At Long Last; Book 4 of the Long Ranch Series

by Michel Prince

  “Hi,” she said with a smile as she set her doctor bag on the counter. “Is Walt ready?”

  “I don’t think anyone is ready,” Tina replied. “He’s trying to get Nessa and Walt Jr. to come downstairs to say goodbye.”

  “Miles, Monty and Clay are in the barn right now.”

  “Goodbye?” Ashleigh questioned. “Who’s leaving?”

  “Not leaving, I have to put Gideon down.”

  “Gideon’s a good horse, it’s not nice to say bad things,” Sierra said not fully understanding that the horse she bonded with last night was being euthanized.

  Ashleigh’s stomach tightened and she could feel the weight of the animal’s head as he rested in her lap. Had Miles known last night that Gideon was being killed in the morning? And how had she become attached to an animal in only one day? “Why?” she asked even though she herself had seen something wasn’t right.

  “He’s old and in pain. He’d keep going because he’s that type of animal until he collapses, but I found cancer in him a few months ago and the treatments aren’t working. Even if they did, he’s thirty-two and that’s well past the age of most animals. Trust me it’s a hard day for all of us. He was Walt’s first horse, kinda like Trixie is for Nessa. We all learned to ride on him.”

  “Wait, Ash, what’s going on?” her sister had caught up to the conversation and the pain wouldn’t only be felt by the Longs today. “I don’t understand.”

  The sad eyes of Melody met Ashleigh’s and now, she wanted to fight for this animal. To make it live so her sister wouldn’t have to go through the pain of what is about to happen. “Sierra we should head home. They’ve got lots of work to do on the ranch today.”

  “But it’s with Gideon right? Something is wrong. I can tell.”

  Monty and Miles popped in and Ashleigh cut her eyes at them both. As if they had given the animal cancer. No the torture came with Miles introducing her sister to the beast.

  “Miles, Ashleigh won’t tell me what’s going on,” her sister cried. “I’m not a baby.”

  “You’re not Sierra, but your sister would do anything to avoid breaking your heart.” Miles came and sat across from Sierra. “Gideon is an old horse that is hurting.”

  “Did I hurt him?” her sister’s worry knitted her forehead.

  “No Sierra, you gave him an amazing last ride. He has taken care of the Longs for so many years, it’s time for him to get a long needed rest.”

  “He’s dying?” she asked.

  Miles reached across the table and took Sierra’s hand in his. “Yes sweetie and he’s in a lot of pain right now. We’re going to ease that because he’s our friend and we don’t want to make him suffer just so we can still see him every day. We’re gonna have to use our memories now to keep him alive.”

  Tears were streaming from Sierra’s eyes.

  Ashleigh felt as if she were ready to vomit. Pain couldn’t be avoided and she knew that, but she’d been able to shelter her sister for the most part over the years. The only funerals she had attended were for the kids from the youth center. Then again, they weren’t kids she’d just seen them that way because they had Downs. They were older and had lived well past the time their parents had ever hoped. With advances in medicine, no longer was Downs a death sentence by their twenties.

  “Why don’t we go out and you say your goodbyes? Not many people get to tell the ones they love goodbye before they go.”

  “Okay.” Her sister snuffed and wiped away her tears. “I’m sad, but if he sees me sad, he’ll know something is wrong.”

  Over the next hour, they finally got Nessa out of her room. Walt Jr. was the hardest. He’d never gotten his own horse like Nessa, even when his parents tried to convince him to because they knew this day would come in his childhood. Too much had been lost on this ranch lately and Ashleigh couldn’t understand why they chose this life.

  “You okay?” Miles asked as he rubbed circles between her shoulder blades.

  She couldn’t go in to say her goodbyes to the old gelding. Instead, she was leaning on the fence remembering her sister’s smile as she rode in the circle by the barn.

  “I’m sorry about all this. I never would have let Sierra ride him if I thought this day was so close. Mel told us as we were wrapping up the meeting.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me last night, so this could be avoided?”

  “I thought she was going to put him down tomorrow night, not this morning. Honestly Ash, if I’d had known, I would have warned you.”

  “Our parents just disappeared. We don’t even know where they went. Our grandparents passed before Sierra was even born and I barely remember them. It’s always been just us, so any people we lost were distant acquaintances.”

  The warmth of his hand helped with the chill going through her body. A comfort she’d never received. Turning into his chest, she clung to him and the scent of his cologne washed over her as his arms encircled her. For the first time in her life, she didn’t have to be the strong one. She could be the one comforted and allowed to let go. The sharp edges she created over the years were gone as he smoothed his hands up and down and let her collapse into his protective arms.

  Chapter Eight

  “This right here is some bullshit!” Hamilton snapped as he thwacked a newspaper on Ashleigh’s desk.

  “People still read the paper versions of these?” she asked as she picked it up. “Or are you just getting caught up on news from the eighties.”

  “It might as well be the eighteen eighties with the way the press is portraying the Long family. A set of avengers keeping the streets safe from marauding thugs.” He glared at her as if she’d written the article.

  She knew about it, but it wasn’t like she could have stopped it from being published.

  “We need a change of venue.”

  “To where? New York? This is New Mexico, we may have our granola, hippie loving new age population, but we’re in the Southwest. Vigilante justice by men who’ve never been anything but upstanding citizens is an uphill battle.”

  “Terrorism laws being what they are, I don’t see how this can be,” he grumbled.

  “They had licensed handguns that were checked in and out at the courthouse. Heck, they were all revolvers, not semi-automatics or glocks. It’s a shitty case and unfortunately for you, I can’t see a way the Longs are going to plead out.”

  “When is Harper coming to work? Seriously, this is ridiculous. Acting like she no longer has any responsibilities to this office.”

  “She’s in court closing out a few cases.”

  “Oh, well, still.”

  “Hamilton, what would you like from me?”

  “I need dirt on the Longs. There’s no way this family hasn’t crossed the law a dozen times.”

  “Why is that?” Ashleigh questioned as she tried to tamp down a growl. His reasoning was obvious. Degrees, achievements and family values aside, in Hamilton’s eyes, the Longs were a bunch of black guys carrying weapons.

  He stumbled over himself to back pedal but it was too late, the dye was cast. His true colors bled from him and nothing he could say would make his choices better. “I don’t know why Harper would taint herself with their thug like family.”

  “Here’s the history I’ve dug up so far. Henry Long earned a degree in agricultural sciences and a bride Loretta from an HBCU in Arkansas. Clevon Long chose to go to Georgia for college where he got a business degree. Now, Miles Long is the most dangerous because not only can he read, he can interpret things because his major in college was English Literature. He only pursued it until he completed his doctorate though.”

  “But instead of writing the great American novel, he’s out shooting up the streets of Las Cruces.”

  “That your opening statement?”

  “He’s either the luckiest shot in the world or he knows how to shoot from years of doing it.”

  “They do have forty thousand acres to hide bodies.” Ashleigh picked up her phone. “You want me to call o
ut the body sniffing dogs? I’m sure there are at least a hundred buried on their land.”

  “I was talking to Dylan, Harper’s ex, about them the other day.”

  Ashleigh put the phone receiver down and closed her eyes as she counted backward from ten. “An unbiased opinion, I’m sure.”

  “Her new husband—” Harper entered the office and Hamilton straightened up to give her a curt nod. “Hey Harper, did you get those cases all finished up?”

  Harper stopped at Ashleigh’s cube and rested her arm on the top of the faux wall. “Two down, three to go and then I’m out of your hair for good.”

  “Good? What are you talking about?”

  “Oh, right, there really isn’t anyone around to take my resignation since I’m the first assistant ADA and the DA is currently in jail. Although, I did hear Winnie Lasiture, you do know the Chief Executive Officer of the state? Ours, not Arizona’s, is going to appoint a new interim DA. She asked me, but I told her I would be resigning my post.”

  “Why wouldn’t she just look in the office for a replacement?”

  “Lack of faith I guess. Plus, we don’t know how deep this conspiracy goes. You’re pursuing the Longs pretty hard, but I’m too close to the situation to see clearly I’m sure. Art Connelly was funded by Federated Gas and the victims in the case worked directly for them, but that’s just me sussing things out.”

  Hamilton’s jaw twitched as his eyes cut down to Ashleigh who gave him back his newspaper. With a grumble, he headed back to his office.

  “Now he’s going to be thinking for two hours,” Ashleigh fussed. “Bet you twenty bucks, he’ll be calling me in there soon to help him sort out his latest problem.”

  “What was with the paper?”

  “That article got his dander up, nothing much.” Ashleigh had to bite her tongue at his request. How could she dig up dirt on a family she was falling in love with? No wonder Harper married Monty. She went from being practically alone to being part of a family with no filter when it came to doling out affection. Nessa went from being cradled by one family member to another. Walt Jr. said his goodbyes alone then came out with the stoic face of a seasoned rancher. Eight years old, steel jawed, he went back into the house and stayed in his room the whole day. People brought him food and comfort.

  Miles stayed with Sierra and her until they had to leave. They had trucked off cattle and put down animals before, but Gideon had been the family’s rock for three decades. She couldn’t imagine losing a friend like that.

  “How is everyone this morning?”

  “I didn’t check in on Walt’s family, but all in my house are still quiet. It’s been too much too quick. We need a break from the negative and I have too many months before I pop.”

  “How long until your house is done?”

  “I have a feeling it’ll be soon. The guys need the distraction of building and Henry is trying to stress that we need our house before Mel and Sunny because they’re not married yet.”

  “Daddy doesn’t want to let his little girl go?”

  “Nope. He has his good and bad days with it, but at least she’s still at home.”

  “Did you see Miles this morning?”

  “Ate breakfast with him before he headed out to help Monty with the house.” A wide grin crossed her lips. “Why? Do you like him?”

  “He was nice to Sierra and she’ll want to know he’s okay.”

  “Does she know about the case?”

  “No, she still thinks he’s a good guy with a white cowboy hat.”

  “And you?”

  “And I’m tasked with proving he’s a delinquent and a thug, strong arming and taking what he wants.” Ashleigh kept her eyes down as she rattled off again, telling things she shouldn’t.

  “The only strong arming that man has ever done was with you,” Harper snapped before calming herself back down. “I’m sorry. I’m just not used to being on the opposite side of you. Even when you’re playing defense attorney, you’re on my side.”

  “Why did that sound sexual? Playing defense attorney. Like you play the cop and I’m the bad prostitute who needs to be taught a lesson.”

  “Because you should have slept with my brother-in-law.”

  “No I shouldn’t have.”

  “I bet you’ve thought more about sex in the last forty eight hours than you ever have reading that book in your bottom drawer.”

  Ashleigh’s face heated up and she rolled her chair to block her file drawers. “I’m reading Mien Kampf. Nothing in there is dirty.”

  “Sure you are.” Harper arched an eyebrow at Ashleigh. “I’m going to say it’s a vampire shifter—”

  “Those don’t exist,” she protested. “If you’re a vampire that’s all you are. Shifters are different.”

  “Uh-huh… so tell me Ash, who’s chest is heaving in that desk drawer?”

  “You told Miles about my naughty books, didn’t you?”

  “No.” Harper laughed. “Miles figured that one out on his own.”

  “Ashleigh,” Hamilton barked from his office door and she popped up from her seat. “Has the court set a date on the Long trial?”

  “Not yet,” she replied. “I can call the clerk’s office if you need me to.”

  “Come to my office I need you to file a continuance.” With a slam, his door shut.

  Ashleigh’s eyebrows knitted together and she turned to her friend. “How am I supposed to file a continuance for a case that hasn’t been set?”

  “Hamilton, opened a law book,” Harper teased with a wave of her hand. “Oh, my goodness. You’re so in trouble. What comes after continuance in the law dictionary?”

  “How long is the commute from your house to here?” Ashleigh asked thinking a new job might be a good thing.

  “Ashleigh, now,” Hamilton’s raised voice echoed through the office.

  “Oh yeah, this shit’s gonna stop now.”

  * * * *

  “Are you sure we aren’t too far on the ranch for you?” Monty asked as they pulled up to the slab that was starting to take form. Strange how none of the guys studied architecture and their carpentry had been learned on the job. Monty said he’d hire out for plumbing since they had to dig and lay pipe in the rocky ground. The electrical was still up in the air.

  “I hear tell you’re about to get a matching anklet,” Uncle Clevon said as he approached from his truck. “We’ll be like the three musketeers.”

  “But there are four of us,” Monty said.

  “He’s your brother, I’ll let you explain,” his uncle said as he tightened his tool belt. Such a strange look they all wore today. Even his cousin, Clay was donning a baseball cap instead of the traditional cowboy hat to protect from the sun beating down on them.

  Three hours later, the frame was in place and they broke for lunch. As Miles sat in between a set of two by fours that if they stayed late would soon have a wall attached, he looked at the great expanse. The tattered copy of Wings of the Dove resting in his hand as his thumb kept it open. His mother had made them all meatloaf sandwiches before they left that morning and his was balancing on his knee.

  “Water?” his brother asked as he passed him a cold one from the cooler, they had on site.

  “This is a great view,” Miles mused and set his book aside.

  “That’s why the big window is there. I know Harp’s gonna love it. I might not even put in a TV and just have the couch right there.”

  “Where does DEC want to put the solar field?” Miles tried to remember the diagrams and maps that were at the back of the proposal. “This is a perfect spot. I swear I can’t wait until we get your roof up and I can get some shade. Any chance you want a tree or something?”

  “Not until we get safe water trucked out here and we know the soil damage. Although, Harper did say something about getting a few raised planting beds in for veggies. I think she’s spent too much time with Tina.”

  “Eating her food maybe.” Miles drank his bottle of water in three large gulps.r />
  “She’s pregnant.”

  “And it’s starting to show.” Miles put his hands up in surrender. “That’s not a bad thing. Thickness and all.”

  Sunny came over and sat by the two men, pulling out another batch of water bottles. “How come when I need help building, ya’ll too damn busy?”

  “Have you gotten any new building materials?” Monty asked. “And I helped.”

  “Fine, but I’m gonna really need your help soon,” Sunny said and sat on the ground in front of them. With his knees bent, he peered up at the two brothers. “Mel wants to move up the wedding date. We need something positive and it’ll be a bit before Harper pops.”

  “I don’t know a rushed wedding…” Monty shook his head.

  “Rushed? All we’ve been doing since JT’s wedding is planning ours. Mel has had her wedding dress for two months now.”

  “When are you thinking?” Monty asked for the both of them.

  “Memorial Day weekend? That gives people an extra day for travel.”

  “Who’s traveling?”

  “Besides JT?” Sunny asked and cracked another bottle of water open. “Rodeo friends, Mel’s from college. We do know people besides the ones sitting here today. According to the guide your mother gave us, we’re right at the appropriate window to invite people to our wedding.”

  “Staying on mama’s good side,” Miles chuckled. “Yeah, you mail those invites off two days too late and she’ll be pitching a fit. This one knows that by now.” He hitched his thumb to Monty.

  “We were appropriate for an elopement.”

  “I know and it’s only been a few days since the wedding…” Sunny shook his head. “I asked her to marry me at JT’s, jeez you guys must think I’m a damn leech on your happiness.”

  “Nah, we kinda sprung the whole man and wife thing on the ranch.” Monty stole half of Miles’ sandwich with a wink. “It’s all good. The weddings have kept the shit from creeping into too far.”