The Ringer by Amber Malloy Page A

put everything together.” Lockland took a step back with a look of pure contempt on his face. He probably used that same expression to intimidate various house servants who displeased him. Julian wasn’t moved by his sissy-boy dramatics. “Fix your fuck-up,” Lockland said with a sneer before he turned away.
    “Don’t forget your baby brother,” Julian reminded him. Parker’s back went rigid. “He is the real reason we’re in this mess after all.” Satisfied he’d gotten his attention, Julian body-checked him with his shoulder as he passed him. “If I go down, it won’t be alone.” Julian left Lockland on the Big Ten campus to wade in the muck of his own threats.

 
     
     
Chapter Sixteen
     
     
    Snow. Lane put her hand up to touch the light flakes. The plane landed on a private airstrip. After Colorado, the luxury aircraft would be off to Russia to pick up a scientist for a newly organized Think Tank. At least it was a good reason for the plane to abandon them in the Mountain Time Zone.
    “Winter comes early around these parts,” Jax told her. He took her luggage from her hand and headed toward an SUV parked across the airport.
    “Young Thornbird!” A wiry older man hopped out of the driver’s side door. He greeted Jax with a wide-open smile and a handshake. “Oooeeyye, who’s this pretty little flower?”
    “Lane, this is Stu, he takes care of the cabin.”
    Stu extended his hand while he gave her a big country boy grin. “Well, I’ll be damned. Like father like son.” He pumped her hand.
    “Speaking of my dad, is he here?”
    Stu hurried to grab the bags before Jax loaded them by himself. In a quick and proficient manner, the lanky man hoisted the stuff into the open trunk, surprising her with his strength.
    “Your pops is at the cabin.”
    Jax helped her into the roomy Cadillac Escalade. A ritzy drive for such a desolate place . Nothing for miles around, she would bet the farm all of the stars in the sky could be seen from their cabin in the woods tonight.
    As everyone got situated, the sun had already begun to edge its way above the horizon, revealing the snow-covered mountains. Lane peered out the back passenger window in wonder.
    “This is nothing.” Stu nodded outside at the light snowfall. “This will be an inch or two, but later, ooh doggie, we’ll have one hell of a blizzard on our hands.”
    “Are we talking a foot, or like Jack Nicholas in the Shining proportions?” She had seen a few feet here and there, but nothing epic.
    “We’re talking full-on Stephen King winter squall,” Stu said, matching her enthusiasm.
    Tickled by the prospect of a lot of snow, she sat back in her seat. She didn’t know how long their stay in Colorado would last, but the sight of whiteout conditions would definitely be new. A lot like the strange but beautiful impact Jackson Thornbird had on her life.
    “Boxes for you arrived last night and—oh!—your pops isn’t alone,” Stu told him. Lane turned away from the enchanting landscape enveloping her mind and back to the conversation at hand. “Guess who’s with him?” Stu’s playful tone piqued her curiosity.
    “I’m betting it’s not the widow Christie,” Jax replied.
    “Ding ding ding, it’s your momma.”
    “Oh, wow. Your parents are still together?” she asked. None of her friends’ parents’ marriages had survived past her teenage years.
    “Nope,” he growled. “My parents divorced about thirty years ago.”
    Confused, she opened her mouth but promptly closed it. If things made any sense, she wouldn’t be here in the first place. Instead, she decided to let things happen. In time, the story would unravel whether she had any say about it or not. She pushed in her iPod ear buds and allowed the strange topography of Colorado to seduce her.
    “Lane!” Jax called her name in some far off place. They were running through a meadow but the thunder of gunshots disturbed their playful peace. Birds flew all around them covered in