“Tango, stop, lift and pee already, would ya?” I called out to my German Shepherd as he sniffed around the empty lot behind the gas station. I was off the road for a few minutes to pee, get some gas and hopefully find a little off the road eating place. I was starving. But, first things first. I needed him to pee, so I could go in and pee. How hard was it to hike a leg? Or cop a squat? Jesus. I was squirming now more than before. I needed to go and he was taking forever. I was not about to leave him out here in bumfuck egypt alone. He wouldn’t go to a stranger, far from it, but I wasn’t chasing him, or taking the risk of him chasing someone off and getting shot or hit by a car.

“TANGO! Dude, hurry your furry butt up!”

I saw a man pumping gas at the other pump give me a look and I smiled at him. I wanted to roll my eyes but I stopped myself, only barely. Finally, after what seemed like four days of waiting, Tango cocked his leg up, peed and then had to do that damn, macho man ‘I peed here so it's mine’ dance where he kicked his back legs up and growled.

“I swear on all that's holy I will make you sleep outside if you don't get over here,” I muttered as the man getting gas eyed me. Maybe he thought I was talking to myself. Possibly. Sorry, mister. I ain’t crazy yet. I smiled at my thoughts. My gaze went back to the older man at the pump. He seemed to take notice when Tango ran around the building and back to me. He sat with a hand signal and I gave him a treat. That was how he was trained after all. He went, he got a treat. It's not that he was spoiled or anything. No, never.

“Good dog, Tango. Now, load up. Momma has to pee, and pay for the gas before this fella calls the cops ‘cause he thinks I'm gonna run off on him.” I pushed his muzzle away from my face when he decided I needed a slobbery lick on the cheek. “Not now, Romeo,” I said, laughing as I pushed him back into the SUV, shut the door and gave him the signal to stay through the opened window. I jogged across the parking lot. I hurried into the store and back to the bathrooms.

When I came out I smiled at the man behind the counter before grabbing a bag of Doritos, a Dr Pepper and of course, two big bottles of water for Tango. I paid for everything, gas included, and headed back out after a not so nice chat with the clerk. Men are idiots. But I did finally get him to tell me that all that was close by in the way of food stops was a burger place. I’ll pass on that. Tango and greasy stuff was a no go. The dog had enough gas issues as it was. I swear, sometimes it was like he’d had something crawl up in him and die. He was stealthy about it too. He was secretly trying to kill me with toxic fumes. I just knew it.

As I walked back to my vehicle I noticed there was a new truck parked across from me. I watched the two men as I opened the back door to grab Tango’s bucket. Hey, it's a road trip and he's messy. Least with a bucket and the three towels on his seat my seats won't get ruined. He could drink in peace and I wouldn’t get a slobbery water bath, again.

“Hey, sexy, that your dog there?” I sighed and turned, slamming the door a little harder than I needed to. I glanced at the men then to Tango. He was alert, ears pricked up and his shoulders tight. I shook my head as I moved to open the driver's door, making sure I blocked Tango’s exit. He was very protective of me after all. He had been since my PaPa got him for me. That had been two years ago. Tango was one of the last birthday presents I got from my PaPa. He gave me someone to love, a protector and a friend all in one.

“Nah man, he like, totally came with the car,” I said in my best Valley girl impression. Ugh, that made my own head hurt.

“I think she’s a bit of a smartass, man,” the one ass said to his friend.

“Watch it, bro. Dogs bite,” the other one said. I was guessing it was to warn his friend, who had taken a few steps around his truck.

“He’d bite me?”

“Yerp, like you were a nice juicy steak.”

“Why? I didn't do anything to ya, sexy.”

“You're annoying me, isn't that enough? I asked, sardonically.

“Oh, we got a feisty one, Jet,” the idiot in the truck said.

“Oh for fuck’s sake. Why can't I shoot stupid people?” I muttered as I climbed up in the seat and shut the door. Tango licked my hand as I patted his shoulder. “Easy, big fella. Ignore them. Apparently they don't get enough oxygen up here. It makes them stupider than a bag full of rocks.”

I started the SUV, pulled out of the space, and flipped the two idiots a one finger salute before pulling out of the station's parking lot onto the road. We were somewhere in Colorado. I was following I-25 up and heading into Wyoming. I'd rented a cabin, one that I'd found online of all places, for a few weeks. Summer was finally here and I wanted to take advantage of the beauty of a wide open space. Plus, Tango and I needed a little time off the road. This leg had us on the road for two long weeks now. We’d just muddled along after leaving Tennessee, only stopped whenever and wherever. Minus the potty breaks. We stopped for those and to stretch our legs every two hours. Too much sitting could cause health problems.

I'd picked up the trailer behind us at some place in Kansas. It's got a small kitchen area with a stove and table, a tiny bathroom and a bed. So I bought it. I don't use the bathroom, though because, well I'm not cleaning that. Even I have my limits. I stop us at places that have wash houses, or at cheap motels. It's worth the time to shower and refresh. I’m not sleeping on funky sheets, though. So the trailer it is.

Flipping on my signal, I merged back into the I-25 traffic and set the cruise control. As Tango laid down he put his head on my lap and I scrubbed my fingers over his ears. His whine made me laugh.

“We’ll eat in a couple of hours. Once we cross the border we’ll only have a few hours more. Then it's a hot bath for me and a new place for you to mark as yours,” I said, for my benefit too. I loved the freedom of the open road, but it would have been slightly more entertaining with someone else to talk to that could actually return my words with more than barks, growls or toxic fog inducing farts.

A few hours later, both Tango and I were spread out on a picnic blanket on the grass of a roadside picnic site. The sun was beaming down on us and the cool air brushed against my exposed skin like a sensual caress. It was heaven. The countryside we’d traveled through so far was beautiful and peaceful. We were going to enjoy our time here. I just knew it.

“Tango, let's go,” I said, standing. I grabbed the blanket up, folding it as I walked. Looking back, I grinned. Tango had the draw string bag with what was left of our lunch, and our trash in his mouth. “No slobbering this time, pup, ‘cause that's just gross, Kay?” Maybe I was losing it, ‘cause that made me laugh. Yeah, I really needed someone to chat with besides my pup. I could always call Kaitlyn, but she’d try to convince me to come back home and I just wasn't doing that. There was nothing there for me. My parents had been gone since I was a baby, I knew nothing of them other than that they loved me. All I’d had was my PaPa and now that he was gone, I had nothing. Kaitlyn was a friend, yes, but she’s also one of the reasons I left Brant & Sons. It was a small family owned insurance company. Mr. Brant was a sweet man. His sons, though, were two dickwads who thought they were some gift from God and that every woman should kneel down and worship them. Kaitlyn was all for quickies in the back office, the bathroom or anything else they asked, but not me.

Jefferson and Carlisle Brant were both disgusting human beings. Period. I learned that the day I was hired as Mr. Brant’s new administrative assistant. See, Oliver Brant was an upstanding, kind hearted man. I liked him, a lot. Too bad his sons missed that boat. Though, I've met their mother and she's not much better. Oliver married and mated with the she beast, who was a decade - at least - younger than himself and that's where the twin hellspawns came from. Shuddering, I shut the back door to the SUV and sighed. Maybe if things were different and I wasn't the ‘ice queen’ as they called me, I would have stayed. But as it was, I wouldn't let myself be used like some whore. I loved myself a helluva lot more than that.

I shifted myself so I could give Tango the “go pee” hand signal, which was just me pointing. He didn't need it twice. I looked at my watch and smiled. Two hours, I think that's all it takes for us to get to the place…. crap, I forgot the name. Moving to the passenger side of my vehicle I opened the door, pulled out the notebook where I kept everything and found the reservations page. Yeah, I was a little OCD but I wasn't stupid enough to not keep up with my spending and contacts along the way.

“Ah, there it is,” I said, sighing as I slid my finger down the page. “Abernathy Cannon Ranch.” Closing my book I stretched, turned and whistled for Tango. He rounded the car and was up in the seat before I had time to really blink. “I'm gonna put a bell on you. Whatcha think about that?” I scrubbed my hands along his neck and scratched behind his ears.

“Ready to go?” With a lick to my face and a bark that made my ears ring, I shook my head, shut his door and ran around to get in. Within fifteen minutes we were back on the road, and hopefully we’d be crossing the border in an hour or so. That all depended on traffic. I sang along to the radio, ignoring the GPS app on my phone that kept cutting in and out. I wasn't stressing over any of this. I just wanted to enjoy the ride, and with Jason Aldean singing along with me, my day was going great.

An hour and fifty six minutes later we were making a wide turn onto the dirt road the GPS indicated. There wasn't much around, just mountains, grasslands and cattle. Or at least I thought they were cattle. The sun was starting to get lower and I was exhausted. My body was not sure what time zone we were in anymore so I stopped trying to sleep on a schedule. It was all too much to keep track of. I followed the road, going slower than normal since I wasn't sure where I was.

Ten minutes later we were rounding a curvy part of the road when something stormed out in front of us. I shrieked and slammed on the brakes, throwing myself against the steering wheel and swerving off the road. Tango was growling and barking, but what caught my attention was the sound of metal shrieking, another engine roaring, and then silence.