Gambling on a Dream Read Online Free

video?”
    “Yeah.” Murphy leaned back in his chair.
    Wyatt stood and moved to the other end of the table where he folded his arms in front of him. The meeting was over. “We’ll need to see those CDs.”
    Gene nodded his head. “Sure. I’ll bring them by later today.”
    * * * *
    Wyatt parked his Silverado beside his mother’s Ford Focus in the gravel driveway, leaned his head back against the rest, and closed his eyes.
    He should have known taking this case would bring back memories he’d long ago tried to forget. Dawn was still as driven as she’d always been. Four years ago, they’d been paired together on the Dallas PD, after his partner took a job with the DEA. Wyatt had worked in vice for about two years, and Dawn had been on patrol a little over a year.
    They’d been friends since they were kids, he’d even taken her to her senior prom, but working together as police partners had required a deeper relationship. Some cops claimed it bordered on a marriage, especially among vice cops who were constantly working in dangerous situations where undying trust and strong commitment to each other were important.
    Dawn had been a great undercover cop. Since she was young, and all but full-blooded Native American with a little African-American and Spanish blood mixed in, she could infiltrate gangs rather easily. He’d loved to watch her work.
    Then one night while they’d been on a stakeout, they’d let their mutual attraction get away with them. The moment they were off duty, they’d gone back to his place and made love for hours.
    He’d just come off a bad breakup with a local TV news anchor he’d dated off and on since college, and Dawn had dumped a loser whom she caught cheating on her. There had been no regrets after that night. If anything, they’d wondered why they hadn’t ever gotten together before then. For five months, they’d spent every moment together. She’d maintained her apartment for appearances, but had moved in with him.
    He’d wanted more, but she wanted to become a detective. His dream had been to buy a ranch somewhere and raise a family with her. However, all she ever wanted had been to work her way up the ranks and eventually run for sheriff of Forest County. For her, settling down and family weren’t even on the radar.
    He’d fallen in love with her, and he’d been confident she felt the same about him, but she’d never mentioned having a future with him.
    He opened his eyes and straightened in the seat, shutting down the memories before they dragged him down into the sewer of pain and betrayal. Revisiting the night his world came to an end wasn’t something he willing did.
    In the distance, a car alarm went off, drawing his attention to the east and beyond the old split rail fence where the pastures used to be. Now, a bunch of Dallas and Waco middle management types and soccer moms populated the housing development that had sprung up over the past three years.
    Considering Leon Ferguson was in jail for his numerable crimes, who would take over building the city-slicker cookie-cutter houses?
    With an ounce of luck, no one would take over. He was glad the construction had halted. Thank God, the mall was on the other side of what used to be a five-hundred-acre ranch. He grew up on the Circle M, working with his grandfather, and his younger shithead brother, Kyle.
    Kyle was also staring down a long stint as a resident of the state pen for his conspiring with Leon Ferguson against Wyatt’s cousin, Dylan Quinn, and his new wife, Charli Monroe Quinn.
    What a waste, not only of Kyle’s life, but of the land, too. Would his grandfather still have sold the place to the developer if he’d known what would have come of his home? What if he had known Wyatt had come to his senses and wanted to become a rancher?
    Wyatt’s father never had any interest in the ranch. So, when the time came for Granddad to hang up his branding iron, he figured it would be best to sell the place. At the