Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) by Kathi S. Barton Page B

disobeyed him. He’d nearly broken his promise to himself by starting to ask her some of his questions when a ringing sound startled him. She reached over her head and turned something. Suddenly, there was another voice in the truck with them.
    “Hey, CJ, I have some news on that property you asked me about. Is it okay to talk or have you left yet?”
    Austin recognized Phil’s voice. He looked over at CJ when she answered. He wasn’t thrilled at being ignored, but he might find out something if he let her hang herself.
    “I have a passenger. But as I could care less what he does or thinks, go ahead. Was it as good as I said it would be?”
    There was a bark of laughter then Phil spoke. “Hello, Austin. I didn’t know you drove a rig.”
    “I don’t. I’m along because she doesn’t have the sense to learn to listen to what she’s been told. I needed to drop everything I was doing to make sure she didn’t get into any more trouble before I could claim her.”
    He knew the moment he said it he’d hurt her. And he knew from the silence on the other end of the phone, Phil knew it too. Before he could say anything—not that he knew what to say—CJ spoke again.
    “Did you get it? The property, I mean? And please tell me you got a good price.” Some of the enthusiasm had gone out of her voice, Austin noticed. “I want it, but not for much over what I said to offer.”
    “I got it for twenty percent less than you offered. They were just glad to get rid of it.” Papers rattled around as Phil continued. “The closing is on January tenth. I figured you could work around that.”
    She glanced his way before answering. “Sure, that’ll be fine. Set up the rest of the…you can set up the other stuff on the same day, right?”
    “Sure,” Phil answered. “It’s already done. And the rest of it starts as soon as the ground thaws. I have the trust set up the way you said. The mayor wants to be there, of course. I have a few people lined up already to start the hiring process. I figured maybe thirty to start.”
    “Yeah, okay.” Another glance at Austin before she continued. “We’ll talk more later, okay? I think…it’s too much over the phone.”
    They talked for a few more minutes before they disconnected. Austin wanted to know what was going on that involved ground thawing and trust funds, but figured she wouldn’t tell him even if he asked. He stared out the window and realized they were turning into a Walmart. As they parked, she explained.
    “I need supplies. You can come or not, I could care less.” She got out and left him there. She was walking to the entrance when he caught up with her. He grabbed her arm to stop her when she stalked past him.
    “You have no right to be pissed at me. You brought this all on yourself.”
    She didn’t say anything, but jerked free and walked inside.
    He needed clothes if they were going to California and back in a truck. He didn’t have a clue how long that would take, but figured it would be at least a week. But he didn’t trust that she wouldn’t leave him either, so he asked her for the keys to the truck. 
    He wasn’t sure she’d give them to him, but when she reached into her pocket and handed them to him without a word, he didn’t feel any better about himself. If she planned to not speak to him for the entire trip, it was going to be a very long one.
    Grabbing up several pairs of jeans, underwear, and socks, he was standing in the shirts area when his phone rang. He wasn’t sure what Dallas wanted, but knew it couldn’t be good.
    “I have some information on Isaac. He’s on an undercover project with the Feds to find out about a ring of thefts of trailers over the past few months. Mostly it’s been liquor and cigarettes, but some of the merchandise has been high end electronics.”
    “How did CJ get involved then?” Austin grabbed up three packages of shirts and then went to find some heavier shirts while he waited for his brother to