Half a Cowboy

by Andrew Grey

  Ashton didn’t only want Ben to stay because Ashton’s heart was involved. Ashton wanted Ben to stay because Ben wanted to. He wanted it because it would be good for Ben to stop being afraid all the time. Passion and excitement were one thing, but what Ashton wanted most of all was for Ben to be happy. And just like that, Ashton realized how deep his feelings for Ben had reached in such a short time. Would it hurt like hell if Ben left? Yes, it would. But Ashton could deal with a broken heart. He had done it before when he was young and stupid in high school, and then when he was in the Army, not so young, but still stupid. And he could do it again. He knew the bastard that was heartbreak. But what he feared more was that Ben would make the decision that would ultimately lead to his own unhappiness. That was what really hurt.

  Ashton climbed into bed and got back under the covers. The decision was Ben’s. All he could do now was wait.

  ASHTON LAY in bed for a while and then rolled over, closing his eyes. He feared that Ben would not be there in the morning. Ashton understood Ben’s reasoning. He really did. Maybe Ben just didn’t have the internal fortitude Ashton had thought he’d seen in him.

  To say that his heart would break if Ben left was probably stupid. How could he have a broken heart over someone he’d met just a week ago? Well, maybe it was possible, judging by the ache that welled inside him. Ashton was disappointed—maybe that was the term, more than anything else. He’d thought Ben cared for him the way he cared for Ben, in that intense, soul-deep way that drove a man to stay and to fight for what he wanted.

  The crappy thing was, he could do nothing about it. Ashton hoped he’d shown Ben how much he meant to him. Heck, he thought that Ben had shown him too. Had he missed the signs, misread everything?

  He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. Whatever the outcome, there was shit-all he could do about it. It was out of his hands.

  Eventually Ashton dropped off into a troubled sleep that brought him very little rest.

  Chapter 9

  BEN WAS surrounded by warmth pinning him down. He smiled as he thought of Ashton, but when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was on the sofa with a blanket over him, surrounded by dogs. Poochie lay partially on his chest, the animal’s head resting on him, rising and falling with each breath Ben took.

  He lifted his gaze to where Ashton stood at the end of the couch, looking down at him in complete surprise. “I thought—” he said.

  “Ben and I ended up talking for a while, and he fell asleep on the sofa,” Reg said as he came in with coffee and handed Ashton a mug. “I didn’t want to disturb you, so I let him sleep here, and it seems he had plenty of company.” Reg’s expression betrayed nothing, and Ashton nodded, knowing that he wasn’t meant to have heard last night’s conversation.

  Reg’s phone dinged with a text, and a minute later Ashton’s did as well.

  “It’s the sheriff,” Ashton said and immediately returned his call while Ben slowly sat up, making sure none of the dogs got spilled onto the floor.

  “I see. … Okay. … Definitely come on out when you can.” He hung up, and Reg hurried into the room.

  “What?”

  “Texas authorities got a warrant and raided a building in the area that you described last night. It seemed they had been looking for the location for a while and your info sealed the deal. They didn’t say what they found, but my contact was extremely grateful.”

  “Then that’s good news,” Ben said.

  “Yeah. They’re executing a warrant on Dallas’s home right now. But they don’t think he’s there,” Reg said, sighing.

  “He could be on his way here,” Ben said.

  “True. Or, more likely, he’s crawled back into the hole he built for when things crashed around his ears.” Reg’s gaze was almost harsh. “Do you really think his first priority right now is to bring you back?”

  Ben shook his head. “No. But he will have figured out that someone tipped off law enforcement—and he’s going to know it was me.” He sat back down. “Dallas isn’t going to want me back—he’s going to want me dead.”

  The realization didn’t hit him with as much force as he thought it might—probably because after all the time he’d spent under Dallas’s thumb, he had sometimes assumed that he might not get out alive. That was why he’d tried to escape again.

  The fight-or-flight part of Ben’s brain kicked in again, and he suddenly wanted to run so badly—to get away from Ashton and the ranch, lead Dallas somewhere else while there was still time. He turned to Ashton, who had determination written all over his features, and then to Reg, who looked the same. They seemed confident, with no sign of fear. Maybe that came with years in the Army or dealing with the kind of people they met at their security company. Ben wanted that. He knew this was one of those “stand up and be a man” moments. And dammit, he was going to stay. He’d do everything he could to make sure they all remained safe. It was high time that he stopped playing the greenhorn in this western and started acting like one of the heroes.

  Ashton cleared his throat. “We’ll deal with it.” He paused for a moment before adding, “I just heard from the sheriff. He told me that one of Henderson’s men called him an hour ago, telling him that he’d just quit and left after overhearing something in the house. Apparently there has been a stranger staying at Henderson’s for the past few days, and he’s been very interested in my ranch and the people on it.”

  Now Ben was shocked. “Holy crap, do you think…?”

  “Sheriff Holmes is looking into it. He said he’s getting a description of the man and that when he has one, he wants to talk to you.”

  “Of course, but—” Ben’s mind ran like a hamster on a wheel, and he tried to slow it down so he could actually get somewhere. “Wait….”

  Reg and Ashton both watched him as he finally managed to say, “Okay. So, let’s say the person staying at Henderson’s is working for Dallas.” Ben hated even voicing the idea.

  “That sucks,” Reg said.

  Ashton nodded. “Yeah, it does. And I bet that’s what the sheriff thinks too. It isn’t a secret in town that Henderson wants my ranch. The fact that he tried to buy it is known by a lot of people as well. So if Dallas sent someone to the area, and the guy asked around and found out that Henderson wanted something from me…? Dallas gets you, and Henderson gets rid of me. It’s a twofer.” Ashton gazed at both of them.

  “It’s fucking diabolical,” Ben said. “And shit—that means instead of one enemy….”

  “We may possibly have two, and they want the same thing,” Reg commented. “You said the sheriff is coming? Let’s wait to see what he says. But we need to be vigilant. If they’re working together, then it’s likely they’ll create a diversion of some kind.” He left the room to rouse the rest of the team and get them working.

  Ben didn’t know what he should do, but he’d made the decision to stay, and he was going to stick with it. “So what now?” he asked, shifting his gaze to Ashton. “Do you really think Henderson would stoop to getting involved with someone like Dallas?”

  Ashton thought a minute. “I don’t know. We’re going to have to wait to see what the sheriff has to say. Hopefully he’ll be able to help us.” For the first time, Ashton’s eyes held real fear, and it sent a chill through Ben.

  Up until that moment, Ben hadn’t realized just how much he had been relying on Ashton’s confidence that everything would be okay. “This really sucks.”

  “It will be okay,” Ashton reassured him. “We don’t know where Dallas is or what he’s planning, but he’s on the run, and there aren’t going to be a lot of places he can hide.”

  “No. The authorities in Texas are casting a pretty wide net,” Reg explained when he returned. “I checked out some of the local news sites, and the story of the raid and hunt for Dallas is all over them. It’s a big story there.” He turned his tablet around so everyone could see the headlines.

  “That only means that he got out of there hours ago and could be anywhere. Da
llas was always a little paranoid, and I’m sure he had contingency plans if something happened. That’s the kind of person he is. Dallas will always look out for himself.” And Ben was becoming more and more afraid for Ashton.

  “What aren’t you telling us?” Reg asked, obviously noticing his preoccupation.

  Ashton whipped around. “What the hell are you talking about?” he snapped. Then Ashton slowly followed Reg’s gaze and turned to him. “Ben?” He seemed almost hurt, and that grabbed at Ben’s heart.

  Ben swallowed hard. “Look. If Dallas is behind all this, if he gets here, he isn’t going to stop at just hurting me. If he finds out what Ashton means to me… he’ll….” His voice faltered. “He’ll….”

  “Do to me what he did to your friend, the one who tried to help you get away that first time?” Ashton asked.

  Ben nodded. “He’ll end up killing me anyway, but not until he makes me pay for every bit of effort that he had to expend.” He knew exactly what his fate was going to be if Dallas got anywhere near him. There was no doubt in his mind. But Ben didn’t regret telling the authorities about Dallas’s business dealings. It had been the right thing to do. He turned to Ashton and smiled. If this was going to be the end, then he was thrilled that he’d gotten the chance to know Ashton and touch his heart… and have Ashton touch his. Knowing Ashton, being with Ashton—that was more than worth anything that might come his way.

  “Isn’t that going to be hard for him to do on the run… or worse?”

  Ben shook his head. “Money talks and buys whatever he wants.”

  Ashton came over to stand next to him and put an arm around his shoulders. “Let’s not forget that prisoner in Leavenworth a few years ago who ran a contraband organization from his prison cell. Everything is possible as long as Dallas is out there… and alive.” He turned toward the front window. “It looks like the sheriff is here.”

  Maybe now they would find out something. This standing around and speculating was driving Ben crazy. And though he thought he knew how Dallas would behave—his gut told him one thing—he didn’t really know. The past year or so, he’d done everything he could to stay out of Dallas’s way, hoping he’d keep himself busy with other things. Early on, Dallas’s touch had been exciting, maybe caring, and it had thrilled Ben beyond belief, but then he’d come to know the real Dallas, and by the end, just the thought of Dallas’s hands on him left him cold.

  “Come on in,” Reg said, opening the door, pulling Ben out of his thoughts. “We have coffee on.”

  “Excellent. It’s clear but cold as hell out there.” The sheriff took off his coat, hat, and gloves, and everyone moved into the kitchen, around the table.

  “What have you got for us?”

  “Well….” He pulled out his notes. “One of Henderson’s former hands reported that a strange man is staying with him. He’s been there a day or two. The hand quit because he didn’t like what he was seeing and the way Henderson acted. I’m not telling you his name because I’m trying to protect the person who told me. It will get around, I’m sure. But the young man has family in Montana, and he’s returning there today.” He thanked Reg for the coffee and sipped the steaming brew.

  Ben thanked him as well as he took his own mug, staring down into the darkness of the drink that seemed to mirror his own life and thoughts at the moment.

  “Okay. Do you think this visitor is one of Dallas Remington’s people?”

  Sheriff Holmes nodded. “The description matches a Drayton Toranelli.”

  Ben gasped. “God, that was the voice.” He nearly spilled his coffee.

  “The one on the phone yesterday?” Ashton asked.

  Ben nodded slowly. “How could I have forgotten about him?” He still couldn’t believe he’d missed that connection. “But he wouldn’t be up here. Drayton hangs around at the border, keeping the people who work for Dallas in line. I only saw him a few times at Dallas’s house, and he came into the club once.” Ben felt the blood draining from his face as his memories came into focus. “Drayton told me once that if I ever got tired of Dallas and wanted to play in his arena, that he’d show me a good time.” His hand shook, but he was determined not to let fear take over. “He said that my back would look beautiful with his marks on it.”

  Ashton squeezed his hand to reassure him, and Ben lifted his gaze from his coffee and tried to dispel the blackness overwhelming him by looking into Ashton’s bright blue eyes. “I think I’ve had enough sitting around here waiting for something to happen,” Ashton announced. “This is driving us all crazy. If Henderson is going to get involved with a guy like Dallas Remington, then we need to bring the fight and the threat to him.”

  “Oh really?” Sheriff Holmes said, clearly annoyed.

  “Yes!” Ashton glared back at the law enforcement officer. “He needs to realize just how dangerous this is. Henderson is a coward at heart. If he sees a fight coming, he’ll back away and run. That’s the way he always behaves. Henderson likes to do his dirty work in the shadows.”

  “Okay. I’ll humor you,” the sheriff said. “How do you see this happening?”

  Ashton smiled. “I just thought I’d pay him a neighborly social visit to make sure that the storms haven’t hurt him. Maybe take a look around.”

  “I’d prefer to go over there, confront the bastard, and scare the ever-loving shit out of him,” Reg offered. Ben liked Reg more and more.

  “Sheriff,” Ben said quietly, “why don’t you just get a warrant? If you have enough evidence to believe Drayton is at the ranch, can’t you get a warrant for his arrest and just take him in? He has to be wanted in a number of places.”

  Sheriff Holmes smiled. “Now that’s exactly what I was thinking.” He pulled a piece of paper out from his jacket. “My deputies will be here in fifteen minutes. I’d like to use the ranch here as a staging area so we can meet and plan. I’ll deputize some of you for extra manpower, since you were military police and qualified for this type of operation. That should not only put the fear of God into Henderson, but we might be able to take out the initial threat to you all at the same time.”

  Ashton nodded, and Reg seemed to like the plan, but Ben realized that he was going to end up sitting back at the ranch waiting for whatever was going to happen. And he hated that idea. “I’m going too.”

  “No way!” Ashton snapped. “You stay here where it’s safe.”

  “And who else is going to identify Toranelli for you?” Ben asked, his hands on his hips. “Do you expect him to just hand it over his ID?” He scanned all the shocked faces, then turned to the sheriff. “What if this guy is Henderson’s cousin from Omaha, who just happens to look like Drayton? Are you going to be able to recognize him? Maybe he’ll pull a gun when you all sweep in on him and he’s just here for a family birthday or something.” He waited as his message sank in. “I’m the only one here who has actually seen this guy. It was a while ago, but I remember him well enough to identify him for you.”

  Sheriff Holmes sighed deeply. “Shit. I’ll allow it, but you have to stay in the car.”

  “You’re going to let him go along? He has no experience,” Ashton said. “Are you crazy?”

  “I can take care of myself.” Ben let his voice rise. He was tired of being babied. “I managed to avoid Dallas’s wrath for years. Do you think my life was all moonlight and roses, that Dallas was a mean son of a bitch to everyone else in the fucking world but treated me as if I was special? He didn’t. If I want to help make sure I’m safe and all of you are safe, then this is what I have to do. It’s my decision.”

  The sheriff cleared his throat. “Actually, it’s my decision.”

  Ben scoffed. “Do you think you can stop me? You may be the sheriff, but I survived that damned blizzard through sheer will alone.” He looked around, daring any of them to contradict him. “I’m tired of being afraid. I won’t live like that anymore.”

  Reg nodded. “Okay. As long as you stay out of the way and do what the sheriff tells you.”

&nb
sp; “Good. Now give me a gun.” Ben held out his hand. If he did this, he was going to be able to defend himself. Ashton went down the hallway and returned with two handguns.

  “Do you know how to use one of these?” Ashton asked.

  Ben checked the gun, popped open the magazine, and handed it back to Ashton. “It’s not loaded.” Dallas had shown him how to use a gun some years ago. That had been before he’d started using so heavily and his mind had grown darker and darker. He probably didn’t remember showing Ben how to take care of himself. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Ben.

  “You shouldn’t need a gun,” the sheriff said.

  “Why not?” He reached into his wallet and handed his license to the sheriff. Granted, it was from Texas, but still, he had the right to carry concealed. “I know how to use one.”

  The sheriff deputized the guys, and Ben pulled on his gear as the sheriff’s deputies arrived. Once everyone was ready, Ben followed the others outside. The security team stayed in the house to watch over things, and Ben, Ashton, Reg, the sheriff, and his deputies headed to the Henderson ranch.

  It felt good to finally be doing something. Ben had been on edge for so long, he thought it had become a permanent state. But now that he and the guys were taking some sort of action, doing something to help protect themselves, the tension drifted away.

  Ben watched out the window from the passenger seat of the sheriff’s vehicle.

  “You need to stay in the car,” the sheriff informed him. “The only reason I’m allowing you to come is so you can identify Drayton Toranelli. I don’t want you or anyone else to get hurt. Reg and Ashton, they have military law experience.” He wiped down his face. “I can’t believe I’m doing this, letting a civilian come along, but I need positive confirmation. Just stay inside and keep out of sight.”

  “I’m pretty good at staying below the radar. That’s how I survived around Dallas all these years.” He had no interest in getting shot, but he needed to play his part. Once he had identified Toranelli, he’d keep his head down and let the professionals do their jobs. He might have found his courage, but he wasn’t a fool.