Protecting What's Mine: A Western Romance

by BL Craven

  “Yeah, about the same as you. Which direction are you and your rider heading?”

  I pointed the direction, which was the same as where they had come from. “That way.”

  “You guys find anything?” he asked me.

  “Fence was cut, about twenty minutes into the ride. Know anything about it?”

  “Nope. We found this section after shooting the coyote. Also found two cows who’d wandered over. We ran them back through the hole.”

  “How’d you know they were ours?”

  “Your ear tags are orange. We use white.”

  “Smart.”

  “Why are you talking to that shithead? He’s the motherfucker who did this,” Tim started spewing words, pointing to his face.

  “Beat your ass into pulp, taught you a lesson? Shut your stupid mouth before I give you the same.” I was liking this Dade dude more and more.

  “Shut up, Tim. You’re lucky you’re not in jail. You should be, but I don’t know how you’re out. Shut the fuck up before you buy yourself a world of hurt.” My voice was cold, and I meant every word.

  “Fuck you.” He stormed off toward the horses.

  “If you fixed that section already, I’m going to head back to the main house.”

  “I’m going to head down toward the coyote you shot. Jackson says they’ve been getting the new calves lately. Maybe I can find a den.”

  “Old Jackson’s still there?”

  “Yeah, old as dirt and twice as ugly.”

  “That’s him.”

  “Yeah. You know… What’s the issue between the Barts and the Mastersons? Water, land?”

  “A woman I think. Been bad blood since his grandpa ran things around here.”

  “Oh shit.”

  “Yeah, it’s always about a woman, isn’t it?”

  “What about the water thing?”

  “I didn’t have anything to do with that. Engineers from the Army Corps of Engineers did something, and we’re developing that section of land. Guess the water went where it wanted to.”

  “There’s some butt hurt over on this side of the fence, and some think the water getting diverted was deliberate.”

  “Not that I know of…”

  The shot whipped by my head, almost blowing out my eardrum with the sonic wake. I pulled the butt stock of the gun, using the sling to spin it around my shoulder until it was in firing position and flicked off the safety. Tim, I’d lost eye contact with Tim. He was lining up for a second shot on me as Dade turned to rush him. I hesitated for half a heartbeat and shot.

  Both Tim and the horse he was sitting on fell heavily, and Tim started screaming. I could hear pounding hooves behind me, but I was out for blood. I had another round chambered as Dade pulled the rifle away from Tim, who had a leg pinned by his dead horse. I had only a split second to decide. Kill him and start a whole new batch of trouble, or knock the horse out from under him and throw his aim off. I was done with the killing business, so I got the horse.

  Dade held the rifle out over his head, his other hand up. I ducked under the wire fence, my aim never wavering.

  “Easy man, I got the gun from him.”

  I still had them both covered, the muzzle of the gun going an inch between both targets. The one holding the weapon and the one screaming on the ground. Either would be an easy shot.

  “Don’t kill him,” Alison said behind me.

  “That’s twice now that she’s saved you, Tim.”

  “Get this horse off me,” he gasped.

  In the course of trying to pull himself out, his shirt rode up, and his chest was taped heavily. I smiled grimly and thought of how bad that fall had to have hurt with broken ribs. Too bad about the horse though; I hated killing a good animal.

  “I called Jackson. Want me to call the sheriff’s office?”

  “Don’t bother, I’ll call him myself,” Dade said, coldly. “Howdy, Ms. Alison. Sorry for meeting you again under these circumstances.”

  She said nothing, but I could hear her dialing.

  “We’re at the Mastersons’ ranch. Tim Bart just tried to shoot Cameron. Uh huh. Oh no, Tim isn’t going anywhere. He’s got a dead horse pinning him down. No, no, the horse is dead. No, Tim shot at Cameron.”

  “This should be fun to explain to Carl,” Dade said, dryly. “I said I’d call…”

  “I ought to kill this stupid bastard,” I grumbled.

  “Shhhh, she’s still got 911 on the phone,” he grinned. “Marines?”

  “Army.”

  “Nobody’s perfect. Want to help me drag his ass out from under the horse so he’ll quit crying like a fucking pansy?”

  “No, let’s leave him for the coyotes,” I said, but Tim started screaming at that point.

  “It might hurt, pulling him out.”

  “You’ve got a deal,” I told him, grinning and putting the rifle sling around my shoulder again.

  Tim got one good look at my expression and put his hands up, starting to beg. I got my hands under one arm, Dade the other, and we pulled savagely. My arms flexed, and I pulled with all of my strength when his leg slid free. I had just enough warning not to lose my footing and bang my head on the gun. He screamed for a minute about his ribs, and I knew he was in pain. He had tears running down his cheeks and was lying on his side, his leg straight out in pain.

  “Think I should still shoot the dumb fuck?” I said.

  “Naw, I won’t let him ride fence with a gun anymore. Not while I’m foreman,” Dade told me.

  “Carl isn’t going to like it.”

  “It isn’t up to Carl, it’s up to you.”

  “It’s like that?” I asked, totally confused.

  “It’s up to you. This kid can either go to jail for probably forever. I don’t know how he got out of trouble the other day, but I saw him try to shoot you. So did Alison. You can put this boy in prison forever, or you can let me run his ass ragged.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Reputation mostly. It’s all I have, and I can’t let some kid - even the owner’s son - do the shit he’s doing. I’ll have his ass confined to the house if I have to.”

  I was cooling down, and for once, my mind was spinning and planning. If I let this drop and took Dade at his word, I might buy Bill and Mom some breathing room or goodwill with the Barts. On the other hand, if the kid tried it again… I decided.

  “He comes at me again, I’ll kill him.”

  “I would have killed him the first time, but it’s up to you. What do you want me to tell Tyler when he gets out here?”

  “That his nephew is walking back to the ranch,” I said, with a smile.

  “That’ll piss him off.”

  “Everybody wins. Tim lives, and I get to piss off my two favorite Barts.”

  “Yeah, I heard about you popping the old man’s jewels. I told him to stay away.”

  “At least somebody on your side has a cool head.”

  “I do try. I’ll have Tyler stop out after he collects this shithead.”

  “Thanks. I’ll be at Tory’s Cabin.”

  “Me too,” Alison spoke up.

  “Okay, well, nice to meet you; and Alison, always a pleasure to see you. Sorry about all of this.”

  “See you next time,” I told him, and ducked under the fence and mounted Lightning.

  As we were riding away, I heard Tim’s blubbery, whiney voice. “Are you really going to make me walk?”

  I broke Lightning into a fast run before my laughter made me a fool. I had to slow down to rest Lightning and Ali kept right beside me now, still silent. I thought about checking out the spot where the coyote was shot but decided it could wait for another day. Then I remembered and turned to Ali.

  “You call Jackson?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Is he coming?”

  “It was already over, but he’s sending a truck anyway. Probably should have seen it by now.”

  “Oh, hey, there’s a dust cloud.”

  Sure enough, along ca
me a battered pickup truck with Charlie and Jackson in it, bouncing across the pasture, with three ranch hands in the back. All had rifles, and none of them looked happy. Lightning startled a little bit when the truck pulled up beside us, but when Jackson saw me, he broke out into a grin and leaned out the passenger window.

  “You just have to stir up all kinds of horseshit, don’t you?”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “Everyone okay?”

  “Yeah, but we called the sheriff. Going to head to the cabin to wait on him.”

  “Did you leave anything to clean up?”

  “No, not on our side of the fence,” I said, just for a grin, but Jackson’s dark features paled.

  “I was kidding, man. I shot his horse out from under him.”

  “Well shit, for a second there I thought…”

  “No, no. We’re fine.”

  “You okay, Ms. Alison?” he asked politely.

  “Fine. I was riding way in the back.”

  “Smart thinking, girl,” he told her, she grinned with the compliment.

  “How’s the pipe work coming on the stock ponds?”

  “Good, another day or three, and we’ll be ready to start filling things back in.”

  “Great news. Okay, I’ll see you back at the ranch.”

  “Want to take our time?”

  “I’m kind of hungry, and your nasty sandwich left a bad taste in my mouth.”

  “All right. Race you!”

  Chapter Eight

  To say we horsed around would be both a bad pun and an understatement. Half a day’s riding out meant half a day’s riding back in. The horses weren’t tired, and we spent more time at a fast trot than the slow walk we had earlier. I didn’t know what kind of chow they had planned at the barracks, but I’d been back on U.S. soil for going on three days and I hadn’t had a slice of pizza yet. I knew there used to be a place in town somewhere, and Alison’s face lit up when I asked her if we could order some pizza to be delivered.

  “Oh yeah, we’re all modern and stuff nowadays. Even have a McDonald’s out here.”

  “The wonders never cease.”

  She pulled out her cell phone when we were approaching the horse barn and ordered a deep dish pepperoni. She laughed at whatever the other person on the phone said and broke out into a huge grin.

  “Thanks, Tony, see you soon. Bubye,” she cooed as she ended the call. My blood boiled, and I could feel my jaw clenching when Alison saw the look on my face.

  “What?”

  “Tony?”

  “Oh, he’s Tony boy, I went to school with him.”

  “Oh? So you two have some history?”

  “Oh, you could say that.” Her tone was wicked, and my blood boiled.

  “So are there any other old boyfriends of yours out there going to shoot at me?” I was pissed.

  “Why are you acting like this?” Her voice had slowly started to go from amusement to anger as well.

  “Because it’s been a shitty day, and trouble follows you around more than it does me.”

  “That’s not even fair. You know it isn’t like that,” she was almost shouting.

  Shit. I stopped talking long enough to rein in my anger and jealousy. I had to fix this. I’d promised Bill I’d keep her safe. I took a deep breath, calming myself before responding.

  “I’m sorry, you’re right. I was acting jealous over Tony and…” I stopped talking because she looked at me puzzled, and then busted up laughing, which pissed me off even more.

  “No, Tony and I… we had crushes on the same boy when I was twelve.”

  I let that sink in, and when it hit, the color must have rushed out of my face. I was an idiot. An angry jealous fucking idiot.

  “Oh shit, I’m sorry.” I sincerely was, but her quiet sobs and big belly laughs as she unsaddled Blue got me going again. Tears ran down her cheeks.

  “No no, it’s okay. It’s just that… the look on your… you were really pissed?”

  I’d gotten off Lightning and was watching Ali as I was pulling the bit out of Lightning’s mouth. I hung it up and was about to cut off Ali when I felt teeth on my other cheek. The damn horse had bit me again, only half as hard as the first time. I still yelped and swatted her mouth away, where she just chuffed and stomped a hoof. Damn horse… The worst thing, while I was rubbing my sore ass with both hands, Alison had fallen over and was kicking her feet laughing.

  “I’m going to eat you one of these days,” I snarled to Lightning as I got the saddle off of her and got it shelved.

  “Hahahahahah, you are hungry enough to eat a…”

  “Shuddup. Let’s go before the pizza gets here. You’re like a hyena the way you laugh at me.”

  “And you’re like Wile-E-Coyote who’s just gone off the cliff with your ‘Oh Shit!’ expression. You should have a sign to hold up for moments like that.”

  “Let’s go, smart ass,” I said, half my anger gone, the rest of it directed at me and the stupid horse.

  I decided to leave the Jeep and walk back to the cabin. I was hungry, she was right, but I wanted more time. I didn’t want this to speed up. Right now was perfect. Right now, I was having fun and things weren’t confusing. Ali rubbed my arm, and I looked at her. She took my hand. I picked random bits of straw out of her hair from her mock tantrum as we walked, and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’d almost been shot today, and despite that, I was having the time of my life and losing my heart in one fell swoop.

  “You’re pretty deep right now, aren’t you?”

  “Huh, yeah I guess.”

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Pizza, maybe a beer or two if somebody has any.”

  “We could ride into town later?”

  “Yeah, but after today I don’t want to see how fast the gossip spreads about what I did to Tim.”

  “The diner was creepy the other day, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah. Small towns. A near shooting and a horse killing will make headlines instead of…” I broke off the thought because I’d almost said it: a guy who almost raped Ali. Yeah, that wasn’t news. Not any I wanted her to be reminded of all the time.

  “What?”

  “How nepotism is alive and well in this town. I’m not going to press major charges, but I want to get him slapped with a fine and make sure he’s not around any guns. Things like that.”

  True, I had thought this also, but I wanted to leave the other part unsaid.

  “Big words. You never used to talk like that.”

  “I learned a lot, grew up.”

  “Didn’t we all.” She pulled me into a one arm hug and rested her head on my shoulder as we walked slowly back to the house.

  When we topped the next rise, I could see an SUV parked at the main house, the sheriff’s brown color with gold lettering standing out in the sunlight. I smiled when we got closer, pointing out to Ali that they had Tim in the backseat, apparently handcuffed. His arms were behind his back and, as soon as I got close, he started yelling and smacking his head on the side window. I was horrified when blood smears started obscuring the glass. Nobody was in the front seats, so I took off running to the SUV.

  “Go find the sheriff; they probably went up to the porch.”

  “What are you going to do to him?”

  “Keep him from killing himself,” I panted, as I broke into full speed.

  As quick as I was, Alison was by far faster. I’d thought when I’d chased her before that she was quick, but I knew I was a fast sprinter. Now I knew she had been holding back. She left me behind and started yelling for Carl or the sheriff, probably figuring either or both were here. Instead, Deputy Bob came sprinting from the porch as Alison skidded to a halt and started pointing.

  I got to the SUV and opened the door, spilling Tim out on the ground. His face was a pulp of swollen and bruised flesh, and he was almost unconscious. I rolled him onto his side so he wouldn’t choke if he started to puke and looked on in confusion.

&nbs
p; The deputy had his hand on the gun when he rounded the SUV, probably not knowing anything more than what Dade and Tim had told him, so I put my hands on my head and backed away from him.

  “What’s going on here?”

  “He started bashing his face into the glass, so I saved his sorry ass.”

  “You sure you didn’t smack him around some more? I heard that you were pretty rough on him.”

  “Sir, the blood is on the inside of the glass,” Alison said calmly, her sweet and gentle voice killing the aggression that had been building in the air.

  “Oh wow,” was all he said, pulling his hand back and looking at the glass.

  “Want us to call an ambulance?”

  “No, I’ll radio it in. He did this to himself? This is a new one.”

  The deputy, no his name wasn’t Bob, I couldn’t read his name tag, talked into his radio for a moment while we all watched the moaning lump on the ground. He took our statements after making sure Tim was stable and not having a seizure, but not moving his head, and confirmed that it was the same story Dade had told him. I knew he was doing his job, but I already knew I was in the right and this piece of shit was wrong.

  “You pressing charges?”

  “Right now, I don’t know,” I told him truthfully as we watched Tim moan and move his leg lazily. “I don’t know if something broke loose when the horse fell on his leg or, whatever else might be wrong with him.”

  “From everyone’s words, he missed the first shot and was going to take another. If you hadn’t missed him by a mile and shot his horse instead, I’d say you gave this kid his life back. The boss is going to go ape shit when he gets out of court and hears about this, but what else is new? So don’t feel guilty for the kid, feel guilty for me having to deal with his uncle.”

  I laughed. “You’re right,” I told him, “Except I didn’t miss my shot. I’ve killed enough people.”

  “Think about it. Once the ambulance gets him, I’ll get in contact again. I’m guessing for now you’d like to have a no contact order? Unofficial?”

  “No, no, no, no, no,” Tim started moaning softly, coming around. His hands were a bloody smear from being near his head and he ran his hands to his temples, pressing them in.

  “Dude’s not right,” I told Deputy Owen, finally seeing the name tag.