I dialed my sisters number twice and Fabio’s three times. They wouldn’t answer for me. Just fuckin’ fantastic, I thought tossing back another bit of liquid medicine.
Speedy and Josẽ rolled in just before two. “Well?”
“He had a meeting with some pretty little thing. But trust me, the way this woman carried herself, screamed crazy bitch,” Josẽ said, taking my bottle. “And you know the kind of women we live around, I know crazy.”
“What went down with this woman?”
“Shacked up in the fanciest hotel in town, for about an hour. That was it. He left in his truck, I followed him to a cowpoke bar in town. Dressed in this leather like I am, I wasn’t about to go in alone. I’m not you Callaghan, wasn’t looking to fight the whole bar. From what I could tell he met with a few cowboys, nothing special. Don’t know if they were regular local hands or hands with a finger in the rustling,” Speedy said and shook his head.
“I watched the hotel until it was time to go. The woman never came out,” Josẽ added. “We left when Brad left the bar. Kept our distance, but it’s a long stretch of nothing between here in the highway. Likely, he caught a glimpse of us behind him. He’s back at his house now.”
“Get some sleep boys. We got fresh recruits in the morning.”
“Recruits? Don’t tell me you called the old man in? Scottie?” Josẽ shook his head. Scottie was a force in the day, but he was slowing down. It still wasn’t a good idea to piss him off, he was more of a John Wayne type now days, a little older, a little slower, a lot wiser, and still going to whoop your ass.
“Not Scottie. And I didn’t call them in. Double D is coming, I can assume she’s bringing Fabio, don’t know who else. Apparently, Miss. Lorbosh no longer thinks we can keep things under control.”
“Fuck me. I’m going to bed,” Josẽ said and disappeared into the bunk.
Speedy stayed outside. I would prefer my friend leave before I had to stand. I doubted I could move without a little flinch, I hadn’t had the stomach for the amount of bourbon that would be necessary to ease the pain of what was probably a cracked rib or two. Tate had one hell of a kick.
“Thought we weren’t allowed hard liquor on this job. I see you’re still bending the rules for yourself, boss.”
“Kiss my ass Speedy. It’s medicinal.”
“I’m sure. That Tate’s bike in the drive?”
“Yup.”
“Guess things didn’t go so well with you two? How did he manage to get the upper hand?”
“How do you know he got the upper hand?”
Speedy motioned to my left eye. “It’s a little puffy.”
I let out an unintended and an exhausted sigh. “He caught me with my pants down.”
Speedy’s laugh could wake the dead on what had been a quiet night since Tate had went inside. Speedy wiped tears from his eyes. “Tate caught you fucking his sister?”
“I think it’s in your best interest not to talk about Amelia.”
“Get your house in order Houston. Things with you and Tate have to be good. He’s your VP. Things don’t get back in line one of you has to step down and if that doesn’t happen, it has to go to vote. Nomads hate having to do that shit. And this time you might not keep the Pres patch because of your last name. You’ve done some stupid shit, nailing your VP’s kid sister, that might throw the vote.”
“Yeah. I know. But right now, my President rocker, it isn’t important. Fixing things for the Carlon’s and the Lorbosh’s, that’s what’s important. I don’t like the thought some lowly piece of shit cattle rustlers got around us that night on the field road. I won’t look like a fool over some damn breathing steaks.”
“Make sure you don’t be a fool over a piece of pussy either,” Speedy slapped me hard on the back and went inside.
“She’s not a piece of… oh fuck it,” I muttered into the emptiness around me.
***
I slept in the next morning. Not by much considering it wasn’t even six-thirty; but slept in nonetheless. Four miserable hours. When this was over I was going to drive somewhere where no one knew my name and sleep for a week.
I showered, dressed and checked the whole bunk house kitchen for anything resembling coffee. Fuck. Nothing. I didn’t want to, but he couldn’t function without caffeine especially this morning. I grumbly headed to the main house, around the back and in for coffee. Eloise Charlon always had coffee. Always.
Eloise was at her oven when I snuck in. “You’re late Houston.”
“Didn’t really expect they needed me for ranch duties this morning. Amelia wants to bitch at someone let it be her brother,” I grumbled taking a mug from the cabinet. Eloise turned at glared at me. “Sorry, language. I know.”
“Amelia does as Amelia wants to. She gets the stubbornness from George. Her Dad was as easygoing as they come, maybe a little too much, like Tate is. But Amelia and Susanne,” Eloise shook her head and took her coffee pot and poured some in my mug.
“It seems to have worked out for her so far.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. George wants to sell to this investment group. Thinks it might be best financially. Give the kids enough land to play with still as far as ranching goes but won’t have to worry about money.”
“Want to know a secret?” I asked Eloise after I took a long, steamy hot drink.
“Sure.”
“Believe it or not, I have money. My parents made mistakes, but they made arrangements to ensure my siblings and I wouldn’t be left penniless. I made my money, more or less on silent partner type investments. I’m no millionaire, but I have a low overhead the way I live. The way we do things, the way I do things, I’ve traveled all over, left behind what I called home because it stopped feeling like home.
“This patch, it’s the closest thing I have to the feeling. It’s why I won’t let go. Home and family are the two most important things, I’ve lost most of my family, so I understand the importance of holding onto the home part. Amelia is proud of Homeland, how many years your husband’s family held onto it. She won’t let it go without a fight. Financially things might make sense, but you can’t live with that if you can’t sleep at night. Somehow I think George wouldn’t feel right in his chest about selling even part of Homeland.”
“You know, you’re not as much of a thickheaded bloke as you look,” Eloise laughed and opened the oven door. “I got fresh cinnamon rolls.”
“But I was late?” I said with a crooked grin.
“Yeah well. Same as family, right? Grandson’s brother or whatever? Besides, I like you.”
I watched Eloise put icing on two of them and place them on a paper towel for me.
“Be good, be safe, try to keep my grandkids from killing each other if you can.”
“I make no promises, but I’ll try.”
I took a bite of the hot cinnamon roll and headed out the back. I eyed Brad’s house as I headed to the barn. Half-Jack was in his stall but Summertime and some of the others were missing.
“Hey boy,” I stroked Half-Jacks nose and offered him the last bite of my cinnamon roll. “Not sure what the protocol on desserts is but I know Amelia keeps sugar cubes in her pocket.”
The horse quickly devoured the last bite and then sniffed around for more. “You know, I’ll miss you when I go. Yeah, I know, sounds a little weird to me, too.”
“Sounds weird to me too.”
“Tate.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t shoot you in the back. Today anyhow,” my VP said gruffly. I turned to see him in full cowboy attire and leading a black gelding I thought Amelia had called Acorn.
“Cowboy up, huh?”
“I’m home, I don’t want to hear a word about me being out of cut. I didn’t think it was worth the fight at the kitchen table. Besides, Grams had these dug out and lying on the bed this morning when I got out of the shower.”
I could understand the desire to appease Grams Eloise.
“Where’s your sister?”
“Where’s yours?
”
“Not speaking to you.”
“Somehow I have the strong feeling my sister is in the same place. Or worse.”
“Yeah, Double D isn’t really the silent type. More the yell, scream, cuss type,” Tate opened the stall door next to Half-Jack and lead Acorn on. “The girls got along in Sweetwater? Surprising?”
“Yeah. Got along a little too well. Not surprising though. I’m beginning to believe they are both equally crazy, equally stubborn, destroy anything in their paths. They will be a… a force isn’t even a strong enough word for what they will be when they get on the same project.”
“Well then, I guess you boys better stay out of the path of crazy then,” Amelia barked as she led Summertime into the barn and pulled her Henry from her saddle.
“It was a compliment Half-Pint,” I tried explaining.
“I’m sure,” Amelia’s tone was sarcastic, and Tate stepped back giving us plenty of room to go at it.
“What is your problem?” I was more than frustrated at her now.
“You are. And Tate’s back and soon enough Destiny will be here. Something tells me she might be a touch more competent than you are. The Queen’s reputation does proceed her. Maybe it’s time you get on that play pretty of yours and hit the highway back to Amarillo or somewhere else far away from here!”
“Maybe I’ll just do that!”
“Riding away is your specialty!” Amelia shrieked, and Summertime half stepped in her stall.
I threw up my hands and walked out of the barn. To the sound of bikes. Fuckin’ awesome. I opted out of greeting of my sister and brother-in-law and instead headed to the bunkhouse and grabbed my shit, throwing what little I had in the saddle bags.
Amelia was right, Destiny and Tate and the crew they could finish up here. Amelia didn’t need me on the Homeland and she sure as hell didn’t want me here. I only left Amarillo because Tate couldn’t come. Now, I’d head for my apartment, close out my lease and take off.
East maybe. South East. Louisiana, New Orleans. French Quarter. I knew a girl there. Hell, I knew a girl everywhere. But Cajun women were as far from cowgirl as you could get without going to New York. I had no desire to go somewhere cold, or receive the ass chewing from my family if I went that far out.
I was walking out of the back bedroom when Fabio came walking in the back.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“I’m out. I was only staying until Tate could get here. Now Tate’s here, you and Destiny came running when Amelia called. What’s with that anyhow? Thought you were headed for Cancun?”
“And deprive your sister the chance to remind everyone that she’s the Holy grail of badasses? Not likely, Destiny gets the chance to shoot someone and I call it a wedding gift,” he paused and nodded to the full bags. “Back to Amarillo?”
“For a day or two. Close-up the apartment, make arrangements for things at Tommy’s long term. Thinking New Orleans to start with.”
“You shack back up with that freak ass Cajun witch wannabe down there again and you might not crawl out of that hole a second time.”
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
“Yes, Houston Callaghan, all about taking the chances, usually the wrong ones of course. But what do I know? Just spent three decades watching you be good at it. Thought Amelia was your old lady?”
“Amelia doesn’t want me here anymore. Told me to ride out.”
“Yeah, Destiny tells me that about once a week still. Pretty sure she doesn’t mean it half the time.”
“What’s with Amelia and I is not what you and Double D have. Stop thinking it is.”
Fabio shrugged and picked up the half empty bottle of bourbon from where I left it on the table the night before. “Never known a Callaghan to drink while on a job.”
“Pain medication.”
“Guessing it’s not the physical pain either.”
“When did you become a goddamn therapist!” I yelled.
“I believe it’s called the voice of reason.”
“My ass.”
I pushed past Fabio and headed for my bike. Destiny, Tate, Speedy and Amelia stood in a semi-circle by the bikes still.
“Where the hell are you going?” Destiny asked as I strapped on my saddlebags and tied down my roll of clothes on the back.
“Riding out,” I replied annoyed. Of course, I couldn’t escape before she got here.
“Let him go. We don’t need him here. I don’t need him here,” Amelia stood tall, arms crossed, her Stetson shading her eyes, so I couldn’t meet the gaze that rested on me.
“Could always use a gun like his Amelia,” Tate told his sister.
“Last time I checked, you don’t have an opinion,” she snapped and turned and walked away. I fought the desire to run after her. Shake her senseless. Kiss her senseless. But leaving on angry terms was better than leaving with us both thinking of the what could have beens. For her at least.
I grabbed my helmet and mounted the bike. I started it up as she walked towards the barn, she never turned around when I revved the engine, so I put it in gear and headed towards the highway.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Amelia
I paused at the doorway of the barn, but I couldn’t turn around. I wouldn’t be standing there watching his bike fade away in the distance. Praying I saw brake lights, even for a slowdown. A sign he didn’t want to go.
I knew Houston leaving was for the best; it had been even before. Before he lied to me. Before he treated me like an incompetent woman who he needed to protect. Before he treated me as a child who couldn’t handle the truth.
“What now?” Destiny asked, coming into the barn, hands on her hips, gun holster showing proudly. “Where’s the cousin Brad of yours?”
“Slipped it in his ear this morning at breakfast that the Bastards had a lead. That you were riding in with it. Wanted to see if he panicked and made a sloppy move.”
“Did it work?”
“Ain’t seen him since breakfast, his truck isn’t in the driveway but Speedy assured me there was tracking on it.”
“Josẽ and Tommy followed him to town but lost him. His trucks still at the hotel.”
“Fuck.” If it wasn’t one thing it was another.
“How do you want this to play?”
“Legally. It will have to. We can’t just kill Brad or whatever. End of the day he’s my cousin still.”
“Fine. I’ll see to it a large file of evidence gets sent to the local Rangers office and that an anonymous tip gets made with the local county mounties. They can move faster than the big boys can with getting here.”
“Just because Brad gets picked up, doesn’t mean the rustlers stop.”
“I know. I’ll put Speedy and Fabio on the legal end. You and I will do what you normally do. Hit the range. Keep eyes on the cows. If Brad went to his friends thinking we were closing in, they might want to strike first. Quickly load up as many of the cattle as possible. Even if it isn’t as quiet as they like and try to make a big payday while they can. Before we are organized.”
“Let’s move then.”
“By hoof or by wheel?”
I grinned, “Follow me.”
They stood around the shed and I pushed the old dirt bike out. “That’s my bike,” Tate argued.
“You left it behind a decade ago. Houst.. he… your president got it running for me,” I said grabbing the old helmet from the wall and pulling it on. “Destiny can take one that the Jones’ hauled in.”
“You don’t know the first thing about riding a bike.”
“I got it figured out,” I said as I strapped me Henry onto the handlebars. Oh boy, maybe this was a little much. I hadn’t ridden it, Houston had just given instructions before we left for Sweetwater. I tossed my leg over the bike and turned the gas on and prayed that the electric start worked. The bike fired at the push of a button and I smiled.
Destiny kissed her husband goodbye and she mounted up the bike Jones’ had brou
ght and followed me through the fields.
***
“How many does that make?” Destiny asked two hours later as I took notes in my small pocket notebook.
“Half. This makes exactly half of what we have left. The others are down across that creek bed just yonder.”
Destiny laughed.
“What?”
“I have never heard anyone use the word yonder! Just amusing is all.”
We climbed back on the bikes and headed down and through the gate separating the herds from each other. We had lost most of our bulls already and when we pulled the remaining in close, the hands rounded up all the remaining bulls and put them together in a smaller lot behind the barn. We could only hope that our record keeping would be good enough to stop any inbreeding. If not, we would sell all the bulls and bring in new. A small sacrifice for what they had to do. Homeland had to circle the wagons tightly.
I closed the gate behind us and held up my hand to Destiny to halt and kill her engine. Something wasn’t right.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. Since we moved the herd in there is always at least a dozen cattle here. It’s one of three watering points. I don’t see a cow anywhere.”
I half jogged to the creek bank, I saw the cattle tracks and tire tracks. Destiny fell in behind her. “Those belong to us?”
“They match what Houston and I saw yesterday. Sport ATV tracks, they aren’t ours.”
We both knelt. “Dirt’s packed half-way tight here, the top layer of dust is thin, for these tracks to be this visible, they have to be fresh,” Destiny muttered.
“Tracking in your wheelhouse?”
“I’ve been shown a thing or two throughout my years. I try to retain everything useful I’ve been shown.”
We could hear distant sound of trucks and ATV’s to the West and we straightened and listened for a long second.
“Fuck. He made his move,” I said and ran back towards the bikes.
Destiny struggled to call it in to Tate and Fabio as I fired up my bike and took off Destiny on my heels.
I slid to a stop atop a small peak of a hill and I whipped out my rifle from its case. We left the bikes to get a look below. Three cattle trailers hooked to semi’s, four trucks with ATV and horse trailers. This wasn’t a small operation by any means. A dozen men at least. They struggled to load up the cattle through the pens and gates they had hastily thrown together.
Houston Callaghan: The Devil's Bastards MC Page 20