Colt pulled up to Sawyer’s house, determined. He’d called a meeting of the Roman brothers for one purpose: to get Jared Chalke out of town.

After he tucked Rose into bed last night and taken care of her pets at his place, he’d stayed up for a long time, thinking. It was obvious that Jared had to go, and even more clear that the law would be no use.

So this morning he’d summoned his brothers, agreeing that they’d meet at Sawyer’s place. He could see his brothers were already here, hanging out in the front yard.

He’d been tied up trying to leave Rose without arousing her suspicions. He figured Rose had enough to worry about without adding this to her plate.

Colt got out of his truck, heading to where his brothers stood under the leaves of an apple tree.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” said Sawyer. Walker nodded his greeting.

“Where’s Remy and Shiloh?” Colt asked.

“They’re inside. Remy’s ready to give birth any day now,” Sawyer said, shrugging. “I'm ready to do whatever you want to drive Chalke outta town, but I have to do it within fifteen miles of here. Remy wants me to be close, just in case.”

“Well… let’s start by trying to figure out what he’s doing here. We already know he’s dirty, so we just have to find out what exactly he’s hiding.”

Sawyer quirked a brow.

“How do you suggest we do that?”

They were quiet for a minute, then Walker broke in.

“Jonas Whittier,” he said.

“What?” Sawyer said.

“You said you want to find dirt? That’s a good place to start,” said Walker.

“He’s right,” Colt said. “Whittier is thinking of selling his lands to Jared’s father’s company. I’m willing to bet that he’s seen or heard something important in the time he’s spent with Jared.”

Sawyer nodded his head slowly.

“All right. It’s the best option we have. Walker, will you drive?”

Walker nodded, and they all jumped in his Escalade for the ride out to the Whittier place. Colt rode in the back seat and stared out the window as they went, thinking.

He’d need to have something pretty bad on Jared to get him to back off. Something that, if taken to the district attorney, would ensure that Jared did jail time.

“I want to buy Whittier’s land,” Sawyer said, seemingly out of the blue.

“Sorry?” said Colt.

“We need to expand. He needs the money. We could write up the papers so that they’d keep the land the house is on,” Sawyer said. “Win-win-win.”

Colt was silent for a moment, then nodded.

“If Walker’s okay with it, I agree.”

Walker nodded his assent. Colt went back to his thoughts for the rest of the ride.

They pulled up to the Whittier house, which was as gray and falling down as ever. Jonas was sitting on the front porch as they got out of the car. Colt didn’t have to look hard to find the bottle of bourbon that Jonas was nursing.

“Hey, Jonas,” Colt said as he and his brothers approached the porch.

Jonas looked exhausted and drunk, which was saying something since it was only eleven a.m.

“What are you doing here?” Jonas said, squinting at Colt. “You wife-stealing son of a bitch.”

“Shut up, Jonas. We’re prepared to buy your land and leave you in possession of the house,” Sawyer cut in.

Jonas squinted harder, until he hiccuped. “You’re too late, I think.”

“Too late?” asked Colt.

“Yeah. Jared Chalke and them bastards already got me to sign something,” he said, hiccuping again. “They got me by the short hairs, you know?”

Walker moved closer, brow furrowing. “What do you mean? Are they extorting you?”

“Pfft,” Jonas said, waving him away. “They own me. Got photos of me and an underage girl, doing the dirty. Don’t remember that night, barely remember the girl, but…” He turned tearful. “If Karen finds out about it, she’ll leave me for good. I’ll never see either of my boys again. Even though I can’t remember anything…”

The big blond man put his head in his hands, weeping forlornly. Colt looked meaningfully at his brothers, who nodded at him. This was exactly what they needed.

Colt turned back to Jonas.

“Okay, it’s okay,” Colt said. “I think you need some rest, Jonas. Why don’t you go inside and lie down for awhile?”

Jonas lurched to his feet, stumbling his way inside. Colt pursed his lips, then turned to his brothers.

“I’m thinking that we need to liberate those pictures, gentlemen.”

“From where? Chalke’s house?” Walker asked.

“Yep,” said Colt. “Unfortunately, Sawyer, I think this means you’re out. Chalke’s house is a little farther than fifteen miles.”

“Yeah,” Sawyer said with a shrug. “When you have your own family, you’ll understand.”

Colt couldn’t disagree. God, he’d barely known Rose a month, and he was already willing to break into a house to see her safe and happy. He couldn’t imagine what he’d do when he’d known her for as many years as Sawyer had known Remy.

“We’ll drop you back off on the way through town,” Walker said. “Let’s go.”