The Cowboy Who Strolled Into Town

by Riley Moreno

  When Daniel came through again, it was not as bad as the first time. He suspected he had hit his head against the wood of the floor and passed out. He tested his hands and feet to realise that he had not been restrained, but when his eyes cleared he realised the emaciated figure of Tyrone keeping a watch over him, a pistol in his hands, pointed unwaveringly his way.

  Daniel looked at the other two who were busy packing out the bags of cocaine

  “So Tyrone have these two told where they are gonna bury your body yet?” Daniel croaked, his voice piercing through the night air.

  “Shut up!” Tyrone hissed. The gun pointed a lot straighter after that.

  A few minutes later, Daniel broke the silence again, “My guess is in there; under the boards with the rest of the coke they can’t stuff conveniently into their pockets. After all this is your mess, and they know it.”

  “Keep that pie hole shut, Tyrone! Can’t you do anything right?” McGrady hissed.

  “Oh he can, he got you guys here didn’t he? Fell for the trap like a racoon.”

  Tyrone kicked him across the ankles, “Shut up!”

  “No I won’t shut up you Moron! They are going to kill you! And after that they are going to blame it on me again like they did the sheriff; you were there that day-you know what happened!”

  “That ain’t gonna happen! I mean we pals; we always been!” Tyrone piped in the night.

  “And if I don’t come back home, you think your sister who has put up with your bull shit her whole life would want to see your stoned head again? A crack head with his nose in his own supply? Who’s gonna take you in? Them? Like I said, they want you dead; you’re a liability-you know too much.”

  “For goodness sakes Ty put him to sleep!” Tyler hissed from the background, “ I swear I still can’t figure out why you don’t move backwards instead of forward, you dumb as hell!”

  “Hey don’t talk to me like that! We all partners here!” Tyrone lost his temper, screaming now, he turned to face the others and Daniel seized his chance. He bounded off the floor, took a step and dived as far as he could towards the wall to the right. He crashed into it, and a second later, the lights in the barn came on, blinding all four of them located below.

  “Alright hold it, and put your hands where I can see’em!” Stanley bellowed from the top of the balcony from which he had previously hurled the bait for the present debacle.

  McGrady’s service pistol was out faster than Tyley’s colt. Pretty soon McGrady was pointing at Stanley while Tyler’s aim was straight at Daniel’s chest.

  “What’s the matter Tyrone? You don’t have no weapon? Thought this was gonna be a regular pick n’ shift? I told you they was gonna kill you.” Daniel teased a bewildered Tyrone who was still trying to get adapted to the light.

  “Alright this is not a Mexican standoff; drop your weapon Stan, and come over peaceably.” Tyler commanded, the sophisticated charm back on like the electricity.

  “What makes you think you got the advantage? Pa!”

  On cue a shot went off just beside McGrady’s foot, the bullet lodging itself in the wood. Daniel turned to look up at the balcony opposite Stanley’s to see Old man Yalow nod in recognition, but keeping his eye steady through his rifle.

  They had been there the whole time, angels hidden by the night, waiting for the lights to shine.

  McGrady gently lowered his gun, giving a blizzard stare at the rifle pointed at him. Tyler Shot him in the back, and shot at Tyrone’s head before dashing out into the night. Nobody could react in the split second that it all occurred.

  He did not go far however; he was soon backing back into the barn, a shotgun pointed at his nose, and Julianne unflinching in her full intent to use it if need be. Tyler gulped, his hands in the air about his head in surrender, “You wouldn’t dare,” he stammered, “You wouldn’t dare! Your no killer; your husb-“

  The shotgun continued pointing at him as he cringed in pain, and fell to the floor. She had rammed her cowboy boots square on his crutch, “You shot at my brother, so don’t be so sure, and never insult my husband again.”

  Epilogue

  People were beginning to think that the sheriff badge was jinxed when McGrady junior turned out a vegetable like his father before him; they were both confined to hospice homes where they would receive the proper care. His lawyers could do that much for him.

  The district attorney fought to keep the case in the state courts rather than have it in federal court; he wanted to push for the death penalty. He succeeded. Tyrone, whom the bullet had duly missed, tried to negotiate for his life by confessing all the details he was privy to, including the case of the assault on Sheriff McGrady Sr. that had previously been attributed to Daniel Hellas. That was the only way he was going to escape the gas chamber.

  After Tyrone was done, it hit front page news; the full story. The Sheriff, suspecting his son, and deputy was on the take from narcotics distributors, had set out to investigate. McGrady Jr. had tipped the suspects off, but not in time, and a young upstart Tyler Blackford had shot him in the back in blind panic. The only witness had been a regular customer who happened to be at the scene at the time: Tyrone Hayes. The pistol had been pinched, and was registered to a certain Daniel Hellas. Cleared of all charges less than a year later, the stigma had remained, and Daniel had gone off on a twenty-year hiatus. McGrady Jr. had figured out the truth however, and had been on the take ever since. In a bid to keep Tyrone quiet, Tyler had brought him in, and given him a chunk of the action; if only he had been able to keep his nose out.

  Tyler Hayes was sentenced to the gas chamber.

  The town, which had previously been antagonistic to the Hellas because it thought Daniel was guilty, was still antagonistic after the revelations from the case; this time, for proving them wrong. Daniel could not care less however, a clear conscience made softer pillow.

  Seven months after the affair Julianne gave birth to twins: Stanley and Steven.

  End

  PREGNANT BY THE

  ALPHA RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE

  BWWM Pregnancy Romance

  By: Riley Moreno

  Chapter 1

  “Mama, what is going on?’’ little 8 year old Fiona Blackstone, a cute chocolate dark skinned and brown eyed girl whispered, while looking at her mother who looked to be in total distress.

  She also could not understand why her mother and father had quickly woken her up in the middle of the night and quickly snatched her up in a rush to get out of the house.

  They had not even let her take Mr. Cuddles, her little brown teddy bear and also one of her best friends. And now he must be lonely thinking she had abandoned him in her room.

  But why then had they brought her to this scary unfamiliar neighborhood, in front of some brick made house? And what had her dad gone inside there to do. As the strange questions rushed into her little head, her mother quickly spoke.

  ‘’Honey I want you to take this and keep it on you.’’ Sonia Blackstone, a beautiful light skinned woman and her loving mother then said softly while placing a red ruby heart pendant on her.

  Just as the little girl curiously placed her little hand on the pretty necklace which now lay on her little chest, her mother gently closed her hand around hers.

  ‘’Promise me honey, that you will always keep this with you. Never lose it.” her mother then said with a serious look on her face which meant business.

  ‘’I pinky promise, mama.’’ The little girl confidently said, hoping that would make her mother start smiling instead of looking so sad.

  ‘’Sonia, I have spoken with Edna and she will be well taken care of. Plus we better be quick as they are now close.’’ She then heard the deep voice of her father say as he came close to them. While she had her mother`s brown eyes, she had gotten her dark chocolate skin from her father Charles Blackstone.

  Her mother then bursts into tears, enveloping her into her arms and quickly releasing her to stand up.

  Her father then knelt befo
re her and stared intensely at her with his serious dark teary eyes.

  ‘’Pumpkin, I want you to always remember that no matter what, we love you okay? And always be brave.’’ before the little girl could ask what was happening, her mother then pulled her father away while looking frantic.

  ‘’Charles lets go, they are coming!” her parents both now looking distraught then quickly kissed the little girl on the forehead and jumped into the car.

  They then left, leaving the little black girl staring after them as the car moved away, causing her to scream for them to come back!

  ‘’Mama, Papa don’t leave me here!’’ she shouted with tears now flooding her face, even as the car was now at a far distance and they could not even hear her.

  But the last thing she then spotted before closing her eyes in exhaustion and being carried away by her new care taker Edna, were large gigantic beasts.

  Beasts with yellow eyes and white sharp fangs, hidden in the shadows and heading in the same direction as that of her parents...

  “NOOOO!”

  Fiona then found herself almost letting out a scream because of the dream but quickly opened her eyes after feeling something cold splash upon her.

  “Fiona, Fiona! Are you awake?’’ she then heard a female voice shout, causing to quickly sit up on her bed, only to find herself dripping cold wet.

  ‘’Tracy! What the hell?’’ Fiona then said to her best friend and roommate, Tracy Thompson who was holding a bucket of water and looking guilty. They had been best friends since high school and even through college.

  ‘’Don’t blame me; this was the only way I could get you to wake up. It seems like you were stuck in that dream of yours where you usually wake up screaming.’’ Tracy then said to her, looking worried as Fiona had told her about this same dream she sometimes kept on having.

  ‘’Are you okay?’’ Tracy then continued upon seeing the sorrow which now filled Fiona`s face at the mention of that dream.

  ‘’Don’t worry Tracy, I will be fine.” Fiona then replied standing up and going to clean up in the bathroom.

  Her hand then quickly closed around the red ruby heart pendant on her chest as she stared at it through the bathroom mirror.

  She then realized that inside she was not okay as that dream was also a past memory which always reminded her of how her parents had left her at some orphanage to never come back.

  Heck as a child, whenever she got adopted, she caused problems for whatever family dared take her away from the orphanage until they returned her back.

  She was always a headstrong persevering child, hoping that if she stood or kept her eyes on the exact spot where her parents had left her at, they would one day come and get her only to be disappointed each time they didn’t.

  She grew out of it when teenage years came but instead decided to try to find them or any family she had, maybe aunties or something. But her searches yielding no results only proved the harsh reality of how she was alone in the world with no family or relatives.

  As for the beasts with the yellow eyes, to Fiona they could not have been real. Her counselor had even advised her that the beasts were just a figment of her child imagination but it still niggled her mind as to what where her parents running from?

  Then there was Edna, who passed away a long time ago before she could ask the lady about what they had talked about with her dad. And as for the ruby pendant, she always had it on her and had never taken it off. It was the only thing she had from her parents.

  And now after working part time jobs and paying for college and earning a degree, as a 22 year old, she was now struggling to find jobs. Luckily she had Tracy who was now working as a doctor and had offered to help Fiona with a place to stay as she tries to get employed.

  Right now, she could not even count how many job interviews she had gone to and was always getting rejected. Apparently nowadays it was now all about connections, people hiring their friends and relatives instead of giving the job to some stranger black girl named Fiona Blackstone with no family.

  But today, Fiona Blackstone had just had it! She was getting that Job and nothing or no one was going to stop her.

  Fiona then thought to herself after bathing as she stood in front of the mirror, putting on her power suit and tying her long raven black hair into a neat bun.

  But she felt a little conscious looking at her curvy hourglass body thinking why could she not have gotten the skinny model looking body that her best friend Tracy had?

  As Fiona entered the kitchen after packing the papers and everything she needed for the interview, she then saw her best friend Tracy sitting on one of the kitchen chairs while eating breakfast.

  She had also dressed and now wore her white coat on top and was getting ready to go to work. Although she and Tracy got along like sisters they were as different in appearance as Tracy was a colored of mixed race between a white mother and a black father and therefore had lighter skin.

  Where Tracy sat, there was also a piece of paper on the table she was looking at and Fiona knew it was the Job Ad for the interview to which she was going to.

  She had luckily found the piece of paper with the Ad in the nearby forest during a hike. And at that time, she had been depressed from not being able to find a job.

  So it had been the best surprise ever to see a piece of paper lying by the ground near a tree with a Job advert from one of the best successful companies in the city. For her it meant fate was in her favor and this job was going to be hers.

  ‘’Are you sure you are not wasting your time?’’ Tracy then said to her and read the part about how the CEO Mr. Ashwood of the famous Ashwood Enterprise was looking for a personal assistant and the gender of the applicants had to be males only. Fiona rolled her eyes at this.

  ‘’Tracy, I don’t really care about that, I’m going to go there to try my luck. Plus someone has to prove to him that females can also do a much better job at being personal assistants.’’ Fiona replied looking determined as a CV job mention of ever working at Ashwood Enterprise was just the opening she needed to be able to start getting better job offers.

  ‘’Do you think that maybe he is gay since he wants a male personal assistant?’’ Tracy then said curiously asking Fiona and she just shrugged as she did not know either why the CEO of Ashwood enterprise only wanted a male personal assistant.

  The only things Fiona knew was that he was a rich billionaire, owner of the company, 30 years old and a demanding boss. But she wanted the Job there as his company also paid its employees high salaries while being highly famous.

  ‘’But gosh I hope he is not gay, as I hear that he is sexy a hell in person and I once saw a picture of him in the magazine.’’ Tracy then continued looking like she wanted to fane herself from thinking of a hot male.

  ‘’I think you need to just go get laid.” Fiona then bluntly said to her friend in amusement causing Tracy to fake glare at her.

  ‘’Oh yeah? Says the 22 year old woman whose one and only serious boyfriend that she ever dated from high school turned out to be secretly gay .’’ Tracy then replied her.

  ‘’Tracy you awful person, have you ever thought that maybe that ideal traumatized me off from men forever?’’ Fiona then replied pretending to wipe away fake tears which had them both bursting in laughter.

  As for Fiona, to her it really was not Luke`s fault, her gay childhood best friend that she did not date often. As when she had dated Luke in high school, she already knew he was gay. They only pretended just to protect his secret. He finally came out though after graduating college.

  Fiona did not usually date as she had just not found the right man, the one who made her heart rate accelerate or caused butterflies to heat up in her stomach.

  ‘’Good luck then.” Tracy then replied wishing Fiona luck for her interview and hugging her as she got ready to leave.

  Fiona then got into a cab and drove to Ashwood enterprise.

  Chapter 2

  The cab then stopped in
front of a gigantic glass building, with a huge billboard sign written Ashwood enterprise. As Fiona got out of the cab she was happy that the weather was only full of sunshine as she needed the mood booster.

  She then confidently entered into the building with her black heels and black power suit. She was surprised to see a female receptionist on the ground floor as she had come in excepting to see only males everywhere. Maybe the CEO was only sexists when it came to people who worked near him, Fiona then thought to herself.

  ‘’Hello miss, what can I help you with?’’ the brown haired receptionists then said with a large friendly smile and Fiona immediately liked her.

  ‘’I’m here for an interview with Mr. Ashwood.’’ Fiona then replied causing the brown haired woman to pause and look at her in shock at the fact that she was a woman going to an interview which was only hiring males.

  Fiona almost laughed at the thought of how she had gotten the interview appointment. She had pretended to be male on her CV email application. The interviewee’s were just going to get the shock of their lives to know that Tiran was a female. She had not lied entirely as that was her middle name Fiona Tiran Blackstone.

  “Okay then, follow me and I will lead you to where the interviews are taking place.” The blonde receptionists then replied leading Fiona to the elevator. There she pressed the elevator button which led to the top floor of the building.

  It was really no surprise for Fiona as Mr. Ashwood was the CEO and owner of this successful company after all and got the top floor.

  The elevator door then opened signaling that they had arrived at the place of destination.

  At first Fiona stood there in the elevator looking and mesmerized by the expensive décor which covered the reception area to Mr. Ashwood`s office. She had never seen such an elegant place as this and felt as if everything in that room was worth more than her years rent.