Read Kick Start: Dangerous Ground 5 for Free Online Page A

“You came to the right place for fishing. Best fishing in the state. In the country.”
    Taylor gave a laugh under his breath and went to grab his bag, and Will followed suit.
    They went up the fieldstone walk, everyone talking at once, and even so, their voices sounding small in the vast emptiness of the surrounding silence of trees and mountains and endless sky. The damp air was cold and smelled of distant snow, pine trees and woodsmoke.
    “It’s beautiful,” Taylor said, staring at the snowcapped peaks. “Do you get snow this time of year?”
    “Sometimes. Not usually,” Bill said. “It’s not going to snow in the next day or two.”
    “How did you like San Diego?” Will asked Grant, who had completed his training at Camp Pendleton.
    “I’d have liked it better if you hadn’t been in France.”
    “Yeah, I get that a lot,” Will said, his eyes meeting Taylor’s.
    Taylor gave a derisive shake of his head.
    They walked up the log steps on the east side of the house and trooped inside the enormous front room with its hand-hewn cathedral ceiling. Golden evening poured through the wall of picture windows, bathing the log ceiling rafters and tall fieldstone fireplace in a warm light. Colorful Indian rugs covered the floors. The furniture was comfortable and man-sized. A fire glowed in the fireplace grate and the house smelled of something good cooking. Chili, probably.
    Which always gave Taylor indigestion. Chili and salsa.
    A slender, bald-headed, bearded man sat at the rough-carved dining table. He nodded politely in greeting, his brown eyes watchful.
    “And if anyone asks, that’s your cousin Dennis,” Bill said.
    Will, who knew perfectly well he didn’t have a Cousin Dennis, said, “Is someone liable to ask?”
    His father shrugged. “You never know.”
    “Got it.” Will met Taylor’s gaze. Taylor raised his eyebrows.
    “So,” Bill went on, “we’ve got a full house this weekend. Dennis is in the loft, but we can —”
    “Taylor’s fine with me.”
    “I figured,” Bill said easily. “Supper’s ready. You may as well give Taylor the grand tour, and then we can sit down to eat. Grant, since when do you leave fishing poles in the living room?”
    Grant was making his protests as Will led the way through the open kitchen, past the large downstairs bathroom, which they’d be sharing with Grant, down the hall lined with family photos to his bedroom on the north side of the house.
    The room looked mostly unchanged. The posters and sports pennants were gone along with the school books and scattered dirty clothes. The handmade navy blue quilt was the same one Will had slept beneath growing up.
    “Double bed,” Will said. “It’s a good thing you’re such a little guy.”
    “So funny,” Taylor returned, dropping his bag on the floor beside the bed. “So what’s the deal with Cousin Dennis?”
    Will grimaced. “Occasionally Pop provides a way station for…uh…”
    Taylor’s eyes widened. “For…uh…what? Who? Witness Protection?”
    “Whom. Whom would be, yeah, people entering WITSEC.”
    Taylor stared at him. “Seems a funny thing never to have mentioned before, Brandt.”
    Will shrugged. “It never came up. Anyway, it won’t be for long. Usually overnight. The longest was a week.”
    “Great. So Dennis is a bad guy?”
    “Probably. Generally.”
    Taylor laughed. “Okay. And who’s Bob Taylor?”
    “Just a friend.” Will sighed.
    “Mmhm.” Taylor studied the framed photo of Will’s mother on the dresser. “A friend like David Bradley or a friend like Alice Stone?”
    “Immaterial. Irrelevant.”
    Taylor glanced back at him and raised his eyebrows. “I…see.”
    “You nut.” Will grabbed a fistful of Taylor’s shirt and hauled him in for a quick but comprehensive kiss.
    When he lifted his mouth from Taylor’s, they were both smiling. Will looked over Taylor’s shoulder in time to see Grant standing in the doorway, Grant’s wide grin fading into a look of