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CHAPTER ONE

ALEX BISHOP WAS heading toward drunk at 11:00 aive a daive a daht him another Scotch and pushed it toward hilass “You sure about the burger? We’re pretty famous for them around here”

“No, but thanks” He didn’t return the wink She was pretty, and there was so in her sainst a ith athis bar a lot in the next few days When two people were looking for na out with a bar between them for days afterward

She moved away and he stared into the tumbler of cheap Scotch until the whole world turned aht, then he downed it without a wince Number three or four, he couldn’t ree of shame when he pushed up froainst the bar He’d done this on purpose, after all Drunk was the best possible state of mind on his first day home in sixteen years

He’d hit the road in Idaho before dawn, hoping to beat an afternoon stor in over the Tetons, but he’d skipped coffee, rejecting any more alertness than was required to simply drive He didn’t want to notice the landscape Didn’t want to deal withsince he’d turned eighteen and made himself disappear

But his willpoasn’t as strong as his ehammer when he’d made town Hence the Scotch The actual people he’d come to see could wait

Alex threw a generous amount of cash on the bar and walked past the lunch patrons in a carefully straight line They glanced up from their plates as he passed, but then looked quickly away He wasn’t the type of guy that people started conversations with If he put out the right vibes, they avoided hiether

But Jackson still greeted him when he opened the door of the motel bar

The sunlight blasted his weary eyes before he had a chance to slip on shades Jackson didn’t give a shit that he was drunk, and it didn’t give a shit that he didn’t want to be there It still threw itself at hi escape After all, that was its shtick Old West charh the no-tell e of toas less historical than just old

He’d picked the place on purpose, eschewing cheer or comfort He wanted temporary He wanted an excuse not to unpack so he’d know every singleand ride away in a minute flat

His lug-soled boots crunched against the gravel lot of the motel, and he remembered now that he’d stayed here once before But that walk had been at night, in the snow, the e of the college girl he’d hooked up with at a spring-break house party It had been her irls, and he’d been thrilled to add to the crowded conditions for a night

He’d partied a lot back then Any excuse not to be home with hiswhile, and there were no spring-break flings awaiting him this time around

There was only duty and ation

Fucking inforood But these days, one job in the wrong place and somebody

had recognized him and volunteered family news that he didn’t want

Like the news that his dad was dead

Of course, his dad had been dead for twenty-five years Funny that it was still news

He actually laughed at that thought, and an older wolare of suspicion He would’ve offered to help, but not only did he look rowth of beard, he smelled like hard liquor and hostility, so he walked on

He’d barely glanced at the room when he’d checked in an hour before, but it looked clean enough as he shucked his leather jacket and toed off his boots A bed An ugly bedspread A dresser that had seen better days At least it had a nice flat-screen TV He traveled a lot for his job, and when he was holed up in some remote frontier town for a month, that was really his only requirement in a motel A nice TV

When he’d had an apartment for a couple of years, that had been all he’d added to the char some nice touches, but it had never become a home For either of them

Alex shrugged out of his T-shirt and tossed it on a chair, then headed for the shower He’d scrub up, sleep off the Scotch for an hour or two, and then he’d finally do what he’d coo see his family

He didn’t even knohy he’d called his brother after sixteen years away It’d been nearly two months since Alex had picked up that phone, and he still had no real idea of hisover their father’s corpse All of those together or maybe none of them But he’d called And it had been a bad idea

The first call had gone fine Shane had sounded relieved and even downright happy to hear from Alex, and Alex couldn’t deny the way his heart had twisted at hearing his older brother’s voice They’d caught up a little, and Alex had finally heard the whole story about their dad, and that had been that He’d promised to come by Jackson the next time he was near, but he hadn’t meant it