’d always been deadweight, the person not doing his share. Except for his Finding talent, he’d never felt like he had much to contribute. Well, maybe with Nick. For some reason, Nick was willing to lean on him sometimes. But it was incredibly cool to have someone smart and capable and not in love with him, like Zander, wanting his help. “I’ll do anything she needs,” he promised.