Chapter 1
Cash
“Shh.Do you want everyone to know what we’re doing?”
My brother’s voice floated from the back of the fountain. Kai was far less fun now that he’d hooked up with Lexi Howard. Mostly because he was happy to be home, cuddled up to the curvy firecracker who kept the Murdock Brothers running. In that, I couldn’t blame him.
But it was my birthday, dammit.I wanted some good old fashioned Murdock debauchery tonight.
I patted the four-foot stone duck’s head. Daisy was the only kind of fun I was enjoying lately. I wrapped my arms around her voluminous midsection and lifted. She was the centerpiece of the park’s fountain, but she was also movable thanks to the maintenance she needed for the spray nozzles located in her feathers.
It was an impressive display of water. Whoever built the motor was a badass.
Finally, the stone shifted slightly.
Was she heavier than I remembered? It wasn’t the first time Daisy, the town’s mascot, had been kidnapped by the Murdock brothers. In fact, it wasn’t even the second.
Tonight, we were going to put it in front of Indigo Valley Trust, the stuffy bank at the heart of town. Mostly because the bastards had turned Sully down for a business loan. Not that we needed it anymore. We had so much capital that we actually had to hire day laborers to help out with all the jobs we had coming in.
Who knew my shirtless brother would kickstart Murdock Brothers into the stratosphere?
But right now, I had to focus on Daisy. I gently rocked her off the base with the help of my idiot brothers. I knew exactly where we were going to place her if we ever got her off this damn fountain.
I patted her butt and tried again. “Okay, Daisy Rae, one more time. Could I have some help please?”
Cam grunted and got a hold of the base. “I am! Is she heavier?”
“That’s what I was thinking,” I echoed his grunt as this time the statue rose six inches off the base of the fountain. My boot slipped and while I wanted to pull an epic prank, I didn’t want to break Daisy. My boot splashed into the water and I groaned as my Tims got drenched. “Dammit, I just broke these in.”
Kai snickered.
“You’re not helping much over there. Not hitting the gym anymore now that you have Lexi?”
Kai growled. “Better than ever, jackass. I need my strengthandstamina.”
“And that was too much information for two in the morning, thank you.” Cam grunted but the duck lifted another few inches.
“What the hell are you three doing up there?”
We all froze as our older brother Ripley’s voice came from below.
“Uh...” I cleared my throat. “What’s it look like?”
“It looks like you should have called me for a better plan. Idiots,” he muttered.
I peered down at him. “How about you back my truck up and we’ll get this down there.”
Rip sighed. “Fine. You still should have called me. I’m the one who has a tow truck with a winch. Last time we used ropes instead of giving yourselves herniated disks.”
Cam whistled. “This is why you’re the GOAT, Rip.”
“You’re damn right and don’t you forget it.”
I rolled my eyes. Ripley was king of the town pranks when we were kids. He’d once put the Town Beautification Committee’s parade float on the roof of the police station. I still wasn’t sure how he pulled that one off.
Between the grunts and swearing we finally lifted Daisy enough to get over the lip of the fountain. The motor of my beast of a Chevy truck purred in the still night. Since I’d already soaked one boot, I stepped fully into the fountain to get a little more leverage on Daisy’s back end.
Once she was out of the water the three of us used an old moving trick with straps and a blanket to get her safely into the truck. Ripley grabbed the tie-downs I had set up in the flatbed of my truck to stabilize Daisy. I glanced around to make sure no one was out and about, but the park was dark and quiet save for us idiots.
