The Cowboy's Hunt

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  Oh yeah, scream it, baby. She went faster and sucked harder.

  Donovan groaned long and loud. His fingers loosened in her hair and he came in short, jerky bursts. Swallowing and then licking him once last time, she rose up to kiss him.

  “I saw her,” he said.

  “What?” She whipped her head to the pond and then looked around.

  Donovan chuckled as he fixed himself up. “She wandered through, east to west.” He pointed.

  “Are you shitting me?” she hissed. “I missed her.”

  “I tried to tell you.”

  “You didn’t try that hard,” she said tartly.

  He kissed her hard on the mouth. “No, I didn’t. I was enjoying myself too much. Holy hell, where did you learn how to drive a man crazy like that?”

  “Girl Scouts.”

  Donovan choked on a laugh. “What?”

  “Actually, it was my crazy summer with that biker gang. Is that better? Jesus, Donovan, what kind of question is that?”

  “Give me a break, you blew my mind. I don’t have a lot of gray matter left.”

  “Apparently.” She frowned at him, but couldn’t be mad at him. He really looked dazed. “Did you really see her?”

  “Clear as day. You were amazing, but she’s pure white and caught my eye.”

  “I can’t believe I missed her.”

  “We’ll stay awhile longer. She might saunter through again. Come here, darlin’. I want you in my arms.”

  That sounded good to her and she cuddled next to him, hugging him tight. “You’re not off the hook, you know.”

  He sighed deep. “I figured.”

  “I’m waiting for you to explain what you meant about your family not being good people.”

  Playing with her hair, Donovan said, “Do you know what a grifter is?”

  “A con man?”

  “My father was their king. He should have been a movie star. He could take on any role and make you believe anything. He could convince you he was a beggar with a heart of gold who just needed one more chance to live his best life. Or he could be old money looking to invest his fortune in a scheme, only he needed your money as well to make you both rich beyond your wildest dreams. He stole from a lot of people. He hurt a lot of people. He had his hand in everything from drugs to espionage. He’s a piece of work.”

  Emily rubbed her cheek on his arm. “You’re not your father.”

  “I never was that talented or I might have been. My mother was from the streets. She could pick your pocket while you were wearing the tightest jeans or steal the rings from your fingers when she shook your hand. She could have been a magician. She enchanted you from the moment you laid eyes on her. They met when Charlie caught her taking his wallet. Instead of breaking her fingers, he married her. They had me.”

  Donovan dangled her keys in front of her face. She slapped her front pocket and of course they were gone. She hadn’t felt him move. Hadn’t heard the keys jingle. “That’s a cool party trick.”

  “It’s makes working the rodeo a lot more interesting. That’s how I grew up. We moved from town to town, changing cars and locations when things got too hot. I never went to school. We were never in one place for very long. But by the time I was ten, I could play a mark like a fiddle. Who needed schools or jobs when the money was right there for the taking? Then one day, we had a house in Colleyville. I was enrolled in high school. I was fourteen and had never attended a day of school in my life. But I was a good actor with fake transcripts so I played my part well.”

  “What was your part?”

  “I was to befriend the son of a prominent computer engineer. Samuel Barton was a geeky kid, so it was easy. Too easy. We hung out at each other’s houses. We got really close. On sleepovers, I would memorize their floor plan. I knew where the safe was, where his mother hid her jewelry, and where she kept the roll of bills she hid from her husband. But we weren’t after money or fencible items. I didn’t know what the plan was. My father didn’t tell me. Weeks turned into months and I entered my sophomore year of high school. My folks and I played our parts so well, I started to believe I was Jared King and my father was a financial planner.”

  Donovan went so still and quiet, Emily raised her head just to make sure Ghost hadn’t come back into view.

  “What happened?”

  He let out a shuddering breath. “He fleeced the wrong man. The cryptocurrency scheme he was running was starting to collapse and instead of cutting and running, my dad got greedy. He brought my mother and me over to the Bartons’ place to appeal to Samuel’s dad that all he needed was more time. That everything was on the up and up.” Donovan shook his head. “Even though the mark was a computer engineer, he figured out the scam. He had been expecting my father to come alone.”

  Emily gripped him tightly. She didn’t want to hear the end of the story, but Donovan continued to speak in an emotionless, flat voice, and she knew that he was far away. He was back in that rich neighborhood in Colleyville.

  “He wanted his money back. When my father tried to spin the situation, the mark pulled a gun. They started screaming at each other. My mother grabbed my arm and tried to leave, but there were men, bodyguards, blocking the door. We backed up. It happened so fast then. Samuel flew down the stairs yelling for his dad to stop. My father shoved me at the mark and tried to run past him. My mother lunged for me. The gun went off. When it was all over, my mother was shot. She took a bullet meant for me while my father escaped out the back door.”

  “Holy shit, Donovan.” Emily climbed into his lap and pressed her face against his. She would do anything to bring him back to her, but he was still in that far-off place.

  “Before she bled out on the carpet, she convinced the mark that she had no idea what was going on. That we were innocent and she didn’t understand why the mark shot her. She was so convincing, one of the bodyguards who had blocked us from leaving started to cry. She died before the ambulance came. I thought it was a brilliant con. Her best yet. Even I couldn’t find her pulse. I couldn’t wait until we could talk about how she did it. So I acted my best, wailing and crying, trying to sell her performance. It wasn’t until her funeral, when I saw her in the open casket, that I truly believed it was real.” He laughed shakily, tears flowing down his cheeks. “I had asked the funeral director to give us a few minutes alone.” He wiped his face with his sleeve. “I leaned into the casket and asked her what our next move was. ‘Come on, Mom, we’re alone. Okay fine, don’t break character. Twitch a finger—you’re freaking me out.’ And then I touched her.” Donovan shuddered.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  “It was a long time ago,” he said. “Fuck, I’ve never told anyone this.”

  “What happened after that?”

  “I could have walked away scot-free. My mother had died protecting me in more ways than one.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  He shrugged. “That’s debatable. But I couldn’t just walk away from what happened. I knew how it would go if I did. I would go to the library in the next town and wait for him to show up, like we had arranged if anything ever went bad. That was the way we would find each other again. Then he’d spin me a line of bullshit and we would lay low for a while until he found another mark. If my mother hadn’t died, I probably would have done just that. It was the only life I knew.”

  “But your father put you in the line of fire to save his own ass.”

  Donovan nodded. “I was the expendable one. I wasn’t as talented as my mother or as smart as my father.”

  “That’s bullshit.” Emily tried to keep her voice down, so she wouldn’t startle the elk, but she couldn’t help it. “You were his son.”

  “I think ‘father’ was just another role he played. I couldn’t let him go unpunished for my mother’s death. I lawyered up and traded information for immunity. My father was eventually caught after I gave the cops every alias I could think of and showed them where they could find secret stashe
s all over Texas. I testified against him at his trial, emancipated myself, and changed my last name to Link. They threw the book at him. My father has been in prison ever since.” Kissing her on the top of her head, he said shakily, “So that’s what I meant when I said I don’t come from good people. I bet you’re sorry you asked.”

  “Not even close.”

  They hung around for a few more hours, but the white elk never came back in sight. Donovan didn’t say anything more. Emily had been content to hold on to him and he was so quiet, a few times she had to check and see if he had fallen asleep. Each time, though, he was staring off into space with a thousand-yard stare.

  When it was time to head back to the ranch, Emily was desperate to reach him. Sunflower was eager to get back to the barn, so the ride wasn’t a good time to talk. But as they were putting the horses in their stalls, Emily couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

  “Do you want some company tonight?”

  “I think I need some space. I hadn’t expected to unload my torrid past on you like that.” He gave her a rueful smile.

  “I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me. If it means anything, I trust you, too. And I think your past doesn’t need to color your future. I know you’re a good man, an honest one. You don’t have to keep running from your past.”

  He finished brushing his horse and gave him feed and water. “I used to think you were right. But I got a letter from my father—from prison—the other day. He knows where I am and what I’m doing. I don’t know how. He always seems to track me if I stay in one place for long. One of these days he’s going to con his way into getting parole and he’s going to show up here. He’s bad news and I don’t want to ever see him again. And I certainly don’t want you or your family to be involved with him. He can’t be trusted.”

  “So that’s why you’re not going to stay?”

  “That’s why, sweetheart. It’s got nothing to do with you.” He rubbed her shoulder. “The Lincoln men are nothing but trouble.”

  “Well, then it’s a good thing you’re not a Lincoln, Donovan Link.” She hugged him and after a moment, his arms went around her and he hugged her back.

  Chapter Eight

  Emily waited at the end of the driveway for Jules St. John to arrive. She needed to show him the sixty acres of land where she wanted to build the wind turbines so he could perform the very expensive test she’d paid for. She didn’t want to tell her family until after the tests results were back, but she was certain the area was perfect for wind energy. She had done some research online.

  She had been hoping that Donovan would go out riding with them, but he hadn’t returned her call yet. He’d been a little distant and subdued ever since he told her about his parents. She guessed he was probably regretting it because she hadn’t seen him around these past few days. Of course, he was out tracking elk during the day and at night, and since she wasn’t sure he wanted company, she was giving him his space.

  Donovan had set up the field camera so he could monitor it remotely and track the elks’ progress. Once he had a good idea where they went on their migration, he had said he would clear a path and set up a place for Kelly to take her pictures in safety.

  It was strange that after so many months of resenting him, Emily was beginning to get used to him. She wondered if she haunted his thoughts the way he did hers. She wished she knew what to say to him that would make things better. Emily considered opening up to him too about her feelings of never being good enough for her father, but it didn’t seem such a big deal compared to his experiences. Her father was an angry and difficult man, but he’d never throw her or her sisters in front of a gunman.

  Emily was just about to give up on Jules when a shiny new Toyota Camry pulled into the ranch. Flagging him down, she got into the passenger’s seat. “Hi, I’m Emily.” She held out her hand to him.

  “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Jules.” He shook her hand. He was a silver-haired older man with a friendly open face. Laugh lines creased around his eyes and mouth. Jules was dressed in a crisp button-down shirt and brand-new blue jeans. She hoped he didn’t mind getting a little dirty because the land they were going to ride over was muddy and overrun.

  “Just drive straight and park at the farmhouse. We’re going to have to ride out to the land. Do you have a lot of equipment?”

  “Just my barometer and my laptop.”

  “Oh.” Emily didn’t know why the testing cost so much if that was all he was going to use. But he had said that if the land was approved, she could use the testing fee as credit to rent the wind turbines.

  It had to be approved. She was running out of ideas.

  There was still no sign of Donovan, so Emily saddled up Sunflower and Kelly’s horse, Pippi, for Jules. He rode stiffly, like he wasn’t used to the saddle. She didn’t want to ask her father to borrow the truck because he would have wanted to know why. And she didn’t trust the ATVs not to break down. They had been giving them trouble lately and she wanted to impress Jules so he didn’t think they were desperate for the money the wind turbines would bring in.

  Even if they were.

  “So how do you know Bobby Reeves?” she asked once they were on the trails heading out.

  “Who?”

  “He’s the one who gave me your number.”

  “Oh right, Robert.”

  Emily smiled. No one called Bobby “Robert.” He hated it. It sounded too stiff.

  “I went to school with his brother-in-law, John. We see each other socially when he’s back in town. I haven’t seen him in a while.”

  “That’s because he’s doing back-to-back contracts in the Peace Corps.”

  Jules nodded. “I thought I heard that he was volunteering. Is that where you know him from?”

  “Yes, we worked together in West Tigray for a while.”

  “How long have you been back?”

  “A few months. My parents needed some help around the farm and I’m trying to make things profitable for them as they get older.”

  “That’s smart. How much land do you have?”

  “Five thousand acres.”

  “I bet your cattle love all that room.”

  “They’re a handful, but we manage to build up our herds each year so we can sell a bunch at market.”

  Jules smiled. “It sounds very Old West. I’ve just moved here recently so this is all new to me. I’ve been working in California mostly. I’ve recently expanded my business here.”

  They rode out for about an hour before they reached the acres her father had given her. She was surprised and pleased to see Donovan in the distance. She flagged him down by waving wildly until he saw them. His horse picked his way through the scrub brushes and overgrowth.

  “Who’s that?” Jules frowned.

  “My boyfriend,” Emily said, trying the label out for the first time. If Donovan wanted an exclusive relationship for three years, she decided he would be her boyfriend. She dismounted and gave him a hug and a kiss. “I missed you,” she said. “Why didn’t you call? We would have waited for you or met up with you sooner.”

  “No signal out here,” Donovan said, glancing at Jules as he set up his equipment.

  “Yes, I see that.” Jules tapped a few things on his computer.

  “Is that going to be a problem?” she asked.

  “It will delay my results, but I’ll send them to you as soon as I compile the data and have internet.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Donovan leaned against a tree with his arms crossed as Jules set up his barometer and took readings in several places. Jules jotted down notes in a small notebook.

  “Any luck on the white elk?” she asked.

  Donovan shook his head. He looked tired and frustrated. “I know what I saw.”

  “I believe you. Remember, I’ve seen her before. Or her mother and grandmother.” She rubbed his arm. “I think you’re working too hard.”

  “I promised the next hunting group that we’d go after elk.”


  Emily stiffened. “What?”

  “So I need to make sure that we don’t go anywhere near where the white elk might be. Don’t worry. If I can nail it down, I’ll make them sign agreements that the white elk are off-limits.”

  “Do you honestly think that will work? Are you going to make them pinkie promise, too?” Emily crossed her arms over her chest, but Donovan wasn’t looking at her. He was staring at Jules, who was picking his way through the scrub brushes.

  “What did you say you needed this moron for?”

  “Donovan, shh. Don’t say stuff like that. He’s testing the acres to see if there’s enough wind going through here to power the turbines.”

  “Watch out for the rattlers,” Donovan called out.

  Jules flinched and jumped. “Rattlers?”

  “How much is this costing you?” Donovan asked her in a lowered voice.

  “Five thousand.”

  “Five thousand?” Donovan cried.

  Emily tried to hush him.

  “You’re being hustled.”

  “No, I’m not. He came highly recommended.”

  Jules came hurrying back to them. “Is this the entire property?”

  “It’s all we have allotted for the wind farm,” Emily said.

  “I see.” Jules sighed. “I’m not sure the wind speed is where we need it to be, but I’ll have to get my lab to do some more testing.”

  “Keep in mind that we’ll clear the area, too. I’m not sure if that affects the aerodynamics of your testing,” Emily said.

  “How can the air currents on the ground be accurate?” Donovan asked. “Shouldn’t you at least climb a tree and find out what they are from up there?”

  Jules smiled condescendingly at Donovan. “Of course, that’s one way to do it. Before computer technology assisted us, the surveyors would build a costly tower to take the readings from. Now we use a computer algorithm to extrapolate the raw data I take in the field.”

  “Uh-huh,” Donovan drawled, unconvinced.

  “I think you’ll find it’s very windy here,” Emily broke in, looking from one to the other.