Cowboy Reckoning

by Barb Han

  “I’m not going to try to force help on you. I respect what you’re doing and why you’re here. I think I understand why this is important to you and I want to help. It really wouldn’t be any trouble to call one of my brothers. If you don’t want to bother them there are ranch hands who can be here any time with a pickup truck.”

  Ensley sat there, weighing her options. She could stay put for the next couple of hours, hoping the next tow truck driver didn’t change his mind once he got close to town or get called away for something else. Or, she could accept Levi’s help. It seemed silly to sit there under the circumstances and being so close to the meadow caused an icy chill to run down her back. At night, the place was downright scary.

  She’d already made a bad judgment call in running off half-cocked into the meadow. Refusing Levi’s help would be downright stupid.

  “Thank you for your hospitality, Levi. If you’re absolutely certain it’s no trouble and wouldn’t keep you from something else you need to be doing, I’d like to accept your offer of help.” She had to admit it was nice to be around someone who had her back for a change.

  Levi smiled, nodded, and then in the next half-second had his phone out. Based on the conversation, she gathered he was calling a ranch hand. When she really thought about it, that was probably for the best since ranch hands tended to come and go, and no one would be the wiser Levi had been with Ensley.

  She highly doubted it was possible to slip into town under the radar considering someone had already refused service. She could only hope tomorrow would bring less resistance. She almost laughed out loud on that one. The truth was that she was mounting an uphill battle. Just because Lowell Whitfield had passed away, and there’d been a few questions about how he’d handled some of his cases, didn’t mean she would find any easy answers or people willing to cooperate.

  Reminding herself of the fact every day would be her marching orders while she remained in Cattle Cove. And yet, the need to get answers and closure outweighed the common sense that tried to convince her she was on a wild goose chase.

  Levi finished the call and turned toward her.

  “You might want to come on out and lock up. It won’t take Travis long to get here. The bunkhouse is closer to this location than the big house. It’s the reason I called there instead of home.”

  She’d misread that situation. Ensley grabbed the baseball cap from the passenger seat and secured it on her head, tucking in as much hair as she could. She kept the brim low enough so she could see but tried to use the cap to hide as much of her face as possible.

  She grabbed her belongings next before exiting the driver’s side. She pulled her weekend bag from the backseat. She locked up her sedan and prayed that it would still be there in the morning when they could replace the battery.

  “I never asked you how long you planned to stick around. From the looks of it, you look like you’re only planning on being here for a couple of days.” He leaned his hip against her hood.

  “I took an indefinite leave from my job. How long I stay depends on the case and how quickly I get answers. This time I have no intention of leaving without finding out what actually happened to my brother. But if you ask me, the faster I get out of here, the better.”

  Headlights cut through the darkness.

  “That was fast.” Levi checked his watch.

  Her eyes had long ago adjusted to the darkness considering there were no streetlights on this stretch of road.

  Early or not, the truck coming toward them was a sight for sore eyes. She had an unexplainable and creepy feeling that she’d chalked up to being near the meadow. Was it something else, though?

  The truck diverted as it neared, aiming right toward her.

  Levi jumped into action. He threw his arm around her and in a few steps had maneuvered them both behind her sedan. He gave a command in German to Karma, who rounded the vehicle and ducked low, sticking so close to Levi’s side she was surprised Levi didn’t trip over the animal.

  Before she could get her mind around what was happening, the truck slowed.

  Levi stepped out from behind her sedan and the driver ducked down before hitting the gas.

  He chased after the truck on foot but was no match for the engine. By the time he returned, he was out of breath, so it took a few seconds for him to get out the words, “No plates.”

  “As in no license plates?” she asked for clarification. Being ditched by her tow truck driver was one thing, inconvenient but not worrisome. This was downright scary.

  “That’s right.”

  5

  Levi’s gaze skimmed over Ensley, making certain she wasn’t injured. Her face was sheet-white, but her chin jutted out with determination, like there was no way in hell she’d let her fears take over. “I got a picture of the truck but without a license plate and it being so dark, I’m not holding my breath that it’ll help much.”

  “That driver was scary. Coming back here was a mistake,” she admitted.

  Another set of headlights seemed to cause all her muscles to tense. Levi took a step forward, placing himself in between her and the truck heading toward them from the same direction the other one had come a few minutes ago.

  This one slowed down before pulling onto the side of the road and parking. Travis jumped out of the driver’s seat. He was young, in his early twenties, with a white cowboy hat on and jeans. He wore boots and looked every bit the part ranch hand.

  “Thank you for coming, Travis.” Levi shook hands with the ranch hand before introducing him to Ensley, who’d relaxed considerably as soon as she caught on this was a friend.

  Ensley made a move toward her weekend bag, but Levi was already on it. Travis made an attempt, but Levi waved him off.

  “Do you think my car will be safe here?” Ensley asked.

  The question was valid after what had happened.

  “I can have it towed to the ranch if you’d like. We can get you set up with a battery in the morning.” Levi didn’t want to overstep his boundaries. He didn’t like the idea of leaving it out in the open at the motel. Ensley going back to the motel alone and especially without transportation bothered him, too. “You’re welcome to stay overnight, or we can get you set up with a vehicle to borrow.”

  When she didn’t balk at the idea, he realized how shaken up she most likely was.

  “I can stick around here until the tow truck shows.” Travis’s offer was solid.

  “Thanks, but I’d rather have you on the ranch.” There was no way Levi would put one of his workers at risk, especially when he couldn’t guarantee the driver behind the wheel of the truck wouldn’t come back.

  “Yes, sir,” came the quick response. “I’ll take Karma and let him do his thing.”

  Levi nodded.

  Travis opened the cab doors and let Karma take the lead from there. Levi appreciated that his ranch hands were fully onboard with Karma’s new life and understood leaving all that training behind would be impossible.

  “What do you think about staying over?” Levi asked Ensley.

  Her gaze unfocused like she was looking inside herself for an answer. It was the same thing she’d done when he’d asked her to go for coffee. He was grateful she’d said yes because she could’ve ended up in a real spot otherwise, considering what happened since then.

  “That’s probably a good idea,” she conceded.

  Levi walked her over to the truck before placing her bag in the backseat. By the time they got there, Karma was waiting in the middle of the bench seat in the front of the cab and Travis waited in back.

  Ensley climbed into the passenger side with leery eyes on Karma.

  “He’s okay. Aren’t you, buddy?” Levi’s reassurance was met with a nervous smile from her.

  Levi wasn’t real sure what had just happened with the truck that had shown up before Travis but he sure as hell intended to find out.

  Ensley Cartier had a right to be in town. She had a right to try to find out if what they’d said about he
r brother was true. And if not, she had a right to investigate her brother’s murder.

  His blood still boiled over the fact that the tow truck operator had refused service. He knew exactly who that was and had every intention of paying Andy Whitfield a visit. Lowell Whitfield’s nephew ran a tow truck business and the Whitfield family name sure seemed to be turning up a lot in the past couple of hours.

  Bullies were not something Levi tolerated. He would never stand aside and watch someone be bullied. If this was any indication of the reception Ensley was about to receive, she needed more than a friend. She needed backup.

  Since she seemed completely sane, level-headed even, and he’d never once heard a bad thing about her personally when her family had lived in town all those years ago, he figured she didn’t deserve what she was getting.

  So, Ensley Cartier just picked up a shadow. Of course, once things settled down he planned to talk to her about his offer of help. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he wanted to show her that Cattle Cove wasn’t filled with jerks. To prove that in fact the town he loved, the town where he’d grown up, had a reputation for stepping in and helping others in need.

  Strangers were welcomed. Residents were cared for by each other. Not that Cattle Cove didn’t have its problems. Every town did. Any time thousands of people were thrown together there was bound to be a certain amount of disagreeing and drama.

  This town was no different. But the heart of it had always been good. Or so he’d always believed. And it had been a huge part of the reason why he signed up for the military as soon as he could to protect the values of a country he loved.

  After he’d served his time, there’d been no other place he’d wanted to return to. This was home. This was a way of life worth protecting and not one where secrets were kept. Secrets and betrayal were like termites. Once they took hold, they festered and destroyed from the inside out.

  So, yeah, he was taking this personally.

  “Holy cow.” Ensley’s cheeks heated the second she realized she’d said that out loud.

  The McGannon property was impressive from the street. She could only imagine what it looked like on the inside. The big house was set way off the street and was a massive two-story with a twelve-foot star of Texas in the center on the second floor.

  The façade was cream-colored stone. There was a welcoming feel to the place, despite it being the largest private home she’d ever seen. And that was just from the street.

  Turning onto the two-lane drive, they were met with a guard shack and a security gate. There must’ve been some type of device on the truck because the gate started opening as soon as they turned onto the drive. And then she realized that Levi had dropped his right hand and pressed a button underneath the dash.

  He nodded and waved to whoever was manning the shack. Whoever it was, he looked fresh from the military and capable of taking on any security threat that might come his way. His tense expression softened the minute he saw Levi in the driver’s seat.

  Levi’s wave was met with a salute. Despite it being nighttime, the grounds were well lit which occurred to her was most likely a security measure. It was a lot more difficult to hide in the light than it was in the dark.

  Massive oaks stood sentinel on either side of the two-lane driveway. To the left, an even bigger tree held a tire swing. To her right was just a massive front lawn with nothing but grass and off to one side there was a firepit with close to a dozen Adirondack chairs circling it.

  There was a two-story stone building that was a parking garage. It easily fit eleven vehicles. The spots were large enough for any of those vehicles to be trucks and many of them were.

  She counted three trucks, two SUVs, and a sedan. She figured a smaller car was probably not as useful on a cattle ranch. Levi parked and all three of them immediately exited the vehicle along with Karma.

  Ensley turned toward the back seat to retrieve her bag but Travis already had it out and in hand.

  “I can take that from you.” Rather than hand over the bag, Travis looked to Levi. She wasn’t insulted. She understood this was Travis trying to be courteous and respectful.

  Levi’s nod was almost imperceptible, but Travis handed over the bag.

  Ensley tightened her grip on the handle of her weekend bag as Travis excused himself. She picked it up and headed toward the massive house as Levi’s strong hand splayed across her back. The notion struck that it should feel odd for him to touch her and not like the most natural thing. Despite the heavy circumstances and the awful moment in the woods before he and Karma had arrived, being with Levi felt right.

  Because she was home. If she’d met him in Tennessee, she wouldn’t have the same reaction. Granted, there was no state line that could make him less hot. Physical contact brought on all kinds of electrical impulses—impulses she should’ve felt in past relationships but hadn’t.

  Deep down, she had a sense this was different. Special?

  There wasn’t much to compare it to. Her past relationships had included a handful of boyfriends she could easily walk away from. She’d convinced herself there was a shortage of good men even though that was probably being harsh.

  The problem was her.

  She could only go so far emotionally before she mentally slipped on her running shoes. The last boyfriend, Clark, had stated plainly what the others had only ever hinted at. He’d said, “You know, it’s really hard to get to know someone who never stands still. You’ve had your running shoes ready since our first date. I overlooked it, at first. I thought I’d be different…worth sticking around for.” The sadness in his eyes had almost made her turn around and offer to give the relationship one more chance. Until he’d added, “You’re too selfish to ever let that happen. And I would’ve been the best thing that had ever happened to you if you would’ve let me in.”

  Ensley knew he spoke those words out of hurt but the emphasis he’d placed on the idea that everything had gone wrong in their relationship because of her hadn’t sat well.

  Clark had been a decent guy, just not the one for her. His comments had made her realize that she’d only been dating men who wouldn’t expect too much from her. Clark represented every guy she’d been involved with her entire twenties so far to varying degrees. And the degrees weren’t getting better.

  Being alone was best and especially right now. Between the surprising news that came with the coroner’s death and the tenth anniversary of losing her brother, the chance to put away the ghost that had haunted her far too long had been too tempting to pass up. Anything else would just have to wait.

  “I thought you might be more comfortable if we stayed in the big house tonight.” Levi’s masculine voice cut through her heavy thoughts. “There’s a guest suite on the main floor.”

  With his hand on the small of her back, he guided her toward the back door. Even his lightest touch sent her heart freefalling and electricity rocketing through her body. Warmth enveloped her and she had the overwhelming feeling that she was right where she belonged.

  Behind the house to the left sat an impressive set of barns. On the right was an even bigger pen for cattle.

  “You said the workday starts around here at four o’clock in the morning. I knew ranchers got up early in the morning, but that’s intense.”

  “It was a little rough in my teenage years, especially when I played sports and worked the ranch. I can be honest about that.”

  “This place is beautiful and…impressive.” For someone as obviously wealthy as Levi and his family had to be, the McGannons had always been the nicest and most down-to-earth people. It was one of the qualities she’d admired most about the family. Their humility was the opposite of her own father, who’d been all flash and show. He wore an expensive watch and drove a pricy sports car, and was fixated to the point of obsession about appearances. The family always dressed in their best for Sunday brunch at the country club, and the kids always had to go with smiles on their faces.

  She’d seen the unpaid bills pil
e up and had overheard her father negotiating on the phone with collectors. But every Sunday, the family piled up in the SUV and had brunch.

  Ensley and Cooper had been good kids. The reminders hadn’t been necessary even through Cooper’s early middle school years when hormones caused him to roll his eyes as soon as their father’s weekly pre-Sunday brunch lecture started.

  The two would pass a knowing glance and Cooper’s eyes would practically roll back in his head. He had a dramatic way that made her laugh, but she’d had to stuff it inside. Humor wasn’t something her father could appreciate.

  “Don’t you live on the outskirts of the property?” she asked.

  “I have been since taking on Karma. He does best when he’s not around people.” The way Levi seemed all too ready to ditch people for a dog, granted a dog in need, had her wondering if there wasn’t a more personal story there. Levi had talked about the town like he loved it but she couldn’t help notice he appeared to keep himself separate from the way of life he seemed intent to protect.

  But she was beginning to feel a bond with Karma. His need to be alone was the first trait in him she could whole-heartedly relate to. Between that and the lost look in his eyes, the animal was quickly growing on her.

  “There’s a suite on the ground floor with a couple of rooms. I thought I’d stay across the hall in case you needed something in the middle of the night.” He seemed to hear how that sounded when his dark eyes widened and his face broke into a cocky grin. “I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”

  She laughed. It was genuine and the kind that bubbled up from somewhere low in her stomach. It was nice to break up some of the tension she’d been feeling. As it was, her shoulder muscles were so tight someone could probably crack a diamond if they hit it hard enough.

  “I’d like that, actually. I’m pretty certain I’d get lost if I tried to find any room in this massive house. And, in case you decide to sleep in, I don’t want to scare your family.”

  Inside the house was just as impressive.