by Em Petrova
* * * * *
“But where are you going?” Brennah asked Dane for the third time. She didn’t like this—not one bit. He and his brothers stood in the living room of their ranch house, looking like a Moon posse about to hunt a man and leave him swinging from a tall tree.
She shuddered at the idea and wrapped her arms around her middle.
Dane stepped close and bowed over her. The protective pose and the look in his eyes made her shiver in another way. He’d go to the ends of the earth for her—and that scared the hell out of her. What if he and his brothers took things too far?
“We’ll be all right, Brennah. Just trust me, okay? I’ll be back with your horses.”
“But—”
He silenced her by brushing his mouth across hers in the most tender caress. The minute he raised his head, though, she fired another question at him.
“Where are you going? How are you getting the horses back? I’m not some scared little woman to be shielded from all this. I want to go with you.”
“No.” His jaw set firmly. “Please, Brennah.” He searched her eyes. “Trust me.”
The gravity of his voice told her he asked for her trust in more than this moment. She swallowed as she realized what she’d done to him earlier with her words. She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him.
“I’m sorry, Dane. I do trust you. I’m sorry about before—I was in shock and angry at someone coming onto my property while I slept and stealing from me.”
He buried his face in her neck. “I know, baby doll. You don’t need to apologize. But I’m asking you right now to let me take care of this. Let me take care of you.”
When he lifted his head and pierced her in his gaze, her throat tightened with love. She nodded.
He let her go and she watched the three Moon brothers walk out the door without a backward glance.
Brennah’s hands shook. She didn’t recognize her reaction until the woman she hardly knew, Zayden’s fiancée Esme, took her hand and squeezed it.
“They’ll be okay,” Esme said as if trying to convince herself.
“They’re tough.” Mimi let out a sigh and looked at Brennah and Esme.
“You’ve seen them go off like this before,” Brennah said.
Mimi nodded. “Many a time, and they always come back. They were born tough but I raised them to think. Now, sitting around will only make us crazy. We need to keep busy, and I’ve got a bumper crop of green beans to put up. Have either of you ever canned before?”
If someone had told Brennah she’d spend her Sunday running between fits of fear for Dane and his brothers and learning how to can beans, she would have told them they were crazy.
The busywork helped her, Esme and Mimi keep their minds off the worst. Though question after question surfaced in her mind.
“When do you think we’ll hear from them, Mimi?” Esme seemed to echo her own thoughts.
Mimi looked up from a big bowl of beans they’d freshly snapped the ends off. “When it’s done. Now, I’m feeling a bit peckish. Who would like some hot chocolate and a cinnamon bun as a morning snack?”
Esme turned her dark eyes on Brennah, and they shared a smile. Brennah reached out and squeezed the woman’s arm. “I’m glad I have you two with me right now,” Brennah said.
When the beautiful woman smiled, she could see all the love for Zayden radiating in her eyes. “Me too.” She sniffled and then turned to Mimi. “I’ll help with the hot chocolate.”
Brennah stood, and the three of them joined forces in waiting for the men they loved.
Chapter Fourteen
Darkness filled the cab of Zayden’s truck, and none of them had spoken for a good hour as they waited.
After leaving the Moon Ranch, they’d returned to Brennah’s place, where they talked to the sheriff a bit more and waited for the incompetent man to take photographs of the scene and leave the property.
As soon as he’d driven out of sight, Dane waved to his brothers. He led them across the field and pointed. “There. They took the horses this way.” The blades of grass set lower than the rest, showing a path.
“You sure, bro? Could be from the horses grazing here.”
He nodded. “I’m sure.”
“Let’s follow it then.” Asher set off walking, careful not to trample the area and frequently looking up ahead.
When they circled out of the field and down to the road, Zayden took off his hat and stooped to get a better look at the pavement. He swiped away some grains of dirt along the roadside and then jabbed his finger into a horseshoe shape in the dust.
“Here. They loaded them up here on the road.”
“And took them where?” Dane straightened to look up and down the road. Could be either direction.
Asher’s voice cut in. “This is where I pick up the thread, I think.”
Both he and Zayden looked at their little brother. The kid had grown up into the tough ass Moon that Dane always knew he would be, even when he was defending Asher from older kids in school.
“I’ve spent some time trackin’ people down over the past few years,” he said.
Dane’s eyes widened. “So what do you think’s goin’ on?”
“Well, let me begin by saying I didn’t only come back to Stokes to see you assholes. I got word that someone in these parts had a beef with the old man and I wanted to investigate further.”
“What the fuck?” Zayden shook his head.
“Leave it to the old man,” Dane said, kicking a stone across the road.
Asher nodded. “We know what our father was, and the number of people he swindled must be in the double digits if not triple. But these guys were the wrong guys to try to dupe, and from what I hear, they don’t know he’s dead.”
“So they’re comin’ after what? Repayment?” Dane stared at his kid brother.
Asher grunted. “I’d say that’s the gist of it. First they took the tractor.”
“Then burned Brennah’s field,” Dane put in.
Both of them stared at him. “What the hell, Dane? You suspected this?” Zayden looked about to break his nose, but Dane hoped he’d save the energy for when they caught up to the guys they were searching for.
“They probably thought it was our land, since the field runs up to our property. And then they took the horses because…”
Nobody spoke as they pondered this question, and Dane had returned to the notion pretty much every hour throughout the day while they searched for the men responsible for the crime. Now sitting in the dark truck with his brothers, he couldn’t make out what would make them target Brennah unless they connected Dane with her and aimed to hurt him by proxy.
He cleared his throat, and Zayden sent him a look from the driver’s seat.
“We know this is Dad’s doing. But I think it might be mine too,” Dane said quietly.
“Why’s that?” Asher asked from the back seat.
In the distance, the house they had scoped out was still dark, with nobody home. The guys hadn’t returned yet.
“I think they saw me with Brennah. Though I’m not sure where, since we haven’t been out in public together.”
Asher grunted. “You mean you haven’t climbed out from between her legs yet.”
Dane chuckled. “That too. But the only place we were together was at the fair on Friday.”
Zayden met his gaze. “It’s a good guess that someone came to the fair to eye up an opportunity, saw a Moon and took the chance on it.”
He nodded. “I thought about my theory all day but didn’t want to say anything ’til I could unscramble the whole thing in my head.”
“I’ve heard worse theories and seen them be true too.” Asher scuffed a hand over his jaw.
Dane twisted in the seat at the same moment Zayden did. “Okay, come clean, man. We need to know what you’ve been doing these past four years.”
“Same as you—scrapin’ out a life for myself. But let’s just say I’ve crossed paths with some unsavory folk, a
nd this one happens to be on my radar and have a problem with our old man.”
They all looked to the dark house. The dwelling sat between two roads, and sooner or later a car would come down one of those roads and stop at the house. Then Dane and his brothers would move in.
Dane stared for so long, he thought he saw a flicker of light.
“Fire in the hole,” Asher said.
They all peered harder at the house. Sure enough, headlights came down the far road and turned toward the house.
“Let’s move in.” Zayden put the truck in gear, cutting across the field where they’d sat in the dark waiting for hours. Each bump they took, Dane geared himself up for the fight. Anybody who’d steal horses wouldn’t go down easy, and he and his brothers were prepared for anything.
Zayden gunned the gas pedal to the floor and whipped around the house just as the guys stepped out of their vehicle. Four men stood like deer in headlights, probably trying to make sense of someone driving out of their back field. Two turned tail and took off sprinting around the house. One jumped back into the truck, but Zayden rammed into the side before he could drive away.
The impact threw Dane forward, and his knee crashed against the dashboard. Pain shot up his leg, but he ignored it and leaped out, fists raised.
Asher already had one guy by the scruff of the neck, pinned to the ground and an arm twisted behind his back. He nailed the guy with a punch to the face that knocked him out cold. Then Asher straightened and motioned for Dane to join him on the chase.
They jetted off at dead runs. Behind him, he heard the creak of metal followed by some curses from Zayden. After a couple thuds, Dane figured his brother took out the driver.
The two men zigzagged in front of him and Asher, but they didn’t get far. The Moons might be bulky with muscle, but they were all fast as quarterbacks, and nobody could escape them. Dane lunged, arms outstretched, and tackled one from behind. They hit the ground and skidded a few feet before coming to a stop.
Dane gripped the guy by the shirt and whipped him face-up. “Jesus Christ.” Shock bottomed out in his stomach. “Haskell.”
“Screw you, Moon.” Haskell twisted his mouth to spit at him, but Dane delivered a punch that rocked the stupid fucker’s head. The old high school dickhead who’d picked a fight with Dane months ago down in the tack shop was part of this?
Not far off, Asher had a guy on the ground with a knee jammed in his back. “Where are the horses?” he demanded.
The guy didn’t answer—or couldn’t as Asher’s weight crushed the breath from him.
Dane brought a knee up between Haskell’s legs—hard. The guy jackknifed in pain, and while he twisted like a bug on the ground, Dane found his length of rope and tied him like a hog.
“You motherfucker, I saw you at the fair. Did you see me with Brennah and think you’d take the chance to hurt her too?”
“Payment. The Moons owe.”
“I paid back your daddy, you stupid son of a bitch.” Zayden’s drawl filled Dane’s head a split second before he rocked his boot back and kicked Haskell again, this time in the ribs.
With a low grunt, Asher flipped the man he held upward.
Dane looked down at the guy. “I don’t know him.”
“Neither do I,” Zayden responded.
“I do. And I’m not surprised to see him hangin’ out with these dumb motherfuckers.” Asher jerked his head toward Haskell. “I got one comin’ for you, for beatin’ me up in the eighth grade.”
Dane felt a grin spread over his face. “I already took care of him once for it, but I’m willin’ to lend my fists a second time.”
“Where are the horses?” Zayden’s demand rang out across the darkened field.
Neither man spoke.
Dane glared down at Haskell. “You gonna force us to make you talk?”
“I don’t got a problem with that,” Asher said.
“Me either.” Zayden towered over Haskell, and Dane did too. They drew back to kick it out of the guy, but he started to stutter.
“I-I’m not sure. Bill sold them this mornin’. We were just the lookout.”
“Bill?” Zayden swung his gaze to the other guy on the ground.
Asher nodded. Then he buried his fist in his gut. The guy doubled over, wheezing. Asher held him up and drew back his fist a second time. “Where’d ya sell them?”
“On the Ute Rez.”
“Jesus.” Zayden’s quiet tone brought Dane’s gaze around to him. “I know where they are.”
“Same place as the ones Dad sold before he died?” Dane asked.
Zayden nodded. “That rancher will take any horse he can get his hands on, long as it’s cheap. Can’t blame him, but this is gettin’ old. I already gave him all your money to buy them back and give them to the guy Dad stole them from in the first place.”
Asher followed this exchange and nodded. “We’ll get ’em back. Let’s round up these guys and haul them in to the sheriff.” He shook the guy he held, rocking his head on his shoulders. “You—I think we both know you’re headed to prison on other charges.”
Dane blinked at the cold tone in his brother’s voice, something he’d never heard before from his most easy-going, carefree brother. Later, he was sitting Asher down and getting the full story from him.
“Drag Haskell’s fat fucking ass to the truck,” Zayden said to Dane.
“I would if he’d quit pukin’ up his guts.” Haskell heaved again, and his whole body shuddered as he strained against the rope binding both wrists and one ankle.
“You kicked his balls out of his sac, Dane. ’Course he’s pukin’. Balls or no balls, we need him in the truck.”
“Where are the other two, Z?” Dane reached down, grabbed the rope bonds on Haskell to free his ankle and yanked him to a stand. He swayed but remained upright, knees locked together around the pain he rightly deserved.
Zayden grinned for the first time all night. “I got them ready to load into the truck.”
Asher and Dane half-dragged their wards to the vehicle and there they saw Zayden had one on the ground, unconscious, and the other roped next to the truck.
In no time, they had all four in the truck bed. Asher climbed in after them. “I’ll babysit while you drive.”
Dane and Zayden climbed into the front seats and exchanged a look. “What the hell do you think he is? Some kind of lawman?” Dane asked.
“Dunno. Maybe. I’d hate to think he’s on the other side of the law.”
Dane shook his head. “Think he’ll explain himself?”
“We’ll get the truth out of him. Right now, we just need to turn these bastards in then pay a visit to the guy on the rez.”
His chest burned and his muscles throbbed with all the adrenaline still coursing through him. Haskell. The bastard deserved everything he got coming to him.
But at least they knew where the horses were. And he could return to Brennah with them in tow. Damn, he couldn’t wait to put a smile on her beautiful face.
* * * * *
Brennah’s feet hurt from standing so long canning with Mimi, and she hoped she didn’t see a green bean for a very long time. But she was also grateful to be given a task that had somewhat kept her mind off her worries about Dane and his brothers.
Partway through the afternoon, Mimi declared they were all going outside and doing some chores around the ranch. Now that task Brennah could throw herself into, and she welcomed the hard work. Being on the Moon Ranch also gave her a chance to check out the horse she’d treated for the leg gash a few weeks back.
The nightly news played on the TV, and she couldn’t focus on anything but the door she prayed Dane walked through soon.
Mimi reclined in her chair with a blanket over her legs and Esme didn’t leave her seat by the front window. In such a short amount of time, the three of them had forged an unbreakable bond, and Brennah would forever care for these wonderful souls.
Suddenly, Esme cried out, and Brennah leaped from the sofa and ran ove
r. She pushed back the curtain to see the headlights approaching the house. She issued a cry too and twisted to run to the door. But Mimi already beat her to it, and the woman flung it wide.
All three of them flew out onto the porch. Brennah stared at the truck until it rounded the bend and stopped in front of the big garage. Esme hit the ground running, with Brennah directly behind.
When she spotted Dane climbing from the passenger’s seat, her knees weakened, and she came to a stop. Heart in her throat, she put up a quick prayer for his safe return.
He turned to look at her. Through the darkness, their gazes locked. Her breath held until her lungs burned. Then he started toward her.
“Dane!” She ran the last few steps into his arms. He wrapped her tight in his hold, and she inhaled his masculine scent. “Are you okay?” She tipped her face up to study him, and even in the thin light projecting from the house, she could see the cut on his brow.
She lifted a shaky hand and let it hover over his wound. “What happened?”
He shook his head and caught her wrist, gently lowering her hand to his chest. “I’m fine, baby doll. C’mon, let’s go inside.”
Esme and Zayden stood nearby, locked in each other’s embrace, and Esme’s sniffles reached her. As Brennah passed the woman, she rubbed her shoulder in comfort. Esme gave her a tearful smile.
Asher and Mimi were first through the door. Asher shucked his muddy boots, and Brennah noted the dark blood on his sleeve. She let go of Dane’s hand and rushed to his brother.
“You’re injured.”
“Just a scrape.” He gave her a crooked grin exactly like the one Dane was giving her.
“God, that gash on your brow will need stitches!” Now that Dane stood in the light, she examined the cut closer, but he pulled back in order to embrace Mimi.
“Oh, my boys.” Mimi sounded both disappointed and relieved.
“You should see the other guy.” Dane kissed her cheek and grabbed Brennah again. Behind them, the front door closed as Zayden and Esme entered the house too. Brennah felt like bolting the door to keep them all safe inside.
Zayden pulled off his hat and hung it on the wall peg. “Brennah, I got a broken finger that requires your skill, if you don’t mind.”
