Read Kansas Nights [Kansas Heat 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) for Free Online Page B

before they talked. Not that he normally obeyed his friend, but Jack had felt kind of skuzzy. Considering he’d be late getting back to the ranch no matter what, he’d figured he might as well show up clean. Not that anybody could get honestly clean in a hellhole like The Shade Tree Motel, but at least he didn’t stink of booze anymore. Unfortunately he only had a towel protecting him from the filth all around him. If he didn’t pull on some clothes soon, he just might catch something, not to mention The Shade Tree Motel was too rough for him to feel comfortable being naked. At least he had his gun.
    “I didn’t steal anything.” Collin had the acting ability to make that lie sound sincerely indignant. “I thought I was helping out a friend.”
    Jack snorted at that, considering how much trouble he’d be in if he shot Collin. Probably not much, but it would make a mess of his case. Given last night, Jack didn’t need any more problems being added to his pile. He could, however, do with sorting out a few, starting with clothes.
    “Well, give me something to wear then.”
    “Sorry,” Collin offered, looking anything but. “Figured I might as well get the most out of my fifty cents and added mine to the machine.”
    More like Collin knew Jack couldn’t go anywhere without pants. In the hopes of getting a pair out of his former friend, Jack decided to play along with Collin’s game. Pulling out the second chair at the small, rickety table tucked into the corner, he made damn sure the towel covered his ass before he settled down on the gold-and-purple embroidered cushion. With his elbows tilting the uneven tabletop in his direction, Jack met Collin’s smirk head-on.
    “What are you doing, man? Aren’t these games kind of beneath you?”
    “Who’s playing?” Collin retorted. “Not me. Maybe your librarian—”
    “ She’s not mine .”
    “—but not me.” Collin shook his head, ignoring Jack’s snarled outburst. “I’m dead serious, Jack. I’m here for one reason and one reason only—to monitor the situation.”
    “And that’s why you checked into this room, so you could be seen?”
    “No, I checked into this room because Amos told me to.” Collin corrected Jack’s snide assumption. “He wanted pictures and samples of everything.”
    “This room is supposed to be secured.”
    “Lots of things are supposed to be secure. That doesn’t mean they are.”
    The tenor of Collin’s tone deepened, but Jack didn’t want to look too hard at the meaning in his old partner’s words. Instead he chose to take Collin’s smart retort at face value and respond with his own customary disapproval.
    “You know better than to cross police tape, and don’t tell me about how much it costs to bribe the clerk into removing the tape so you didn’t have to cross it.”
    “If it makes you feel better, Amos just wanted verification of what was in the reports he has,” Collin offered.
    “No, that doesn’t make me feel better.” It actually made Jack feel a hell of a lot worse and whole lot more like pounding on Collin’s smug face. “How the hell did Amos get any reports on this matter?”
    “Because I guess you have a leak.” Collin paused, taking a breath before adding to that obnoxious observation. “Actually you have something worse than a leak, but you already know that, don’t you?”
    Jack stiffened up, his arms flooding with real tension as his temper flared instantly. “And just what is that supposed to mean?”
    “Money runners don’t stay in dives like this.” Collin glanced over at the bloodstains decorating the room. “They certainly don’t bring millions to a place like this. Of course you boys were hoping he’d bring that money to you, weren’t you?”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jack’s denial lacked the weight of conviction. Instead his words sounded as honest as the lies they were. Collin treated them as such, completely ignoring Jack’s rejection.
    “It