by AC Arthur
Clyde emptied his glass of whiskey.
“You knew didn’t you?” Jagger asked Clyde. “You knew Jessie was caught stealing and you didn’t say anything.”
Clyde gripped his empty glass. “George and I discussed options. But Jessie went to school with us. We all grew up together. There was a bond, a friendship and a level of respect.”
“Even though he was robbing my dad blind,” Jagger countered. “Loyalty knows no bounds around this place.”
“It was out of respect for Jessie’s family,” Clyde stated firmly. “Jessie’s father used to work with George’s dad. My father went to school with your grandpa and Jessie’s. We’re all family here in Hobbs Creek. Either by blood or by love. We all work together, support each other and take care of each other. That’s how it’s always been around here.”
“Until somebody decided my parents had to die,” Tyler said somberly.
“Jessie had a heart attack six months ago. He died before they could get him to the hospital,” Dessie said.
“Guilt is a motherfucker,” Jagger snapped.
Tyler didn’t comment.
“When Jessie died, what happened to his place up in the hills? Who paid to bury him?” Tyler asked Clyde.
When Clyde didn’t respond, Stephen did.
“Jessie’s son, Noah. He came back and took care of everything for his dad. Noah had left Hobbs Creek a few years after Jagger did and nobody had seen or heard from him since. Until Jessie died,” Stephen told them.
Tyler nodded. “Six months ago Noah Windmyr came back to Hobbs Creek. Three months later my parents were shot in the back of the head and burned in their truck just a few miles from Westwind. Three weeks after they were buried somebody walked onto this ranch and vandalized some property. A couple weeks after that, Gabriella and I were shot at while we rode in the early morning.”
Alex cursed and Gabriella sighed beside Tyler.
“Gabriella’s room at the resort was vandalized,” Tyler continued.
“But Brooke did that. She was a conniving bi—” Jagger said, cutting himself off.
“Right,” Tyler picked up where his brother left off. “That was Brooke. You had proof of that with the things you heard her say and the paint they found in the trunk of the rental car she was driving. But try as he did, Sheriff Alvarez was unable to find any evidence connecting Brooke to the shooting or the vandalism here. And Mom and Dad were killed before you and Brooke arrived.”
“Wait a minute,” Clyde said. He stood and set his glass on the coffee table. “Are you trying to say that you think Noah’s behind this. Noah Windmyr that scrawny little kid that stayed to himself while the rest of you were running wild around town.”
“Oh my, Lord,” Dessie said with a hand going to her chest. “Noah Windmyr.”
“I’m just saying that it makes sense. None of these things started happening until after Noah came back to town,” Tyler said.
“But that’s your only proof,” Alex spoke up. “You’re basing this theory on broken trust and loyal friendships. Have any of you even seen Noah Windmyr at the ranch? You have a pretty sophisticated security system here, how was it that Noah Windmyr—the scrawny loner—was able to come back to town and gain unlimited access to this place without anyone knowing? That doesn’t make any sense.”
Unfortunately, Alex was right.
“I don’t have all the answers.” Tyler admitted. “But I wanted to share what I’d found. I think its Noah.”
“He was here,” Jagger said. He’d sat forward in the recliner and rested his elbows on his knees, his glass cupped in both hands. “That night Dessie had the big dinner party. Noah was here, standing in this living room, talking to Brooke.”
“Sonofabitch!” Tyler exclaimed. “He was.”
Even with all the thoughts of Noah Windmyr today, he hadn’t recalled him being at that dinner party. Not until Jagger brought it up.
“He hadn’t wanted to shake my hand,” Tyler added. Not that he’d wanted to shake the guy’s hand either. But that had been because he was talking to Brooke, not because Tyler suspected him of killing his parents.
“So wait a minute,” Gabriella said. “This guy has been on the ranch. He knows this place because he grew up here. Is it possible he could have been hiding in the wooded area all along? There’s no security gate surrounding the trees, just along the roads and the entrance and exits.”
“She’s right,” Stephen said.
“So he could have been coming and going through the woods,” Tyler added. “We played back there when we were kids. There are paths we all know like the back of our hands.”
“Okay, I’m convinced,” Monica stated. “When do we call the sheriff?”
“In the morning,” Tyler stated. “The investigator was pulling Noah’s financial records and anything else he could find on him today. In the morning I’ll have a full report and whether or not it points to something concrete to nail Noah to all of this, I feel like we still have a good lead to give Sheriff Alvarez. Good enough to get him off our backs.”
“I don’t know about that,” Alex said. “As much as I hate to say this, you and Gabriella gave the police damn good reason to come after you as suspects. I mean, what were you thinking threatening this woman in a public place with all those witnesses?”
“I was thinking that I wasn’t going to let her talk down to me like I should have been serving dinner or mopping up the floors in her father’s restaurant instead of sitting there trying to have a nice dinner with Tyler,” Gabriella snapped.
“Gabs, this is not the first time you’ve had to deal with racism and I can promise you that, unfortunately, it won’t be the last. Especially since you’re in an interracial relationship,” Alex stated calmly. “I’m sure Mom and Dad went through the same thing.”
“It doesn’t make it right and I don’t have to stand for it. I don’t care who is giving people the impression that it’s okay to start popping off at the mouth about their racist beliefs, I’m not going to tolerate it,” she insisted.
“And neither am I,” Tyler said taking her hand. “Hannah was out of line. There isn’t one word about that conversation that I would change if I could. No matter how unfortunate it was that she ended up being killed on my land.”
“Remind me to never put you two on the witness stand,” Clyde commented.
“It won’t come to that,” Jagger said as he stood up. “We’re going to get Noah Windmyr. Tyler and Gabriella will be cleared of all suspicion and we can get on with business as usual. You and I still have to meet to talk about a buy-back.”
Tyler nodded, glad that his brother was coming home in his own way.
“With all that said,” Tyler told them. “Let’s get the house locked down tight for the night. Even with the sophisticated security system, I don’t want to take any chances.”
“That’s a good idea,” Stephen said. “Naomi and I will ride around and check on all the animals, make sure everything is in order before we head home.
“Thanks, Stephen,” Tyler told the ranch manager. “I’m happy to have you managing the ranch. And I’d like to discuss you taking on even more responsibility during the times I’ll have to fly out for business.”
Tyler and Stephen had stood and Tyler extended his hand to Stephen. With a wide grin, Stephen accepted Tyler’s hand and shook it enthusiastically.
“Thanks, man. I appreciate that. Westwind is my home,” he said.
“And we’re happy to have you as part of the family,” Tyler told him.
After walking Stephen and Naomi, and Clyde and Dessie out, Tyler closed and locked the front door. He checked the security pad near the door to make sure it was engaged and then heard from Alex and Jagger that they had checked every door and window on the lower level. They turned out the lights and the five of them headed upstairs for the night.
Tyler hugged Gabriella close to him as they took the stairs and when they entered the room and closed and locked their door, he made love to her be
fore they both fell asleep.
* * *
He touched her leg and she moaned.
His fingers brushing over her sensitive skin was just as erotic as his tongue stroking over her most intimate parts.
But he liked her thighs, often spending time touching and kissing them before doing anything else. So she rolled onto her back, spreading her legs a little wider to give him the access he desired. A shiver slipped down her spine as he grew closer to her juncture, his fingers already knew the path to her pleasure.
He stopped and she whimpered.
His next touch was to her cheek, then down to swirl a finger around each of her already puckered nipples. She arched her back, pushing her breasts upward to him, giving him whatever he wanted from her. It was how they had come to be together. Gabriella and Tyler. Even their names rung a cute little bell in her head.
She was in love.
And this time it was real.
It was unlike anything she’d ever felt with Austin. And unlike anything she’d ever imagined in her life. That’s how Gabriella knew it was real. It’s how she knew it was fate.
She was in love with Tyler West and every instinct she possessed told her that he was in love with her too.
Especially the way he was so tenderly touching her right now. He’d left her nipples aching and wanting more, tracing his tongue…no it was too hard to be his tongue…but it was cool and it was moving down the valley between her breasts. Cold and hard and…her eyes shot open and his hand slammed over her mouth, killing the scream before it was even born.
Tyler moved beside her and the clicking sound the gun made when the man pointed it to her head echoed in the room.
“You make a move, I blow her brains out,” he said.
“Noah.”
She heard Tyler whisper the name as the man pulled her out of bed, holding her back close against the front of his body. He backed up until he was near the open closet door while moonlight spilled into the room from the partially opened blinds.
“Let her go, Noah,” Tyler said.
He’d eased off the bed, slowly, keeping eye contact with Noah, Gabriella guessed because he wasn’t looking at her. She was shaking. The arm Noah had around her neck was strong and almost constricted her breath. But it was the nozzle of the gun rubbing along the skin at her temple that had her heart thumping wildly.
“You know that’s not going to happen,” Noah stated.
His voice sounded young, lacking the deep timbre of her brothers, Tyler and even Jagger’s. And he was scrawny. She could feel how thin he was, but knew from the way that he was holding her that his strength should not be underestimated because of his size.
“We can talk this out,” Tyler told him.
He was standing on the other side of the bed now, his hands down by his side.
“You can talk all you want, the end will still be the same. You die. Jagger dies. I get Westwind because it’s rightfully mine,” Noah said. “Oh, and this one here, she gets to fuck a man whose of her own race. Well, half her race since my dad seemed to have an affinity for black women too. You two shared that affliction.”
“I can’t let you hurt her, Noah,” Tyler said. “I won’t let you hurt her.”
“You can’t stop me!” Noah yelled. “None of you idiots can!”
He backed up again and leaned in closer to laugh eerily in Gabriella’s ear.
“I’ve been here all along, right under your noses,” he said. “You like it when he takes you from the back. Putting you on your knees like you’re some kind of animal. And then you let him smack your ass like he’s the stallion riding you hard until you come whining his name and stroking his ego.”
Gabriella cringed at the knowledge that he’d watched them. That closet door had been closed when she and Tyler went to bed. Now it was open and Noah was hanging around it like in some way it was his home. He’d been hiding in there, watching them. She shivered with the disturbing thought.
“You like him panting over you and carting you around like a showpiece, don’t you?”
Gabriella didn’t respond.
“Don’t you!” he yelled and lowered his hand to grab her breast. He squeezed until she whimpered.
“Noah!” Tyler called to him. “Look at me, Noah. Your gripe is with me.”
Noah didn’t release her breast completely but he did loosen his grip so that pain wasn’t ricocheting through her body anymore.
“You’re damn right, my gripe is with you. Spoiled little pretty boy!” Noah spat. “You and Jagger, the West Boys. Rich, good looking, good at sports, driving fancy new cars, getting all the girls and all the job opportunities. You both suck! I hated you when we were younger and you pushed me in the lake when you knew I couldn’t swim and I hated you more when your dad told you to clean the horse shit out of the stalls and you made me do it!”
“Your father wanted you to learn how to do ranch work,” Tyler said. “I was assigned to teach you.”
“You were a rude bastard who treated me like the pigs you sold to market,” Noah spat. “And Jagger was worse. He made me do everything he didn’t want to do. He even told me to look out for you when he took Hannah back behind the barn that day. He didn’t want you sneaking up on them. But you did.” Noah laughed then. “That was one of the best days of my life. Watching you, watch your brother, getting his cock sucked off by your girlfriend. It was epic!”
Gabriella squirmed. She lifted an arm and tried to elbow him in the ribs, but Noah was faster. He stepped back so that her elbow only brushed over him, instead of impacting the way she’d planned. He lifted his arm, squeezing it harder around her neck.
“Keep still, bitch! Or I’ll put you down right here and now,” he told her. “And you!” he yelled to Tyler. “Don’t you move another inch or I’ll make you watch me take her before I kill her.”
Gabriella’s gaze shot to where Tyler had moved from the head of the bed, down to the foot, as if her were about to run across the room towards them.
Noah had extended his other arm, pointing the gun at Tyler now.
“I’ll do her just like I did Hannah, making her scream my name instead of yours,” Noah taunted.
Gabriella gasped at his admission.
“Yeah, that’s right. I killed Hannah. It was messier than I thought it would be, but I wanted to try it with a knife,” he said and then giggled. “I’d already shot someone, or no, I shot two people. That’s right. Both of them were in their shiny black F150 when they ran out of gas. And just a short distance from their precious ranch. I timed that pretty damn good.”
“You piece of shit!” Tyler spat.
Noah continued to giggle.
“You sound just like your daddy did when I showed up to help them. He didn’t want my help. Didn’t want me anywhere near his ranch after my father had stolen his money. It was my father’s money!” Noah yelled again. “My father worked here all his life. He sweat and broke bones riding those horses, falling off the fence he was made to fix all by himself. Everything that’s here my father had a hand in building and if your father had just paid him what he was worth, things would have been alright.”
“He stole from his best friend. That’s not alright, Noah.”
“Well, his best friend stole the woman my dad was supposed to marry! If that gold-digging Verna had just said yes to my father’s marriage proposal, I wouldn’t have been born a half breed and treated like the spawn of the devil all around town because of it!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Tyler asked. “My parents were high school sweethearts. They got married as soon as they graduated from high school.”
“And my dad loved Verna all his teenage years. He asked her to marry him the night before their senior prom and she turned him down because he wasn’t a West. He wasn’t going to inherit this big ‘ole ranch. He could only work on it,” Noah spat.
His arm shook as he continued to point the gun at Tyler.
Gabriella wanted to try to get out of his grasp
again, but she was afraid he would pull the trigger and Tyler would die. She couldn’t risk that. She had to think of something else.
Tyler took another step toward Noah.
“So your dad moved on. He found your mom and then they had you,” Tyler said. “That’s life Noah. And those decisions had nothing to do with you.”
“He fucked the black bitch that had been panting after him because she was there. And you know what she did after she had me? She took all my dad’s money from the bank account and ran off. She didn’t want my dad, just his money. And she didn’t want me ‘cause I was a half breed,” Noah said.
Gabriella could feel his whole body shaking as he said those words.
“Nobody wanted me!” Noah continued. “And your family treated my father like crap! Your father accused him of stealing and fired him, making him the laughing stock of the town.”
“That’s not true, Noah,” Tyler said. “Nobody in town even knew what happened between my father and yours. They just thought that Jessie retired.”
“You’re a liar! Just like your daddy! You all lie and cheat. That’s why I came here after the funeral and broke into those pens. Because I wanted you to leave! I wanted you to put the ranch up for sale because you were too afraid to be here! But you didn’t. You stayed. So I had to do something else. Those damn birds got in my way when you were out riding. I had a clean shot of both of you until they were all swooping down around the tree getting me all confused!”
“Noah,” Tyler said.
“No! You shut up! It’s over! I killed Hannah to set you up, but I don’t want to wait anymore. I’m not waiting for a trial or that ass backwards sheriff to get his facts in order! It’s over! I’m claiming what’s mine.”
With that, Noah turned quickly, tossing Gabriella to the floor and kneeling down over her. She kicked instantly, swinging her arms at him even though she knew he had a gun.
“Let her go, Noah!” Tyler yelled.
Gabriella had tears in her eyes and she was fighting to get him off of her, but over his shoulder she saw Tyler with a gun. He’d finally gotten to the gun Gabriella had seen him push between the mattresses before they went to bed.