Red-Hot Texas Nights Read Online Free PDF Page B

to work as a camp counselor with troubled teens and Tyler’s younger brother had taken up with Kenny Roy.
    Erin pushed up on a pair of faded combat boots, her expression anxious. Worried.
    â€œYou did find him, right?” She glanced past Tyler at the man sitting in the passenger seat. He’d wanted to stop off at the trailer one more time before dropping Duff off at a nearby motel, to check if maybe, hopefully, Cooper had smartened up and reappeared on his own.
    â€œNot yet.” Tyler shoved his keys into his pocket and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “There was no one at Kenny Roy’s. I stopped off at the Bucking Horse and the Shade Tree Saloon before that. No one’s seen them.” At least not today. One of the waitresses at the Bucking Horse had mentioned that Cooper had come in last night, but Tyler wasn’t going to tell Erin that. Not when the waitress also said that Cooper had left her a whopping tip and an invitation to get together after work. Erin had a massive crush on his younger brother and while he knew his brother didn’t feel the same, he also knew Cooper would never willingly hurt her.
    At least not the Cooper that Tyler remembered. But from what he was hearing around town about his brother’s recent behavior, he was starting to think that maybe the old Coop had taken a hike. Just like their deadbeat dad.
    â€œWe have to be in College Station in two weeks for freshman move-in. We were supposed to ride up together.” Cooper and Erin had studied hard, nailing the top two spots in their graduating class and snagging scholarships to one of the best schools in the state.
    â€œHe’ll turn up before then,” Tyler reassured her.
    â€œI thought so myself, but it’s been nearly three weeks since I last saw him. He’s never been gone that long without at least a text. He even missed pizza night last week. He’s never missed pizza night.” Her eyes shone in the dim porch light. “I always let him have all the pepperoni.”
    â€œI’m sure he just got caught up in whatever he’s doing. He’ll be home soon. Speaking of which, why don’t you head over to your place? I’ll catch up with you tomorrow after I check out a few more leads.” Namely one that had dropped into his lap thanks to the waitress. She’d mentioned Gator Hallsey, a badass bootlegger from a nearby county who’d been spending more and more time in Rebel. After pocketing the fat tip and turning his brother down on his offer, the waitress had seen Cooper leave with Gator.
    Unease niggled at Tyler, making his muscles tight and his gut clench. If his brother was keeping company with Gator Hallsey, then the boy was sure as hell in over his head.
    â€œStop worrying,” Tyler said more for himself than Erin. “I’ll find him.”
    She nodded and headed for the large pink trailer two spots down that she shared with her mother and the woman’s current flavor of the month. Not the most responsible setup in Tyler’s opinion, but who was he to cast stones? His own mother wasn’t likely to win Mom of the Year anytime soon. “Call me if you hear from him,” he called after her.
    â€œI will.”
    â€œI’ll be out in a second,” he called to Duff, who still sat in the passenger seat of his pickup.
    He thought about inviting the man in for a nanosecond before dismissing the crazy notion.
    Duff’s parents were a modern-day version of Ward and June Cleaver. His dad was an accountant for a large cattle ranch while his mother owned a small café. The two had been married over thirty years and they were still going strong. Duff had grown up in the same house with the same two parents, three square meals, and a dog named Champ.
    Okay, so the dog’s name had been Bruiser, but it was the principle. Duff had a normal home life back in Odessa.
    While Tyler had this.
    He stared at the dented metal door, the