Chapter 10

Buck stared at the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. He opened his mouth to say something, then found himself speechless, not wanting to think about the potential of his sister needing that sign on the door.

The owner of the bed and breakfast had been intimidated by their badges and the information that Morgan was only seventeen. She had led them upstairs to one of the three rooms and handed them the key, scurrying back down the hallway.

"What—" Buck started, but then didn't know what to say.

Chris' lips thinned and he turned the key. They weren't going to give any warning. No chance for Morgan to find a way out of this. No chance for whoever this guy the hotelier had described to them could hide what he was doing to Buck's sister. Because Buck didn't want to believe Morgan was this reckless, this self-destructive—on her own.

Chris turned the key in the door and pushed it open.

Morgan was there.

That was the first thought that registered in Buck's exhausted mind. Morgan was there. They had found her. She was in one piece. Her auburn hair was a mess, splayed out on the pillow, he couldn't see her face, but she was… She was laying on the bare chest of some guy.

Buck moved into the room with a growl and the guy stirred, his eyes opening, then widening when he saw Buck, saw Chris behind him. Buck barely registered the way the younger man tightened an arm around Morgan, even as he sat up like he was going to keep Buck away from her.

Like he was going to keep Buck away from the sister that this guy had clearly used.

Buck didn't hear the guy's yell, his blood was rushing in his ears, his fury taking over everything. He grabbed the man and hauled him away from Morgan, slamming him into the wall, one arm braced across the man's shoulders, one hand twisting his arm behind him like he was holding him until they could cuff him.

Buck risked a glance away from his captive, over his shoulder toward Morgan, needing to see that she was really alright. She was sitting up in bed groggily, blinking at Chris and Buck like she was having trouble waking up.

He watched Chris go to Morgan and Morgan got out of bed, still looking half asleep. Then she stumbled a step and Chris caught her and Buck's fury hardened. Morgan looked drugged.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded, giving the guy a slam against the wall. "What did you give her? Drugs?"

"Who are you?" the guy asked. "Who called the cops? We ain't doin' nothing wrong." He fought against Buck's hold, trying to get a look at Morgan and that only enraged Buck further. That was his sister and this guy had no business with her.

"Buck?" Morgan finally asked, her voice still heavy with sleep—or drugs—but starting to clear. "What are you doing?"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Morgan shake off Chris and head toward him. She got her hands on his arm and for some reason Buck couldn't fathom, started trying to pull his arm off the creep who had used her.

But as soon as the guy had heard Morgan say his name, he had started struggling harder against Buck's hold. With the distraction of Morgan pulling at his grip, the guy got loose and turned on Buck, launching himself at him with a hard shove that nearly sent Buck backwards.

"You're her brother?" the guy asked, his voice not rising in volume much, but his confusion clearly building to anger of his own. "You're the one she's scared of? The reason she don't want to go home?"

"What?" Buck demanded. He instinctively gave the guy a good hard shove of his own, but the guy collected himself and didn't fall back. He came at Buck again and Buck didn't mind giving the guy the fight he wanted.

They stumbled backwards into a dresser, a dainty vase knocking down onto the carpeted floor with a dull thud, then fell against the wall, a framed picture coming down on Buck's back before they wrestled their way over to a nightstand, knocking it over.

"Stop it!" Morgan yelled. And for some reason she was trying to pull Buck off the guy instead of getting the guy away from Buck.

Buck saw the guy notice Morgan and he gave Buck one last push before stepping back. His chest heaved with exertion, his eyes glinted with anger and distrust, but he had listened to Morgan.

"Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Buck demanded.

"Why don't you tell me what's going on?" Morgan countered, crossing her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes at Buck. "You're the one who barged in on my honeymoon."

Buck was about to give her another useless reprimand, it would probably be about the millionth, to watch her tone with him, but then her words hit him.

"Your…" he wheezed out. No. He couldn't have heard her right. He looked at his sister, her eyes decidedly clear and not drugged, wearing nothing but a t-shirt that was clearly not hers next to a guy in his boxers.

"He drugged you," Buck said, needing an excuse for her. Needing this to not be what she was saying it what.

"I didn't drug anyone," the guy said through gritted teeth. "She was exhausted. She needed sleep." His accusation wasn't veiled. As if Buck should have known Morgan needed more sleep. As if Buck was somehow the bad guy in all of this.

"Of course she needed sleep!" Buck exploded. "It's gotta be damn exhausting starting a barroom brawl and stealing a car!" He grabbed Morgan's arm then. "Let's go."

The guy moved forward without hesitation and got between Buck and Morgan. "Don't touch her," he said, clearly ready to go another round with Buck without a second thought.

"What's really goin' on, Morgan?" Chris finally spoke.

When the guy opened his mouth like he was going to tell Chris to back off, too, Chris fixed him with a glare. The guy didn't back down, but he moved closer to Morgan, one hand on her back.

Buck stared at the hand. He shifted, just enough to give a hint that he was going to give this guy the fight he wanted, but Chris held a hand in front of Buck. Chris looked back to Morgan, waiting for an answer.

Morgan tossed her hair back over her shoulder, a move she had made a thousand times before, but it was missing some of the confidence that usually defined her. The worry Buck had felt when she was missing started working its way back in.

"She told you. They're married."

Buck whirled around, but Chris just let out a heavy sigh.

"I told you to wait in the truck," Chris said.

Sam ignored him and moved to Morgan's side. The unmasked suspicious glare she gave the young man on Morgan's other side warmed Buck's heart somewhat.

"You can't be married," Buck said. "You're seventeen."

"The law—"

Buck whirled around and jabbed a finger in the air towards Ezra, still standing in the doorway of the room. "If you say one word, Standish, I'll—I'll—"

"You'll hang me from nearest tree by my thumbs?" Ezra suggested, sounding too unintimidated for Buck's taste.

Buck turned his attention back to Morgan—and Sam and this young man who was suddenly important to Morgan for reasons Buck couldn't fathom. He didn't need to hear more from Ezra. If Ezra wasn't arguing the legality of this—this marriage, then Morgan had found a way to make it happen, then it was real. He knew his CI had an unnerving knowledge of laws that he used to his advantage far too often.

"You got married?" Chris asked.

One side of Morgan's mouth lifted in that infuriating grin in answer to Chris' question.

"Then you're gettin' it annulled," Buck exploded. There. Problem solved. Then he could drop this guy off the nearest cliff and drive back to Denver with his sister and never look back.

"It's too late for that," Morgan said. "We've already consummated the marriage. Twice."

Sam and Chris both closed their eyes at the announcement and drew in a breath in unison that Buck recognized as a fight for patience with Morgan. But Sam didn't waver in her devotion to Morgan. She spoke up.

"There's nothing you can do about it now, Buck. Morgan did it. She's married."

Sam slid a look over to Morgan, then the guy at her side.

Buck couldn't deal with this. "Get your things, Morgan. We'll figure this out when we're back home."

"I'm not going home," Morgan announced.

"Yes. You are." Buck started to look around the room for anything that might be Morgan's, ready to gather it up and throw her over his shoulder if he had to.

"She said she ain't," the guy said evenly, dropping the hand from Morgan's back so he could move to stand between her and Buck.

"Morgan Wilmington, get in the truck. NOW."

"NO."

Buck moved, ready to grab her, ready to take on the young man, ready to just get out of here and forget any of this had ever happened. But Chris had a hold of the back of his shirt, stopping any movement.

"What's your plan, Morgan?" Chris asked. Buck didn't miss that the words came through gritted teeth.

For a second Morgan looked lost.

"She's going to come back to Denver with Vin," Sam said after a look at her friend. "And she'll be at school on Monday."

Morgan looked over at Sam and Buck saw an unspoken conversation take place between them. Sam looked over at the guy…Vin, Buck thought with annoyance…and waited for his nod.

"She'll be back for school on Monday," Vin said, with a questioning look towards Morgan.

Morgan gave another hair toss, apparently finding her footing again. "Monday," she agreed. "I'll call you when I get back to Denver," she said to Buck.

Buck wanted to argue. He wanted to drag her back home. But it was the hint of compassion for him when she said she would give him a call that had him keeping his mouth shut. He had seen how badly things could explode in a flash with Morgan if he pushed too hard. She was making a concession.

"Let's go," Chris said. He waited until Buck and Sam were in the hallway with Ezra, before turning back and approaching Vin. His words were too low for Buck to hear, and Buck was past caring at that point. He wasn't sure what had just happened. He jammed his hand through his hair and focused on making sure Sam didn't take off on her way back to the truck, everything in him fighting against leaving Morgan behind with that guy.

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Morgan watched Buck go until she felt the burn of heartache and quickly shifted her attention to Vin at her side. She brushed against his side, not wanting to intentionally provoke Chris, but needing some sort of grounding as she watched her brother walk away. Sam had at least given her a last look over her shoulder, a promise that she would be there for Morgan no matter what came next, before Buck escorted her out to the truck, Ezra along with them.

Chris was glaring down at Vin and Morgan wished she could take the Larabee glare for him. To his credit, Vin didn't squirm.

"I need your full name. Your birthdate."

"Seriously?" Morgan asked incredulously. "You're going to run a background check?"

Chris turned his hard look on her before looking back to Vin. Vin gave him the information. Chris didn't turn to leave. Instead, he lowered his voice to a dangerous level, moving into Vin's space. "If anything happens to Morgan—anything—I will gut you with a rusty knife, like a hunted deer." He turned to Morgan. "You call if you need anything." With one last look aimed at Vin, Chris left.

Morgan pressed her lips together, not sure what Vin was thinking now that he saw who she was connected to in Denver.

"That's Sam's brother?" Vin finally asked.

"Yeah."

"They seem like a real nice family," Vin said.

Morgan couldn't hold back her snort of laughter and Vin grinned at her, chasing away the tension that lingered in the room.

"They're great," Morgan said. And they were. Her smile dimmed. She thought about how Chris and Sam had always been there for her and Buck, even more so after they lost their ma and Morgan moved up to Denver to live with Buck. And she was just as lucky to have Buck. She knew that.

"We should go out somewhere," Morgan said, itching to move, get away from thoughts and guilt. She needed to stop thinking, stop feeling.

"You want lunch? You should probably eat, right?" Vin asked.

Morgan looked at him in confusion.

"Because of…your…the…" Vin faltered, nodding toward her midsection.

Because she was pregnant. Right. She really needed to get out of this room before too much reality set in.

"Yeah, I'm hungry," she said, avoiding any mention of pregnancy. She picked up her jeans from the floor, looking for her shirt.

"You probably need shoes, too, right?" Vin said, pulling on his own jeans.

Morgan slanted a glance at him, not sure how he had managed to stand up to Buck and Chris in nothing but his shorts. She felt a welcome grin pull at her lips again.

"Unless we're going back to the scene of the crime to pick up my heels," Morgan said.

Vin's lips curved again. "We'll find you some shoes."

Morgan went into the bathroom to get dressed. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and quickly looked away. No stopping and thinking. That led to feeling. And that led to doubting and hurting and she may never get back up from the ground if that happened.

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