Front Range Cowboys (5 Book Box Set)

by Evie Nichole

  Cisco was still standing mostly in front of her. He was still and calm. She could not understand how this was possible. Did he not feel the same fear that she did? Was he so used to being on the wrong end of a gun that it no longer bothered him? This was insane!

  “Weatherby, you could probably get away with killing me and trying to claim that I attacked you, even though I’m unarmed. I could even believe that you could get your law enforcement buddies to sign off on the notion that I was trespassing because you had a gentleman’s agreement and were under the impression that you owned this property.” Cisco’s voice was deadly calm. Then he made a very minimal gesture toward her. “But I’m not alone. So, you’d have to murder my companion in cold blood. And the thing is, Weatherby”—Cisco seemed to be pausing for dramatic effect—“she’s the real owner of this property. She is the heir. She is the actual owner on paper. She is the one that you and Watson have been screwing out of the tax money. So, you’d have a really hard time convincing anyone that she’s trespassing when she’s the actual owner and you are the trespasser.”

  “What?” Weatherby was now craning his head around in an effort to get a better look at Melody, but the room was quickly getting dark inside. “What are you talking about? The Farrells don’t have kin.”

  “I told you. They have a granddaughter. She’s their daughter’s daughter, and they claimed her as such.” Cisco was firm. He was absolutely certain. And to Melody, he was a hero through and through. “So, why don’t you turn around and leave?”

  Suddenly there was a flash. Cisco lifted his hands very slowly, probably to avoid setting off the crazy man with the gun. He was messing with his phone. Why? Why was he sending a text right now? Was there not a more pressing issue at hand?

  “And by the way,” Cisco continued. Glancing up at Weatherby, he lifted his phone. “I just send my brother your picture and a text. Let’s just say Laredo is more of a pit bull than I am when it comes to pursuing leads he feels are worthwhile.”

  “You Hernandez bastards have always stuck together,” Weatherby said bitterly. He shoved his gun back into the holster at his waist and turned on his heel. “Fine. You want this place? Take it. But it won’t be long. You can count on a tax levy coming down in the next twenty-four hours.”

  “Bring it,” Cisco said irritably. “In fact, bring everything you have, Weatherby. We’ll be ready.”

  Melody gaped as the man who was an actual cop left the house that was actually hers. The whole thing was so surreal that she didn’t even know how to frame it in her mind. She’d never had a house before. Now she owned one. Sort of. At least for as long as it took for them to kick her out for non-payment of taxes. The thought was actually a sad one.

  “Are you all right?” Cisco turned and took hold of her upper arms. He peered into her face in the quickly dimming living room and seemed almost panicked by the possibility that she had been hurt. “Are you okay? I know he didn’t touch you, but that was probably a bit more than you anticipated happening when you came out here.”

  “Cisco, I’m fine,” she assured him. “I was a little shocked.”

  Shocked. Ha! She was shaking like a leaf. If he had not been holding onto her, she would have fallen on her butt. She pushed her arms around his waist and clung to his midsection. Pressing her face to his chest, she absorbed the strange familiarity of his scent and feel. She didn’t know him very well. This should not have been comfortable, and yet it was. More than anything she had ever experienced with another person in her life.

  “I’m fine,” she whispered. “I just can’t believe you managed to stay so calm through this whole thing. The guy is unhinged! How can anyone let him stay a cop? He’s crazy. He is absolutely and totally insane. He would have killed us just to get us out of his way!”

  “Until he realized that there was no logic in it, yes. That is true.” Cisco sighed. “Weatherby and the Flying W have hated the Hernandez Land & Cattle Company for about as long as anyone can remember. Right now, my brothers and father swear there is some weird accusation of theft and a scheme to move stolen livestock. I don’t know. It’s like trying to watch a really stupid show on TV. It doesn’t make any logical sense, and the only thing that gives the scenario any credibility is the fact that people seem to believe rumors at the drop of a hat with almost no proof.”

  “People are really stupid that way,” she agreed.

  He put an arm around her and pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head. “Enough about that. Are you ready to go? We need to get back if you’re going to get some good sleep before you have to go back to work.”

  Melody wasn’t necessarily concerned about herself. “You’ve really stepped in it by agreeing to look at my case. I’m sorry. Maybe I can eventually pay you.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he insisted.

  But Melody was worried. She’d heard what he’d told Weatherby. “You have to file a bunch of stuff tomorrow to keep Weatherby from just waltzing in here and lying his way into my house. That costs money.”

  “I’ve got it,” he told her quietly. “Don’t worry about a thing.”

  But she was worried. And with each second that passed as she walked toward his truck and got inside, and they drove back to her apartment, she grew more and more worried about what kind of trouble she had brought to Cisco’s doorstep.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Cisco drummed his pen against his desktop and tried to sort out the jumble of thoughts in his head. He had already filed two legal complaints on Melody’s behalf. They were both against John Watson, the estate attorney who had handled her grandparents’ estate. Now he was trying to decide the best way to go about demanding that Watson provide either proof that there had been no lease, no “gentleman’s agreement,” and no money coming in from the property. Next the task would be to establish that there was either an explicit or implicit responsibility by Mr. Watson to take care of the taxes. It would make no sense that there wouldn’t be something in place. The Farrells could not have intended to leave their granddaughter up to her eyebrows in tax debt.

  “Hello, Francisco.”

  He cringed at the sound of his name rolling off Vittoria’s tongue. It was strange. They had gone to the social gala on Friday night. That was literally two days ago, and yet it felt as though so many things had happened between Friday night and Monday morning that Cisco no longer even knew what to say to her.

  “Good morning, Ms. Velasquez.” There. He could be polite and respectful. That was how any junior partner would treat a senior partner at the firm. Right?

  Apparently, he was off, because Vittoria cocked her head to one side and narrowed her dark gaze at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he said quickly. Had he been too quick with his response? It was hard to decide. “I was just puzzling through a few aspects of a case. It’s no big deal. Lawyers like puzzles, don’t we?”

  She began looking quite rudely at the documents on his desktop as though she felt she needed to see what he was talking about. It was a struggle not to cover them up and ask her why she felt she had the right to violate his client’s privacy.

  “What is this case?” she muttered. “I do not remember it. Junior partners at this firm only take cases that are vetted by the senior partners.”

  “Actually, that’s not how my employment agreement read.” Cisco meant that to be a joke of sorts, but it kind of came out in a combative tone of voice. He quickly tried to temper his words with a smile. “I thought we took just about anything that came in because we were busy trying to make a name for ourselves.”

  “It’s not that simple.” Vittoria frowned. “Why does this case involve Captain Weatherby of the Denver police? We don’t prosecute or file complaints against police personnel. It’s bad for business.”

  “Weatherby is also a private citizen who owns a ranch and runs a business. And believe me, he’s been acting in a manner not becoming of a law enforcement officer.” Cisco decided that a little bit of disclosure was necessar
y here. “That would include pulling a gun on me last night even though he was the trespasser and I was not.”

  Vittoria’s eyes opened wide. “What is this nonsense? I cannot imagine Captain Weatherby jeopardizing his career like that! Whatever you’re doing, you must stop. Now. Immediately. This case needs to be reviewed by the partners before you continue it.”

  Damn. This was pretty much what Cisco was trying to avoid. “This is more of a personal issue than anything else.”

  Her smile was cold and to the point. “Then I suggest you avoid using company resources and company time to take care of it.”

  Cisco felt frozen in that moment. He didn’t know what to do or how to react to the subtle threat she was sending his way. She would suggest he not use company resources or time. And if he did? What was the implied threat? What was she suggesting would happen if he opted not to take her advice?

  Only seventy-two hours before, he had been considering all the ways that Vittoria Velasquez could help his career. He had been thinking about marriage and family and becoming a prosecutor or a judge. Vittoria was older. She was a partner. She would very likely be accepted within Denver’s higher society. She had a hunger for success and position and wealth that would come in handy. So, why were all of those things such a pain in the ass when he viewed them right now?

  “I’ll keep your suggestion in mind,” Cisco told Vittoria. He offered her what he hoped was a conciliatory smile. “I really appreciate all of your welcoming advice and friendliness since I was hired by the firm.”

  Her face closed. It was another one of those moments where he could not decide what her game was. She was good at a poker face. That was for sure. But she was not good at pretending that she wasn’t using one. Her face hid what she was thinking. That was certainly true. But it did not hide the fact that she was hiding. He could very well see that she was angry. He could tell that she felt offended or something. That much was obvious. What he could not decide was what she was going to do about it.

  “I thought that maybe the two of us could go out tonight,” she said with a very strange and sudden smile. “You know, just to celebrate your employment here. I enjoyed spending time with you so much on Friday that I wanted to spend some more time getting to know you. What do you think?”

  Could he actually refuse at this point? It felt as though that would be the kiss of death for his career and maybe his physical safety. She was a very tricky and dangerous woman. That was pretty much what he knew to be true.

  “What a great idea,” Cisco said slowly. He forced himself to smile. He forced himself to accept. There was just a lot of forcing going on. “Shall we meet at the bar on the corner at about six?”

  “That sounds perfect!” she told him with a breathy smile. “And don’t forget what I told you about this case. If it’s not a company matter, it needs to stay at home.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Wow. The woman was actually schooling him on company protocol five seconds after propositioning him on company property. That took balls. It really did. He could not decide what made it more annoying. The fact that she was essentially above him in the chain of command, or the fact that she was simultaneously trying to act as though she were better than him while she was also using him for his contacts, money, and other qualities that had nothing to do with his personality.

  Cisco had no idea how much time had passed before he heard a knock on his door. He looked up expecting to see Vittoria again and was shocked when he spotted the familiar face of his second oldest brother, Laredo.

  “I would ask what you’re doing back here,” Cisco said with a chuckle, “but I think I’ve learned, like everyone else, that you go pretty much where you want to.”

  Laredo had changed a lot in the last few months. He was the apple of their father’s eye. That often meant that Laredo bore the brunt of their father’s overblown expectations. But lately Laredo had struggled with alcohol abuse and depression. Then he’d started hanging out with one of their childhood acquaintances and things seemed to be improving drastically for Laredo Hernandez.

  Laredo smiled as he ducked into Cisco’s office. “Honestly, I just wanted to touch base with you after that bizarre text you sent me last night.”

  “Right.” How could Cisco have forgotten that tense moment in hell? “I’m sorry that I didn’t follow up and at least give you a call or something. That was totally my bad. I was trying to get Melody calmed down and get her home so she could get some sleep before work…”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Laredo began waving his hands in the air. “Melody? Who is this person? It sounds like a woman.”

  “She is a woman.” Cisco tried to keep his voice flat. He really didn’t want to talk about this with Laredo. “She’s a—uh—client.” Then he realized that Laredo might actually be a wealth of information about the Farrells and the Flying W’s involvement in their ranch. “Do you know the Farrell ranch? It’s out on the Flying W’s northern border.”

  “Sure.” Laredo crossed his arms and bobbed his head up and down. “It’s a pretty piece of land, actually. There isn’t that much to it. Farrell managed to keep a couple hundred head of cattle at a time on maybe thirty thousand acres. There’s good forage all year round, no government leases, and the water is natural and right there on the land.”

  “No shit,” Cisco muttered. That pretty much guaranteed that Weatherby had been itching to get his hands on that land for a long time. “Is it surrounded by Flying W land?”

  “I’d have to look at a recent map,” Laredo mused. “We’ve been more concerned with the other side of the Flying W. I’m sure Cal could tell you off the top of his head.” Laredo was referring to their eldest brother, who still ran the main ranch camp and knew every cow, bull, steer, and horse on the property. Laredo pursed his lips and gave Cisco a very knowing look. “How did you get mixed up with this crap?”

  “It was an accident.” Cisco frowned. How had he gotten mixed up with it? “I met a woman who works at a coffee shop. I saw her in an elevator. She’s the Farrells’s granddaughter.”

  “You met a woman in an elevator and she was in legal trouble?” Laredo grunted. “Is that a lawyer thing? You just randomly meet women in dire need of your services?”

  “Shut up,” Cisco growled.

  Laredo paused for a moment. He crossed his arms and scratched his chin and had that look Cisco had long ago learned to interpret as his worst-case scenario look. “Just to let you know,” Laredo began slowly. “Dad has been talking about your relationship with a very prominent attorney. Someone named Vittoria or Vicki or something.”

  “Great.”

  Cisco had been absolutely afraid that was true. Actually, he had known that was what his father was angling for. It was just that when this first started, Cisco hadn’t been all that opposed to the notion. Now he knew Vittoria a little better, and he also—well, he had a definite and very firm interest in Melody that wasn’t likely to just disappear overnight.

  “I’m going to guess that this isn’t a good thing,” Laredo finally commented. “Dad was raving about your success Friday night at the gala. Of course, some of that could have been because I refused to go. I hate that crap, and there was no way I was about to go parade around and pretend to be nice to a bunch of stuck-up assholes.”

  “That about covered it,” Cisco muttered. “Although Judge Everson was there. That was fun. He loves to make fools of us Hernandez boys, you know.”

  “I do know.” Laredo laughed. “Did he get drunk and make a fool of himself?”

  “No more so than anyone else.” Cisco sighed. “Are you completely done trying to be Dad’s right-hand man?”

  “No.” Laredo perched on the edge of Cisco’s desk and was silent for long enough that Cisco wondered if he was just going to not answer at all. “I suppose you could say that I’m not worrying about whether or not Dad approves of my personal life. The business is secure. We’re doing well. There’s really nothing to worry about beyond the upco
ming rodeo contracts, and those are not going to be won at a social event no matter what Dad has to say about it. He’s done more damage to us in that way with his drunken idiot behavior in public than anything else. But you know what? On Monday morning, when I meet with these guys to talk numbers, they don’t care about Dad or who we know. They care about what we can deliver.”

  “So, you’ve figured out what matters, congratulations.” Cisco sighed. “It would be nice if the rest of us could be that self-possessed.”

  “We’re getting there.” Laredo seemed to pause. “Jesse is getting there too. She’s been affected by these crap rumors about Hernandez theft and shady livestock deals. Weatherby has an injunction out preventing her from selling any stock until it goes through a livestock inspection and can be proved to be hers.”

  “What?” Cisco felt cool fingers of dread tickle his spine. “What’s she doing about it?”

  “She’s got that stock inspector at her beck and call,” Laredo laughed. “That man has been out at her place every single day since the injunction, and she’s making him inspect her stock up one side and down the other to prove that Weatherby’s claims are false.”

  “Has Dad stopped trying to keep her ranch even though she’s twenty-one and the place has now officially passed out of trust and into her hands?” That was something Cisco had always stayed out of. He knew their father was wrong, their father knew that Cisco knew he was wrong, and that pissed him off.

  Laredo pressed his lips into a firm line. “Dad hasn’t given up on the idea that Jesse shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the land. But he’s at least stopped trying to get the rest of us to pressure her about it.”

  “Why is he doing that?” Cisco suddenly wondered out loud. “What good does it do?”

  “Something happened when Jesse’s parents died,” Laredo admitted. He looked uncomfortable. “Something happened with the land and the money. That’s all I know.” Laredo seemed unwilling to discuss anything more. “Jesse used to ask what happened. I don’t know if anyone ever told her. I don’t even know what exactly she’s referring to. It was a long time ago. Chances are most of the story is lost now anyway.”