Her Knight, Her Protector: a western romance (Rodeo Knights Book 1)

by Lisa Mondello

  Jesse waited a second for his eyes to adjust to being outside. He listened, but only heard the sound of hooves clopping on the dry dirt in the paddock and the occasional grunt from the bulls. Without the cell phone flashlight, it would make moving in the dark tricky. Movement among the herd played tricks with his eyes as he scanned the area. He gripped the wooden rail of the paddock and focused on the sounds he heard until he could distinguish the sound of hooves on the ground and those of a man.

  The other ranch hands were playing cards in the bunkhouse. Jesse could hear Thad laugh. With Colin out in the barn, there probably weren’t enough players for cards. Jesse listened again and heard the television blaring. And then something else. The sound of boots on the gravel path pulled his attention toward the house. Quick steps.

  Jesse glanced in the direction of the bunkhouse. He hadn’t heard a door shut. The men knew they were not allowed to go to the house at this time of the night, so that could only mean one thing.

  Turning back to the house, Jesse ran as quickly as he could up the path, thankful that he’d left the porch light on when he’d left. Just as he reached in the pocket of his jeans for the key, he heard a window on the side of the house shatter, stopping him cold. He fumbled for just a few seconds in his haste to get the key in the lock. When he finally did, he wasted no time pushing through the door and racing through the house to the hallway leading to the mudroom, being careful to glance around as he went and turn on lights. He wanted whoever was here to know he was coming.

  The door to the mudroom was closed. Jesse thought back to when he’d checked it early. Yes, he’d left it open. There was no reason for Doris to come into the mudroom at this time of the night. Carly had hardly any energy as it was, so Jesse knew it hadn’t been her to come downstairs and close it.

  His pulse pounded in his ear, deafening him in the silence around him as he eased the mudroom door open. He tried the light switch. But just like the barn, the lights wouldn’t turn on. From the light in the hallway, Jesse saw the source of the shattered glass. Someone had broken the bottom window pane on the door to get into the house. Glass was all over the floor in front of the door, which was still slightly ajar.

  He listened as he moved down the hall toward the staircase that led to the second floor sleeping quarters. But a noise coming from a room downstairs kept him from taking the first step upstairs.

  Torn between checking on Carly and investigating the noise downstairs, he decided whoever broke in was probably still on the first floor. He passed the gun rack hanging on the wall and eased a rifle off quietly. Carly had told him once before that Zebb kept the house unlocked because everyone knew he kept his rifles loaded. They wouldn’t dare cross him. Jesse didn’t take the time to check as he crept down the hall past the living room and to Carly’s office.

  The door was closed. But a slice of light at the threshold told Jesse that someone was inside.

  His heart hammered in his chest as he pushed through the office door.

  “Don’t come any closer.”

  It took a few seconds for Jesse to process who he was looking at. Rod Nolan was dressed all in black wearing a hooded sweatshirt and pants, not in the normal blue jeans and shirt he normally wore while working on the ranch.

  “You don’t have any part in this, Knight. Just let me get what I came for and then I’ll leave.”

  “Do I have to ask what you’re doing here? Or are you going to give it up yourself?” Jesse said, keeping the barrel of the gun pointed at Rod. “Because I have no problem with beating it out of you.”

  Rod was crouched down on the floor next to the liquor cabinet. “This is none of your business.”

  “Convince me. Because right now I’m not seeing it that way.”

  Rod stood up. In his hand he had a drill. “I don’t need to convince you of anything. You’re an outsider to this ranch. You show up here and act like you own the place. You know nothing of what’s gone on here or what was promised before you arrived.”

  Jesse had no idea what Rod was talking about, but he had a good feeling it was at the root of poisonings and the death threats.

  “Why don’t you share that with me so I don’t call the authorities.”

  Standing up straight and giving Jesse a cocky grin, he said, “Call the authorities? For what? You just found a ranch hand that’s been working on this ranch for ten years in the owner’s office doing chores.”

  “Chores? At this time of the night?”

  “This ranch runs twenty-four/seven. Carly has us hands do chores all over this ranch. Even in the house. Who do you think they’ll believe? The man who’s worked his fingers to the bone for years or the man who just showed up on the scene out of thin air. You have no business here, Knight. Now get out and let me get on with this.”

  Jesse inched forward. “Carly has made it my business. That trumps whatever fabricated story you can make up.”

  His movement didn’t sway Rod to retreat. In fact, Jesse could see Rod’s face grow redder and his eyes wider.

  “You just back up and shut the door, Knight. I’m going to get what I came here for and then I’m leaving. Anything you do to stop me will only make things end badly.”

  “How much worse can things get? You were the one who poisoned, Carly. You’ve known her since she was a teenager and you tried to kill her! If you think I’m going to let you just walk away from this, you’d better think again.”

  “I didn’t know that cream was going to hurt Carly like that. It was only supposed to make her a little sick.”

  “Like Lighting Strikes? Was that poor bull only supposed to get sick, too?”

  A flash of regret crossed Rod’s face. But then his lips thinned and his expression became tight. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. I didn’t know how much to give him. It wasn’t supposed to kill him.”

  “Well, it did,” Jesse said, feeling the anger surge inside of him until he couldn’t stand it. “And it nearly killed Carly! Why did you do this?”

  He lifted the drill in his hand as if he was ready to use it as a weapon. “It’s her own damned father’s fault. He set this in motion long before you arrived.”

  #

  Chapter Eleven

  Jesse stared at Rod’s face and saw the evil in his eye. “What are you talking about?”

  “He’s the one who promised us a share of the profits off Tenacious’s winnings. Ten percent of the profits from that bull are supposed to be split with the ranch hands. But then he changed his damned will and left us nothing. That bull is making money. He’s going to get a damned endorsement that could be worth…millions. We take care of the animal. We haul it back and forth to every rodeo on the circuit and the ranch makes all the money. We get nothing. He gets all the money and doesn’t even keep his word.”

  It made no sense to Jesse. But criminal behavior was never rational.

  Rod lifted his chin in defiance. “You think this is all me? Hell, I was hired to do this. If I wasn’t going to get the money I was owed from this ranch, then I got me some money somewhere else.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I didn’t think it up on my own. If you think stopping me is going to stop trouble from coming to the WRC, then you’re crazy. This is just the beginning.”

  But before Jesse could ask how, Rod leaned back against the liquor cabinet as if he lost his step. Jesse took a step forward, dropping the barrel of the rifle a few inches as he moved. In one quick movement, Rod reached behind him and threw something at Jesse. Jesse reacted, but he wasn’t quick enough. He felt a sharp pain against the side of his head and the force of something pushing him over until he fell to his knees. Glass shattered around him and then he felt liquid seep into the fabric of his jeans where his knee touched the floor. The pungent scent of bourbon rose up to his face and made his stomach roll as the pain in his head throbbed.

  Struggling to his feet, Jesse blinked once, twice and then made his way in the direction that Rod had just gone. He heard the front
door swing open and smash against the wall as Rod bolted from the house. When Jesse reached the door, he saw Doris appear halfway down the steps.

  She clutched her robe to her chest. “What in heaven’s name is going on? Was that Rod I just saw?”

  “Call the police and then go upstairs and stay with Carly!” he called up to her.

  She gasped when she saw the blood streaming down the side of his face. He could feel it. He smelled the strong sent of blood invading his nostrils. By the look on Doris’s face, Jesse figured it probably looked worse than it felt.

  “Jesse! What happened to your face?”

  “Just stay with Carly. Stay hidden!”

  He sprinted out the door and jumped off the porch without taking any of the steps and ran down the path toward the barn. If Rod was desperate enough to poison bulls and to nearly kill Carly, then he was crazy enough to do anything. He saw a figure come running out of the barn and then stop. Jesse stopped running and pointed the rifle.

  Colin turned to him and lifted his hands. His face registered pure shock as he looked down the barrel of the rifle. “Have you gone mad? It’s me. I heard yelling in the house.”

  “Where’s Rod. He was behind the poisonings.”

  “No! It can’t be.”

  “He admitted it. Did you see him at all?”

  “I heard someone head to the back where the hands keep their trucks parked.”

  “He’s fleeing.”

  They both ran behind the barn to the bunkhouse. Red taillights blazed into the night. He heard the sound of the truck’s engine firing to life and then the taillights change from red to white, indicating the truck was in reverse.

  “That’s his truck,” Colin said. “That bastard. I’ll—”

  Jesse lifted the rifle and peered into the telescope.

  “Good God, man. You’re not going to shoot him, are you?” Colin said just as Jesse pulled the trigger and fired.

  He knew the instant his bullet hit the back tire and deflated it. The truck pitched to one side. But Rod was undeterred. He continued to drive with a blown out tire. Jesse aimed the gun again as the truck shifted gears and then fired again, disabling another tire.

  “Damn!” he heard Rod yell from inside the cab of the truck. The door flew open and Rod bolted into the pasture where the bulls were frantically moving around. Jesse handed the rifle to Colin.

  “If you see him come out, shoot his knees.”

  Jesse ran in the direction he’d just seen Rod go. Normally bulls were fairly docile when they were in familiar surroundings. But the sound of the rifle discharging had scared them enough to make them run. In the dark it was hard to make out the images moving around him in the pasture.

  He relied on his hearing, trying hard to distinguish the sound of hooves with the sound of a man’s boots.

  “Give it up, Rod. The game is over!” he called out.

  Cotton-Eye was close by. Even in the darkness, Jesse could make out the white spot over his eye that was his signature. Jesse stayed close to Cotton-Eye and listened to the sounds above the groans of the bulls that had scattered.

  “I just want what’s mine, Knight. I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

  “You’ve already done enough of that!” Jesse moved slowly through the pasture until he saw a cluster of bulls. He headed in that direction and was relieved when some of the bulls separated enough so he could see Rod using them as a shield.

  Rod spotted him and then ran back toward the barn. Jesse took off after him, breathing hard and feeling every bit of rage over what this monster had done to the animals and the woman he cared deeply about. His head throbbed, but he didn’t care. He kept his eyes fixed on the dark form moving quickly and ran toward it.

  As if fate were stepping in, one of the bulls ran in front of Rod and plowed into him. Rod flew over the bull and then landed on the ground with a thud. When Jesse reached Rod, he found him writhing in pain from being run down by the bull.

  Breathing hard, he peered down at Rod and said, “It’s called payback, buddy. If that bull hadn’t done it, I would have. And I would have enjoyed every minute of it after what you’ve done.”

  * * *

  Carly wrapped the robe tighter around her waist. Standing on the porch, she peered over at the police cruiser flashing red and blue lights down her driveway and into the dark night. She watched as the paramedics put Rod into the back of the ambulance and shut the door.

  “I can’t believe it,” Doris said, holding her hand against her cheek. “He seemed like such a nice boy. I can’t believe he would do something like that.”

  As the ambulance pulled away, Carly replayed what Jesse had told her about finding Rod in the office and it only made her more confused. Her father never spoke to her about giving away shares of Tenacious. If he had…

  Colin was standing with Jesse as they gave their statements of the night’s events to a police officer.

  “Carly?” Doris said as Carly took each step down off the porch and walked over to the men.

  “Ma’am,” the police officer said as she approached. “How are you feeling?”

  “Fine. Thank you for coming out tonight.”

  “Are you up for questions?”

  She turned to Colin. “Yes. But I have a few of my own first. Colin, is it true? Did my father promise the ranch hands a share in the earnings from Tenacious?”

  Colin turned his attention to the ground, clearly uncomfortable with her question.

  “None of that needs to be talked about tonight, Carly. The will gave—”

  “Look at me, please.” She waited until Colin looked her in the eye. “Did my father make that promise?”

  “He mentioned it one night over a game of cards. He said that Tenacious was performing so well, he wanted to give the men a ten percent share they could split for all their hard work. It was over a game of cards, Carly. I didn’t think Zebb really meant it, especially in light of the will. But some of the men were sore about it.”

  She shook her head. “You know my father never said anything unless he meant it, Colin. If he wanted to give you and the other hands a share in Tenacious, then the paperwork is somewhere. We just have to find it. I’m sure that’s what Rod was looking for in the office.”

  “Something like shares in the profits of a bull wouldn’t be in a will unless Zebb Duggan knew he was dying,” the police officer said. “Was he sick for a long time?”

  “My father had a heart attack,” Carly said. “He poured a cup of coffee in the kitchen one morning, turned to say something to me and Doris and he simply dropped. He had no idea he was going to die. Until that moment I would have sworn he was healthy as an ox.”

  “It’s true,” Colin said. “Zebb was a strong man.”

  She sighed. “And he was true to his word. Colin, why didn’t you say something to me?"

  “It wasn’t my place.”

  “All this time I’ve felt this…tension with the ranch hands. Was this what it was all about?”

  “There’s been some questions among the men. But I told them to forget about it.”

  “No. That’s not right. I trust your word, Colin. If my father told you he was going to give a share of profits from Tenacious to the ranch hands, then I’m going to honor that, even if I can’t find any paper trail. It’s only right.”

  Colin smiled. “You are truly your father’s daughter, Carly.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. “Thank you for saying that.”

  The officer slapped his notepad closed. “Apparently Rod Nolan wasn’t up for forgetting. He kept spouting off about getting money that he was promised.” He turned to Colin. “I’d like to go talk to some of the other hands to see if he mentioned anything to them.”

  “I’ll bring you to the bunkhouse,” Colin said.

  When they were alone, Jessie’s expression grew more serious. She focused on the bandage the paramedic had put on his temple.

  “Does your head hurt?”

  “A little. But that’s t
he least of my worries.”

  “What do you mean? You found out who was responsible for the poisonings. Rod admitted to the police he sent the letters. We don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

  “He told me someone hired him.”

  “What do you mean? Who?” Carly asked.

  “I don’t know. He just laughed and said that I might stop him but he was only a small part of something bigger. He was only the tip of the iceberg. It wasn’t going to end with him.”

  She frowned. “What did he mean by that?”

  Jesse shook his head. “I have no idea. But I’m not leaving you until I know for sure you’re out of danger.”

  Her heart lifted in her chest. “You don’t want to leave?”

  He pulled her into his arms and held her close. She felt his warmth, and swore she could feel his heart beating. “What do you think? I can’t leave you.”

  She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek on his shoulder. “People leave all the time, Jesse. Whether they want to or not.”

  “I know. But I’m telling you right now that I don’t want to. I’ve never felt like this before, Carly. I’ve never been so scared as I was tonight.”

  “Of course you were. You had a crazy man try to kill you tonight.”

  “It wasn’t about me. I was afraid for you. He got into the house, Carly. He could have easily gone upstairs and finished what he’d started. If I’d found you… I couldn’t bear it.”

  “He didn’t go upstairs. He went to the office. I have no idea what he was looking for.”

  “Rod was trying to get into the safe. He had a drill.”

  She chuckled, although she felt no humor. “He wouldn’t have gotten far with a drill. That safe is as secure as Fort Knox. My father had it specially made.”

  “He was probably trying to find paperwork that would prove he owned a share of Tenacious.”

  “Or maybe more money.”

  She felt the rise and fall of Jesse’s chest as he held her tighter. “That’s what scares me the most. He said someone paid him to do this. He said if he couldn’t get the money owed to him from Tenacious, then he was prepared to take it any way he could.”