The Cowboy Next Door: Includes a bonus novella (Montana Strong Book 2)

by R. C. Ryan

  While a hundred curses played through his mind, Sam resumed his pacing.

  Trust. It had never been his strong point. In his experience, the ones in authority were often the least worthy of trust.

  He knew Ben meant well. If he had to trust the law, it didn’t get any better than his brother Ben. Still…

  He stalked off to the barn, needing to fill his time with something, anything that would keep him from going mad.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Sam’s sweaty shirt was plastered to his chest as he deposited another wagonload of wet straw and dung in a field behind the barn. He’d been pushing himself for an hour, unwilling to stop. He knew if he didn’t keep going, he’d be tortured with images of sweet Penny, hurt, helpless. Was she traveling against her will with Dex, or had she tried to bargain with him? Worse, had he left her hidden away somewhere while he arranged a meeting with Curtis? Was she shivering in some cold, deserted barn or shack? Had he hog-tied her in the back of that truck? The thought of it taunted him, ripping out his heart.

  When Sam heard the crunch of wheels on gravel, he set aside the wagon and rushed to the door of the barn in time to see Ben stepping out of his police vehicle.

  Climbing out of the passenger side was Penny’s brother Curtis.

  Sam was beside them in an instant.

  Before they could climb the steps, the family came spilling out the back door and gathered around them on the porch.

  Sam’s hand shot out, clutching the front of Curtis’s shirt, dragging him close. “Where is your sister?”

  Ben put a hand on his brother’s arm. “Back off, Sam. I’m responsible for his safety.”

  “His safety? What about Penny’s?”

  Ben’s hand closed around Sam’s. “I said back off.”

  Sam’s teeth were clenched like a vise as he reluctantly released Curtis.

  He and the others studied the young man’s ashen face.

  “I wish I could help.” Curtis looked around at the cluster of men staring daggers at him. “I didn’t even know she’d gone missing until the sheriff told me.”

  Sam wasn’t about to let him off the hook. “Oh yeah? Just where did the law finally catch up with you?”

  “I was trying to get out of town. I was on the interstate when the state police picked me up and delivered me to Sheriff Monroe. That’s when I learned about Penny.” Curtis hung his head. “I never meant for this to happen.”

  “You knew, by running, you were asking for trouble. Dex made it plain that nobody stiffs him.”

  “I wasn’t thinking. And certainly not thinking about my sister. All I wanted to do was get as far away from here as possible.”

  “Are you saying you haven’t heard from Dex?”

  Curtis shook his head. “Not a word. But if he’s taken Penny…”

  “Your sister never would have left here on her own, especially now, when she was waiting to hear news of you. She had to be taken against her will.” Sam looked from Curtis to Ben. “Have you checked her cell phone records?”

  Ben nodded. “The state boys are on it. If she has it with her, they’ll locate her.”

  “And if it’s been tossed?”

  Ben gave a slow shake of his head. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Sam. The state police have ways of tracking victims.”

  Victim.

  The very word had Sam’s heart dropping like a stone.

  Victims were abducted and later found in shallow graves. Victims were nameless, faceless headlines in the news.

  He couldn’t wrap his mind around Penny being called a victim.

  Not the woman he loved.

  His hands tightened into hopeless fists of rage, and he turned away from the others, unwilling to let them see the deep-seated anguish he was fighting.

  The woman he loved was out there somewhere, alone and afraid. And here he was, listening to the ramblings of her shiftless brother.

  He desperately needed to do something.

  He turned to Ben. “What are the authorities doing about Dex Cantrel?”

  “They’re on it. His photo has been sent to every law agency in the state. It’s only a matter of time before he’s spotted.”

  “Time?” Sam could feel his head exploding. “Ben, we don’t have the luxury of time. Penny is out there somewhere with a guy bent on vengeance. We need to find her now.”

  Ben put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I know how worried you are. We all are. But trust me, Sam. With all the police looking for this guy, he’ll be found before this day ends.”

  Sam turned away, knowing the entire family could read his fear. It was so strong, he could taste it.

  This was a new kind of fear, one he’d never before encountered.

  Despite the hellish violence he’d endured in his younger days, he’d always had a sense that he could fight back. This was different. The threat was against Penny, and he was being told to do nothing but wait and hope. It went against everything he believed in. He hated this feeling of helplessness. He wanted to get in his truck and drive until he found the bastard who had taken her. He was itching to lash out against anyone who would harm his sweet Penny.

  Ben’s phone rang, and he snatched it up. “Sheriff Ben Monroe here.”

  He listened, then gave the family a thumbs-up.

  At once they crowded around him, waiting until he’d ended his conversation with the invisible entity on the other end of the line.

  He disconnected and said, “They’ve got Dex Cantrel. Picked him up on the interstate.”

  “And Penny?” Sam couldn’t seem to breathe.

  Ben shook his head. “Dex was alone. He claims he doesn’t know a thing about her.”

  Sam’s heart plummeted. “Give me five minutes alone with that lying bastard and I’ll get the truth out of him. Where are they taking him?”

  Ben tucked the cell phone into his pocket. “My office in town.”

  As Sam started toward the door, Ben laid a hand on his shoulder. “I want you to stay here.”

  Sam slapped away his hand. “Like hell I will.”

  Ben wrapped a beefy hand around his brother’s arm, holding him when he tried to pull away. “I know you’d like to beat Dex senseless…”

  “You got that right.”

  “But the law is my territory, and I’m not going to let you mess this up. I intend to interrogate Dex and get to the bottom of all this, but if you go to town, you have to promise to keep your distance from a man who is innocent until proven guilty.”

  “Innocent my…”

  Mac walked over to put a hand on both sons’ arms. “We’ll all go into town, except Zachariah. He’ll remain here in case there’s a phone call. I promise we’ll stand back and let you handle things, Ben. You’re the expert.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  Mac turned to Sam. “Agreed?”

  Though his jaw was clenched so tightly his teeth ached, Sam gave a reluctant nod.

  Ben instructed Curtis to ride with him in the squad car.

  The rest of the family piled into several ranch trucks. As they headed toward town, a pall of silence hung over all of them.

  Ben’s small office felt even smaller when his entire family crowded inside.

  Dex Cantrel glared at Curtis as he took the seat indicated by Ben. The two men eyed one another in sullen silence.

  Finn, who had been in his office in town, had been apprised of the situation and joined the rest of his family.

  Mac, Otis, and Roscoe dragged chairs from a back room and took their seats as far away from Ben as the small space would allow.

  “Now.” Ben sat straight and tall in the leather chair behind his desk, knowing it gave him the advantage over his two unwilling prisoners. “Let’s begin at the beginning. As I understand it, you two put on quite a show at the Hitching Post. Word around town is you”—he turned the full fire of his gaze on Dex Cantrel—“won ten thousand dollars. And you”—he swiveled his head to shoot a look of disdain at Curtis—“were a willin
g party to this.”

  Curtis nodded.

  Ben’s voice deepened with authority. “You went into this game with full knowledge of the risks?”

  Curtis swallowed before saying, “That’s right.”

  “If you had won, you’d have demanded payment in full.” Ben fixed Curtis with a frigid look. “Is that about right?”

  “Yes.”

  “But when you lost, you were forced to admit you didn’t have enough to pay your debt.” Ben didn’t wait for a reply before adding, “What kind of fool continues gambling when he knows in advance that he can’t pay off his possible losses?”

  Curtis’s voice was hardly more than a whisper. “A desperate one.”

  “What made you desperate?”

  Curtis clamped his mouth shut, refusing to answer.

  Before anyone could react, Sam grabbed the front of Curtis’s shirt and pulled him to his feet.

  Getting into his face, he snarled, “You can answer the easy way, or you can answer to me.”

  Before he could land his fist in the younger man’s face, Curtis held up his hands in a sign of surrender. “All right.” He sucked in a quick breath before saying, “Before I came to Haller Creek, I was working at a ranch in Wyoming and got in with a rough crowd. I got sucked into some big-time gambling. Horses. Sports. Even when I couldn’t always pay, my bookie carried me and allowed me to keep on betting.”

  “Why would he do that?” Ben demanded.

  “I agreed to bring him more customers.”

  “You were a shill for a bookie?”

  Curtis shrugged and stared hard at the floor.

  “Okay.” Ben’s harsh tone had the young man looking up quickly. “So, what changed? You stopped bringing him customers?”

  Curtis shook his head. “I kept gambling, hoping to win enough to get him off my back. But I…kept losing.” He swallowed. “Finally, I owed so much, he threatened to go to my boss, so I quit my job and moved on to Montana, hoping to start over.”

  Sam’s eyes were hard as ice. “Surprise. You didn’t really get away from your past. Your bookie found you.”

  Curtis nodded. “I’d been ignoring his calls whenever I recognized his number. When I went in the men’s room of the Hitching Post, my phone rang. When I answered and realized who it was, he claimed he was calling from a new phone and was there, watching the pool game between Dex and me. He said if I went all the way, and won the ten thousand, he’d collect it and call us even.”

  Ben motioned for Sam to back off.

  He turned to Curtis. “Okay. We get the picture. You lost, and the scumbag threatened you.”

  “I thought I could get an advance from my boss. I was desperate. I figured I’d give half to Dex and the other half to my bookie, with a promise of more to come.”

  “And now you know he won’t give up until he collects. And you know how he intends to do that.” Ben looked around at the others. “But how would he know about your sister?”

  Curtis hung his head. “She made an ugly scene last night at the Hitching Post. Maybe he figured she’d be good for the money I owe.”

  Ben looked at Sam for confirmation.

  Eyes narrowed in thought, Sam nodded. “It’s true. I took her back when she asked, and we saw the final game. When Curtis lost, and Dex threatened him, Penny was like a wounded mama bear.”

  Ben leaned forward, fixing Curtis with an icy determination. “Give me your bookie’s name, and I’ll alert the state police.”

  With a look of defeat, Curtis was shaking his head. “We never used real names. I had a cell phone number when I wanted to place a bet. I was number thirteen. He called himself Dog.”

  “Dog.” Ben’s eyes narrowed on the young man. “Give me the number.”

  “I told you. He must have changed cell phones. The number he used at the Hitching Post was a new one. If I’d recognized it as his, I never would have answered him.”

  “Give me the latest number.”

  Curtis retrieved his phone from his pocket and read aloud the numbers.

  Just as quickly, Ben was relaying them on a secure line to the state police.

  When he was finished, he looked over. “They’ll track him. It’s only a matter of time.”

  “Time.” Sam was on his feet, pacing and mentally shouting every rich, ripe swear word he’d ever learned.

  “And now this guy has Penny, and who knows what he’ll do to her.” He turned the full effect of his fury on Curtis. “And you wasted half a day before telling us any of this.”

  “I didn’t know.” Curtis shot a pleading look at the sheriff. “I swear, it never occurred to me that this dude would focus on Penny. I was so upset about losing my best shot at paying off my gambling debts, I never even gave Penny a thought.” He dropped his head down, fighting a rising sense of fear and revulsion as the truth dawned. “I never meant to put my sister in danger. She doesn’t deserve any of this.”

  Sam’s voice betrayed his barely controlled emotions. “That’s the first honest thing you’ve said.”

  Mac stepped forward and put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Some lessons are harder than others. Right now, we all need to work together to get Penny safely home.”

  Sam looked across the desk at his brother, who was busy fielding a phone call from a state police coordinator.

  When their gazes met and held, Ben gave a barely perceptible nod of his head. “They want me to keep Curtis here so they can monitor his calls. Sooner or later this guy will contact Curtis and tell him what he wants in return for his sister.”

  “No matter what he asks for, we have no guarantee he’ll keep his word and deliver her safely.”

  Ben was shaking his head. “He has no reason to hurt her.”

  “No reason?” Sam struggled to rein in his growing fear. “She’s seen this guy. She can identify him. She could mean the difference between his going free or spending the rest of his life in prison for kidnapping. What reason does he have for keeping her safe?”

  In the silence that followed, Sam turned away, calling over his shoulder, “Keep me in the loop. In the meantime, I’m heading out to the interstate to look for a dirty truck driven by a guy in a black knit cap over long hair.”

  “That’s not much to go on,” Ben called.

  “It’s better than sitting here twiddling my thumbs while the state police try to get a name and wait for a call that may never come.”

  “He’ll call.” Ben’s tone was equally fierce. “He’s gone to all this trouble. He wants his money.”

  With clenched teeth Sam muttered, “And all I want is Penny safe.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Penny began the slow, painful ascent from a drug-induced fog. Her eyes, when she opened them, felt hot and gritty, as though she’d survived a fire. Or maybe it was the fire raging inside her. When she lifted a hand to rub her eyes, both hands moved upward, and she stared at them in surprise. They were bound together with plastic. The loud throbbing that assaulted her ears was an engine. A truck’s engine, although they didn’t seem to be moving. She was lying on the floor in a heap, like someone’s discarded laundry.

  When she tried to sit up, her vision swam and she had to swallow back an overpowering feeling of nausea.

  “Coming out of it?” The threatening voice she’d heard before losing consciousness had her jerking her head upward.

  The driver gave a cruel laugh as she struggled her way from the floor to the seat, all the while wondering why her body was slow to cooperate.

  Finally, heart pounding from the effort, she managed to slump into the passenger side, feeling drained beyond belief. As though she’d been climbing a perilous mountain while dragging an anchor. They appeared to be parked in a shed behind an abandoned building.

  She turned toward the man at the wheel. “Who are you?”

  “My name’s not your business. You’re my business.”

  “But why? Why would I possibly matter to you?”

  He gave a snarl of laughter. “
That’s a good one. You don’t matter at all. You’re just a means to an end.”

  “Then what…”

  His hand shot out. Her words were cut off by a blow to her temple from his pistol.

  “I don’t answer to you. And if you don’t shut that mouth, I’ll stick you again with that needle just so I can have some peace. You understand?”

  Blood streamed from the blow to her temple, and trickled in a line down the side of her face, staining her shirt. She took no notice. For several long, painful moments, stars flashed in her brain and she thought she might lose consciousness again. Tears burned behind her lids, but she refused to give in to them, blinking furiously. She reminded herself to remain as quiet as possible so she could figure out who this monster was and what he wanted from her.

  There was so much she didn’t understand. But this much she knew. It had been no random abduction. He’d come armed with zip ties and a drug powerful enough to silence her and render her incapable of escape. If she were to try to fight him, she had no doubt he wouldn’t hesitate to use it again.

  For now, she would do as he told her. She would keep her questions to herself. She would do all in her power to tamp down the terror that had her by the throat.

  Though she was desperate for answers, she could only have them if she kept her wits about her.

  But while she struggled to stay alert, she prayed she could keep her poor heart from pounding clear through her chest. In her life, she’d never known so great a fear. And right now, that fear was throbbing through every vein in her body, threatening to turn her into a bubbling mass of hysteria.

  Sam drove along the interstate, scanning every vehicle he passed, though he had little to go on except a dirty truck and a long-haired driver. That would fit the description of half the traffic in the state. But right now, he had nothing else to guide him.

  While he drove, he was thrust back once more into his painful childhood. All those memories he’d kept locked away, hoping he would never have to confront them again, were now filling his thoughts, stealing his sense of security.

  He could see himself being driven, often in the dark of night, to a new house to live with strangers. He’d been ignored by some, made to feel small and insignificant by others, and in a few instances that were branded into his mind, beaten or punished in some other way. Not that he hadn’t deserved some of it. From his earliest memory, he’d been a rulebreaker. Over the years he’d morphed from a feeling of helplessness to a desperate need to take control by the only means he could—with his fists. Of necessity, he’d become adept at fighting his opponents and inflicting pain, all the while knowing that in the end he would pay a price for such defiance. The price could be as simple as being locked in a shed or cold garage, or as complicated as being sent to juvenile detention, where, as one of the youngest, he would find himself once again forced to fight for his life.