Rodeo Summer: A Camden Ranch Novel

by Jillian Neal

  “Sugar, you don’t have to pay them back. They already see you as family. Please stop thinking about life with a tally sheet. Okay?” He drew her into his embrace and let her feel his steadying strength.

  He guided her into the substantial master bedroom. The king-sized bed had fresh sheets and quilts on it. A folded blanket lay on the end. Another stone fireplace constructed the wall across from the bed.

  Summer ran her hand over the bedding, needing to feel something, anything, to prove she was really there. Two dozen rodeo buckles were framed and hung on the wall beside the master bath.

  She stared out one of the windows to the beautiful ranch in the setting sunlight. If she’d allowed herself, she could’ve believed that nothing could touch her there, that she was finally safe here, miles from anyone or anything else, except Austin and his family, people she cared about and that cared about her.

  Everything about the house reminded her of Austin. Constant, reliable, and steady. Safe and cozy with just an edge of raw, hardened cowboy that fought hard for the life he wanted.

  Swallowing down another round of emotion, she felt the warmth of Austin’s chest on her back as he secured his hands around her waist. “I’ve got you, sugar. I’m right here. We’re gonna get everything figured out. This is where you belong.”

  “It’s beautiful here. I’ve never really been anywhere I felt safe, but I think I might could feel that here … eventually.”

  “I’m not gonna stop until you know you’re safe here. I won’t rest until I’ve made you understand how badly I want you here with me.”

  Summer let his vow wash over her, a warm tiding of calm.

  “Wanna see the best part?”

  She grinned and felt a little piece of herself restore while she was in his arms. “I’ve already seen your best part, cowboy. Besides, I’m not sure I’m up to that right now.”

  Laughing, Austin squeezed her tighter. “There’s my girl. I knew she was in there somewhere. Should’a known my cock could bring you outta hiding. Don’t worry, he’s real, real fond of you, too.” He stuck the tip of his tongue between his teeth, still chuckling, as she spun out of his arms.

  “You can tell Austin Jr. I’ve had a hell of a day and that he’s an arrogant little thing,” she chastised. God it felt good to flirt and bicker with him again. She’d missed it more than she ever would have allowed herself to imagine.

  “Ain’t nothing about me that’s little, and you know it. I am hornier than a three-balled tomcat, but we’ll get to that later. I was talking about my favorite part of the house, sweetness.”

  She smirked at him, which expanded his grin, while he took her hand and guided her out onto an octagonal deck off of the master bedroom. Immediately understanding why this was his favorite part of the house, she sighed. The view from the back deck was truly beautiful.

  “Sun comes up right over those fields every morning, and there’s no better place on the entire ranch to see it.”

  Wrapping her arms around his neck, she nuzzled her face against his chest. “Thank you for everything. Thank you for falling in love with me and everything you’ve done for me.”

  “Uh, sugar, you’re welcome, but let’s not forget that you saved my ass from three bulls couple days ago, or was that yesterday? I swear, I can’t figure out what day it is. You also broke into your ex’s hotel room trying to keep me from getting killed on his bull. Anyway, we saved each other, Summer. Now, let’s go get little man ready and head up to Mama and Daddy’s. I’m half starved, and I want to talk to Wes before I bed you down tonight.”

  “I guess you really are my hawk.” She still wished that wasn’t the case.

  “Then climb on and let’s fly.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  After a delicious dinner with more food than Summer had ever seen on one table, she laced her fingers in Austin’s and watched two men in their early forties enter the Camden’s kitchen, one in a Pleasant Glen sheriff’s uniform the other in a suit. Everything about the second man said federal agent.

  The Sheriff greeted Austin and the Camdens heartily. He offered Summer a kind smile. “Ev, Jessie, this is a good friend of mine, Alan Miller, with the NSBI. He’s doing me a personal favor cutting through the red tape and taking this investigation on quickly. Attempted kidnapping wrapped up in forgery is a little outside of my typical wheelhouse,” Sherriff Wilheim explained as they settled at the kitchen table. Holly and Grant were playing with J.J. in the living room.

  “What’s the NSBI?” Summer reviewed every word in her mind.

  “We forget not everyone came up in Nebraska. It’s the Nebraska State Bureau of Investigation, Ms. Sanchez.” Detective Miller offered her his hand and a kind smile.

  “Sorry, let me finish introductions. Alan, this is Austin and his parents Everett and Jessie. Camden family built and established the Glen. Salt of the earth, the lot of ‘um. So, you understand why I went ahead and called you.” Sheriff Wilheim smiled.

  “I gotta be honest, when Wes and I were coming up together in Ogallala, we cut our teeth watching rodeos. PBR channel is the only thing ever on my television. When Wes called me up and told me Austin Camden and Summer Sanchez needed my help, I left Lincoln to get out here in a hurry. I’m a huge fan of you both,” Detective Miller grinned.

  Austin gave Summer an encouraging smile. If her barrel racing days could help save her son, that was just fine by her.

  “If you can get this taken care of for us, I’ll call in any favor I’ve got left after quitting and get you tickets to Vegas,” Austin vowed.

  “I’m much obliged, but I have a proposition for you. If I can get this taken care of for you, will you not quit? You got the skill, son. I more than admire what you’re doing, and understand that she’s worth walking away for. Hell, I left the Corps for my wife before I got that twenty-year retirement package they promise everyone. I loved being a Marine, but not near as much as I love her. Corps didn’t matter anymore. It wasn’t worth being away from her. I get it, but I hate to let some low-downs from her past keep you from your buckle.”

  Shock tensed the chiseled form of Austin’s face. Confusion, intrigue, concern, a thousand emotions played in his coal black eyes. “Think I’d rather get this taken care of and see where we land before I make anybody any promises. She’s all that matters.”

  “Understood. Like I just said, I spent 10 years in the Corps, so I’m not much on beating around the bush. Let’s get this done. Wes says you have the forgeries on you?”

  “Yes, sir.” Summer pulled the forged birth certificates and Social Security card from her purse. “These are the fakes and here are the real ones.” She handed him a folder she’d remembered to bring from Austin’s house from the diaper bag.

  A low whistle slid between the detective’s teeth. “Changed his name and everything.” He drew a deep breath. “All right, as much as I’d love to call up the Laramie County force and get to rightin’ wrongs, I need a whole lot more information. First, tell me exactly where you found these.”

  Summer supplied every single detail she could possibly remember, including all of the bags she’d gone through first and how she’d broken into the hotel room. She only left out the part about the male voice she’d heard in her head, since she didn’t want the cops to think she was insane and making everything up.

  “Let’s maybe not tell the breaking into the hotel room portion of the story to anyone else except maybe your lawyer,” Detective Miller said.

  “Do we need a lawyer? I mean it’s pretty cut and dry,” Austin huffed.

  “I wish it were, but it really isn’t. You’re likely gonna need a lawyer,” he sighed. “Ms. Sanchez, did you happen to take any photographs of the bags or passports or anything?”

  “No. Once I found the folder, I just … I didn’t know what to do. I put back everything I could, hoping my mother-in-law wouldn’t notice anything was gone from her bag, and I got out of there.”

  “Never tell anyone I said this, but I half-wish you t
aken the passports. I’m glad you didn’t, since that’s a federal crime, but it is hard to get out of the country without ‘um these days, in case you do have to give the little fellow back to his daddy.”

  “What?!” The entire world around her stopped spinning with those words. The air in her lungs seized. “I’m never giving him back. Ever. You got that?”

  Austin’s arm settled on her shoulders keeping her seated. “Why in God’s name would we turn J.J. over to someone obviously trying to kidnap him?” He gestured to the papers.

  Detective Miller grimaced. “Because …” he glanced at the Sheriff. “Listen, I believe you, completely. If Wes vouches for you, you don’t have to convince me, but to the courts all I have is a faked birth certificate and social in her possession. Her ex can easily explain this away and pin it on her. Say she was trying to frame him. It could get ugly.”

  “It will not get ugly because it will not be happening. You’re the detective. You want me to compete? You figure this out.” Austin demanded hotly.

  “Son,” Ev sighed. “I’m sure we can all figure this out. What needs to happen so that the actual criminals are the ones that end up behind bars, Detective?”

  “Well, several things. I did a little research on the Prestons after Wes phoned me this morning. They got a big time cattle operation down in Dallas. Not real likely they’re gonna want to lose that. I can get the Texas Bureau to scare the shit outta all of them. Let on that we have more on them than we do. See where that gets us. Flip side of that is Brant Preston Sr. employs about a dozen lawyers. I got no use for a man like that. What’s a cattle rancher need that many lawyers for if he ain’t trying to get away with something? If his lawyers get in on this, they’ll shut him up quick, and Ms. Sanchez could be looking at arrest.”

  Summer shuddered. She knew it wouldn’t be as easy as Austin kept saying. She should have just run away. She was going to have to anyway. She couldn’t have a family and a real life. She couldn’t be a Camden, no matter how much she loved Austin. No ranch, no horses, no raising J.J. around good people that would love him. None of that would ever be in the cards for her. She should have known.

  Austin strengthened his hold of her. “I will not let anyone take J.J. from us. I don’t care what we have to do.” His soothing tenor only made this worse.

  “Don’t panic, and don’t run yet, Ms. Sanchez, there are other things we can do as well.” This at least brought a ragged breath back to her lungs, though she didn’t like the idea that a detective already knew she was planning to run away. “This is a decent forgery. Whoever had this done paid good money for it, meaning there’s probably a well-known document forger behind it. Problem will be locating the forger and offering him a bargain if he’ll supply information on who paid him. I’m gonna start in Dallas. I’m doubting she had this done while they were on the circuit.”

  “Why would a man who does something like this confess?” Ev leaned closer.

  “In my experience, and I’ve worked more than a few kidnapping cases, forgers are actually easier to turn than just about any other criminal. First of all, they inevitably have many, many clients. They don’t need any one of them. They can always rely on the others, especially a one-time client. Brant Preston strikes me as the kind of man that prefers to win his battles with hot-tempered intimidation, not the cool-burn of precaution. You seek a forger as a means of precaution in a scheme you’ve been working on for a while. I’m doubting whoever did this gets much business from the Prestons. This isn’t going to be someone employed by Preston Cattle or any of their subsidiaries. In lieu of me arresting the forger and exposing all of his other clients, he’ll very likely turn over the payment method used by the Prestons, which will be all the proof we’ll need in court. It’ll also get me access to their bank account records, which Mr. Preston will not want. That alone may be enough to get them to sign your son over to you, Ms. Sanchez. I just have to find the forger, and finding men that don’t want to be found is my specialty.”

  “Well, what happens if you can’t find the forger?” Summer demanded.

  “There’s more than one way to get to Rome, so to speak. Tell me when you’re supposed to give your son back to the Prestons per the custody agreement.”

  “Well, at the end of Frontier Days. Technically that’s only four days from now, depending on if you count the last rodeo as the end, or the day after.”

  “That does make things more difficult,” Detective Miller sighed.

  Summer squeezed her eyes shut, damming back the tears.

  “I said difficult, not impossible. Give me tomorrow. I can call in a few favors in Cheyenne. Good buddy of mine is the Sheriff and I have two good friends in the Wyoming Bureau. We all went through boot camp together. Might be that we can scare Brant Jr. into talking about his daddy. Like I said, he’s got a whole lot to lose. We can float it to the wife that her husband could be indicted in all of this, and they could lose everything. In my experience the wife can probably get through to him quicker than the police can. If we make a showing in Cheyenne and get people talking about the Prestons, it might get us where we’re going real quick-like.”

  “Wait …” Summer let that idea tumble around in her brain. She currently felt like she was drowning. Her head was weighted with guilt and terror. She couldn’t catch her breath. “You think Brant’s daddy is behind this?”

  “Well, he holds the money. Everything, and I mean everything is in his name. I figured he at least paid for the forgeries, but tell me why you asked me that. I’m guessing you don’t think it was his daddy?”

  “That never even occurred to me. Brant’s father has never even seen J.J. He doesn’t care about him any more than he cares about Brant. I’d left Brant before I gave birth to J.J. Brant himself had only seen him a handful of times when I got that court summons when he was about four months old. My gut tells me it’s Brant and his mama. I’ll bet his dad doesn’t even know about this. It’s Jean that pushed the custody agreement through.”

  Austin cut his eyes to hers and smirked. “Thought you didn’t believe in gut feelings,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Good. Okay, good. Keep talking. Tell me everything that happened with Brant Jr. from the moment you found out you were pregnant until right now,” Detective Miller urged.

  Swallowing down any kind of pride she might ever have had, Summer detailed how she’d ended up with Brant, his abusive behavior, the fact that none of the Prestons had even been at the hospital in Santa Fe when she’d given birth. How she’d gotten a job at Walgreens when she was five-months pregnant and had been saving up and had just gotten a tiny apartment near the Pueblo reservation when she’d gotten the court summons from Dallas. Then she told them how she’d been dragged around from one rodeo to another, rarely having enough money to get a hotel room when Brant had J.J. “Then I met Austin.” She shrank in her chair, trying to blend into the oak spindles, and wishing she never had to look any of these people in the eye again. Her world wasn’t one they were even aware existed.

  Ev looked sickened. Jessie wiped away tears, got up from her chair, pulled Summer up into her arms, and hugged her tightly. “We are going to get this taken care of and keep you and J.J. safe. You just believe me when I say that, okay?”

  Summer managed a nod, but she wasn’t certain she could believe that.

  “Sweetheart, I am so sorry. I promise you it’s not just gonna be Austin fighting for you,” Ev pledged. “We’ll figure this out. You’d be surprised what a resourceful cowboy can do when he’s pressed to, and any man that would hurt his wife ain’t a cowboy.”

  “I know, sir.”

  Austin guided her into his lap this time, tucking her into his substantial embrace, not seeming to care who was in the room with them. “All right, I personally can tell you that Brant Jr. is nothing more than a bully. You call him on the carpet, make like you’re not scared, he’ll tuck his tail and run. Maybe I ought to go back to Cheyenne and confront him,” Austin challenged.

  “I do
n’t recommend that, because bull riding doesn’t come with a badge. If you think we can intimidate him into talking, I’ll get some guys looking for the forger while we have us an old-timey showdown in Cheyenne. I can get uniforms to show up conveniently wherever he might be. Hell, I can arrest them both with the forgeries as evidence. I’m just not sure without the forger we’re gonna get a conviction. If they make bail, which wouldn’t tax them in anyway at all, they can still enforce the custody decisions and that would make them all the more ready to up and run. Now, you mentioned that you weren’t wanting Mrs. Preston to know you have the forgeries. If I see if I can’t scare one of them into making a move, she’s probably going to go through that folder to see what the cops are sniffing around for.”

  “We don’t have any choice do we? We have to get something done now,” Austin demanded.

  “Be great if we could. Be a damn miracle if we can, but we won’t know until we pull the trigger on something. Like I said, let me call in favors tomorrow, show up in Cheyenne on Monday. Meanwhile, I’ll put Dallas PD on known forgers in the area. If we haven’t gotten anything out of anyone by Tuesday, I’ll think about arrest warrants, but I hate to jump to that so quickly.”

  “We need to know something before Tuesday.” Austin’s grip on Summer strengthened with his frustration. The desperate desire to run coursed through her veins. If his stable hold hadn’t felt so damn good, so certain, she would’ve taken off and never looked back. She wouldn’t have stopped running until she and J.J. were so far away from Brant he’d never find them.

  “We will, Mr. Camden. I promise you. This isn’t all or nothing. Cases like this take a little time and a little patience, but we’ll see something as soon as we arrive in Cheyenne, Monday. Let me do my job, okay?”

  Summer lifted her head to see Austin’s single nod. The same determined nod to his own destiny he gave the chute gate opener just before he clenched his jaw and rode the hell out of a bull. He hadn’t been thrown since they’d met. Maybe, just maybe, she was his lucky charm. Maybe together they could hang on for dear life and come out of this alive. Maybe.