“Give that back, asshole. I almost had it figured out.”
He shoved the guy back when he tried to grab the device. “I’m in charge, I’ll figure it out. You can’t figure out how to tie your own shoelaces.” He didn’t have to look at the idiot to know he was mad-dogging him. Guy was a Neanderthal with a low forehead that sported eyebrows that just about touched over his nose, and an IQ to match. Max ignored him and went about trying to figure out where the hell they were.
“I’m going to take a piss.” With that announcement, Tellier slammed out of the truck. Max smirked. He hoped the guy fell off the side of a cliff while he was taking that piss. That would provide some comic relief.
How the hell was he supposed to check in with Bennett if there was no fucking cell service? He put the address for the Broken Arrow Ranch into the GPS and waited for the damned thing to figure out their location. He stared at the screen. Sure enough, they’d taken a wrong turn and were now on a road that ran behind the cluster of ranch buildings visible on the satellite view. He studied the layout of the place, noting the location of the main house and the quickest escape route once they grabbed the woman and kid. He didn’t know why Bennett didn’t order them killed, which was a hell of a lot easier than snatching them and then holding them in a cabin like the guy wanted. He figured Justin Bennett maybe wanted to have a little fun before he offed them. Couldn’t blame him. Or maybe the woman knew something and Justin needed that before the fun began. Regardless, that was the job. Snatch the woman and kid and hold them until Justin got there.
He widened the screen to take in the area surrounding the ranch. A red dot showed his current position, and where the road they were on joined what looked like a dirt road, more of a path than a road, that ran along the creek until it crossed the road. An idea formed. He and the idiot could drive until they reached that path, then hike down along the creek. It would put them close enough to the ranch to get a firsthand look at the setup from the cover of the trees. They’d see how many people were about, and work out a plan for the grab. He stopped himself from leaning on the horn to get Tellier’s attention. He didn’t want to alert any of the dumbass cowboys to their presence. He was sorely tempted to drive off and let Tellier fend for himself, but as much as he despised him, the motherfucker was a big brute and Max would need him if he had to grab two people, even if one was a kid.
The sound of cracking and crashing had him looking out the window to see the big bastard wading through the underbrush to get back to the truck. Max eyed his partner as he settled back in his seat. He was covered in dried leaves and pine needles and when he reached in his pocket for a pack of cigarettes, a cut across the back of his hand oozed a thin line of blood. “What the hell happened to you? And give me one of those smokes.”
“Fell down the goddamn mountain, that’s what. I slipped and ended up sliding down a hill, rolling through all these bushes and shit. Got covered in crap.”
Max didn’t bother smothering a laugh. He took a cigarette and pulled out his lighter. “Better hope you didn’t roll through poison oak, or you’re going to be hating life more than you already do.”
He put the truck into gear and didn’t bother to check for traffic because there wasn’t any traffic in the sticks. He pulled onto the road, scanning for the trail that would lead him to the Broken Arrow Ranch.
Chapter Fourteen
Gwen led the young gelding into his stall. Even after working him on the lunge line for forty minutes, the horse still pranced with energy. She gave him one last rub behind his ears before turning to Queenie, who stretched her head over the stall door and gave a soft whiffing noise.
She stroked the mare’s velvety nose. “You want to get out, too?”
Deep green pine trees piercing a gorgeous blue sky, puffy white clouds, a hawk circling high above all called to Gwen. She bit her bottom lip, considering. Cameron had gone fishing with the Cutter kids and wouldn’t be back until lunch, and Eli was working somewhere on the ranch. Going with the impulse, she snapped on a lead rope and unlatched the stall door to bring the mare to the hitching post. Within minutes, Queenie was ready and Gwen swung into the saddle.
After a brief stop at the shop to tell Jed where she was going, she nudged the horse in the ribs and set off at a steady trot. They followed the trail along the creek, and Gwen delighted in the beauty of the day. Rushing water tumbled over boulders and short waterfalls, then slowed to form shady pools under the pines and aspen. The steady clop of the horse’s hooves joined with the squawks of blue jays. She felt like she was absorbing the peace and serenity through the pores of her skin.
What would it be like to live on the Broken Arrow permanently? To wake up every morning in the most beautiful part of the world. A sly voice in the back of her head whispered that it would be perfect if that meant waking tangled up in bed with Eli. Ever since those intoxicating kisses, a secret fantasy had taken hold, a fantasy where Eli professed everlasting love, dropped to his knee, and asked her to marry him.
She let out a wry laugh. She didn’t see him ever dropping to his knee, and despite the kisses, he certainly didn’t love her. The galling truth was if that scenario ever actually happened, she’d say yes. Her feelings toward Eli were complicated, but she was self-aware enough to know that the attraction she’d fought against from their first meeting had only grown since she’d arrived at the Broken Arrow, then was tipped over the edge with those hot kisses. The Broken Arrow wasn’t her home, and she couldn’t stay, but that didn’t stop her from wishing she could.
The day warmed and the sun shone through the trees, marbling the trail with shadow and light. Gwen paused, leaning forward in the saddle. She pulled the reins to stop the horse, frowning. Prints in the mud indicated someone had passed by here. Two someones.
Hikers? Fishermen? She didn’t need Robby’s skill to determine the tracks were recent. After the distance of a quarter mile or so, they disappeared. She glanced around, looking for evidence they’d gone down to the creek.
Eli would want to know about this. She reached for the radio on her waistband and came up empty. Her mind blanked. Where was her radio? She’d had it that morning while feeding the horses. She paused, thinking back, then sighed when she remembered. She’d used the bathroom in the barn, setting the radio on the sink. And left it there.
She pulled the reins to turn the mare and tapped her heels. She’d return to the ranch to let Eli know. Bending forward, she looked for any sign of where the pair might have left the trail. Queenie’s abrupt stop almost had her toppling from the saddle. Two men had stepped from behind a large boulder perched on the slope maybe fifteen feet above the trail. Queenie pranced backward, clearly as alarmed as Gwen by their sudden appearance. She held the reins firmly and patted the horse on her neck. “Easy there, girl.”
The two men jogged down the slope to the trail to stand shoulder to shoulder, blocking her way.
“Nice morning for a ride.” The shorter of the two men wore a leather vest and spoke with a raspy voice that made her think he was a longtime smoker. He had the heavy shoulders of a regular weight lifter and ink up both sides of his neck. She mentally dubbed him Thug One. His companion, Thug Two, stood several inches over six foot, his crooked nose looking like he’d led with it in a boxing match.
Gwen shifted uneasily. They didn’t look like hikers and weren’t carrying any fishing gear. They looked like they’d fit right in at a biker bar. She thought back to Eli’s concerns that someone was messing with the diverter and wondered if these two were the guilty party.
Queenie flicked her ears nervously. Gwen could turn around and take the trail farther upstream into the mountain, but that direction led away from Eli and the ranch. The men began moving toward her, Thug One holding out his hand like he meant to grab Queenie’s bridle.
Heart thudding, Gwen considered her alternatives. Coming to a decision, she tensed, waiting for her moment. She found it when the big guy slid on loose gravel. While he was still trying to regain his balanc
e, she dug her heels into Queenie’s side. The mare did what quarter horses do best. She surged forward in a burst of speed, taking the gap between the two men. Thug Two tried to grab on to Gwen’s leg as they flew past, but she loosened her foot from the stirrup and kicked out, landing a glancing blow to his shoulder. She heard the men shouting behind her but didn’t slow, taking the trail as fast as the horse could manage.
They reached the dirt road, and she urged Queenie into a gallop, the horse’s thundering hooves echoed by the pounding of Gwen’s heart. A quick glance over her shoulder showed no sign of the two men on the trail. Up ahead, a figure on horseback raced toward her at full gallop, and she thought she’d never seen a more welcome sight. Eli brought Xander to a stop in front of her. His hat was pulled low over his forehead and a dark expression clouded his face.
“Where the hell have you been?”
“For a ride. I told Jed. Eli, I saw—”
“That was over an hour ago, and Luis said he saw two men on the forest service road earlier. Thought they were the guys who’d been looking for work.” Xander pawed the ground and Eli tightened his hold on the reins, edging the stallion closer until she and Eli were knee to knee.
“I saw them on the trail.”
His gaze snapped with burning intensity. “What happened?”
“At first I noticed two sets of tracks on the trail and wondered if there were hikers or maybe fishermen. Then the tracks disappeared and when I was looking to see where they’d gone, two men stepped from behind this big boulder. The one guy made some comment about it being a nice morning, but the way they were looking at me, how they were acting, they scared me.”
He reached out and gripped her hand, fingers warm. Such a small gesture, but it steadied her.
“What did you do?”
“I waited until I thought I had a chance and counted on Queenie to get me out of there fast. It worked. She’s quick off the dime and we flew right past them before they could stop me.”
“Did they try?”
“The one guy did. He tried to grab me, but I kicked him as we flew by and we got away.”
Eli gave a curt nod, fingers tightening around hers before releasing her. “Good. Let’s go back.”
Gwen’s breath came out in a whoosh. She’d been ready to defend her perception that the men had meant her harm, but Eli had taken her at her word.
He led the way back to the barn, Gwen following. JD and another man were working horses in a corral next to the barn, and Jed was bent over the motor of an ATV. Gwen gave a sigh of relief when she stopped at the hitching post, glad to be home. Eli had already dismounted and was standing beside Queenie when she swung her leg over the horse’s back, kicked her other foot free. As she began to slide to the ground, a pair of firm hands gripped her at the waist. When her feet touched down, Eli turned her around. His eyes were the dark, swirling gray of thunderclouds, glaring at her from under the brim of his hat. “Come with me.”
“Eli, I—”
“Gwenny, you’re back.” Cameron raced across the yard from the house and through the barnyard. He slowed when he got near the horses, obviously remembering his uncle’s admonishment. Eli dropped his hands and took a step back as Cameron approached.
“Jed said you went riding. I want to go riding. Will you take me next time?”
She glanced up at Eli, his expression unreadable, then back at Cameron. “We’ll go riding soon, Cam. Did you have your lunch?”
“I was making a pbj when I saw you were home.”
“Okay, go eat and I’ll be back at the house as soon as I get Queenie cleaned up and in her stall.” Cameron nodded and took off.
She turned back to the man standing motionless beside her. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she realized with sudden clarity that he was silently vibrating with anger. She attached Queenie’s halter and clipped on the lead rope before taking off the bridle. She had unbuckled the leather strap to the cinch when Eli reached past her to pull the saddle off the horse’s back. “Gwendolyn, follow me.” He carried the saddle into the barn and to the tack room, where he set it on a rack. Then he turned to her, hands on his hips, brows lowered over narrowed eyes. “Where’s your radio?” The words were clipped.
Gwen crossed her arms in front of her. She didn’t like being treated like a recalcitrant school child brought before the principal.
“It’s on the bathroom sink, where I accidentally left it. Don’t scold me, Eli.”
He gave her a look that bore right through her, then turned his back. He took off his Stetson and raked his fingers through his dark hair before resettling the hat on his head. Gwen had never seen Eli lose his temper. He might show his displeasure, he was assertive and let people know when he was unhappy with them, but he was always in control. But right at this moment, he was clearly having trouble holding on to that control.
He turned back around, gaze narrowed. “I told you to take the radio for exactly this reason.” He took a step closer. “Not only do you have to worry about that asshole Justin and whatever the hell he might do, but there are people in this valley who would like to drive me out. They’ve sabotaged the diverter, cut fence line, and may think going after my girlfriend is a good way of getting at me.”
“Why are people trying to drive you out? And I’m not your girlfriend.”
“As far as anyone else is concerned, you are.” He drew in a deep breath before explaining, “There’s a developer who wants to build a resort. The Morgan family owns the southern two hundred acres, but I own the rest of the valley, at least what isn’t public land. I also control the easement needed to access Morgan land. They want to sell and are putting pressure on me to do the same, or at least let the developer use the easement.”
“And you won’t do it.”
“No.”
“Good.”
A raised brow showed surprise.
“Did you think I wouldn’t agree with you, Eli? That I don’t see the incredible value in what you have here? A developer would change this land forever. There would be construction, traffic, people. And if development gets started, over time there will be more and more pressure on you because you hold the best land.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “Yeah, you do get it.”
When he continued to watch her with that intense expression, Gwen shifted uncomfortably. “I need to groom Queenie and then check on Cameron.”
When she turned toward the door, he grabbed her hand. “Gwen, wait.” She turned back to him. “Until it’s safe, I don’t want you riding without me or one of the hands. And leave Queenie. Jed and I are going to ride out and look for those men. Can you give me a description?”
He laced his fingers with hers and tugged her closer. Heat rose in her cheeks. “Um, one tall, dark hair, nose broken at some point. The other a few inches under six feet with short brown hair. Tattoos going up his neck. Lots of muscles.” His thumb stroked the palm of her hand, sending a tingling sensation zipping up her arm. “Justin could have sent them.”
Eli nodded. “Yeah, they sound like the same guys Luis saw earlier.” He looked down at their hands, as if suddenly realizing they were joined, and tugged her closer. He dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss as hot as it was brief.
He stepped back, and with a shake of his head, let go of her hand and crossed the room to a tall metal cabinet. Taking keys from his pocket, he opened the cabinet to show a rack of firearms. He took out a webbed belt and strapped it to his waist.
“Eli, I don’t think they were armed.” She was glad her voice sounded steady after that unexpected, knee-wobbling kiss.
“Just because you didn’t see a weapon doesn’t meant they didn’t have one.” He picked up a pistol, then took a clip off a shelf and slid it into the butt of the gun, pulling back the slide before snapping it into the holster. He closed the cabinet and walked to the doorway.
“Eli?”
He gave her a questioning look.
“Be careful, okay?”
> He gave her a cocky grin. “Worried about me, darlin’?”
Deciding she was safer not answering that question, she walked past him and out the door.
Chapter Fifteen
“When are we leaving, Gwenny? Christy and Robby already left with the bull this morning. I wish I could have gone with them.”
Gwen thought Cameron was about to bounce off the walls, he was that excited about going to the Fourth of July celebration in Hangman’s Loss. “Yeah, well, you’re stuck going with us.” She took pity on him. “But I’m almost ready. Go on outside, and I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
She wondered if Cameron felt the tension that had settled around the Broken Arrow over the past couple days. The FBI had reported no developments, and the two men she’d seen on the trail had disappeared, but other things had happened. The diverter had been damaged again, this time seriously enough that replacement equipment had to be ordered. Fence line had been cut, leading to another day being devoted to rounding up cattle that had escaped into the neighboring forest land.
She picked up the small cooler she’d packed with drinks, and a cloth bag with a change of clothes. The temperature would cool after sundown so she’d brought jeans and her hoodie, but for the warm day she wore a sundress Daisy had given her. One good thing from the past week was finally meeting Ben’s wife. Daisy was as pretty as her name implied, and Gwen appreciated her calm competence in dealing with her children.
Daisy had offered the dress, claiming she’d bought it for herself and then never worn it. In summer yellows and greens, Gwen realized why. With dark hair and eyes, her new friend did better in jewel tones, while the lighter colors warmed Gwen’s golden complexion. It was fun to dress like a girl for a change, as Cameron called it, and she’d spent some time getting ready. She didn’t have any makeup with her, but she had styled her hair in a French braid and wore strappy sandals on her feet.
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