“But you do think he could be responsible for runnin’ you off the road?” Rafe’s chocolate eyes were penetrating.
She nodded. “He left me with a black eye and split lip, the night he freaked out.”
A sharp note of anger put a note of cold steel in his voice. “And why am I just now hearin’ about this? You should have filed charges against the bastard.”
Mesa put a hand on his arm and squeezed gently. She knew Ralph wasn’t the first man to slap her mother around. In fact, since Mesa’s father’s death, Shirley had seemed to attract that kind of man.
“That’s not something a woman wants to share with the world.” Shirley frowned up at Rafe. “I thought Ralph was different, but after that night, I was glad Mesa had come home. It gave me the courage to tell him to go to hell. I’m finished with that part of my life.” Tears filled her eyes and spilled down across her cheeks.
Rafe was only mildly surprised when Mesa released his arm and gently folded her mother in a comforting embrace. “It’s alright, Mom. We’re a family now, and we’ll get through this together.”
“My shrink says I’ve been punishing myself for not being with Billy the night he died, and maybe she’s right. We’d had a big disagreement because he wanted to go out and I didn’t. If I’d gone with him, he wouldn’t have gotten so drunk and I could have kept him out of that fight.” A heartbroken sob shook her body. “He might still be alive if I’d gone with him.”
Rafe watched Mesa holding her mother, providing comfort and offering strength. The invisible barrier that had grown between the two during Mesa’s childhood had somehow disappeared since Mesa had returned home, except now it was the child providing the solace she’d never received from the mother. His heart swelled with pride and a much deeper feeling, knowing that Mesa’s heart was filled with love and compassion and she would never be capable of treating their child with the cold treatment she’d received from the woman she now comforted. He wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her how proud he was of her.
Instead, he waited silently until Shirley regained her composure before he spoke again and then his voice was soft, without a hint of steel. “Miz Howell, Billy died because Stanley Swartz drew a knife and stabbed him durin’ an argument. If you’d been there it wouldn’t have changed a thing.”
She nodded and stepped back from Mesa. “I’m trying to accept that, Rafe, but these things take a while.”
“Don’t you let anyone push you around again. You let me know, and I’ll throw their asses in jail, you hear me?” He reached out one hand and gently patted her shoulder.
She nodded and one side of her mouth lifted in a tentative smile. “Thanks.”
Surprising Mesa, he then used that same hand to stroke her cheek gently. “I’ve gotta get home. I’m goin’ back in to the station to pull the late shift, so I might not see you and Raale until tomorrow after lunch, but if you have any trouble out here or need help, call my cell first and then have someone call 911. It’ll only take a few minutes for me to get here.”
She nodded, warmth spreading through her veins just from the touch of his fingers against her skin, but then she realized he wasn’t going to leave it at that. His hand slipped behind her neck and with her mother standing there, he slowly drew her head toward his. His lips parted and covered her mouth for a brief but intimate kiss. When it ended, his kept his face close, his eyes warm with desire. “I’ll probably call you before I go in tonight. How late can I call?”
She shrugged. “Anytime.”
“I don’t want to wake you up.”
Shirley smiled a real smile. She could feel the air snapping between them. “Geeze, Rafe! It’s obvious that the time wouldn’t bother her, as long as she gets to talk to you.”
He grinned at Mesa’s mother for maybe the first time in his life. “Just want to keep the water smooth. No ripples.”
Mesa laughed softly, her face rosy. “Just go. Call me before you go to work.”
Rafe nodded and winked at her. With a quick nod to Shirley, he turned and walked back to his truck. When he drove away he looked in the rear view mirror and could see the two women were standing on the porch watching his truck disappear.
Mesa was only a little uncomfortable that her mother had seen Rafe kiss her. Thinking about the kiss she knew it was his way of bringing their relationship, whatever it might be, out into the open. He’d never liked the idea of them keeping it quiet and there was absolutely no chance of that now. He’d known that before he kissed her.
“So,” Shirley turned to face her daughter, a smile lighting her face. “How long has this been in the making?”
One corner of Mesa’s mouth lifted. “In the making? Probably all my life.”
“Oh, you told me he’s Raale’s father, but I’m talking about this time around. Is this new?” Shirley’s brown eyes sparkled with interest.
Mesa shrugged and she felt her face burn. “Yeah, it is. In fact, it’s new enough, I’m not going to be comfortable talking about it, if you don’t mind.”
A cackle burst from Shirley’s throat and she was only half successful in stifling it. “Okay. I guess I can understand that, but I gotta tell you, all the single women in the county are gonna hate your guts. Rafe Storm Horse has been turning female heads for years.”
Mesa nodded. “I don’t doubt that. There’s no doubt he’s a testosterone laden, alpha male and just the kind of man women are attracted to. I can’t imagine how he’s remained single all these years.”
“Because he’s always made it known right up front that he’s not interested in commitments,” Shirley said solemnly.
The younger woman looked at her mother in astonishment. “And you know this, how?”
A deep laugh escaped Shirley at the question. “Rest easy, child. Even in a drunken stupor, I know I’m too old for him. But I used to hang out in the same bars and places where women who wanted to know him better hung out. Talk gets around.”
Mesa frowned, her dark browns puckering between her eyes. “I’m sure it does.”
One of Shirley’s hands lifted and stroked Mesa’s cheek gently. “I don’t guess I’ve ever told you how proud I am of you, have I?”
Mesa pulled her eyes away from Rafe’s truck fading in the distance and looked at her mother, her eyes stretched wide in surprise. “No, I don’t think you have.”
Shirley’s smile was filled with warmth that radiated from her eyes. “Well, I am. Even when you were out there on your own, making your way in the world without the support of a family, I was proud of you. Your daddy would be proud, too. You know that don’t you?”
Mesa nodded. “I think it was his love of music that pushed me.” Her eyes softened. “You know it was the music and the chance to sing for people that drew him to the bars, maybe more than the drinking. It was something he needed as much as he needed to breathe.”
Shirley’s smile faded. “I loved that man, Mesa. I’d loved him my whole life.”
“I can certainly understand that, Mom.” She looked down the road where the dust was settling in the wake of Rafe’s departure.
Chapter 14
Fisher sat in a dark corner of the bar waiting. He knew the boss wasn’t going to be happy that the Indian was locked up in the jail. He lifted his empty mug, signaling the bar maid, Peg, that he needed another beer before he looked at his watch. It was almost time to call and let the boss know what was going on. Or maybe to find out more about what was going on than he knew. Somehow, the man he called seemed to have more information than he should have access to.
The girl slid a mug brimming with draft beer onto the table in front of him and walked quickly away. He grinned at her backside. Snotty little bitch. She seemed to think she was above him. Given the time, he’d be glad to show her. He lifted the mug to his lips and almost dropped it as the cell phone in his other hand buzzed.
He looked at the number and frowned. He was supposed to initiate the call. It wasn’t good when he didn’t, but waiting for him to answer
would only make the boss angrier. He flipped the phone open. “Yeah.” He tuned out the normal noise that was a part of every bar and concentrated on the voice in his ear. A frown crept over his face and then ignoring the full, frosty mug of beer, he pushed to his feet and exited through the back door. He listened in silence for several seconds and then a smile melted across his face, followed shortly by a frown. “But why don’t I just take her. Make her disappear so no one knows where she went.” He really wanted some time alone with Mesa Howell. She was a minor celebrity and since he’d seen her the first time, his imagination had created a fantasy around bending her to his will, turning her into his own personal sex toy.
The voice on the other end of the line barked sharply into his ear and Fisher’s frown became a scowl, but he nodded his head. “Alright, as long as you understand that each body I leave increases my fee.” He snarled petulantly. “I’m taking a lot of risks to get this job done.” He slapped his cell phone closed and slipped it into his pocket. The beer he’d left sitting on the table inside completely forgotten, he walked to his truck and returned to his room in the cheap motel on the outskirts of town. Tomorrow he’d have to find a secluded place to watch the cabin that housed Mesa Howell so he could set up an ambush. He’d been hoping her death wouldn’t have to be quick, but he was making big bucks for this job, so he’d have to make the boss happy.
The next morning he left the motel well before daylight, a back pack settled on one shoulder. He pushed the small dirt bike he kept in his room along with him to the rear of the truck. He popped the tailgate down and pulled out the narrow ramp he used for loading and unloading the dirt bike. It was a tough job pushing the bike up the ramp, but he got it done quickly enough and was soon headed down the road in the general direction of the Howell ranch. He bypassed the turnoff that would take him to the ranch and drove on a few miles until he found the narrow, seldom used logging road that entered from the back of the property. He opened the camouflaged back pack and pulled out a light weight suit of the same camouflaged pattern and slipped into it. It took no time to unload the dirt bike and then hanging the back pack, now containing only several bottles of water, a few granola bars, a flashlight and a pair of binoculars, on his back, he hopped on the bike and headed out. The bike would take him most of the way to the cabin beside the lake and he’d have to hike the rest of the way, but the chances of someone hearing him approach the back side of the lake on the bike was too great.
It took a while for him to locate an observation spot that was well concealed, but gave him a good view of the scattered buildings and houses that made up the headquarters of the Rocking H. But an hour and a half later he was hunkered down in a clump of brush that overlooked the place. Now he would wait.
^^^
Mesa put her coffee cup in the sink, stretched languorously and slipped back up the stairs to get dressed. After she pulled on her Wrangler jeans and her Roper boots, she found a comfortable pull over shirt and swept her long hair back into the now common ponytail on the back of her head.
When she was finished she slipped quietly into Raale’s room. The child lay on the single bed, on her tummy, her hands clasped together under her chin, one leg out from under the sheet and drawn up almost to her chest on one side. Her dark braids were askew on the pillow behind her head, her breathing deep and steady.
A smile melted across Mesa’s face and she was rocked by an unmeasurable surge of love. That tiny human being was a product of the love she felt for Rafe Storm Horse and was the greatest reward she’d ever known. She wished there was some way she could assure that her little girl would never know anything except love and joy, but in reality she knew she could only protect the child to the best of her limited abilities. She stepped close to the bed and bent to drop a quick kiss to one soft cheek.
One small brown eye fluttered open. “Mom?”
Mesa stroked the back of the girl’s head. “Shh, I didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep,” she whispered.
Raale smiled. “’s okay. I lub you.” Her voice was soft and coarse with sleep, her eyes already closed again.
“I love you, too. Get some more rest. I’ll see you later,” Mesa whispered as she backed to the door. She pulled it open and watched as Raale shifted her position on the bed, but the deep breathing resumed so Mesa eased the door shut and slipped down the stairs.
She followed the short-cut path from the cabin to the barn and smiled as the birds and squirrels scolded her for invading their sheltered homes. It was just good daylight, but she knew Bob, Gibby and most of the other hands had long since eaten breakfast, loaded their horses and gone over to help the ranch that adjoined the Rocking H with penning, worming, and castrating their yearlings. They’d be gone most of the day and, next week, the hands from over there would be here helping out with the same thankless chores.
It was quiet in the barn, but To heard her and nickered a soft greeting. She really liked the young blue roan stallion. He’d finished most of his breakfast, having only a little hay left in his hayrack, so Mesa went to the tack room and brought a small plastic tote filled with grooming tools back to his stall. While he finished, she gave him a good brushing. They finished about the same time and she slipped his halter on him, attached a lead rope, and carried the tote while she led him to the tack room and tied him to a ring sunk deep in a heavy beam specifically for the purpose of tying horses during saddling.
With efficient, confident movements, she placed the pads on his broad back and followed with the comfortable old saddle that Uncle Rance had ridden for years. To opened his mouth for the bit when she held it to him and in no time she was mounted and loping circles in the round pen.
The colt moved willingly and smoothly around the pen, following her slightest cue and Mesa soon tired of the small pen. She drew him to a stop at the gate, lifted the latch and using her heel next to the gate, asked her mount to side pass away, allowing her to pull the gate open. When there was adequate room, she kneed him forward, around the end of the gate and pulled it shut as he side passed away from the opening. He received an enthusiastic neck petting and soft words of praise for his willingness and then Mesa turned him and rode to the lane beside the barn and into the woods. Following the small two track road, she would ride up into the hilly forest that made up the back half of the ranch.
Once she was beyond the fences, she worked the colt at walking in a diagonal until he moved from one rut into the other, and then cued him for the other diagonal and angled back again. She did the same exercise at a trot and then requested a left lead to lope about half a mile, stopped, and requested a right lead and loped roughly another half mile. Then they dropped into his mile eating walk to just enjoy the rest of the ride.
It was peaceful back in the forest and she hadn’t been here since she and Jenny used to ride these woods when they were in school. Mesa knew that Uncle Rance had sold the pines off one section back here years ago and he’d mentioned recently that it might be time to harvest them again. A squirrel appeared on the side of one of the trees and, not taking its eyes off her, hopped to the next tree and the next, staying just ahead of her. Without looking, the small rodent jumped again, expecting another tree to catch it, but the next tree in the row had died and the animal plopped to the ground with a solid thump. Mesa laughed silently as the surprised animal quickly recovered from the rough landing and scurried away into the underbrush.
She didn’t know when it started, but Mesa became aware of a sudden stillness in the forest around her and she felt like someone was watching her. The hair on the back of her neck prickled and she drew To to a stop in order to look around, listen for any unusual noises, but heard nothing. Absolutely nothing. The skin on the back of her neck prickled again and she nervously shifted in the saddle, To reacting to her nervousness by dancing around under her.
At the same time, a chunk of wood exploded from the tree three feet to her left. To lunged to the right and wheeled around as a sound like the buzz of a bee flew past Mesa’s f
ace and another chunk of wood exploded in the same tree in almost the same place. She tried to calm the colt who was dancing uneasily in near panic, beneath her when yet another chunk of tree exploded on another tree beyond her. She crouched over her horse’s neck and booted him forward. He eagerly lunged into a run. Mesa suddenly realized that, although there had been no sound of a gun firing, it couldn’t be anything else. Someone was shooting at her!
To flew back down the small lane they’d traveled, those strong legs built to carry him to safety, drumming his sturdy hooves relentlessly into the soft sod atop the two track path. Mesa reined him in as they neared the barn and dug her cell phone out of her pocket. Her hands trembled as she pushed in the number to Rafe’s cell phone.
She didn’t know if he’d be up yet, or not, but she needed him here as soon as possible.
He answered on the second ring. “Mesa?”
“Rafe, I was riding in the woods behind the lake and someone started shooting at me.” Her voice trembled as she spoke.
He swore softly. “Get in the house and lock the doors. I’m on my way, baby.”
She intended to do as he said, but To was blowing hard from the run, and she couldn’t put him in a stall like he was. When she reached the barn, she quickly stripped the saddle off the winded horse, leaving it laying where it fell and turned him loose in a small paddock. After he’d drunk a limited amount of water, she turned the tub over so he couldn’t over drink and then jogged back to the house.
By the time she’d reached the house she could hear the wail of Rafe’s siren in the distance. She closed the heavy front door and engaged the deadbolt, then rushed to make sure the back door was secure as well.
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