Cowboy Reckoning

by Barb Han

  Cowboy Reckoning

  Barb Han

  TorJake Publishing

  Editing: Ali Williams

  Cover Design: Jacob’s Cover Designs

  Proofreading: Tori and Samantha

  * * *

  Copyright © 2020 by Barb Han

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  To my family for unwavering love and support. I can’t imagine doing life with anyone else. I love you guys with all my heart.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Also by Barb Han

  About the Author

  1

  The sun was descending on what had been a scorching hot late summer day in Cattle Cove, Texas. Ensley Cartier had parked her car on the side of the road. She walked through the woods and entered the meadow; the beautiful oak trees a stark contrast to the memory of what had happened here.

  This place. This beautiful and destructive place had taken so much from her. An icy chill ran down her spine at the memory of her younger brother walking into these woods years ago and never walking out.

  Coming back to her old hometown, she’d felt compelled to stop here first. What had happened here was the reason she’d come back to town anyway. The trail that had led to the meadow was overgrown. The path had been well-worn years ago. A lot had changed since those innocent days in high school when her future had been bright, and she didn’t have to leave the light on to sleep at night.

  It was getting late and she shouldn’t be out here alone. That creepy feeling she’d heard referred to as a cat walking over a grave caused her skin to goose bump.

  Ensley turned tail and picked up her pace. Her hiking boot got caught on scrub brush and she nearly face-planted. She corrected her balance, grabbing hold of a tree trunk as her phone went flying and the sharp bark jabbed into her palms. She mumbled a curse.

  Thankfully, her flashlight was still on and she could plainly see her phone. Getting from point A to point B was another story altogether. As she slowly stepped toward the glowing light, a noise stopped her cold.

  A twig snapped behind her. Icy chills raced up her spine as she reminded herself this was deer country. Though there were probably other creatures out here that she didn’t want to consider. The hair on her arms pricked as the feeling of being watched settled over her.

  Heart thundering in her chest, Ensley made a move for her cellphone, snatched it and then ducked behind a tree. She could only pray that whatever was behind her couldn’t hear her out-of-control heartbeat against her ribs.

  Her cell picked that moment to buzz, indicating an e-mail came through. She squeezed her hand around the speaker a few seconds too late. If there was a person behind her there was no way he or she wouldn’t have heard the noise.

  Then again, the woods were alive with sounds from cicadas chirping to crickets to frogs. The wind whistled through the trees. She was grateful for the breeze in what otherwise would’ve been a stifling hot night.

  On all fours, Ensley heard the first low and deep growl. It was the deep baritone of an animal close by and ready to strike. She scrambled to stand, fingers closed around her cell phone. She shone the light in the direction of the growl in time to see an incredible, massive German shepherd.

  Head low to the ground, it inched toward her with raised hackles and bared teeth.

  “Whoa there, buddy.” Ensley remembered the years she’d spent at Cattle Cove. She’d encountered animals in the wild before. Remaining calm could mean the difference between life and death.

  Adrenaline shot through her causing her pulse to spike and a whoosh to sound in her ears. This probably wasn’t the time to remember the article she’d read a long time ago about animals being able to smell fear.

  Yes, she was afraid. The dog’s sharp, white teeth were showing. His air snaps echoed.

  Keeping her eyes constant on the animal inching toward her, carefully and purposefully she slowly backed up until she felt a tree. It might not be much or help for long but maybe she could delay the dog’s bite for a few critical seconds if she could manage to put the tree trunk in between them.

  Not daring to take her eyes off the agitated animal, she said, “I’m not here to hurt anybody.”

  He barked three short barks, baring his teeth again. What was an incredible animal like this one doing out in the meadow alone? And he was impressive. Scary as all get out. More growling reminded her just how serious he was.

  She tucked her chin to her chest, figuring the animal would go for her throat on instinct.

  “Hold on there, buddy. No one’s here to hurt you.” She knew better than to make a quick move. Shining the flashlight from her phone onto the dog, she realized he had on a collar. That was the first bit of good news. It meant he had an owner. His carriage said he was trained.

  This was the perfect time to curse the fact she had no weapon and had foolishly ran from her car into the woods, trying to ground herself in this spot without really thinking it through. She should know better. And she did.

  Now, staring her mistake in the eyes, she realized the weight of her consequences.

  A dog tag meant this guy had to have an owner somewhere. She knew from her limited experience with animals that German shepherds were incredibly loyal breeds. She risked a glance as he inched closer.

  Maybe she could stall long enough for his owner to show. “Who do you belong to, bud?”

  Ensley bit back the irony of the thought that her life could end very near the exact same spot her teenage brother’s had almost ten years ago. With questions raised about how the now dead county coroner had handled a few cases, or more accurately mishandled them, she’d come back to investigate her brother’s case. She’d never bought the accidental death ruling or the theory her brother and his best friend had gotten into a fight that lead to a murder-suicide.

  She needed new evidence for the sheriff to reopen the case.

  The dog moved a step nearer. His low, throaty growl a little too close for comfort. This was so not a good situation to be in. Considering the dog had tags, she might get lucky and his owner might pop up. And as long as she was making wishes, she might as well go all in and pray the person wasn’t out here hurt somewhere. An injured owner, or worse yet, dead, would agitate the breed of dog made for protection.

  Nose to the ground, the roughly seventy-to-eighty pounds of lean muscle was moving toward her with military precision.

  Risking a glance at the tree, she quickly assessed she wouldn’t be able to climb it. The area was too dark to determine if she could climb nearby trees and, besides, she hadn’t been in these woods in ten years. And she knew that being back here now brought on a tidal wave of emotions. The dog had to be picking up on all her emotion, frustration and fear. Not exactly a good mix.

  Since the animal was getting too closer for comfort anyway, she had about one option left. It was to scream for help in the hopes the owner would hear and call off his animal.

  A black snout with yellow and black markings, a pair of large, intense eye stared her down. The longer she watched it, the more she rea
lized that the animal was flat out terrifying.

  “Hold on there.” Again, she used the calmest voice she could manage under the circumstances.

  It was pretty much now or never considering the low, throaty growls intensified and he hadn’t taken his gaze from hers.

  Ensley opened her mouth to scream just as she heard the deepest, most bone penetrating voice calling the dog off.

  “Karma.” He shouted out a word she didn’t understand but was pretty certain was in German. She wondered whether that would make him some sort of police dog. The animal immediately retreated and she let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

  The trail had changed. It was dark. Running into this dog reminded her of the dangers of being alone in the woods. She could use a friend and especially if that person turned out to work in law enforcement. It was the only thing that made sense because she was certain a random dog would have attacked her. The shepherd had been trained.

  Her thoughts instantly snapped to Cooper. He must’ve been so scared in his final few moments. The injustice about the case poured gasoline on the fire already burning inside her. She used that anger as fuel to be bold.

  If that was some type of police dog, there could be a criminal running through the woods. Startling the dog’s owner could be just as deadly as a criminal on the run, so rather than get herself in more trouble, she decided to call out.

  “Hello. I’m lost. Who’s there?” She trained her flashlight in the general direction where the dog had disappeared. The very real thought he could return at any moment struck and fear rippled through her.

  Ensley braved a few steps in the direction of the dog and said a silent protection prayer she’d learned as a little girl. It was one she’d repeated often after her parents divorced and her mother retreated into herself as she nursed a broken heart.

  “I said, ‘hello’!” she repeated, louder this time.

  A large male figure emerged, stepping out from between two trees. The growling dog was by his side. He immediately raised his hand to cover his eyes and she realized she was blinding him with her flashlight beam.

  She apologized and lowered the light to a patch on the ground in front of her. A different kind of energy shot through her when she got a good look at his face. A lightning bolt struck, and she knew something about him was very familiar.

  And then, she recognized him.

  “Levi McGannon?” she asked, not bothering to hide her shock.

  He confirmed with a nod.

  Wow, that really took her back. He’d been four or five years ahead of her in school and the twelve-year-old girl that she’d been had a very large crush on the eldest McGannon son.

  Despite Levi having five brothers and yet another five cousins who all shared that last name, not one McGannon had been in her grade. It was impossible not to notice them, though. Everyone in town and probably all of Texas knew who they were, considering they were one of, if not the richest cattle ranching families in the state.

  Declan McGannon had been a grade ahead of her and Dawson McGannon had been a grade below. But it was Levi who’d always stood out to her.

  Standing there was a blast from the past. She should’ve figured as much. All kinds of emotions and memories were crashing down on her since coming back to Cattle Cove.

  “I’m sorry. Have we met before?” Levi lowered his hands enough for her to see those penetrating dark eyes of his staring at her. He cocked his head to one side.

  Ensley hadn’t seen him in longer than ten years. He’d gone into the military right after high school and there was no reason for him to remember who she was. He and his brothers were tight and ran in different circles than her, despite her dad and stepmom doing their level best to climb the social ladder. Her family had joined the country club whereas the McGannons had seemed too down-to-earth for that.

  Although, everyone in Cattle Cove knew the family.

  “No. I lived here a really long time ago. There’s no reason you would remember me. We went to the same high school but not at the same time. I was there with a few of your brothers and cousins.” Wasn’t she doing a great job of explaining herself and making the connections, considering their age gap? But, she’d seen him around town. At six-feet-four inches, he was hard to miss. Then again, all the McGannon brothers and cousins were tall and even back then had the frame for what Levi had grown into…a tall muscled man.

  His dog growled again, and Levi said another word she didn’t understand.

  “German?” she asked.

  “Yes, he was a soldier. Bomb sniffer. He got out before his handler. He was retired but his handler is still on active duty. He didn’t have a place to go so a friend of mine called me up and asked if I had enough land to give him a home. Even after a year, he’s…excuse me…who did you say you were again?”

  “Oh, sorry. I’m Ensley Cartier.”

  Recognition dawned. “I know that last name.”

  “My father was a lawyer here. We left Cattle Cove ten years ago after my brother…” She couldn’t finish that sentence. The pain was still too real, too raw.

  Levi nodded his head and shot her a look of apology. “Cooper. Your brother’s name.”

  “That’s right.” Her eyes suddenly burned with hot tears. She ducked her head, chin-to-chest, so he wouldn’t see.

  “I’m really sorry. I remember hearing about that case. It was a sad situation all around.” There was so much compassion in his voice, unlike what she’d heard from the families involved after the fact years ago.

  His dog, however, had a laser focus on her while he stood with his hackles raised.

  “I’m sorry about him.” Levi motioned toward his dog. “He doesn’t take to new people easily. He would probably feel better if he could make sure you don’t have any sort of explosive device on you. He’s very leery of anyone he doesn’t know, especially if he doesn’t get a chance to clear them.”

  “What does that mean?” She extended her arms to shoulder height, palms down. She was careful not to make a sudden movement. “Will this help?”

  “It should.” Levi snapped his leash on Karma’s collar and walked toward her.

  The dog made quick work of sniffing her up and down. She must’ve passed because his aggression levels dropped and he went beside his owner and stood.

  “If you’re ever with a bomb sniffing dog and he sits down, you don’t want to be anywhere in the vicinity,” Levi informed.

  “Good to know.” She had no plans to spend any more time around a dog trained to sniff bombs than she had to. Her heart went out to the dog, though. From everything she’d heard, dogs and their handlers became very close. Separating them seemed cruel to her, but at least this guy seemed to have found someone who would dedicated himself to him and had enough land to live out his days on.

  The McGannons owned acres and acres of land. A hundred? A thousand? She had no idea except that even at twelve she’d known it was a substantial number.

  Her father had chomped at the bit to be their will and trust attorney, but they weren’t the country club types and someone else already had the job. If anything, she respected them even more for their down-to-earth qualities. If her father had been more like them, she imagined she and her brother would’ve had a very different childhood filled with Sunday suppers around the dining table and home cooked meals.

  “Why did you name your dog Karma? Was he discharged with that name?”

  “No. I gave him a different name for a different life. His original name was buried with his past. I renamed him Karma because if he doesn’t like you, karma is a real bitch.”

  She kept her arms in the surrender position. “I can already tell he doesn’t like me, so I’ll take a couple of steps back to put some distance between us in case he decides he wants to know how I taste. But I’m also turned around in the woods. I haven’t been home in a really long time and I would appreciate it if you could see me back to US 87 where my car is parked.”

  “Not a pr
oblem. Karma and I would be happy to walk with you.”

  She shot a glance toward his dog and shook her head. “I’d like to stay as far away from him as possible.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Considering the fact he’s done nothing but growl at me, I’d rather not risk a bite,” she hedged.

  Levi shook his head and turned in the opposite direction she would’ve gone without his navigation help.

  “If Karma didn’t like you, we wouldn’t be standing here having this conversation right now,” he chuckled. “This way.”

  2

  Levi may not have remembered Ensley Cartier, but he had heard about her case. Deaths, especially those involving teens, were rare in Cattle Cove. Most of the crime that occurred came from the big city where murderers drove out to the country to dump a body in a corn field.

  If Ensley had looked like this, Levi was damn certain he would’ve remembered her. But then, based on what she’d told him already they were five years apart in age. Five years was a huge difference in high school. But comparing someone who was in their mid to late twenties versus early thirties, the age gap shrunk considerably.

  Ten years ago, Ensley would’ve been a senior in high school. Levi’s chest squeezed for her pain—pain that was still evidenced today. There was something haunted in her eyes that Levi could relate to on a deep level.

  Although he had already signed up to serve his country as a Marine, the news about Cooper Cartier and the others had traveled across the miles.

  And he could sense her heartbreak even after all these years.

  Levi managed to get her back to her vehicle within minutes. It helped this area backed up to McGannon property. He knew his family’s land like the back of his hand.