The screen door opened while Diego, Connor and Murphy walked outside and they placed on their sunglasses.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Diego teased while pointing at the sunglasses.
"Why not?" Connor asked.
"Someone might recognize you."
"Funny," Murphy grumbled, rolling his eyes.
"Sorry. And you're right. The police sketch they used in that article Darcy's husband showed us didn't have you wearing sunglasses."
They walked toward the cowshed as Connor slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans and he glanced over at Diego.
"Where are you from?" Connor asked after a few seconds.
"I was born and raised in Houston," Diego said.
"When did you meet our sister?"
"It was six years ago. I had just gotten out of the hospital after nearly dying for the second time. My dad? He wanted me to join Lou's crew. I told him I was done with law enforcement."
"What does yer dad do?" Murphy asked.
"He ran the small ranch my grandfather left him."
"What kind of ranch is it?" Connor asked.
"It's a cattle ranch."
"Why don't you work there?"
"Didn't want to."
They walked in silence when Diego smiled and he lightly shook his head.
"What's so funny?" Connor asked.
"Just remembered the first time I saw Annie. I had been here for a few days when I saw her exiting the farmhouse. She had on these tight jeans, cowgirl boots and a white t-shirt. Her hair was in a ponytail. She saw me and she gave me a smile. Guess you can say I fell in love at first sight," Diego said.
"Did she still have her accent?" Murphy asked.
"Yeah. She did. But she didn't use it that often."
"How long did it take before the two of you got serious?" Connor asked.
Diego had expecting them to question his intentions for Annie and he snorted a breath of air.
"It took two years. She wasn't really interested in me at first. Thought I was an asshole like most of the guys around here. Then she asked me out for a beer," Diego said.
"She asked you out?!" Murphy asked with wide eyes.
"Yep. We had a few beers, talked, played some pool then went home. A few days later, I asked her out for dinner and that was that."
"Have you been faithful? Connor asked with a glare behind the blue lens of his sunglasses.
"Damn straight. And so has she."
"Thinkin' about marryin' her?" Murphy asked.
"Didn't you see the ring she was wearing?"
Connor and Murphy looked at each other while they tried to remember if they had seen an engagement ring on their sister's left ring finger and they frowned. They turned on their heels as they walked away and Diego sighed.
"Shit," he grumbled then he went to catch up with them.
The farmhouse
Annie jumped as the screen door slammed shut and she heard the rushed sounds of footsteps coming down the hallway. She watched Connor and Murphy heading into the den as they stopped in the middle of the room and they had their hands on their hips. She saw the anger and disappointment in their eyes and she stood up, walked around to the front of the desk then she stood in front of them.
"Is there something wrong?" Annie asked.
"Why didn't you tell us you an' Diego were gettin' married?" Connor asked with a hurt look.
"You'd think that would've been summat you would have told us when we arrived," Murphy said.
"I was angry at you at the time," Annie said.
"She's right. She was," Connor said.
"What about later on?" Murphy asked.
"I… I wasn't sure how you'd act. You just met him," Annie said and felt like they had caught her snooping around in their bedroom.
"She's right. We did," Connor agreed.
"Are you gonna keep doin' that?" Murphy asked.
"Donin' what?"
"Remind me of what she did," he said and Connor gave him a smug look.
"How did you find out?" Annie asked.
"He told us," Connor said.
"Can we…? Can we see th'ring?" Murphy asked.
Annie held up her left hand as they looked at the silver band with a small square diamond on the top and two smaller triangle diamonds on either side.
"It was his mother's ring. She died when he was fifteen. His dad died last year," Annie explained, looking at the ring. They heard the screen door closing then heavy footsteps and Diego appeared in the doorway.
"Safe to come in?" Diego asked while looking from her to the twins.
"Yeah."
He walked to Annie when he slid his arms around her and he looked at Connor and Murphy.
"When did you ask her t'marry you?" Connor asked.
"It was a month ago," Diego said.
"How did you ask her?" Murphy asked.
"We were having a cookout out back. I pulled her onto my lap…"
"Hold on. I think you better tell them who was there besides all of us," Annie said.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?" Connor asked.
"Because it will hurt your feelings even more."
"We can take it," Murphy said.
"Uncle and Ma were here," Annie said. She saw the pain and hurt in her brothers' eyes. Murphy flexed his fingers while Connor snorted a breath of air and Annie felt a knot forming in her chest. She moved Diego's arms away then she walked to them and she hugged them. They moved back as Annie held their hands and Connor smiled.
"Like I said…," Diego said as he walked closer and he slightly lowered his head. "I pulled Annie onto my lap. Everyone thought we were just fooling around and were laughing. I had the box with the ring sitting under a paper cup on the table. I told her to pick up the cup and she did. Her eyes went wide when she saw the box."
"I started crying," Annie said.
"Your mom started gasping and her eyes bugged out. We thought she was going to faint. She said she was fine and that I should get on with it."
Connor and Murphy smiled at the thought of how their mother looked and they lightly squeezed her fingers.
"I had Annie get up so she could sit on the bench then she looked at me. I took the box out of her hand, went down onto my knees, opened the box, removed the ring then I held the ring in my hand. I wasn't sure what to say. Then I looked into her eyes and just asked her to marry me," Diego said.
"I said yes and he put the ring on my finger," Annie said, sliding her left hand out of Murphy's right hand and she held her left hand up.
"I bet Ma started bawlin'," Connor teased and she nodded.
"Uncle took me to one side and he told me he'd make sure you two would be there for the wedding."
"Which means that was his other reason fer gettin' us away from Smecker," Murphy said and Connor nodded.
"Still not sure how he was going to get you here," Annie said.
"He might have drove us here then hid us out in a motel."
"Might have hidden us up in th'church choir balcony t'watch th'weddin' or snuck us into th'church an' we woulda saw you in th'Bride's room," Connor said.
"Yeah," Annie said with a nod of her head.
"When's th'weddin'?"
"We're still trying to figure that out. With everything that's going on? We don't have time to plan anything."
"How come you're so shorthanded?" Murphy asked as he looked at Diego.
"I caught some guys stealing supplies from the barns and the storage building," Diego said.
"Some of them were selling some of the animals, too," Annie said.
"Shit," Connor whispered.
"Lisa nearly lost her mind when she found out."
"An' now she has t'deal with us an' that Greg Wilson guy," Murphy said with a sigh.
"She's ok with you two."
"Still would like to know why Greg needed a sniper rifle," Diego said.
"We could always ask around an' see if we can find summat," Connor said.
"Hold on…," Annie said as she let go of their hands and she placed her hands on her hips. "Need I remind you that you two are supposed to be laying low."
"We know that," Murphy said.
"And you are supposed to be out of the law enforcement game," she said, looking at Diego.
"I am," Diego said, but she saw something in his eyes.
"Anyway…," Connor said with a small grin as he looked at Diego. "I know I shouldn't ask this, but are you Catholic?"
"Yeah. I am," Diego said with a nod.
"Then I think we're done here and should get some work done today."
"I think we should," Murphy agreed.
Annie watched they walk out of the room as she felt a small chill move through them and she sighed, rolling her eyes.
Later – Daisy's Diner
The white truck stopped near a red truck and the doors opened. Murphy hopped out of the back of the white truck as Devil followed him and Murphy closed the hatch to the back of the white truck. He and Devil waited while Connor and Diego closed the door after exiting the white truck and they walked to him. They headed for the door when Diego opened the door and they walked inside. The door closed behind them as they walked to the counter and they sat on the stools. Devil sat near the stools where Diego and Murphy were sitting as Daisy walked to them and she smiled.
"Well. Look who it is," she said.
"Hi," Connor said with the surfer accent.
"Gonna say hi?" she asked Murphy.
"Hi," Murphy said, softly.
"Well. Look at that. He can talk."
Murphy lowered his head as he blushed and she lightly patted the back of his left hand.
"It's ok, Honey. Some people need time to warm up to strangers," she said then she looked at Diego. "The usual?"
"Make it three," Diego said.
Nodding, Daisy walked away and Connor turned on the stool to look at the rest of the diners. He noticed some people looking at him then went back to talking or eating and Connor leaned against the counter. Murphy had his elbows on the counter while the scent of cooking food filled his nose and he felt his stomach gurgling.
"What are we doing here?" Connor asked.
"We're looking for someone," Diego said, glancing around the room after he turned around on the stool and Connor noticed he was checking out the waitresses. Murphy felt a wave of confusion and anger coming from his twin. He nudged Connor as Connor looked at him and they had a silent conversation.
"Mommy! Look! That's a wolf!" a young boy said, pointing to Devil. The boy was wearing sneakers, jeans, a white t-shirt with Ironman on the front and his black hair stuck out around his head.
"Yes. It is," his mother said with a slightly frightened look.
"Can we go pet it?" the little girl sitting next to the boy asked. She wore sneakers, jeans, a pink t-shirt with a kitten on the from and her black hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
"I don't think that's a good idea," their father said.
"But…"
"No. That's is a wild animal," the mother said. "I'm surprised they let that thing run free."
Diego glanced at them. He noticed they were out-of-towners. He had experienced people like them before and he reached down to scratch the top of Devil's head.
"Assholes," Diego grumbled.
He turned around on the stool while Daisy walked closer and she placed the plates with a hamburger with bacon and cheese in the top, some fries and homemade macaroni salad on the counter. She then placed the glasses of beer on the counter and Diego nodded. She slid the bottle of ketchup to him then walked away and Diego placed some ketchup of the fries. He handed the bottle of ketchup to Connor and Connor placed some ketchup on the fries. He knew Murphy liked to eat fries plain as Connor placed the bottle of ketchup on the counter and they started eating.
"Forgot t'ask, "Murphy said as he looked down at Devil, who was giving him sad eyes in hope for a piece of the hamburger. "How did you end up with a wolf?"
"It was three years ago," Diego said after swallowing and Daisy walked over with two small metal bowls. One of the metal bowls had water inside and the other metal bowl had some cooked ground beef inside. She placed the metal bowls down in front of Devil and the wolf started eating. "Thanks."
"No problem," Daisy said, patting the top of the wolf's head before walking away.
"Where did you get him?" Connor asked.
"Well…," Diego said as he took a long drink of beer then he swallowed. "I don't do law enforcement anymore, but I still help this friend of mine. She's in wildlife rescue. She called me one day and told me about this illegal wolf reserve. They were breeding the wolves for these assholes who like to hunt them."
"That's sick," Connor said, sipping on the beer.
"Yeah. When we arrived at the reserved? The people running the place tried to make a break for it."
"Did your friend and her people catch them?" Murphy asked.
"Most of them. When we got to the pens where they kept the wolves… Most of the wolves were either sick or dead. The same with the nursery. The only cub which seemed to be thriving was…," Diego said, looking down at Devil, who was lying on the floor with its front paws around the metal bowl with the water inside.
"What did they do with the wolves?" Connor asked.
"They had to put them down. The cubs, too."
"How did you end up with him?"
"The assholes who ran off returned after we had gotten to the nursery. Started shooting. I bolted out of there with him in my arms. Didn't stop running for a long time. Once I stopped running? I used my walkie-talkie to call my friend. By the time they got there… He bonded with me. Wouldn't let anyone touch him."
"How were you able t'take him home?" Murphy asked.
"Had to get a special license to keep him."
"I bet Annie was thrilled when you came home with him," Connor said with a grin.
"She was stunned. So was Lisa and Darcy. The boys thought it was cool. Nichole? She thought I had brought home a puppy."
Smiling, they started eating again.
Daisy walked over as she noticed Murphy eyeing some of the slices of pie in the circular display case then he looked at her.
"Do you want something?" she asked.
Murphy sighed as he pressed his lips into a thin line and she waited for him to say something.
"I would like to have a slice of apple pie, please," Murphy asked as he dropped his accent.
"Sure, Honey," she said. He watched her remove the small plate with a slice of apple pie on it then she placed the plate in front of him. "If you don't mind me askin'. Are you related to Annie MacManus? You look a little like her."
Connor and Murphy glanced at each other. They knew they had to keep a low profile, but they also felt guilty from lying about being her brothers.
"They're her brothers," Diego said.
"Oh! They're Connor and Murphy?!" she asked with a sweet smile. "Annie told me about her brothers."
"What did she tell you?" Connor asked.
"That her brothers were free spirits. Always doing their own thing. That's why she decided to leave home. She wanted to be free, too."
Connor and Murphy smiled and Murphy snorted a small laugh.
"So… If you two are her brothers… You have an accent, too, right?"
"Uh…."
"It's ok, Honey. I ain't gonna make fun."
"Aye. We do have an accent," Connor said and Murphy nodded.
Smiling, she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Do you want some ice cream on the pie?" Daisy asked, looking at Murphy.
"Chocolate. If you have some," Murphy said.
"Hang on," she said, taking the plate back. She returned with the plate a few seconds later and he looked at the scoop of chocolate ice cream.
"Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome."
"Um…. Daisy? Have you seen Angel?" Diego asked.
"Who's Angel?" Connor asked.
"She's Greg's girlfriend."
"Haven't seen her since she got that phone call yesterday," Daisy said.
"What phone call?" Murphy asked.
"She got this phone call shortly after she showed up for her shift. She broke down and told me that asshole she was dating got arrested."
"You mean Greg?" Diego asked.
"Yeah. She said something about him shooting a cow."
"What happened after she got th'phone call?" Connor asked.
"She just said she had to go home."
Diego glanced at Connor and Murphy. Murphy placed some pie and ice cream onto the fork as he started eating and Connor nibbled on one of the fries.
"Lisa is pressing charges," Diego said, taking a sip of beer.
"Good," Daisy said then she walked away.
They ate in silence when Diego placed his elbows on the counter as he thought and he looked down at the food on the plate.
"Do you know where Angel lives?" Connor asked in a soft voice.
"Yeah. I do," Diego said with a small nod.
"Wanna go talk t'her?"
"Can I finish eatin' first?" Murphy asked.
They waited for him to finish eating and Diego signaled for Daisy.
"All done, Boys?" she asked.
"Yeah," Diego said.
She handed him the bill of the food and Diego paid. They got up when Diego made a soft whistle and Devil followed them to the door. He opened the door to allow Connor, Devil and Murphy go outside when he noticed the cold look the father was giving him and Diego flipped him off. Diego left the diner as he placed the sunglasses on then he walked to the white truck.
A short time later, the white truck pulled up to a white stucco building and Diego turned off the engine. Murphy got out of the back of the white truck as Devil followed and Diego and Connor got out of the white truck.
"She lives up there," Diego said, pointing to the top left window.
They walked to the stairs when the door opened and a tall man with stringy black hair and dark eyes walked outside. He had a lean build and the jeans he was wearing hugged his hips and legs. He was also wearing cowboy boots and a white sleeveless t-shirt and a flaming skull tattoo was draped over his left shoulder.
"Hey, Diego," the man said.
"Shade," Diego said with a nod.
"You lookin' fer Angel?"
"Yeah."
"She's gone."
"When did she leave?":
"Some time last night. Saw her putting her suitcases in the back of her car. Told Lou the same thing when he came 'round."
"When was that?"
"This mornin'. Got hold of me before I went to work. I was pissed off. I asked him why he was buggin' my ass fer. He said he just wanted to talk about Angel. Told him she had left and he left."
"Thanks."
They watched Slade walking down the sidewalk as Diego looked up at the window to Angel's apartment and he frowned. Diego walked back to the white truck when he opened the hatch to the back of the truck and Murphy helped Devil into the back of the white truck. Murphy got into the back of the white truck as Diego closed the hatch and he and Connor leaned against the side of the truck.
"Now what do we do?" Connor asked.
"I guess we go home," Diego said.
Murphy had been looking over at the alleyway near the white stucco building as Connor felt waves of curiosity and confusion coming from his twin and Connor tapped his brother's right hand.
"What's wrong?" Connor asked.
"Not sure," Murphy said, getting out of the back of the white truck. He and Connor headed for the alleyway while Diego watched them then he made a sharp whistle. Devil hopped out of the back of the white truck and he went to follow them.
"Where are you going?" Diego asked after they turned to look at him.
"I think we need t'check th'alley," Murphy explained.
"Uh. No. Annie said you guys are supposed to be laying low."
"We just wanna look around," Connor said.
Sighing, Diego went to follow them as they headed into the alleyway and they looked at the litter lying on the ground. Connor was looking up at the fire escape leading up to the windows on the top floor and he saw the fire escape ladder was down. He then noticed what looked like a white sneaker lying in the puddle under the ladder and he placed his hands on his hips.
"I think that Slade guy was lyin'," Connor said as he pointed to the sneaker.
"You think she took the fire escape?" Diego said while he and Murphy walked to him.
"If she did then she was in one hell of a hurry," Murphy said, looking down the alleyway.
"Wish we could go up there an' look," Connor said, looking at the fire escape.
"Guys…," Diego warned. He was started to feel skittish and he started to walk back to the white truck.
"He really knows how t'spoil our fun," Murphy grumbled.
Nodding, Connor started walking and Murphy followed him. They got in the white truck with Murphy sitting in the back and the white truck headed down the street.
the Golden Cactus Ranch
Connor and Murphy stood near the paddock fencing as they watched Hank, Jeff and Kenny lead the cows into the barn and Connor and Murphy had their forearms dangling over the top of the fence. They heard the soft sound of footsteps moving closer when Diego appeared next to them and Devil sat next to Murphy's feet.
"Just got a call from Lou," Diego said.
"What did he say?" Connor asked.
"He was suspicious of Slade. Took a bit of time to get a warrant to search Angel's place. They went to apartment after they got the warrant."
"What did they find?" Murphy asked.
"Her stuff was gone and the window in her bedroom was open. The fire escape was under the window."
"I guess we were right. She took off after she got that phone call," Connor said.
"Yeah."
"Why do you think she ran?" Murphy asked.
"She was cheating on Greg."
"How do you know?"
"Used to see her at the Yellow Rose with one guy or another."
"Why didn't he break up with her?" Connor asked.
"Guess love's blind sometimes."
"Which means we're dealin' with a jealous boyfriend wantin' t'kill his girlfriend."
"Yep."
"Any idea where she went?"
"She does have family in Dallas. She might have gone there."
"Did you tell Lou about her bein' his target?" Murphy asked.
"Yep. He's gonna go talk to Greg in the morning."
"Surprised he an' his brudder aren't out on bail," Connor said.
"They are. Lou's got deputies watching them."
"Doesn't mean they're not gonna leave town once they find out she's gone," Murphy said.
"Wouldn't be surprised."
Diego saw the muscles in their jaws twitching as he cleared his throat and they looked at him.
"Before you ask. This is one of those gray areas," Connor said as he glanced over at Murphy.
"Aye. Even though we know he wants t'kill her. He hasn't done anythin'," Murphy said.
"An' he'll have t'find her in order to do summat."
"I just hope her family will make sure she's protected."
"They would," Diego said with a nod.
"Which means someone might kill him," Connor said.
"Or he'll end up in jail," Murphy said.
"There is that."
Diego noticed the serious looks on their faces as they became quiet and they watched Hank close the barndoor before he walked to catch up with Jeff and Kenny.