Eagle Down (Cyber Cowboys Series Book 3)

by M Elle Kelso

  They milled about, being hugged and kissed, accepting the good wishes coming their way. David wouldn’t let go of C.J. and she had no wish to leave his side.

  As they stood around, laughing with their friends, C.J. watched David and felt a sudden rush of cold that caused her to shiver. David felt the shiver and held her tighter, frowning slightly at her.

  “You okay, darlin’?” he whispered in her ear, taking time to place a gentle kiss there while he was turned to her.

  “I’m fine. Just caught a breeze or something.” C.J. couldn’t look at him, afraid he’d see her fear and know she had lied.

  “Well, as soon as we finish eating you can change into the clothes I brought over and we’ll head back to the ranch.” He hadn’t told her that he’d brought the horses and it was his intention of riding with her back to the life that lay ahead of them. Dreamer and Mirage were waiting in the barn, both wearing ribbons he had plaited into their manes that morning. It wasn’t the limousine she’d had at her first wedding, but it would mean more to her now.

  As a group, they sat to eat the meal the women had prepared. The table was loaded with roast beef, potatoes, gravy, salads, buns and bread of different kinds and several kinds of vegetables. Nobody was going home hungry from this wedding feast. Under the table, C.J. and David held hands, seldom letting go except to cut up the meat on their plates or butter a bun. Their chairs were so close that C.J. could feel the length of David’s thigh against hers and felt the warmth radiating from him.

  Whatever made her shiver earlier was gone. There were no cool breezes, neither was there anything else to frighten her. But the memory persisted; the memory of that moment when she had looked into his eyes and seen something which scared her.

  David walked C.J. upstairs when the meal was over, intending to show her where he’d left her clothes. But before they got that far, he turned her into his arms and gently tasted her lips. He moaned. His body was rigid against her, and his arousal was pressing into her, making her want to make love with him now, not later. They took turns deepening the kiss until C.J. shuddered and pushed him away. Her flushed face betrayed her though and he knew he could have her now. But he also knew she was right to push him away..

  Trying to make love in the hall, outside the bedroom where two toddlers slept, was not anyone’s idea of a romantic situation. He held her close once more, then stepped back.

  “You’re right. Not here. Let’s get changed and go home, darlin’.” He led her to the room Blake had shown him earlier and took her inside. Her shirt, jeans, boots and a heavy jacket were lying on the bed.

  Her eyebrows raised, she gazed at him.

  “We’re going to ride back?” She smiled. “David, I can’t think of a more perfect way to end this day. Let’s get out of here, Mr. Taylor.”

  “I’m with you, Mrs. T.” He liked the sound of that. Mrs. Taylor. Mrs. T.

  He helped her out of her dress, she helped him off with his tie and shirt. They hindered each other as much as they helped but finally they were ready. Their wedding finery now hanging in the closet, two jeans-clad, ready-for-riding people left the room. At the top of the stairs, C.J. suddenly turned back and ran to the room, grabbing the one thing she didn’t want to leave behind. When she rejoined David, she was holding the rose he had given her.

  “Thank you.” It was a whisper but he heard.

  “Come on C.J., let’s go home.” He took her hand and led her back downstairs where everyone else still waited. There was one more round of well-wishing then they were outside, on the way to the barn. The horses were saddled and waiting. Just before he helped her mount, he turned her toward him and gave her one soft, short kiss.

  “Thank you for becoming my wife, Cornelia Jane.” He put his fingertips over her lips as she tried to interrupt. “I know, you don’t like that name, and I promise, I’ll only use it if it’s absolutely necessary.” He smiled at her then walked her around to Dreamer’s side and put his hand down to give her a leg up. Once she was on the horse, he mounted Mirage and reached across to take her hand.

  “Let’s go home.”

  Life came crashing back to normal two days later when the phone rang. It was Patrick with a request for a meeting. Figures had come in from a number of other areas that showed how widespread the rustling operation actually was.

  “David, it makes our original estimates pale in comparison to the actual numbers we have now. This has to be netting someone in the neighborhood of five million dollars.”

  “That much?” He was holding his morning coffee in one hand, with the phone tucked under his chin and his other hand held his wife. He snuggled her against his body and just held her as he listened, sorry he had to go back to work this soon. But this case had been underway before they had decided to tie the knot and they had both agreed any honeymoon would have to come later.

  “Okay, Patrick, I’ll get in touch with the others and we’ll see when we can get it organized. It’s getting harder, this close to Christmas, to get everyone in one place at the same time. But I do know that they were all planning on staying around the ranch from now until after Christmas, except for emergency last minute shopping trips, so maybe it won’t be too hard. I’ll call you back as soon as I know.”

  “Thanks, David. Say hi to C.J. for me. Bye.” With that he was gone. One thing about Patrick, he didn’t waste words when he was on the phone.

  “Well, I guess that’s our honeymoon over and done with, darlin’; it’s back to business as usual.” He turned her to him and held her tightly, their bodies fitting together as though made for one another.

  “We can have another honeymoon tonight, David. Just the two of us. And we can turn the phone off so it doesn’t interrupt.” She kissed him, tasting the morning flavors of coffee and juice on his lips. Her tongue teased his lips until he opened to her and then she deepened the kiss. One thing David hadn’t counted on was C.J. becoming the leader in some of their intimate moments. It was a surprise and he loved it.

  She finally pushed herself away from him, breaking the moment and leaving them both feeling empty, but knowing if she didn’t stop this now, he’d never get his meeting arranged.

  “Go. Phone. Get this meeting organized. If it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t be stopping. But we promised everyone we’d put this case first.”

  As she looked into his eyes, she was swamped by a tidal wave of love. But there was something else there, too. Some small thing that caused her to grow cold, then shiver. If asked, she couldn’t have described it. Just something. Then it was gone. She shook her head as though to clear the thoughts then looked into his eyes once more. This time there was only his love shining forth.

  She turned and retreated to the kitchen, leaving David with the phone at the desk in the corner. It wasn’t his office. He had one, but he had been working out here because, he told her, he could see her moving around in the kitchen. Maybe once the newness of married life wore off he’d make it back to the room that was actually the office.

  David spent the morning rounding everyone up and setting a time for later in the day. When it became apparent that afternoon was the best time, Patrick had agreed and the meeting was on.

  When they met at the agency’s ranch office, the conference room was full. Every investigator working for Corbin, Taylor and Wynn as well as Mike Williams and Patrick Morgan sat there. C.J. had taken her computer and had added the reported losses to the map she had started, showing just how big the area involved had become. She printed out maps and handed them around.

  There was dead silence as everyone took in the information, realizing there were at least twenty or more ranches in the northern part of the state affected. So far.

  C.J. had also added something that hadn’t been on the previous maps; the network of roads built by the oil and gas companies in their efforts to find well sites around the area. A number of ranchers had, over the years, sold out to these companies and their assault on the land had been horrendous. When she overlapped it o
n the computer map with the ranch layouts, the resulting network of roads had shown how the rustlers were getting in and out without leaving tracks. Their only chance to catch them would be during the winter when there was snow on the roads and their tracks would show. That made the problem even more urgent. While it was only Christmas now, in three months time they wouldn’t be able to track the trucks. They had to catch them at it now.

  “Okay. Now that we can see how they’re doing it, we need to increase the aerial surveillance and report in more often.” Patrick was looking at David as he spoke. “You and Mike will have to draw up some kind of schedule to fly and then you can both give the information to C.J.” He looked at her to make sure this met with her approval. At her nod he continued.

  “Anyone got any problems with that; any questions?”

  “I just want to know what got you looking at those road maps, C.J.. That was brilliant.” Blake’s praise made her face turn bright red. She could feel the color flooding upward.

  “Nothing, really. I was just sitting there trying to figure out how they were getting to these places. And every time we’d add another one to the report, I noticed that there would be a ranch with a well site or a ranch that had been sold to the oil and gas companies right next door. That’s when I got the map and did the overlay. Every one of the reported thefts was along one of these roads.”

  “Well, it was a brilliant move and you’re to be commended. None of us saw the relationship.” This from Jared who had been listening carefully to her comments. The map she had provided was giving him an idea but he didn’t want to say anything and get everyone’s hopes up until he knew if he was right. And that would take a couple of days of checking.

  “Now that we’ve got all this done, how about we take a break for Christmas. That’s only three days away, and we’ve all got things to do between now and then. We’ll put everything on hold, unless there is something else reported that requires immediate action.” Blake was speaking to a bunch of nodding heads. Everyone at the table was glad he’d made the suggestion.

  “Then we’re done. Oh, before I forget. Kaycee would like to invite any of you who are staying around home on Christmas Eve to come for supper. It’ll be real casual; Jared, you and Annie bring the kids, and we’ll just have a nice relaxing evening. We’ll be away to Patrick’s on Christmas Day and I know some of you have plans for then as well, but if you can, do come.”

  As they stood, the phone rang. Jared was closest to it so answered.

  “Corbin, Tayl…” he stopped as the voice at the other end interrupted.

  “Is my son there? This is John Williams.”

  “Hang on, John, I’ll get him.” Jared turned to the door and yelled at Mike who was just leaving.

  “Phone, Mike. It’s your dad.”

  While Mike was talking in the outer room, the others were watching. Something about the way he stood, then the look on his face, told them that this was bad news. When he finally hung up, after saying no more than a few words, he turned to the group.

  “My father would like to report that this morning he found tire tracks running from one of his pastures and when he checked, there were at least thirty-five or forty head of cattle missing. He rode through the area, checked all the scrub and found the place where they loaded them. He thinks, from the looks of the tracks, that it happened yesterday or the day before.” The absolutely cold way in which he made the report stunned everyone. Except David and C.J.

  They exchanged a quick glance then David looked back at Mike. The man looked beaten. This was the kind of news he’d been dreading.

  Mike couldn’t meet David’s eyes. Now they had the proof that there was something going on between his father and the men he’d seen meeting.

  “Shit.” This succinct curse from Patrick summed up everyone’s feelings. “I guess there’s no point in trying to follow those tracks now if they’re that old. C.J.,” he added as he turned to her, “would you please add it to those maps and give us new copies before we go?”

  “Sure. It’ll only take a minute.” She went back to her laptop where it still lay on the table and sat down. A few quick keystrokes and the printer sprang to life, churning out newly revised maps for everyone present.

  As she handed them around, she found herself wondering about this newly reported loss. John Williams was one of a few ranchers in the area who was in financial difficulties. It wouldn’t surprise her to learn that he had insurance on his herd and would now make a nice substantial claim. In fact, maybe that was something else she should check out. She’d tell David about it later and see what he thought. They didn’t have to mention it to the others, she’d just go ahead and do it.

  They all parted, everyone chattering about their plans for Christmas. David and C.J. wanted to make sure that all of the single men in the agency had somewhere to go for the day.

  Blake’s father was coming from Colorado and would be staying at Patrick’s place where Blake and Kaycee would be spending Christmas Day. Jared and Annie were going to be having a quiet Christmas, if quiet could be used to describe a threesome of whirlwinds. So it was that when the dust finally settled, C.J. found she would be feeding Paul, Will, Mac and Hooch. That made her want to hurry home and plan a turkey meal that would put the inevitable beef out of everyone’s mind for the day. She was busy planning her menu as she drove home with David, missing the looks he was giving her.

  “Okay, what? You had a look back there in that office that would have scared lesser men than me, but I have a feeling you have something up your sleeve.”

  It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t talking about the meal she was planning but the idea she’d had about the insurance. In the short time it took to reach the ranch, David listened and agreed. When they got home that was the first thing she’d do. Check out new insurance claims. The Cattlemen’s Collective had their own insurance policy and the database had been made available to C.J. when she started working on the rustling problem. All she had to do was ask the computer.

  At home, she went straight to her desk computer and started working. She filled in the search line, pressed the send button and then she waited. David waited with her, taking her mind off the business at hand by the simple act of nibbling on her ear and they both jumped when the computer beeped on completion of the task. Letting her go, he stood and held out his hand, pulling her up off the sofa where they had been reclining. His sigh told her that he did not welcome the intrusion.

  Neither did she.

  But this was one part of the job they both wanted the answer to. What they saw surprised them, but something else shocked them more.

  David turned and went to his briefcase and pulled out the list of names Mike had given him to check on. What had caught both of them off guard was the fact that every name on the list Mike had given them was on the list of ranchers who had made claims. The surprise was that John Williams’s name appeared four times in the last eight months.

  “Did you know that his herd was that big?” David’s question was to no one in particular. C.J. just shook her head, mentally adding up the numbers.

  “He’s submitted claims for nearly one hundred and thirty cattle since this started. That’s nearly one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. If he’s collected that much, how come his ranch is still in trouble?” C.J. looked over her shoulder and up at David, trying to make the information make sense.

  “I don’t know. But there’s nothing we can do about this for now, so let’s just add it to the report and print out copies for everyone else. Then let’s just lock the door on all of this,” he swung his arm around the room, “and let’s go and get ready for Christmas. I still have presents to wrap.” He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and a little shove toward her desk. “Go, get it done. I’ll be upstairs wrapping parcels and I don’t want you opening any door that is closed up there. Promise?”

  She grinned at him, knowing he’d actually locked one of the bedroom doors. She hadn’t heard much noise from the room
but what she had heard and the faint smell of paint made her think he was building something. But if it was her Christmas present, she had absolutely no idea what it was. That kind of secret was fun to think about, but for now she promised not to snoop.

  “Promise.” He gave her cheek a quick kiss and was gone. Men.

  She figured David was having more fun with his secret than she’d have with the gift. But she had secrets of her own. She just hoped he’d be happy with what she had for him.

  Christmas Day dawned bright and clear. During the night there had been some new snow so it appeared that the world was empty and untouched outside their window.

  David had been up early, fixing breakfast and coffee for C.J. and now he carried it up to their room. In his hand he carried a key with a red bow tied to the end of it. It was the key that opened his gift to her. He just hoped she understood why he’d given her what he had.

  When he got back to their room, he found C.J. sitting up in bed beside a huge, blanket-covered mound. He circled to her side of the bed and set the tray on the night table beside her. He kept glancing at the blanket, wondering what she had put under there that was that big. And where had she been hiding it?

  “Here you go, Mrs. T.” He handed her the coffee. He took his own mug and then turned to look at the blanket again.

  “Is that for me?” He smiled at her as he asked. He waited while she drank her coffee then answered him.

  “It is. But there’s a couple of things I have to tell you first, before you open it.” She took another swallow of coffee, prolonging the telling and building suspense, she hoped.

  “Well, what?”

  “You have to promise me that if it isn’t the right one you will take it back and exchange it. I think I got it right, but I’m not an expert. And the man that was helping me told me this was the one.” She took another swallow of the hot liquid, enjoying the look of anticipation she had put in his eyes. She was afraid that if he didn’t hurry up and uncover the present, he would smell it. She was getting just a hint of the rich aroma of new leather.