Chapter Six
Word from Kellan wasn’t good. Very few prints had been left. Caid’s tampering with the bullet and the business card meant little intel to be gained, and the print was a fancy, yet common brand of sneaker that had to be purchased either in a larger town or online. The flyer in the restaurant was a dead end, as well. No video surveillance showed who might have hung it, and other than her being able to identify the picture as her cattle and the fact that it announced a local UFOP event, they knew no more than they had before it’d gone up.
Caid and Bull sat around her kitchen table after a hearty breakfast of steak and eggs she’d cooked after awakening in Caid’s arms and making love to him again. Her body twinged in intimate places, sore from their passion the night before. The men discussed everything they knew and passed ideas back and forth about how to shut this down once and for all.
“We know they’re faking this evidence,” she said. “Surely there’s something we can do with that?” She imagined herself storming the stage at the event, telling everyone that it’s a lie, that Ashley and Jon and whoever else defrauded them and took their money under false pretenses.
“You might have something there,” Caid said. “From what I understand, the real draw is the pictures of what they did with your cattle. There are other events, but that’s the main event.” He frowned for a moment. “I don’t know how they’re going to pull that off, though. And there’s the whole why you angle.”
Bull set his fork down. “Have Jenny go to Ashley and tell her that she’ll pull the plug unless she gets a portion of the receipts or something.”
“No. I don’t want her involved.”
Jenny pulled out a chair and smiled. “I had the same thought. Maybe I should try to set up a meeting with Jon. Tell him we know. See what they offer?” She thought for a moment. “Not that Bull’s idea doesn’t have merit, but that sounds a bit too much like blackmail or extortion. I don’t like that.”
“We’d be walking right into their trap.” Caid shook his head. “I can’t put Jenny in that kind of danger.”
Jenny pushed back the chair and stood. “Stop talking about me as if I’m not here. I think seeing Jon is a bad idea. A no good, very bad, going to get me hurt idea. I don’t see any other choice. We can sit around and wait for someone to keep attacking my cattle, which I’m sure my insurance agent is going to love, or we can actually get this closed. I vote for the later. Caid, we need to know if those hired guys turned over any information.”
“The lady has a point. I like it.” Bull smiled at her. The big guy’s grin was reassuring. She really should hook Shelby and Bull up together. She suspected her saucy friend would probably shake up the big guy’s world.
“I don’t.”
“Then go in my place.” Jenny insisted. The memory of Jon’s hand over her mouth, the squishy noise the pitchfork made when it went into his thigh filled her memories. She breathed deeply, not wanting to yell at him. “I could always talk to Ashley instead. You know? Woman to woman.” Whatever that meant. She stifled a snort.
“That might not be a bad idea,” Caid said. “She’s using images of your cattle. There are licensing issues there. Playing stupid, saying that you’d had these horrible attacks and find out what she planned to do. We can set you up with a wire so you don’t have to worry about remembering anything. I could even talk you through it so you knew what questions to ask.”
“Isn’t that just as dangerous?” Jenny sat back down. Sure, Jon had tried to kidnap her, but someone had to hire the men.
Bull glanced toward the ever-present tablet with the camera images. “Um, guys. We need to get to the pasture fast.”
She looked to see two men cutting the wire to her pasture and going through. “Shit!” Without waiting for either of them, she ran to the back door, swiped the utility vehicle’s key from its hook and shoved her feet into boots to race outside.
“Not without me.” Caid took the keys from her and jumped into the driver’s seat. Bull hopped on the ATV Logan had brought over, and she’d had barely fastened her seat belt when he took off. She hung onto the rail along the edge of the seat, her heart in her throat. Cutting her fence posed big problems. Not only would that let her cattle out, but it could open her up to theft, or worse.
Caid slowed and she pressed a hand to her chest, hoping to still the rapid pounding of her heart.
“Stay here,” he ordered.
Like a sitting duck? Hell no. She watched the men dart along the fence line, and when they looked back to see if she was still there, she gave a small wave. The men disappeared over a rise.
She jumped out of the vehicle and squatted down next to it, glancing to either side. When she didn’t see anyone, she darted in the direction where the men had gone. She kept behind them, using the contours of the land to hide herself. She listened for sounds that might indicate what could be happening up ahead. She heard nothing but the occasional call of a bird and the wind rustling the grass.
She squatted down, thinking she saw movement. When she rose again, she stared at the muzzle of a pistol.
She didn’t think. Didn’t open her mouth to yell for Caid. He was one of the men who was threatening her cattle. Instead, she charged forward, using the differences in their sizes to hit him right in the midsection. Her shoulder hit him, sending him sprawling with a grunt. His gun tumbled from his hands.
Jenny dove for it. She grabbed the grip and raised it as the man got to his feet.
“Don’t move!” She ordered. The sounds of a scuffle came to her from somewhere up the fence line. She heard the cattle calling to one another and prayed they weren’t getting through the fence. “Who are you?”
The man stopped, hands outstretched. “Someone who wasn’t paid enough for this shit,” he muttered. “Look lady. I was told just to cut your fence. I was getting out of here when you attacked me.”
“Attacked you?” she shrieked. “Down on your knees. Hands behind your head.” She managed to stand and pointed the gun at him, hating the way her stomach churned at the action. Her hand wavered and when he didn’t move quickly enough for her, she fired at the ground next to him just to show she was serious. He dropped to his knees then, hands behind his head.
“You don’t have the guts to shoot me,” he sneered. “Just let me go. That way you won’t do something that you’ll regret.”
“I regret nothing.” She steadied her hand and pointed the weapon at him. Even if he were hired just to cut her fences, someone had hired him. That same person had been cutting up her cattle to perpetuate a hoax on people, and she wanted answers. “Who hired you?” The fight not far along the fence line intensified, and she knew she had to stand on her own. “Who hired you?”
“It doesn’t matter. The damage is done.”
Her fence. The urge to run, saddle Daisy, and round up her cattle hammered through her. Instead, she listened as the sounds of running cattle came closer, thinking there was a good chance they’d both be run over if the cows started stampeding.
She also knew she couldn’t shoot him. As tired as she was of this, as much as she wanted answers, she’d shot a coyote once that looked rabid, had put down some raccoons that were breaking into the barn and making a mess in her grain room. But a person? No, she couldn’t do that.
She sensed the instant the man knew the change of heart. He bolted to his feet and charged her.
She fired. The shot went wide and a moment later he tackled her to the ground. She cried out as her shoulder hit a rock, then screamed as his meaty hand slapped down on her face.
“Look, bitch. I was just hired to cut your fences. Nothing more. But you pulled a gun on me. Now I got to defend myself.” He grabbed her wrist, slamming it hard enough against the ground for her hand to reflexively open and lose its grip on the gun.
She kicked against him, her knees and ankles hitting a solid wall of flesh. His grip on her hand tightened, pinning her to the ground. She bucked beneath him, finally landing her knee against his upper thigh. He released her hand, and a second kick got her free.
Too late to dive for the gun, instead she raced back to the utility vehicle and jumped in it. She started it with a shaky hand and whipped the steering wheel around to head back to the house. Not to stay safe, as Caid had wanted, but to saddle up Daisy and see if she could round up her cattle. The man ran behind her, his form quickly fading away as she floored it. The vehicle maybe went forty, but that was enough to leave him in dust and gravel.
Once at the barn and within signal range—she had no idea how Caid and Bull had been able to get the cameras to work—she jabbed 911 and the dispatcher assured her that people were already on their way. She breathed a sigh of relief, quickly saddled and bridled Daisy, then with a pat to the mare’s neck, she galloped like hell out of the barn.
I don’t know what I’m getting you into, but I’ll do my best to keep you safe. She ran her hand down the mare’s neck, then hunched down to make herself a smaller target as she rode past where the thought the fight was happening. She heard it off to her left and didn’t dare glance. Her focus was on the cattle beyond, the sound of their hooves and their panicked cries driving her forward.
She found the herd racing down the road toward her, and at her appearance they turned and tried to reverse direction. Good. Maybe she’d find the break in the fence and be able to drive the cattle back through it. She shone her flashlight along the fence as she drove the cattle away from the sounds of the fight. Her heart hung in her throat. Surely Caid and Bull, maybe even her brother if he were here could hold their own. The image of the man grabbing her hand, looming over her as he forced the gun from her, filled her mind. She closed her eyes and shuddered, almost missing the break in the fence.
Quickly, she moved Daisy in the pathway, sending her to the right, hoping it was enough to turn the column of cattle back into the fence. Luckily, their desire to stampede quickly waned and the lead cattle found the fence. Sensing it was their pasture and safety, they entered, moving into a brisk trot that had the rest of the herd following.
“Thank god,” she whispered.
Bright lights suddenly flared at the far end of the pasture and she saw three men, and what could be a woman all dressed in black. One raised a gun, and belatedly she realized it was a tranquilizer gun and aimed it at the lead steer.
“No!” Jenny screamed. “Get away from my cattle!” Daisy needed no urging, for she bolted into a gallop like the barrel racer she once had been and rushed forward.
The sound of sirens came from behind her.
“Jenny!” Caid’s voice carried forward.
“Stay there. Hold the fence,” she yelled. “Don’t let the cattle out!” It was foolish to keep him back, but she was already halfway there and the last thing she wanted was to have the herd scattered.
A moment later the sound of a racing motor followed her. She glanced to see Caid on an ATV. Damn it. Except there, beyond him, was someone else—Logan maybe?—standing at the fence. She hoped they had cow sense, because if this herd panicked…
The steer went down hard and the herd split around it and the men standing there. She cursed under her breath, having to ride around them, rather than through, but in doing so, she steered the cattle back toward the men. The herd raced through whatever setup they had; distantly, she recognized what looked like photography equipment toppling over. Good. Maybe her cows broke their fancy cameras.
Armed with only the riding crop she’d grabbed and a flashlight, she bore down on the men. One raised the gun, not quick enough because a swing of her arm, slapped the crop across his face. He yelled and bent his head. A moment later, a shot fired.
Daisy kept galloping and she felt no pain, so it must not have hit her. She faced down the other man, missing with her swipe of the crop, and she circled, using Daisy’s ability to get underneath herself to spin on a dime and make another run for it.
Another shot filled the air with a loud crack.
One moment Daisy galloped forward, the next, her leg buckled, her shoulder dropping. For one horrifying moment, Jenny thought she’d be crushed beneath the horse’s weight and maybe that’s what the assailant had wanted.
The shot had a secondary effect. It stampeded the cattle. Already startled from the wire being cut and their excursion down the lane, the cattle bolted.
Jenny shifted her weight, trying to lurch to the right as Daisy fell to the left. Kicking her foot free of the stirrup, she rolled, feeling a hoof hit her in the shoulder as she landed on the hard ground. She bounced, the wind knocked from her. But she couldn’t lay there and try to catch her breath. She rolled, finding Daisy laying still—too still.
“Daisy! Come on girl. Daisy!”
The flashlight shone from its place beneath the mare’s neck, and she grabbed it, wrenching it free to look for wounds. A tranquilizer dart. She saw it in the mare’s shoulder, and she had no way of knowing if the mare got the full dose or only part. Those damn tranq guns were so tricky. She had one she used in case of an emergency. She checked Daisy’s respiration. The breaths were even and deep. Saying a silent prayer the mare wasn’t harmed, she glanced around to try and figure out what the hell had just happened.
She saw Caid and another man grappling. Looked like Bull had a second man down, and the bright lights of a police truck hit the opening in the fence about the time the cattle did. They stopped and turned. She watched their forms move in front of the lights, trying to find her brother. Thankfully when the cattle were gone, she saw him standing there talking to the police officer.
The woman? Where was the woman? She turned just in time to see her stand over her. “I should shoot you.” She pointed the tranquilizer gun at Jenny. “One of these doses will kill you.”
Talk about stating the obvious. “And my boyfriend will kill you,” Jenny quipped back. She eyed the distance between them, wondered if she would be fast enough to attack and if a second dose of tranquilizer went into Daisy, who still seemed to be out of it, what would happen. She struggled to do anything that would harm her horse’s wellbeing. Right now her own didn’t matter. Not when the sound of fighting still sounded from around her, punctuated by the cattle’s cries. “You’re Ashley, right?” She took a guess. “So Ashley, why my cattle? Why this?”
Ashley laughed.
Not that Jenny expected a big villain monologue. Those only happened in movies. “Where’s Jon? You find out he’s mediocre in the sack?” She tossed the last one out, and saw her barb hit its mark. Ashley flinched. Well, she didn’t exactly introduce herself as Ashley, but since she figured her guess about Jon’s new bed buddy to be right, the name must be too. Jenny inched her hand back into Daisy’s rigging where a small pouch was tied to the horn of the saddle. She tried to mask her movements as checking on her horse, and maybe a bit of getting away.
Someone groaned from behind her, then a thud.
“I’ve got it,” an unfamiliar male voice said, and a moment later the Miranda rights filled the air.
Ashley glanced toward the men behind them.
This was her chance. She pulled out the slim pocket knife, knowing it wasn’t any sort of throwing knife and it wasn’t like she’d taken that as one of her electives in school. Still, it was her only opportunity. Saying a silent prayer that Daisy would stay down, and that Ashely wouldn’t fire in their direction, she tossed the knife.
It glanced off Ashley’s thigh. She shrieked and turned. A moment later, she fired.
Jenny couldn’t see over Daisy’s body and she inched closer to Ashley.
Caid burst from the darkness.
Relief filled her veins. She ducked behind Daisy, keeping one hand on the mare who seemed to be coming around. Maybe she hadn’t gotten a full dose. Those guns could be fickle.
Caid held a gun on her. “Don’t move. It’s over.”
“No. It can’t be. I have too much invested. Jon promised me-” Whatever she was going to say was cut off because Caid rushed forward and put her in a choke hold.
More officers filed into the field then, a pair of them taking the two men.
Caid hit Ashley again, knocking her out. He quickly incapacitated her with zip ties, handing her off to the officer who arrived.
“Everyone okay here,” he asked.
“Jenny?” Worry filled Caid’s voice.
“I’m fine. I think Daisy will be too. She was hit with a tranq dart.” Caid rushed to her side, kneeling beside her, and pulling her into his arms. “I told you to stay with the vehicle.”
“I couldn’t wait around while you fought the bad guys. Besides, we still don’t know why she did this, or why Jon did. She said something about money. She had too much invested.”
Distantly she registered the officer taking Ashley away, then Bull appeared followed by her brother.
“You okay, Jen?” Logan asked.
“I’m fine.” She laid a hand on Daisy. “She’s coming around, let’s back up if we can.” She stood, Caid still keeping her tucked in his arms, and she waited, her heart in her throat as Daisy struggled to her feet. She made it, standing there looking like she’d just awakened after a hell of a hangover, but on her feet. “We’ll be fine. Can you have someone bring the utility vehicle? There’s a halter in it, and I’d like to remove Daisy’s tack.”
“I can do that. We can park it in the fence line until I can get back with some equipment.”
“There should be a temporary set of fence posts and hot wire in the back. I keep it there just in case. It’ll last the night anyway.”
“Sounds good. Smart thinking.” He disappeared to get the vehicle.
“I’m going to check on my gear,” Bull said.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’m glad you and my brother were here.”
And then she was alone with Caid. She cupped his cheek, clinging to him in the pasture. What had just happened? Why? It seemed so senseless. Daisy nuzzled her shoulder, and she rubbed the mare’s neck.
“I thought I lost you,” he said at last. “When you and Daisy went down, I didn’t think I could breathe. Then I saw you moving and realized you hadn’t been crushed.” He released a shuddering breath. “God, Jenny. I thought I lost you.” He held her tighter.
“I did too.”
A moment later the sound of the utility vehicle’s motor broke the silence. “Hey, could you two love birds come help me with the fence,” Logan yelled.
“Yeah. We’re coming.” Caid kissed the top of Jenny’s head and together, they walked back to help her brother mend the fence.