Raising a Cowgirl

by Jana Leigh

“Holy crap, it is like a freaking maze, how can they figure this out?” Jazz said, looking at the board.

  Jolie began to explain the board to them, and Sable and Desire threw in their comments as well. After about a half an hour of explanation, Sable pointed to something and said.

  “What is this?” she said pointing to what looked like a phone number.

  Drake looked over his shoulder and frowned. “It is the phone number one of the unidentified next of kin put down as a contact. We haven’t traced it since it was the last email that came in a few hours ago.”

  Desire shook her head. “It can't be one of yours unless someone lives close.”

  Jessie and Drake stopped what they were doing and said, “Why?”

  “Well,” Desire pointed to the first three numbers. “This is our area code, and the other numbers are the township over from us. I have a friend who has those next three numbers.”

  Jessie swore and they began to call the guys. They were all squished in the large room full of equipment when Drake recounted what Desire stated.

  “Shit, they know where we are,” Gage said and the men began to make phone calls.

  Part Three

  Peace Found Through a Child

  "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong together."

  Mother Teresa

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Boss, what do you want us to do now?” the man asked into the phone. If the boss had actually been there, the man would have never rolled his eyes and smirked as he did now. Diego would have killed him.

  “You need to sit and wait. I am scheduled for a business meeting in San Diego two days from now, where I will firm up our plans now that we know where they are. Don’t leave the hotel. I will call when I arrive and we will arrange a meeting as soon as I can leave where I have to stay. It will be short notice and important you are there, no fuck ups,” Diego barked into the phone.

  “Of course,” he lied smoothly. Of course, he would not sit in a hotel room for forty-eight hours and wait. He may get his money from the boss, but he also held the man's secrets, one he would not want to get out either. It would mess up his image.

  There was a click on the phone and he hung it up. “We need to be ready in twenty-four hours to move. No leaving the hotel,” the man said and headed toward the bathroom.

  “Where are you going?” his partner asked.

  “To shower, I figure we have enough time to hit the strip clubs and find a little entertainment,” he laughed and turned back to the bathroom.

  “Are you crazy, he will kill us,” his partner said.

  “No, he knows I have a little insurance policy on him. He may yell and grumbled, but the asshole would never chance the fact his cover would be blown,” he said and walked into the bathroom. “Call for a limo.”

  “Idiot thinks he has control over me?” Diego ranted. “He doesn’t know who he is fucking with. I let him live because I want to, not because he knows too much.”

  “Of course, sir,” Frisco said and nodded.

  “Make sure your guy is watching, see where they go, and if they raise any eyebrows. His family will be here tonight, if I think he is a liability, he and his family are dead,” Diego ordered and then waved his hand for the man to leave him.

  It was by pure luck he found out where the bastards were hiding from him. One small email was all it took. The old woman probably didn’t even know she sold out her son. But she would, Diego was going to make sure of that. Moving quickly, he picked up the phone once again.

  “Find the next one, just in case my men fail. They will move, I am sure of it once they know we can find them. I don’t want to wait this long again,” he said into the phone.

  “We have the next one, a woman called Harper Bret. She answered the phone hours ago and verified her address for the military,” his man said.

  “Good, get a team in place, I want to be able to send a message if need be,” Diego ordered and hung up the phone. Bastards would not know what hit them in a few days. The full wrath of his family would be brought to their doorstep and there was not a thing they could do to stop it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Where the hell are they?” Master Chief snarled and pointed to the driveway. “We need them in place today.”

  Jolly nodded and said, “I know, but it takes a few to get here from Colorado. You can’t just get in a car and drive, half of the state is mountains, it takes a while. Gage, they will be here.”

  Dallas put an arm around his shoulder. “It never gets any easier.”

  “What?” Master Chief said confused.

  “Protecting your children and wife. It never gets any easier, even when there is nothing going on, you will find yourself getting pissed if someone looks at them wrong. Or storming to the school to kick the shit out of the first boy who touches your daughter.” Dallas smiled.

  “Sammi is my ward, and Jolie is not my wife. We are trying to figure shit out,” Master Chief mumbled and felt the tightness in his chest at the thought. Ted and Marie were Sammi’s mom and dad—no one else.

  “Sorry, son, Sammi will know who her biological parents are because you will tell her. But the day-to-day parenting will be all you,” Dallas said and slapped him on the back before leaving him alone once again to keep vigil on the front of the house.

  An unknown enemy was coming, and he would be damned if they would touch his family and friends while there was a breath left in his body. Gage turned to look at the table. Spread over it was the weapons they had brought from San Diego, hidden in the back of the moving truck.

  All of them knew they needed them, even if some of them were illegal on American soil. They were still in their normal traveling package. David was on the phone to the locals letting them know what was going on.

  Sable and Desire were making calls as well. Hell, they could have a militia before they were done. Gage had no clue that so many of the people in this community rallied together when the shit it the fan. Damn, the mayor was bringing out his stash, which apparently rivaled even theirs.

  Master Chief walked to the table and loaded his weapon, he needed to feel it against his thigh—it would calm him down. He was a marksman, and could shoot the paint off a nail at a thousand yards if need be, with his scope it would be farther.

  Ice and Lobo were on sniper duty currently. They climbed on the roof a few hours ago and were relaying anything that looked suspicious. So far, the only thing they had called on was to let them know the cattle were wandering in the front. They had the wranglers out right now, moving them. A man could hide behind one of their animals without too much problem.

  He heard the click in his ear, and snapped the rounds in his gun and turned. “Four Black SUVs turning into the drive,” Ice whispered.

  “Hold fire,” Jolly ordered.

  “Hold,” he repeated and stood still. Jolly stepped out to the front porch and then waved. Whoever must have given the right response to Jolly because he called the all clear. Shit, it felt like they were right back in the military again, although this time they would be defending their families.

  Master Chief let out a sigh of relief, he walked out front to help direct the men to where they needed to be. The Calvary had arrived, and at least now, they had trained men who could help monitor the ranches at night. Dallas had already sent Noah and Bailey plus Jazz, over to David’s house to get settled. Another couple of SUVs should have just gotten there as well. All in all, Jolly pulled all of his free men up here. Rex and Steve already called their huge family, and the guys were coming as well, should be here by nightfall according to the itineraries.

  Bear and Trent were stopping for a few things like C4, and detonation cord. The Commander called in a favor to a friend who had some of this stuff, no one questioned for what. They were a little surprised their straight-laced commander had so many nefarious contacts, although as the Commander reminded them, "Whomever is responsible fucked with the wrong family—mine."

  Soon a
fter they had that settled, the people from the town began to arrive. Gage and his friends had an issue with civilians putting themselves in harm’s was, especially when they were dealing with organized trained killers. None of them would have been able to live with themselves if something happened to an innocent.

  Before this whole thing started, Alex and Slone gave the men who worked on the ranch time to get their things together and leave, promising they would be paid even if they left, but they wanted the guys to decide. All of them had stayed and all of them were armed and showed their marksmanship. The team felt like they were more than prepared, they were also on horseback and could leave to get help if needed.

  A large portly man slid out of the huge truck, his backend was covered, and when Alex approached him, Gage heard the man identify himself as Deke Winters, the mayor of Healing.

  All of the team came to stand with Alex as he was going to explain the townsmen needed to take cover.

  “Sir,” Alex said politely. The man's eyes narrowed and he frowned and held up his hand.

  “Don’t ‘sir’ me, now before we get any further, let me show you what I brought,” the Mayor said and almost waddled back to the tail of the truck.

  Alex held up his hand as both Gage and Drake opened their mouths to voice their protests, stopping them to allow the mayor to continue. Drake and Jessie had just joined the other men when they were able to leave their post on the roof since others had arrived to help.

  “Now, these are from my collection, have some more, but figured this would do,” the Mayor said and flipped opened the tarp on the back and pointed.

  They rounded the truck and Gage wanted to laugh in surprise but held it back so he didn’t offend the older man. In the bed lay a few cases of semi-automatic guns, a few cases of grenades and a lot of miscellaneous weapons and gear.

  “I have the tank at home, but I figured unless we hid it in the barn it wouldn’t do us much good for the element of surprise. But just so you know, if we had a week or so, it would be ready for you,” the Mayor said and David stepped forward with his mouth open and looked from the truck to the Mayor. “What have you got to say Sheriff?”

  “Mayor Winters, you know half of this stuff is illegal right, I could take you in right now, and a working tank, are you nuts,” David roared.

  “Son, I was fighting wars when your mama wiped your dirty ass. I sure as hell know how to use these things. Shit, probably better than these guys, I respect the SEALs so don’t take no offense, fellas, when I tell you I was a Ranger, and a damn fine one at that,” Deke said and smiled.

  “Oh well, sir, we just don’t want anyone getting involved here that could get hurt,” Alex said weakly and looked back at Slone who was laughing and his fathers who had a gleam in their eyes.

  “Alex, why the hell did you think we picked this town, because of the calm nights. Hell no, Deke served with your grandpa, we let him know what we needed, he found it,” Dallas said.

  “Nice, dad, send us into a fucking militia zone,” Alex snorted.

  “Not just me here either, several of the men I served with moved in, and there are others who have come. We take care of our own, son, and don’t you forget it.” Deke winked. “Let’s get this unloaded. There is more coming.”

  “Well at least we are going to be able to fight a small country. I wonder if they have any Intel Agents here.” Deke turned and pursed his lips and then said.

  “Yep, Dougie from the Feed and Supply is right in back of me. Oh and the Principal of the school is a sharp shooter, he is coming, too. Had to make sure his rifle was cleaned. And if this lasts a long time, Wanda and Trudy have the USO wrapped up, they can put on a hell of show. Been training the waitresses at the bar, right good, too,” Deke said and pulled a gun off the top of the pile. “Now this is Lucy, named after the love of my life, she was mean as a snake, but damn we could have used her about now. No one will use this but me, and I intend on making them pry it from my cold, dead fingers if they want to try to take it. Has a wrist band connect that will detonate my grenade if they try.”

  “What is the grenade’s name, Norman?” David grumbled. The guys shook their heads and started off-loading into the storm cellar, they didn’t need someone to fire into the cache and blow the whole fucking ranch up.

  When the unloading finally stopped, they had tents being put up in the back along with about ten fifth wheelers that people had brought. They claimed the rest of the townsmen were in town. Gage was sorry when he asked where they were.

  “Oh, the town bomb shelter. We have enough food to last for a couple of months down there. Plus, they installed a dance floor for the young people, you know they get bored real quick,” Deke explained.

  “Right, they are bored after loading their M16 and playing cops and robbers in the bunker,” Gage said.

  Jolie rolled on the bed and laughed as David and Gage explained to her what the hell had happened outside.

  “I am not joking, I expected Rudy from the Tasty Freeze to pull up with a bazooka,” David said.

  “Well, apparently we have moved into a lovely safe town,” Jolie said and kissed Sammi who was laying with her giggling.

  “Sable, you, and Desire, know where to go right?” Gage said, pulling off his guns and putting them on the table they moved in front of the window. They were all keeping watch tonight. “Here are my side-arms, I have more downstairs so keep them close.”

  Jolie rolled her eyes, “We run down to the basement, and hide in the lock room, there is food, water, and other supplies to last us for a week. Plus a Sat phone to call for help. I know how to fire a gun, we are good.”

  “Gotta have a plan,” David said and leaned down and picked up Sammi. “And you, baby girl, are going to get some sleep. Can’t have you being crabby.”

  “She is bathed and ready for bed,” Jolie said and kissed the little girl. Just in case, a crib had already been set up in the basement safe room, with all the amenities. Gage and Drake were staying with her monitoring the cameras.

  “Now, how about a goodnight kiss for me?” Gage laughed.

  Jolie approached him and appeared to be thinking about what he said.

  “On one condition,” she said.

  “Okay, what condition?” Gage said with a grin and pulled her into his arms.

  “When all of this is done, I want a normal seduction. I mean, wham-bam thank-you-ma’am is great, but you know a girl would like to be romanced instead of taught how to load a gun properly.”

  “I think that can be arranged,” Gage said and kissed her deeply.

  Chapter Nineteen

  For three days, they stayed on high alert. Each of them working twelve-hour shifts as they researched and tried to figure out the enemy’s next move before they struck again.

  Thane and Mason were still in San Diego, they were working with some of the guys from the base who were off duty. It seemed everyone took this threat seriously, because they all wanted to help.

  Thane was on speakerphone, “We have the list of people they attempted to contact. It doesn’t look like everyone responded. Plus, there were deleted files we are trying to grab. The CO seems to think we are dealing with a well-paid individual, the one woman we tracked down who would know anything, has been institutionalized for severe paranoia, seems she thinks that someone is following her and trying to kill her. We haven’t been able to get past the doc.”

  “What about the rest of the people?” Alex asked.

  “We didn’t want to alarm them until we showed up. In case someone called to make arrangements for a dog or time off. As soon as we get the deleted files, we are going to go. What’s happening there?” Thane asked.

  Alex and his friends explained what was happening around the ranch. They at least got a laugh out of the LC when they told him about the town's people.

  They finished their conversation and Thane promised to call if something new came up.

  “Perimeter?” Gage asked and looked over Jessie’s shoulder.

&nb
sp; “Clear, and the town also. David said his deputies have called in every hour to let us know if someone they don't recognize drives through town,” Alex said.

  “We need to get the girls downstairs and…” Gage said.

  “Breach on the northwest corner!” Jessie yelled, cutting Gage off and the men began running. Gage pulled out his walkie-talkie and began yelling.

  “Breach, everyone we have a Breach!”

  “Shit,” Jessie said from behind him.

  “I got the girls, go Master Chief,” Drake said and met Jolie and Sammi, with Desire and Sable close behind. The last sight he caught of her was her tear-stained face mouthing ‘I love you’, to him before she turned away.

  It didn’t take all of the men long to be armed and in position.

  If you would've walked into the yard, you would have been fooled by the sun shining and the gentle breeze blowing in the trees. It was a normal day, all except for the men who were sent to kill them.

  “Status?” Gage whispered into his mic.

  “I have at least twenty maybe more coming across the field right to the house. The sensors are going off all around the ranch, and Rex is reporting the same from David’s farm, plus from Desire, Slade, and Dillion's place as well. Snipers are almost in place,” Jessie said quietly.

  Because of the time of day this was happening they had been caught a little unaware, they were coming at full light, not bothering to hide themselves from the ranch, it made Gage wonder what the hell they were up to. No one with brains did this.

  He heard David in his ear, “Didn’t come through town, we are clear, coming up behind them. I will let you know what we see.”

  Shit, Gage swore in his head, something was terribly wrong, but he couldn’t take the time to wait, they were going to have company soon, and he was not going to let them in the house.