by Paige Yancey
Walking next to her as the dust settled, he followed.
The other hands stopped in front of her, all talking at once.
“Jeanie, are you ok?” asked Gavin in a loud gruff voice.
“They just got away from us,” Abe said, motioning with a wide sweep of his arms.
“Looks like someone opened the gate and excited the horses into a frenzy,” said another hand. “There was no stopping them.”
They all looked back toward the corral. Everyone was silent after the last comment. Most of the hands had still been in the barn, mucking stalls. One of the first things Hank and Percy had told him when they’d briefed him about the rehab ranch was that the stalls were always locked, as well as the gates on the fences. Tyler knew it was rule on most ranches and was something he’d learned from helping at his grandfather’s spread when he was a kid.
Most of the horses here were already skittish from mistreatment, so for safety reasons, nothing was left open, but strange things had been happening on the ranch since the first week Jeanie had arrived, and Hank Patterson was concerned for her safety as well as her dad’s.
Jeanie frowned as the ranch hands gathered around her. “I swear, I’m fine.”
All the men except the foreman shuffled about or looked away.
Percy stated in a loud voice, “We’ll need to keep an eye out to make double sure we don’t leave anything open.”
Everyone agreed and began to walk away.
Tyler felt tension begin to rise in him, but tamped it down, knowing he would need to stay on the alert around Jeanie. Standing before him, she seemed to shake herself, and then she marched onward like a soldier into battle. She took a few steps then looked back at him, as though just remembering that Tyler was to follow her. She motioned for him to hurry up.
“What are we doing next?” he asked, giving her a smile to try to lighten the mood.
She looked up into his eyes, her mouth at first twisting in grimace then curving into a slight grin. “Now, we’ll work the horses.”
Again, Minnie followed them like a dog would, heading straight for the corral, almost like she was Jeanie’s shadow.
After helping his grandfather most summers at his ranch in Wyoming, Tyler knew what she meant and followed her to the corral. The ranch hands had worked quickly and gotten the horses back into the corral. They’d worked as a team, and each had gone to a separate horse to soothe it. The horses had worked themselves into a lather, so the ranch hands where wiping them down with towels and brushes.
Jeanie took a long lead rope and attached it to Minnie’s collar outside of the corral, so that she could graze while they worked the horses. “We each take a rope and put it around their necks so that they can get used to being handled.”
Tyler raised an eyebrow. “The horses have all been broken. Am I correct?”
Jeanie nodded. “They’ve been broken, and many were ridden for years, but due to their mistreatment, they’re basically having to be re-broke, so they can trust humans, again.”
He walked to the nearest horse that a ranch hand hadn’t started working on. He reached out his hand, placing it beneath the horse’s nose. When the horse moving his head to the side and allowed him to glide his hand across the sides of its head, he began to croon to the horse. “My name’s Tyler. I’m new here.”
One of the hands approached him.
“Do you mind if I help?” Tyler asked.
“Sure thing. Looks like you’ve already made a friend.” He grinned as the horse butted his head against Tyler’s hand, seeking another scratch. “I’m Mark.” He held out his hand to shake.
“Tyler.”
“Nice to meet you. You know your way around horses?”
Tyler shrugged. “I helped on my grandfather’s ranch.”
Mark gave him a smile. “I’ll go find another horse to work with, seeing as you’re doing fine.” He walked off to another horse standing nearby.
Tyler glanced around. Jeanie stood several feet away, her gaze resting on him. Her expression was hard to read, but the color had returned to her skin, and her shadowed eyes glinted. He lifted his chin to acknowledge her presence then arched a brow. “You gonna show me the ropes?”
Jeanie watched as Tyler took a towel that was hanging on the fence and began rubbing down the horse. All the while, he talked in a soothing voice while watching the woman from the corner of his eye. His soft murmurs seemed to calm the bay gelding. The tension in Jeanie’s shoulders also eased. While he continued to wipe down the horse, Jeanie picked up a coarse-haired brush and began to stroke. As a team, they worked well together, completing the task quickly. By the time they finished, the horse had calmed wasn’t breathing so harshly.
Jeanie had looped a rope around his neck before she’d begun brushing and, now, moved it toward the horse.
Tyler watched closely as the horse started to breath heavily again, and the whites of its eyes grew. With smooth strides, he walked toward the head of the horse and started talking in a soft tone as he smoothed its head with his hand. He motioned for the rope with his other hand.
Without hesitating, Jeanie slowly handed Tyler the rope. While still smoothing the horse’s head, he slowly draped the rope over the horse’s neck. Showing no concern, the horse nuzzled Tyler’s shoulder, demanding more attention.
In a quiet tone, Jeanie said, “We walk them around the arena while they’re on the lead.”
“Okay. What is the horse’s name?” Tyler asked in a low tone as he started moving forward while still petting the horse’s head. As they walked, Jeanie came around the other side of the horse.
“His name is Bastien. He’s a sweet boy but was beat terribly by his previous owner when they were on the rodeo circuit.”
In the same calm tone, Tyler asked, “How did he come to the rehab ranch?”
Jeanie glanced at him over the horse’s neck then looked forward again. “He was rescued by the vet who cared for the animals at a local rodeo. The owner wanted to put Bastien down, because he was so weak and didn’t want to eat.”
Tyler could feel anger rising in him. His face heated. “The owner beat him and left him to die. Poor, Bastien.” He rubbed the horse’s head again, and Bastien butted his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a smile starting on Jeanie’s face.
After walking the horse around the corral a few times, they passed some of the other ranch hands with their horses. Jeanie connected the rope and began to walk Bastien on the lead. When a few circuits had been walked, Jeanie looked over at Tyler and pointed to a bridle hanging off the fence. “Tyler, can you get that bridle for me? I think Bastien is ready now.”
He walked toward the side of the metal corral and waited for a few horses to pass before grabbing the brown leather bridle Jeanie had asked for.
As he moved, Tyler breathed deeply. The smell of horses reminded him of his grandfather’s ranch. Even after spending so much time in the military, ranch life felt right. As he returned to Jeanie, he noted the dark circles under her eyes and a small crease between her brows that he hadn’t seen earlier. As it was only mid-morning, she shouldn’t be looking this run down.
“Here Jeanie let me help you get the bridle on,” Tyler said when he drew close.
Jeanie reached to take the bridle from Tyler, their hands touched, and their gazes locked. Jeanie had dark green, almost hazels eyes that had flecks of gold in them.
The moment was broken when another hand walked by leading his horse.
The man waggled his eyebrows. “What’s taking you so long, Jeanie? You got googly eyes for the new guy?” He chuckled under his breath as he passed by.
She chuckled right back. “No, Abe, I only have eyes for you.”
They both laughed good-naturedly about that. Tyler felt a pang of loss, missing the comradery he’d had with his fellow Rangers.
Tyler handed Jeanie the bridle and stepped back to give her room so that she could get the bridle on the horse. They walked in silence again, and when they were
done, the ranch hands walked the horses to their stalls in the barn. Once there, the horses would be brushed down and fed.
Jeanie continued to lead Bastien, holding onto the bridle. She shot him a glance. “Can you go get Minnie and lead her to the barn?”
He nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll meet you over there.”
“Okay,” she said while walking away and waving.
In several short brisk steps, he walked up to Minnie, untied her from the rope, and lead her over to the barn. At the barn entrance, he walked Minnie to her stall and closed the stall door behind her.
“See you in a little while, Minnie,” he said to the miniature pony.
As if she knew what he’d said, she whinnied back at him as he walked away.
A short distance away, a sharp scream sounded. A woman’s scream. Then rattling sounded, like a rattlesnake would make. Tyler ran down the corridor to the stall the scream had come from.
Jeanie regretted her startled scream. Snakes followed sounds. Immediately, she quieted and stood still, while trying to keep the Bastien calm by smoothing her hand over his flank. Her heart pounded while she tried to slow her breathing. Slowly, she began to step backward.
The snake coiled its body more and raised its head, looking ready to strike.
Her heartbeats slowed, thudding dully in her chest. She could feel the tension build in Bastien as he tried to pull back his head.
Just when she feared all hell would break loose, out of nowhere, a rope flew over the stall wall, sailing toward the snake, distracting it, and a strong arm snagged her around the waist and pulled her away from the stall entrance.
From the side of her face, a warm breath blew against her cheek, and a soft male voice said, “Don’t move.”
She gave a jerky nod.
Tyler grabbed her again and deposited her a few feet away atop a hay bale. More hands, likely drawn to the commotion, appeared. One took up Bastien’s reins, which she’d dropped and led him to another empty stall.
Her mind in a fog, she watched from her perch as the ranch hands and Tyler took care of the rattlesnake. A sharp report of a gun sounded, which caused Jeanie to jump. Percy the foreman exited the stall holding a rifle, and another left carrying the body of the snake.
Tyler came up to Jeanie while she sat on the hay bale. He squatted in front of her. “Are you okay?”
Jeanie’s hands felt clammy, and her head felt light. All she could do was stare. Tyler took her hands in his. His were strong, warm, and big.
While warmth seeped back into her body, she relaxed. “Yeah, I’m ok. It just scared the living crap out of me.”
A one-side smile curved his mouth. “Jeanie, Hank briefed me before I got here. He asked me to keep an eye out for any trouble.”
Jeanie blinked. “Is that why you’re here? To babysit me?”
He blinked. “Ma’am, I’m here for some of the same reasons you are. But I do know, Hank’s worried about you and your father.”
She nodded that she understood.
“I talked to the other hands, and no one saw anything suspicious. We aren’t sure how the snake got in there, but everyone’s keeping an eye out now.”
Jeanie let out her breath as her body sagged, and she leaned forward. Her head spun a little. She started to see stars, and her vision got foggy.
As she started to fall forward, Tyler grabbed her against him in a strong grip. He leaned her back against the hay bale, so she could sit against it. The strong muscled arms of a prior military man wrapped around her. For a few moments, she felt comforted. His smell was warm, natural and a little musky from horse and leather. Embarrassed she’d nearly passed out, she gave him a small smile. “Wow, today has been an eventful day.”
A smile started to form on his lips, but a crinkle in his forehead told her that he was concerned. “Yeah, I kinda noticed,” he said with a chuckle. “We need to keep a more watchful eye around you. Something fishy’s going on, and I don’t like it.”
Jeanie nodded her head in agreement and tried to stand.
“Whoa there,” he said softly. “Don’t get up quite yet. All that adrenaline, and then staying still, can really mess with your equilibrium.” Tyler motioned for her to sit down again.
“Weird stuff keeps happening to me since I’ve been here. I don’t know what is going on.”
Looking directly into her eyes, Tyler said, “Have you noticed anything or anyone suspicious before or after these things happen?”
After a deep breath, she let all the air out in a whoosh. “Well, when I’ve gone into town the few times I have since coming here, there always seems to be someone watching me and a black truck nearby.” Shrugging her shoulders, she looked up at Tyler. With him so close, she noted his strong jaw line and light brown hair. Jeanie stood slowly. “I’m good to go.”
Derek stood over her in a protective stance like a guard dog, making sure nothing else was going to attack.
From down the length of the barn, Gavin came walking with Hannah, the ranch therapist. As they approached them, Hannah said, “Jeanie are you ok? I hadn’t heard from you this morning, so I didn’t know if you’d forgotten our meeting today. I came looking for you, and Gavin filled me in.”
Jeanie grimaced. “Yeah, sorry about that. I got busy with the horses, and then all the excitement.” Feeling closed in, she smiled at everyone standing there. She could feel the sweat forming on her neck from all the gazes looking at her. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Gavin turned to Tyler. “Hey, let’s go check out the bunkhouse and get you set up.”
She could hear them talking to each other as they walked in the direction of the bunkhouse.
Gavin, along with Percy who they met up with inside the bunk house, to show Tyler his room assignment and a tour of the rest of the main part of the ranch.
When he was free, he walked over to Hannah’s office to wait for Jeanie. Hank had briefed Percy about Tyler being her guard and keeping a lookout for anything happening around her. The foreman had set it up so that Jeanie would show Tyler the ropes around the ranch, and then they would be assigned duties near each other or working together.
The wall he leaned on was barn red. There were a few little offices along it. Percy had told Tyler about the therapist, since he would have to see her, too. Most of the former military members working on the rehab ranch also saw Hannah. She worked for the ranch as a therapist for the humans and helped with the therapy for the horses, as well. Hank had explained all this to Tyler, before he’d arrived.
Deep in thought about how to figure out what was happening to Jeanie, he was surprised when the door swung open and Jeanie started down the steps with her face looking upwards as if to soak up the sunshine that was beaming down onto her face. When she stepped onto the ground, she noticed Tyler and almost seemed to take a step back as if startled to see him. Hank had mentioned that Jeanie had been abducted by a human trafficking ring and was having issues dealing with her daily life and trusting men.
“Were you waiting on me?”
A glance into her hazel eyes and seeing her concern made him realize he knew nothing about this woman other than what he’d been briefed on. As a Brotherhood Protector working for Hank, his first assignment after leaving the military was protecting Jeanie. His second assignment was to start healing from the PTSD that he’d been labeled with.
Tyler smiled up to Jeanie. “Gavin handed me off to Percy, and after the tour I was issued direct orders to be your shadow for the rest of the day.”
Her eyebrows rose and her face tilted to one side. “Well, let’s get to it. We’ve got lots to do.”
With a grin and a chuckle under his breath, Tyler followed Jeanie around to finish out the day.
Chapter 3
Sweat soaked his body, and he woke with his heart pounding in his ears. Tyler looked around to get his bearings and to remember where he was. He put his hand on the gun under his pillow, and the tension melted off his body. After so many years of living in a hostile environ
ment, old habits died hard.
He’d been medically discharged due to having PTSD. Who wouldn’t have some PTSD after everything he’d seen while serving with the Rangers? The doctors had given him medication to help with his anxiety, sleep issues, and mood swings, but he didn’t believe in taking medications and felt that hard work and willpower would get him through this. Just as he laid his head back on the pillow, the alarm blared on the night stand next his bed and right into his ear.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m getting up,” he said, talking to no one but himself as he pushed up and jumped out of bed. The sun wasn’t up yet, but Tyler was familiar with getting up early. His workout clothes were set out on the chair in the room, and he threw them on and left the bunkhouse main door to start his morning jog. Yesterday when he had finished out his day, he’d been introduced to all the other ranch hands, some prior military like himself. He’d been told there was a jogging path that followed the inner fence line enclosing the main part of the ranch.
As he started to run, he breathed deeply of the cool clean air. The sun was coming up, and the oranges and pinks of early morning could be seen over the tops of the mountains in the distance. The mountain peaks were grey and white, and the sides of the mountains looked purple from the shadows and darkness. Though still early dawn, he could see the tall grass in the fields and smell the wilderness beyond the fence. Birds sang and swooped down across the fields to catch flying bugs.
As he went around the loop once, he came upon the barn and did a quick security sweep. Not seeing anything out of place, he jogged along the well-worn dirt path that wound around the property. During the day, the smells of horses and fresh morning air seemed to help stave off the flashbacks that plagued his mind. However, with darkness still around him, his mind began to slip.
Tyler could see clearly in his mind’s eye one of the most recent missions he’d been on with his former unit. Impressions of sand and sweat were foremost on his mind. Then came sounds of men huffing as they ran along the side of walls to infiltrate the building they’d been assigned to take.