by Diane Leyne
“What’s so confusing? Does that mean you want to dump Doc and Quin?”
“Hell, Ellie. I don’t know what to do.”
“You know my opinion.” She looked around the table. “You know our opinion.”
“Yeah, you all want me to juggle Doc and Quin and dump Owen.”
“Damn straight!” Ellie was nothing if not decisive in her dislike of Owen. “He doesn’t deserve you. Besides, he’s probably going to have to leave Satisfaction and find a new job. Your life is here now!”
“Well, my two year commitment to Micah is almost up…”
“So? You love the Whips and Spurs. Are you really going to leave something you helped build? I know you want to cut down your hours and eventually paint full time, but you’d miss this place if you left it. You’d miss us. You’d miss your brother. And you’d miss those two hot guys you are having so much fun juggling.” Candy declared. “I haven’t seen you look so happy and relaxed in ages.”
“Forget juggling Doc and Quin.” Jess giggled. “Have you ever considered trying a ménage with them?”
“Jess!”
“Hell, Jules. She’s living the ménage lifestyle with Murphy and Cole. Of course she’s going to suggest you try a ménage.”
“Thanks for being on my side, Ellie. Jess, how can you even suggest such a thing?”
“Of course I’m on your side, Jules, and that’s why I agree one hundred percent with Jess. You only live once. If you can’t choose between them, tell them they have to share.”
“What about Owen? And his job and the trouble at the Double S?”
“Forget the Double S. His job status is irrelevant. Think about Owen the man. What about him? He had his chance. Hell, you gave him far too many chances. I think that ship has sailed and you’ve been in love with the idea of love and of Owen far too long. You are in love with the idealized version of Owen as you remember him from when you first developed that teenaged crush on him. He’s been a safe port for you. As long as he was always in the back of your mind, you didn’t have to worry about real-life relationships. You could love them and leave them. But now, you have two good men interested in you. Maybe one of them is the man for you. Maybe they both are, like me with Murphy and Cole. Or maybe, they are just a way to help you move on. Regardless, you’ve started moving forward. Don’t backslide.”
“Candy is right. You need to let go of the idea of Owen for good.”
“Idea of Owen? Hell, Ellie. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. The idea of Owen. You know, I think that’s a good way of putting it. I’ve obsessed with an idea, an idealized man, for so long, I didn’t let myself get close to real men. Even when I was dating other men, he was this ideal that no one could ever measure up to, and do you know what? I’m finally beginning to accept that even Owen doesn’t measure up to the idealized image that I had of him. Hell, I think in the short time I’ve known Quin, he knows me better than Owen did after more than a decade. And it goes without saying Doc does. I don’t think Owen has ever even expressed an interest in my art or anything about me other than as Micah’s sister.”
“So you’ll consider suggesting a ménage with Doc and Quin?”
“Jess, you have ménage on the brain!”
“Why yes, yes, I do. And in my bed, and in the living room. And the playroom and…Ouch!” She broke off in laughter as Candy punched her in the arm.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Most of us don’t have one man and you have two. You don’t need to keep reminding us unless, of course, you want to give more details.”
They all dissolved into laughter but it was Jules who got in the last word.
“I have the best friends in the world! Group hug!” She gathered her friends close. “Now, time for me to get back to work before Micah has a conniption!”
Chapter 9
The four men gathered in the small cabin on the outer limits of the ranch. Blake and Quin were sitting on the porch sipping a beer when they heard the sound of the SUV approaching. It was a new model, just off the production line, but it was covered with West Texas dust.
They walked out to greet the newcomers.
Murphy Smith and Cole Reacher exited the vehicle. Cole had been driving and Murphy looked none too comfortable with his arm in a sling.
“How is it?” Blake had heard about the latest accident. He looked at his friends. The worry was clearly taking its toll.
“Fifty-fifty chance I’ll need surgery.”
“At least you are alive to need the surgery. I don’t meant to point out the obvious, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse, for both of you.”
“Don’t I know it, Doc. But it is tough being less than one hundred percent physically, especially with all of these accidents happening.”
“Yeah, well now that Quin’s here, you should be safe enough for now.”
“Yup. Now that I’ve accepted the contract to kill you, the original perp should leave you alone and let me get on with in. Hell, I made that a condition of taking the job.”
“How did he react?”
“Well, he didn’t like me calling him an idiot, but it’s not that easy to hire a hit man. He tried to play it tough, and I think he’s a little scared of me.”
“Do you know who it is yet? Are you sure it’s a man?”
“No, I think it’s a reasonable assumption, but you are right, I can’t be completely sure. He or she has been using one of those voice changers and a burner phone. However, I told him I wouldn’t do anything until the funds are wired to my account.”
“And he agreed?”
“I threatened to charge a premium because his half-assed attempts would make my job harder and he caved.”
“When do you get it?”
“Tomorrow. Noon. But there’s a glitch.”
“Glitch?”
“Yeah. Apparently, things are now up in the air. He said he might need to make some adjustments to the plan and I should sit tight, take the job and look after your horses and he’d be in touch and let me know the new timetable.”
“What the hell? Three attempts on me and Cole, and then hiring a hit man to do the job, and now he is waffling?”
“Amateur!” Blake couldn’t resist.
“Ha, ha. No one’s trying to kill you, Doc. Although if you keep making bad jokes, that may change.”
“You want him to keep trying to kill you?”
“No, but I don’t want him to go underground before we know who it—”
“Crap!” Cole interjected. “You don’t think they are going after Jess, do you? Maybe it is the cartel after all?” There was real fear in Cole’s voice.
“No. I told you. SSP checked them out. Besides, they wouldn’t need to hire me to kill you. They have their own people. Word is that all of their anger is focussed on Lance. They’ve had to move him into solitary after he was beat up twice in one week. Seems like the cartel has decided to torture him for a while instead of killing him outright.”
“Serves him right! He tried to sell Jess to the cartel. He deserves to live a long, miserable life behind bars. But if it isn’t the cartel, who hates us enough to try to kill us? And who is the new target?”
“I have my suspicions, but I don’t want to say anything until I’m sure.”
“Spill it, Redekker. It’s our lives at risk!”
“Yes, but you also need to act normally until we can prove something. Can you do that? Can you pretend not to know that someone you think of as a friend put a contract out on you? If you want them to go to jail and not cut and run, they can’t know that we are suspicious. They have to think we are still buying that everything has just been a series of accidents. Besides, we still need to know why they are doing this. Otherwise, they could come back and try again when I’m not around to help.”
“Hmph! If you tell me that they are sending you after Jess, I don’t care about proving anything. I’ll take care of them with my bare hands if I have to, in order to keep her safe,” declared Cole.
“You
and me both,” concurred Murphy. “Hell, he does have a point about knowing why. If it’s not the cartel, then who?”
“Have you pissed off anyone lately?”
“No more than usual.”
“There is one person,” Cole added tentatively. “One you announced that you were making me and Jess partners.”
“I told you that you were barking up the wrong tree, Cole. Don’t waste your time on him, Redekker, when there’s a more promising one. I’ve been thinking. I’d almost forgotten about the letter until I heard that there has been talk about oilmen scouting the land out here. No one has approached me in years, not until recently. Just before these incidents started. I’d say that was a more promising lead.”
“Have you ever had a geological survey done? Could there really be oil?”
“We have been through this before.”
“Humor me and let’s go through it again.”
“Fine. The last time there was any detailed survey done was twenty years ago. There was a remote, very remote, possibility of a small deposit, but with the way they would have to destroy the land to get at it, it was considered not worth the cost to investigate any further,” stated Murphy. “I was approached a couple of months ago by some outfit from the east. They claimed they thought there was more oil than indicated on the original survey. They seemed slimy to me, so I sent them packing. I didn’t even bother to tell them that I didn’t own the mineral rights.”
“What do you mean you don’t own the mineral rights?”
“Oh, didn’t I mention that before, Doc? Cole, didn’t I mention it before?”
“No, I don’t think you did, Murphy.”
“Then who the hell does!”
“You don’t need to yell, Doc.”
“Murphy, who does, and what if they want to do the deal? Did you ask the mineral rights owner what they thought?” asked Quin through clenched teeth.
“Jules is even more pro-ecology than I am. I had planned to mention it to her, but then I had the accident with the horse and I completely forgot. Doesn’t matter though. No way she’s doing any deal that risks the land. Hell, that’s why she severed the mineral rights. She trusts me with the land, but she wants to make sure that if I were ever to sell, the land is protected.”
“Jules?”
“Yeah. You didn’t know, Doc?”
“No, she’s never mentioned it.”
“We signed the deal years ago, right after she got her inheritance. Kept it quiet. I’m not sure how many people are aware. Deal gives me the right to put up fences and small cabins like this one so we can store things remotely and if any of the hands are out late on the range, they can spend the night, but she owns everything under the land.”
“Why did she sell you the land and not lease it to you?”
“Same reason as she insisted on keeping the mineral rights. If she ever does decide to sell someday, or her descendants do, I’m protected.”
“That has got to be the craziest deal I ever heard, but if it works for the two of you.”
“It does. Now what about the contract?
“We were supposed to finalize things tonight, but he delayed a couple of days, giving me the final target information. He’s wiring me a good faith deposit today and my people will work on tracing it. Once I have the money and he gives me the target information, we can get the Sheriff to arrest him.”
“Has anyone talked to Dace about this?”
“Not in detail. He’s a friend, but he’s also in law enforcement and I don’t want to put him in a tough spot. Once we have enough evidence, we’ll bring him into the loop. And you, Quin. Don’t do anything stupid. You seem like an okay guy and for some reason, Jules seems to like you. Hell, between you and Doc, you’ve helped her to move on past Firth, and that’s a good thing. Just don’t break her heart or we may have to hurt you.”
“Threatening a hit man? You got balls, Smith. Besides, isn’t Firth a friend of yours?”
Murphy laughed mirthlessly. “One of my oldest, but things change. People change. He seemed to think he was entitled to a partnership, but I told him that only Jess and Cole would ever be partners. Double S is a family ranch and staying that way. I gave him notice two months ago. I told him that once the herd was settled at the end of the summer, it was time for him to move on. I felt so guilty that I offered him a generous severance and agreed to pay it early so he can use it for his job hunting in case he racks up travel expenses while interviewing. It was deposited today, as a matter of fact. His last day is a month from now, unless he decides to walk out on me now that he has his cash.”
“I had no idea. How did he take it?”
“Not well, at first. Now he’s doing his job and I have no idea what he’s thinking. He doesn’t talk to me anymore.” Murphy shrugged. “And frankly, I’ve had more on my mind than his hurt feelings, once I realized these accidents were no accidents. Thank goodness I talked to Doc. I had no idea he had such connections.”
“Yeah, well, thanks for the heads-up from Doc, I was able to intercept the feelers the perp put out looking for help to do you in. Really, whoever it is took a big chance. Hit men are notoriously untrustworthy!”
The men laughed, but their mirth was short lived as Murphy checked his watch.
“Look, we have to go. Jess is expecting us home.”
“Shit. She said to be home promptly at noon. She’s going to kill is if we don’t hurry.”
“Damn. You two are totally pussy whipped!” declared Blake.
“And loving every minute of it!” Cole agreed. “We also get to whip pussy, so it’s great all around.”
“Yeah, yeah. Now get! We’ll split up and head back to the ranch.”
“Maybe you don’t want to go just yet. A little birdie named Jess tells us that Jules is planning on riding out this way and heading to her favorite swimming spot.”
“Thanks for the heads-up, but I’m not sure how she’d react if we showed up together looking for her. Why’d we have to meet way out here, anyway?”
“We didn’t want Jess to see us,” mumbled Murphy, “Or Owen. Yes, we were hiding this meeting from Owen.”
“Nice save, you big, bad Dom.” The men laughed at Quin’s tone.
“And please, guys. Don’t let Jules know you are expecting to see her. She’ll want to know how you knew and then it’ll get back to Jess and we’ll be sleeping on the couch. If that happens, you two will pay.”
“Then why did you tell us she’s heading out if you didn’t want us to meet up with her? What do you suggest?”
“You have no subtly, Quin. You have to make it look like a coincidence. Why don’t you head over to the fence line about a half mile south of the pond? She’ll be coming up past this cabin and then follow the fence line that way. Could be that Blake’s checking out some cows and Quin stopped to help or something. I am sure you two could come up with a good story.”
“You’re turning into a woman, Murphy.”
“So you aren’t going to do my plan?”
“Hell no! Of course we are!”
* * * *
Quin spotted Jules as she approached from a distance before they’d even had time to leave the cabin. Luckily the SUV was already out of sight going in the other direction or she might have some questions that he didn’t want to answer just now.
“Dammit. Blake. There she is. Look busy!”
“Doing what?”
“I don’t know. There’s a cow down by the stream. Pretend you are examining it or something.”
“Damn. I guess we should have come up with a plan or something while we were waiting.”
“Ya think?”
“Hey, you are the investigator. You should be used to being sneaky. I’m just a simple country vet.”
Quin snorted. Jules came closer and Quin decided not to bother pretending. He walked out onto the path to make sure she saw him and didn’t suddenly change directions.
He waved and she waved back, and in a few minutes she was there, and
he found his heart was pounding in his chest from the excitement. No woman had ever affected him the way that she did. He looked over at Blake and saw the same look on his face. Damn. Blake turned and caught his eye and nodded. They both loved the same woman. If they were lucky enough, she would love them both back the way Jess loved her two men. If they were a little lucky, she would love one of them and the loser would back out gracefully and be happy for his friend and the woman they both loved.
He decided not to think of the third alternative.
She came to a halt in front of him. Walking around to the left side of the horse, he helped her down and held her tight in his arms, pressing her back against his front. She just felt so right in his arms. He tried to hold onto the moment, but then her horse leaned over his shoulder and nudged him hard.
“Okay, Lucky. I get it. Keep my hands off your rider.” He grinned and kissed Jules’s cheek before grabbing the reins and walking the horse over to where his and Doc’s rides were tied up. Then, like the good cowboy he was, he topped up the water trough using the bucket by the door and the hand water pump that drew ice-cold water from the stream that came down from the foothills. Then he walked back to where Jules was now in Doc’s arms getting thoroughly kissed.
“Hey, hey, hey! I don’t get a kiss?”
“You’re the cowboy. You get the horse and I get the girl!” Quin watched as Doc lowered his head and captured Jules’s lips again. Hell, he wanted to go up behind her, wrap his arms around her from behind and nibble on her neck until it was time to turn her around and he’d get her mouth while Doc worked on her neck. This was something he and Blake had done many times over the years, but to the best of his knowledge, Jules had never been a part of a ménage. They’d have to go slow. At least, though, that asshole Firth was out of the picture.
He watched them kiss for a few more minutes before clearing his throat. They ignored him, so he walked up to them and tapped Doc on the shoulder. When he looked up, Quin lowered his head and captured Jules’s mouth. Her lips were swollen and her gaze was slightly dazed, but she turned to him and kissed him back, hard. He felt his cock swelling in his pants.
