Half a Cowboy

by Andrew Grey

  “And if Dallas gets into the house?” Ben asked.

  Ashton nodded and got up and, using his cane, he led Ben down the hall to the bedroom. “The guns are usually locked up in the closet in this room. But I have one in the top drawer, in the front, right under my socks. There is another one in the nightstand beside my side of the bed. Back of the drawer. All of the guns are loaded.” He lifted a gun out of the nearest drawer, and Ben checked it over, nodded, and put the weapon back.

  “I’ve used one of these before. I’ll be fine.” Ben sat down on the edge of the bed, and Ashton joined him.

  “Okay. Now I have to ask the hard question. Can you pull the trigger on someone? The number one danger with a gun is having one and not being able to shoot it. If your enemy takes away your gun, it can be used against you. So what I’m saying is this—if you pull out the gun, be prepared to shoot it.” He took Ben’s hand. “And don’t expect Dallas to back down.”

  Ben closed his eyes as just about every single cop show or movie he had ever watched on television passed through his mind. There was always a scene where the weaker person, or the truly good one, held a gun on the bad guy and couldn’t pull the trigger. The truth was that Ben wasn’t sure he would be able to do it either. “I don’t know….” The words passed his lips before he could think about them.

  “That’s honest,” Ashton said. “And I could sit here and talk to you all night about what it takes to protect yourself. But this is a decision that becomes very personal.”

  “When you were confronted with it, what did you do?” Ben asked.

  Ashton took his hand. “Something I’m not proud of.”

  “I see. But you’re here. Did Reg have your back?” Ben turned to Ashton, looking into his eyes, and saw the truth. Ben had made an assumption, and he knew he’d been wrong. “You pulled the trigger,” he corrected, and Ashton nodded.

  “I could give you excuses and all the reasons I did what I did. It was war and it was either kill or be killed. I was ordered to. The reasons and justifications that we build up in our minds could pile as high as Mount Everest. I could give you them all.”

  “Then why don’t you?”

  “Because killing leaves a stain on your soul that never goes away,” Ashton said, his voice clear. “I had to come to terms with what I had to do some time ago. It was difficult and took more time than I ever thought it would to work through it. But I did it. And I hope that you don’t have to.” He blinked a few times, his deep eyes filling with sadness. “But sometimes we have to do things, and no amount of wishing will change that.” He swallowed.

  Ben wondered where he was heading with this. “So you think I should pull the trigger when the time comes?” he asked, still unsure of what Ashton was trying to tell him. His head spun a little as he tried to discern Ashton’s meaning.

  “What I think is that you need to be prepared for it. When the time comes, you will need to make a very basic decision.” Ashton squeezed his hand. “But the thing is, the decision has to be made before you’re confronted with it. In that moment, when you need to decide to pull the trigger or not… it’s already too late.”

  “You want me to decide what I’m going to do now?”

  “No. You have to decide if you can do it,” Ashton told him.

  Ben nodded, finally understanding what Ashton was asking. If Ashton was right and killing would stay with him forever, he needed to think carefully. But what if he or Ashton were in danger? Would he risk his life… or the life of the man he’d come to love?

  “If that’s my choice, then I will pull the trigger,” Ben said with a lot more conviction than he felt. “I won’t put you or anyone else in this house in danger.”

  Ashton’s eyebrows rose. “Are you sure?”

  “Were you?” Ben asked.

  Ashton squeezed his hand. “No. I’d like to say that I was prepared for it, but I wasn’t. I did what I had to do to protect myself and the people around me. That was it. No excuses, just a statement of fact.” He drew Ben’s hand up to his lips. “I know I’m asking a lot.”

  “You’ve already given me a lot.” Ben only hoped that when the time came, he would be strong enough to do what he promised. “Do you think the others will be able to?”

  Ashton nodded. “All of them already have. Clay, Lisa, Reg, even Marcel and Lucy…. Every single one of us has had to make that decision. And I am confident that each of them will have our backs, just as we need to have theirs.”

  Poochie wandered into the room, and Ben patted the bed. He jumped up, and Ben gathered the dog into his arms, using him as a shield against what the world seemed to be pushing on him. “Do you want me to leave?” Ashton asked.

  Ben shook his head. “Sit with me awhile.” He wanted someone to stay with him so he could keep his thoughts from running in circles—but what surprised him was that they weren’t. He had made his decision, and inside, he was calm. He knew what he would do when the time came, and now all he had to do was find the internal fortitude to actually do it when he needed to.

  And he knew he’d need to. It was only a matter of time. Regardless of how Dallas had acted on the phone, Ben knew danger was approaching. And they all needed to be ready.

  Chapter 12

  FOR TWO whole days, they sat around waiting. Ben was so nervous, his legs bounced whenever he sat, and he jumped at every little noise. And it was getting worse. Today he had taken to looking out the front window every ten minutes, as though Dallas and his goons were going to ride up onto the ranch on a pack of horses. Not that Ashton could blame him.

  “Hey!” Lisa snapped from the kitchen. That was odd—Lisa never raised her voice. “Do that again and I’ll slap you into next week.”

  “No slapping, you two.” Ashton smiled to himself and turned to Ben, who gave him a questioning look. Ashton leaned closer. “I think she and Clay like each other.”

  Ben snickered and nodded. “There’s so much sexual tension in that room, you can cut it with a knife. Reminds me of a few other people,” he said with a wink. It was the first hint of a smile he had offered in a while, and Ashton was grateful to see it.

  “He’s in town,” Reg said as he hurried in, staring at the screen of his iPad.

  “What?” Ben asked.

  Reg perched on the arm of the sofa. “We got lucky. Heather spotted him at the motel on the south side of town. It’s where she’s been staying, and she saw someone matching Dallas’s description check in this morning.”

  “He’s here? So what do we do?” Ben asked.

  “Right now she says that he’s in his room and he isn’t alone. She isn’t sure how much firepower they have.”

  “Does she have the room number?” Ashton asked.

  “Room 204.” Reg grew earnest. “As much as I would love to go in there and take this guy out, I think we need to call the sheriff. It’s his job.”

  Ashton nodded. “I’ll call and tell Holmes everything we know. Let him know that if he needs us, we will be there to help.” Once he got the sheriff on the phone, he relayed everything Reg had discovered. “We have someone at the hotel watching.”

  “She’s in a room across the courtyard, so she can see if they leave, and they haven’t,” Reg added.

  Ashton passed on that information as well. “Do you want help? You’re going to need manpower,” he offered, though he doubted the sheriff would accept. Not after what had happened the last time at Henderson’s place.

  “The best thing you can do is stay there and keep everyone safe. I’ll handle this.” He ended the call, and Ashton growled under his breath.

  “He wants to do this on his own, the fool, and he won’t listen.” Ashton said, turning to Reg. “How many people were with Dallas?”

  “Two, according to Heather,” Reg answered.

  “I told Holmes that Dallas wasn’t alone. And it may as well be a small army. If there’s a shootout at that motel, innocent people could be hurt.” He got to his feet. “We need to do something, but I’m not sure wh
at.”

  “We need to do what he said,” Ben said, taking his hand. “If they get him at the motel, then it’s over.” He swallowed. “And then I can have my life back and do whatever I want… go wherever I want.”

  Ashton sighed. That was very true. He wondered, not for the first time, just what Ben would decide to do once he had everything he said he wanted.

  BEN PACED for the next hour. At least he had stopped looking out the window. “When will he call?” he asked. Just then, Ashton’s phone rang.

  “He’s still at the motel, but I’m going to need some help,” Sheriff Holmes said. “Could you send Reg and a couple of his people into town? I’ll deputize them. After seeing what happened at Henderson’s, I can’t risk getting into a firefight. But they might respond to a show of strength and numbers.”

  “I’ll call you back.” Ashton hung up and turned to Reg. “The sheriff wants help. Can you call Heather back and confirm that all of them are still in the room? I need to know.”

  Reg got on the phone, then handed it to him.

  “The room has been quiet,” Heather said. “I have seen some movement inside, and the curtains opened and closed. No one has left.”

  “Thank you. Stay there and keep watch. And let me know as soon as anything changes. Oh, and be careful. Things are about to happen.”

  “You got it,” Heather answered with all the confidence in the world before ending the call.

  “I’ll go with you,” Lucy said to Reg. “Marcel can stay here, but maybe we should take Lisa too. She looks unassuming enough. Everybody else can stay here and hold down the fort. As you said, if we take them out in town, we’ll all be safe. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.”

  “All right. I’ll call the sheriff back and let him know. The three of you aren’t to take any chances. I want all of you back here in one piece.” Ashton knew this was the best decision, a chance to put this behind them once and for all. Still, he hated sending anyone out against these people. They were ruthless, and Ashton knew it.

  While they got ready, Ashton called the sheriff and then got out of his chair and sat next to Ben on the sofa, taking his hand. “All we can do right now is hope.”

  “Yeah, I know, but it still sucks. I want to be able to do something, not just sit here waiting for someone else to take care of things.” Ben got up and said goodbye to the three of them as they got in Reg’s truck and headed out for town. “I’m going to go out and take care of the horses.”

  “Ben…,” Ashton said cautiously.

  “I’m not leaving the ranch, though I am starting to feel like these walls are closing in on me.” He leaned closer. “I’m going to be fine. I won’t be gone long.” He went to get on his winter gear, then opened the door to walk outside.

  Now it was Ashton’s turn to peer out the front window and watch Ben trudge across the yard to the barn.

  Ashton kept his phone near him and did chores around the house. He also made coffee and put together some sandwiches for whenever people returned.

  Heather messaged that Dallas and his men were still in the room, and Reg messaged that they’d just arrived in town. After that, Ashton knew there wasn’t likely to be much communication.

  “The waiting drives you crazy too, huh?” Clay said when Ashton wandered into the kitchen for the third time. Regardless of how his leg felt, he had so much pent-up energy, he needed to do something. And sitting wasn’t an option.

  “Yeah. What makes it worse is that there is nothing I can do about it.” He stood across the table from Clay. “Can you see Ben?”

  “He’s still in the barn and hasn’t come out yet,” Clay answered. “I saw him maybe ten minutes ago with a wheelbarrow that he dumped on the muck pile. Otherwise he’s been inside. There hasn’t been any activity outside the barn at all. He’s probably finishing up.” He concentrated on the screen, moving his mouse around. “There he is,” he said with a smile. “It seems he’s making another muck run.”

  Ashton smiled and shook his head. Sometimes people really surprised him. When Ashton first found Ben, he never would have expected that the guy he’d discovered curled under horse blankets, who had never actually seen a horse before, would be mucking out stalls and seeing to their food and water. It warmed his heart that Ben would show such an interest in the ranch. But that did little to stop his nagging doubts over what would happen when all this was over and Ben was truly free.

  Ben seemed to like it at the ranch, but Ashton knew from his own experience that once Ben was able to make his own decisions, even he might not be sure what he wanted to do. It had been like that for Ashton. He hadn’t really known he’d wanted to come home until he was back here.

  “Is there any other activity?”

  “No. It’s all quiet as far as I can see,” Clay reported.

  Ashton figured there was nothing more he could do right now other than look over Clay’s shoulder, so he left the room, turned on the television, and checked his phone for messages. Hell, he wished he had volunteered to go with Reg. At least then he would know what was going on instead of just sitting here with nothing to fucking do but worry.

  He half watched an entire rerun of Friends before turning off the television and checking his phone once more. What the hell was taking them so long? Ashton’s mind began conjuring up all kinds of worst-case scenarios, and he hoped to hell that none of them were true. He was checking out the front window once again, wondering when Ben was coming back inside, when his phone rang. He snatched it up off the table. “Yeah, Reg. Is everyone okay?”

  “The motel room was empty. There was nothing inside. The beds had been slept in and there was the usual mess of people having been here, but no one was around.”

  “How in the hell did they get out?” Ashton asked as a rock formed in his stomach.

  “We’re still trying to figure that out. But there’s a connecting door to the next room. I’m willing to bet they made use of that and the dumpster beneath the window in that room,” Reg said. “What I want to know is why they would go to all this trouble and how they knew they were being watched.”

  “Shit,” Ashton breathed. “They hoped they were being watched, and we did exactly what they wanted. Think about it.” His heart rate increased, and he was suddenly very warm. His head spun as a clear picture flashed into his mind. “They didn’t try to hide who they were, and if anyone was watching, it was sure to be reported. They knew that. So they stayed in the hotel a little while and then snuck out, letting us all think we had them.” He gasped and then shivered as if all the heat had gone out of the room. “Reg, the motel… that’s the diversion. Everyone is there, including the sheriff.”

  “Holy hell. I’m on my way.” Reg hung up, and Ashton hurried out of the room as fast as he could, grabbed the gun from his sock drawer, and pulled on his coat.

  “Have you seen anyone?” Ashton asked Clay.

  “No. It’s still quiet.”

  Too quiet, Ashton thought. “I’m going to get Ben and bring him inside. Get everyone else in here. The hotel was the fucking diversion, and we have no idea where they are. They could be on their way to the ranch right now.” He headed out the door, telling the dogs to stay inside. He hurried across the snow as quickly as he could on his cane and entered the barn, where Ben stood stroking the nose of one of the horses.

  “What are you doing out here?” Ben asked. “I was just about to come on in.”

  “The motel was the diversion. No one was in the room. We need to get back to the house right now,” Ashton said, taking Ben’s hand. But when he turned back toward the doorway, he found it occupied.

  “Benji, it’s good to see you.”

  Chapter 13

  “I WISH I could say the same,” Ben replied as stone-cold fear ran up his spine. The horses in their stalls stamped and nickered as though Dallas’s ominous energy filled the entire space.

  “Come on.” Dallas took a step closer. “I was good to you for a long time, and you ran away.” He clicked hi
s tongue. “That hurt me very badly.”

  “You don’t sound hurt,” Ben said, glancing at Ashton and then back to Dallas. He wondered if Dallas had come here alone and discounted it. His associates were here somewhere. Dallas had walked right in the front door, which meant that he would appear on camera, and yet no alarm had been raised. Did that mean Dallas’s men were already in the house? Jesus, how did they get past everything the guys had put into place? Not that it mattered right now.

  Dallas put his hand over his heart, and Ben rolled his eyes. “I don’t?” Dallas asked, the cold tone clear in his voice.

  “I can’t see you being hurt by anyone. You’re only mad because I got out from under your thumb.” He stood his ground, once again glancing over at Ashton as Dallas raised a gun.

  “Tell Gimpy over there to step back and put his gun on the floor, or so help me, I’ll kill you before you have a chance to take another breath.” Now this was the Dallas he knew—cold, heartless, and as ruthless as anyone on earth.

  “Ashton,” Ben said softly, knowing there was little he could do, “don’t worry about me. Fucking kill him while you have the chance. The world will be better off with him dead.”

  Ashton drew his gun, and Ben tensed as Ashton aimed, his gaze hard as stone. “I’ve been trained never to miss. A bullet right between your beady little eyes should do the trick.” Dallas flinched, clearly not expecting this reaction, but then Dallas tightened his grip on his weapon, his hand shaking. They stared at each other, a momentary battle of wills.

  Ashton broke first, bending his elbows, then lowering his weapon. “Okay.” Probably because Dallas was getting more and more jittery.

  “No,” Ben said softly, steel pressing to his skin.

  “Smart.” Dallas sneered. “Now put the gun on the ground and back away from it, both of you.”

  Ashton took a step back, and as Dallas came closer, Ben got a closer look at him. He hadn’t shaved his scruff. His raggedy black hair was messy, and his clothes were wrinkled. This was so different from the care he took with his appearance back in Texas. He would never have let his beard look so ratty. And… Dallas’s eyes were clouded and his skin sallow. Ben wondered just how much of his own product he had been sampling. This wasn’t the Dallas Ben knew. Maybe his decline had been going on for a while and Ben just hadn’t realized it, but the changes showed in stark relief now that he had been away for a few weeks.