“Not if I haven’t cashed the checks.” Bubba tapped his temple like he was smart, which Dustin knew for damn sure he wasn’t.
“You’ve never cashed any of your paychecks?”
“Nope, not a single one.”
Dumbfounded, Dustin opened and closed his mouth several times before asking, “Why not?”
Bubba tapped his temple again. “I don’t want them tracking me down.”
“Who? The IRS?”
“The government, the IRS—it’s all the same. They want to find me to find out what I know,” he said self-importantly.
“Why would the government be trying to track you, other than you’re not paying taxes?” Dustin’s voice rose.
“Shh! I hear you. You’re sitting by my good ear.”
Dustin dropped his head onto the table. “Holt?” he mumbled.
“Yes?”
“Does this have to do with the little green men?”
“Could be. Why don’t you ask him?”
Dustin raised his head. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
He tried to remember where he left off. His mind was still on the green men. There was no way he was going to let Logan invite friends over. The thought of Jessie being able to convince them about the green men wasn’t something he was going to take a chance on. Dustin considered himself a smarter than average nine-year-old back then, yet she had convinced him to paint himself green.
“What’d you find out about Jackson’s and Miranda’s?”
Holt’s question put Dustin back on track.
“That if Jackson killed her, he didn’t do it because they were having money problems.”
“That don’t mean shit.” Asher shrugged. “He could have just knocked her around and got carried away.”
“If that’s the case, why attack Jessie?” Dustin shook his head. “Jackson’s DNA didn’t match the one found on Jessie.”
“I know. I’ll be the first person told when a match is found. I got robbed on justice when Kyle was killed. It’s not going to happen to the Hayeses again.”
Dustin felt bad for a minute that he was going to steal that justice away from Holt again. Then the memory of what Jessie had looked like when he found her squashed it down. That was why he had no intention of telling the Hayes about Charles.
His conscience did get the better of him, though. Dustin wanted the Hayeses to know they weren’t going to get what they wanted.
“You can have whatever’s left when I’m done with him.”
The thick veins in Holt’s thick neck protruded out. “She’s my sister … and a Hayes.”
Dustin lowered his voice to a deadly level. “No one hurts what belongs to me.”
“What’d he say?”
“Shut up, Bubba,” Asher told him, then growled just as lowly back to Dustin, “Jessie isn’t yours.”
“Yes, she is.”
“Since fucking when?”
Holt remained silent, letting Asher do the arguing, but Dustin could see the acceptance in his eyes. It was going to take the rest of the Hayeses more time to come to the same conclusion, but the one he was most concerned with wasn’t denying his claim.
Thinking over Asher’s question, Dustin went back to the moment he knew he loved Jessie. Instead of going into an explanation or spouting words the rednecks would make fun of, he kept it brief and simple.
“The little green men.” Dustin had known then that he loved Jessie. Only a woman he was destined to love could talk him into something so ridiculous and get him an ass whipping, as well being the brunt of his family’s jokes.
“What’d he say?”
Asher rubbed his forehead tiredly. “He said we’re fucked.”
23
“Jess?”
Jessie raised her closed lashes. “Is it morning already?”
“Almost. I need to leave early.”
Jessie stretched out under the covers as Dustin rose to put on his boots.
“Is you’re weed done drying yet?”
“Yes. Greer and I are going to package it this morning, so Logan can come home tonight for the barn raising.”
The bed shook as Dustin stood up, then placed a hand on each side of her head. “Are you coming to the party tonight?”
“No.”
“Jess, I want you to come.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Then think hard, because I really want you to.” Pressing a sweet kiss to her lips, he was gone before she could touch him.
Sighing, Jessie tugged the blankets over her head, wanting to stay there until Dustin came back tonight. What if he didn’t want to come if she didn’t go to the party? The thought put even more pressure on her to attend.
Knowing who the woman was who had been killed increased her fear that the person who kidnapped her was someone she was familiar with. Miranda and Jackson attended her church. Jackson was one of the deacons. She had gone to fellowship meetings with them. She had even attended their son’s baptism.
Dustin told her that Holly had invited her friends and several people from town. What if he was there? Was she ready to take that chance?
Unable to come up with the answer, she got out of bed and dressed in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved red top. Going to the kitchen, she then made a big breakfast of fried potatoes and sliced ham.