by V. L. Locey
Will chewed his lower lip for a moment. “Yeah, okay.” He looked around Perry, who appeared to have swallowed a cactus. “What about the chipped tooth guy Tootch was talking about? Do you know who it is?”
I shook my head. “No, but we’ll keep an eye open for him. You two are in charge of scoping out the men in the bunkhouse. We’ve hired on a few new hands.” I lifted my phone from the dash. “I didn’t give them dental exams when they applied. I was more concerned about past ranching experience.”
“What if we find a hand with a chipped tooth?” Perry softly enquired.
“Keep an eye on him. We’d need some sort of evidence before we can make any kind of accusations,” I answered as I dialed Bishop’s cell number to relay the news that someone had indeed been looking to sell off the bones to a small time fence. Bishop, obviously, was incensed but brought up a good point.
“Whoever is doing this obviously has no real idea of how valuable those fossils are,” he hypothesized as we sat curbside wedged into a truck like sardines. I still had no clue why Perry had to be here as all Will had done was glower and elbow him. “Real poachers, the professionals who do this for a living, wouldn’t be trying to sell such valuable finds to a two-bit hood. They’d already be on the dark web. These thieves are rank amateurs who take great delight in doling out as much physical punishment as they can during the robberies.”
I thought back to Tootch’s buggered face as well as the other injuries that had been doled out. What would have happened to Landon or Montrell had they been home the night the person who had been wearing Will’s hoodie had broken into the house? Another concussion or something worse, something deadlier?
“I agree. We’re leaving now. Expect us in a couple of hours.”
“Thank you for doing this for my bones.”
“I love your bones. See you soon.” After ending the call my gaze flickered to the two young men staring at me. “Either of you have a problem with one man telling another man he loves him and his bones?”
“No, sir,” Perry mumbled.
“Could give two shits,” Will muttered.
“Good, those are the answers I like to hear.” I cranked over the engine then slapped Will’s hand when he reached for the stereo.
“Come on! My battery died.” He waved his dead cell in the air.
“Tough. Share with Perry,” I responded as I eased away from the curb. They gaped at me then at each other. Will huffed then shoved his face out his window like a sulking Schnauzer while Perry gnawed on his lower lip. I shrugged, smiled to myself, and turned us toward home. Home being Bishop and Bane.
Chapter Fourteen
The McCrary’s were very gracious. Nothing was found on the premises.
That was the official text reply from the sheriff when I checked my phone the following morning. Since I disliked typing on a small phone, I called Mark as Bishop rolled around in bed, his legs pinned to the mattress by a fat cat snuggled between his thighs. Sitting on the edge of the bed, phone to my ear, I heard the ringing on the other end before I stood then walked to the living room.
“Nate,” Mark said upon picking up his phone. “It’s not even five-thirty in the morning. Unless someone is lying dead on your front stoop...”
He was lucky I didn’t call him at my usual wake up time. I’d slept in this morning, something that I rarely do. In my defense, I’d gotten home late and had stayed up way into the early morning hours talking with Bishop.
He left the rest to dangle but I knew what he meant. “No, no homicides that I know of.” I entered the dark kitchen and flipped on the light. “What I do have is a cell phone number from a person looking to pawn dinosaur bones recently.”
A pregnant pause occurred as I filled the carafe with water and dumped it into the reservoir on the back of the coffee maker. I was about to ask if he were there when he spoke.
“Where did you get that?”
I placed a filter into the basket. “Some do-gooder contacted me with it.”
“Uh-huh. Just like that. Out of the clear blue some Christian soul who happened to know about the theft but has remained anonymous up until now discovered this phone number of a haphazard fossil seller. Then, they somehow decided to contact you, not law enforcement, to relay this cell phone number to.”
“Yep.” I scooped grinds as Bane began to weave around my ankles. Mark cursed a little. “Look, does it matter where the number came from? As long as we have it is all that matters. I was thinking that we could set up some sort of sting operation where—”
“Nate, what the fuck do you think this is? You think you’re Frank Serpico or something?”
“No, I was thinking more along the lines of Paul Newman or Robert Redford.”
He snorted in my ear. “Yeah, well I hate to break it to you but you’re not either of them.”
That was kind of cold. True but cold. “Fine, I’m not a Hollywood heartthrob, but I do know we have a lead that we should follow up on.”
“Tell me the number and we’ll take care of it.”
“How?” I enquired as the machine began perking, filling the room with the wonderful aroma of coffee brewing. I opened a can of salmon delight for Bane.
“What do you mean how?” Mark was getting testy. I could hear it in his voice.
“I mean how do you plan on setting up a sting operation with no knowledge of dinosaur bones?”
“We have a thing now called the internet. Nate, it’s too goddamn early for pussyfooting around. Give me the number and—”
“I want to take part. I can play the role of a paleontologist.”
“No.”
“Then you don’t get the number, and I’ll do it myself on the sly.” He said a few bad words, but my mind was made up. I’d woken up with this plan in my head. Whoever this chipped tooth bastard was he’d hurt Bishop. Call me petty but I wanted my pound of flesh. “I can do it. I’ve picked up enough information from Bishop over the past few months that—”
“Or you could let a real paleontologist contact these people,” Bishop said from behind me. I closed my eyes and sighed. I’d hoped he would sleep through all these tender negotiations. But no, of course not. I turned from dumping cat food into a dish on the counter to stare at my lover. He looked edible. His sleep shorts were crooked, his hair disheveled, and his face thick with short gold whiskers.
“No,” Mark and I said in unison. Before the sheriff could launch a sensible, fact-filled volley at me, I told him I’d call him later and cut the call. Bishop sighed theatrically. “No,” I repeated before reaching for the handle of the fridge to look for something to make for breakfast. “How about some oatmeal with fresh blueberries and—”
“Nate, this person obviously doesn’t know a Diplodocus from a Deinonychus. I do,” he stated passionately. I shook my head as I gathered up the container of berries and a gallon of lowfat milk. “Why not?!”
I closed the fridge with my hip. “Because they’ve seen you. Remember, they tried to knock your head off?” His mouth opened then snapped shut. I nodded once then gathered the rolled oats container as well as the honey jar from the dry good cupboard.
“They saw you too. That night you crashed the four-wheeler.”
Shit. He did have a point. A weak one though. “That was at night and at high speed. If anything I was a blur wearing a Stetson. If they see you, they’ll know that we’re onto them and—”
His phone rang from somewhere in the living room. Off he ran to find it while I rummaged through the spice cupboard for cinnamon. I heard him answer the call while I placed a pot on the stove.
“It’s Mark,” he said as he reentered the kitchen. I glowered at the pot sitting in front of me. “Sorry. I didn’t think he had my number. He wants us on speaker right now.” Exhaling like a drama queen, I turned from the stove as Bishop placed his cell on the island then came over to stand beside me. “Your surly face is back.”
Mark cleared his throat. “Are you two there?”
“We are,” I r
eplied, crossing my arms over my bare chest. Bishop’s elbow brushed mine as he reached for a mug for tea.
“Good. I have two words for both of you. Obstructing. Justice.”
I gave Bishop a quick peek. His eyebrows were up at his hairline.
“Let me go get the phone number,” I grumbled, swiping the phone from the island then stalked into the bedroom. Once I found the lilac slip of paper in my wallet, I read off the numbers then let the strip flutter down to my nightstand.
“Thank you for being sensible,” Mark said. “I’ll be in touch shortly.”
“Please let us know if we can help in any way,” I jammed in before he could hang up. Which he did after a low grumbly sound. I dropped down to sit on the bed, head down, elbows on knees, mind whirling to come up with some way we could help. Bishop’s naked toes appeared.
“Have some coffee,” he said as I glanced upward. He passed me a mug then sat beside me. “Maybe he has a point. Maybe we should let the police handle things.”
“They’ll just muck shit up and—”
My phone rang. We both sprinted to the kitchen with as much speed as a man with a scalding cup of coffee in his hand can sprint. I glanced at the caller ID then groaned.
“It’s Clayton McCrary,” I passed along. Bishop’s face scrunched up into a look of disgust. I thought to just let it go to voicemail but opted to answer. There had to be a reason Clayton was calling me at five twenty a.m., and it wasn’t to admire the new day about to start.
“McCrary,” I said as a way of greeting.
“Haney,” Clayton answered, his tone crisp not sleepy. Of course, he was a rancher, so he rolled out with the chickens like the rest of us. “I decided to call you instead of that city slicker you call a boss since he doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.”
Bane meowed at the front door. I padded out to open it for him, Bishop on my heels. The morning was cool, by summer standards, and the crickets were winding down from their nightly concerto. Sunrise was moments away.
“What can I do for you?” I asked as politely as possible.
“I just wanted to let you know that the next time you send the sheriff to my land, his head filled with your bullshit allegations about me or my family stealing shit from that pissant dirt farm you call a ranch, I will haul you and the rest of the brownies prancing around in ladies panties over the property line and whip you like the freaks you are.”
“Careful, Clayton, your bigot is showing,” I replied, the slurs digging into my skin like chiggers.
“Call me what you want just do not sully my family name ever again. I know you pillow-biters like to sit around the table giggling and gossiping but we over here on the righteous side of the river don’t deal in spreading rumors. If I wanted to take something from you, trust me, I would have done so long ago as there ain’t one real man on that spread who could have stopped me.”
“You want to test out that assumption?” Clayton laughed as if I’d said something truly hilarious then severed the call. “Well, that was pleasant.” I sat down on the stoop, coffee in one hand, phone in the other, and stared out at the lightening sky.
“What did he say?” Bishop asked, draping a western throw over my shoulders then wiggling in beside me to share the handmade blanket. His shoulder and arm were tight to mine. Bane pranced around us, tail in the air, before sauntering off to do what tomcats did.
“Typical homophobic bullshit sprinkled with several threats.”
“Wow,” he whispered, light wisps of steam rising from the mug of tea cradled between his hands. “Where do we go now?”
I shrugged. My phone vibrated. “It’s too early for this shit,” I complained then turned my phone over to read the text coming in from Mark.
Cell number did not pan out. Probably a burner. Will keep digging.
“Great,” I huffed then tossed my phone to the step between my feet. “I should have only given Tootch a hundred.”
“Guess we just have to be patient.” He sighed as if he’d lost his dog. “I hope we can track those fossils down. The university and the world are being robbed of part of the natural history of this world.”
I leaned into him to give him a solid base to share his heavy load on if he wished. “We’ll find them and get them back. I promise. It’s partly my fault for pulling the guards we’d put at the site. That will not happen again.”
“It’s not your fault. We all thought that first hit was going to be it. Talk about brazen,” he growled then took a small sip of his tea.
“Hopefully, Mark will find something that will lead us to your pilfered bones. And we have Perry and Will keeping watch in the bunkhouse for anything suspicious.”
I glanced at the man on my left. He’d pulled his hair up into that godawful bun and located his glasses. He still had some pillow marks on his face. I could do nothing but stare at him as the golden hour of daybreak rested on his skin. I drank in the alpenglow, that precious first light of day, as it painted his cheeks the same rosy-gold color of a new day. He smiled into his tea, not turning his face, aware of my study of him I assumed.
“Have I ever told you how majestic you are with a sunrise tinting you pink and amber?”
“Just every morning, but don’t stop now. I like it when my stoic cowboy gets all poetic.” He puckered and blew over his tea. “I may be majestic but that is mind altering.” He jerked his scruffy chin at the mountains. I tore my sight from him to admire the Tetons. The reddish-yellow hues painting the peaks stood out in stark contrast to the blue sky. A few bright stars lingered on the edges, blinking softly as the sun climbed higher in the east.
“The views are equally beautiful.”
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You’re not too hard on the eyes either, cowpoke.”
I felt a slight blush climb up my neck. “I have no idea what to do now.”
“In terms of us or the situation here at the ranch?”
“The problems with the ranch. I have no questions or qualms about us. I love you more than I ever thought possible. You’re my warmth at night, my shade in the heat of day, and my dawn’s desire.” He turned his head to gaze at me. Our lips met, softly, just like the first song of a nearby pine warbler.
He tasted of honey rich tea and a glowing future.
The End
Coming Next in the Prairie Smoke Ranch Trilogy
Twilight’s Touch
In Wyoming’s sweeping prairies, a tender new love will be put to the test.
Perry Yellow Horse arrived at the Prairie Smoke Ranch fresh out of high school, a smart but timid young man with a love of books, horses, and his family. In no time, he found his second home on the sprawling grasslands under the Tetons. Perry’s happiness is tempered only by the fact that he’s keeping a rather large secret from those closest to him.
Unsure and awkward, the virginal young man who can gain the trust of even the most skittish horses, suddenly finds himself trying to save the soul of a wild newcomer to the ranch. Will Abbott is seemingly unbreakable and nothing but trouble, but there’s something in Will’s dark eyes that appeals to Perry’s gentle heart.
A note from the author...
If you enjoyed Dawn’s Desire, Prairie Smoke Ranch #1, I’d be incredibly grateful if you could leave a review on a major retailer site, BookBub, Goodreads, or on your personal social media platforms.
Reviews are the reason someone else might decide to give this book a try!
Deepest thanks,
*squishy hugs*
V.L.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.
V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, Dr. Who/Torchwood, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, and a flock of assorted goofy domestic fowl.
When
not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in hand.
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Other Books by V.L. Locey
LGBTQ Releases
Standalones
Holly & Hockey Boots
Life is a Stevie Wonder Song
Improper Fraction
Playmaker—A Venom Novella
New York Nightwings Collection
An Erie Collection
Nightside—An Erie Vampire Tale
Love is a Walk in the Park—Coauthored with Stephanie Locey
Shake the Stars
Loving Layne
Love of the Hunter
The Ballad of Crow & Sparrow
Bayte & Tackle (Coming 10/7/22)
Colors of Love Series
Lost in Indigo—Colors of Love #1
Touch of a Yellow Sun—Colors of Love #2
The Good Green Earth—Colors of Love #3
Slow Dances Under an Orange Moon—Colors of Love #4
A Brush of Blue—Colors of Love #5
Songs of Red Currant Wine—Colors of Love #6
Pines &Violets—Colors of Love #7
The Campo Royale Series
The Viking and the Drag Queen — Campo Royale #1 (Coming 1/5/22)