His Dirty Hands (The Montgomery Boys Book 2)

by Jessica Mills

  “We are going to have to keep our eyes open,” Cassidy said. “We need to pay close attention to the fields. One wolf usually means more.”

  I nodded. The concept of the lone wolf was really not all that common. People may see only one wolf at a time, but for the most part, that one wolf was a scout for his pack. And if it really was just one wolf, it could be even more dangerous. A true lone wolf was unpredictable and generally more aggressive. Without a pack to hunt with, they often didn’t get as much food. That could cause serious issues if they got too hungry.

  “We’re supposed to be moving the cattle over the next couple of days,” I told him. “They’re moving into the far fields. I hope the wolf doesn’t give us any trouble.”

  “You’re going to have to pay close attention and be aware all the time. Make sure you have your gun with you and bring Boone. Both of you need to be vigilant.”

  I nodded, readying my mind for the challenge ahead.

  Chapter 4

  Gia

  I spent the day packing. Before Darcy got home from work, I tucked everything out of sight so she wouldn’t notice them. I didn’t own very much in the apartment, so it was unlikely she would notice the few things gone. I hadn’t mentioned anything to Gabby. She was far too young to understand what was going on.

  She didn’t even know what to think about the situation. After Matteo finally left that morning, I went back into the kitchen, took the burning bacon off the skillet, and went right back to preparing dinner.

  My little girl could tell something was wrong. She could see the tense emotion in my face and had heard the shouting coming from the front of the apartment. When she asked what was wrong, I reassured her I was fine. I gave her the biggest smile I could manage. It was enough for her. She was so innocent, so trusting. I was the center of her entire world, and if I told her everything was fine, that was exactly what she was going to believe.

  I had to keep that going. Gabby was everything to me. She was my absolute reason for living and the focus behind every decision I ever made. I wanted to give her the type of life she deserved. I needed to protect her from anything I saw that might hurt her. That included seeing the pain, stress, and fear I experienced.

  As I prepared throughout the day, I kept Gabby distracted. She played with her favorite toys and I read to her while I folded clothes. I figured if I didn’t call attention to what I was doing, she wouldn’t notice. It was a relief when she dropped off to sleep and I was able to finish packing.

  The more I dismantled the semblance of a life I had built at Darcy’s apartment and packed it all up, ready to run away yet again, the more emotional I became. There were moments when it felt like I was going to fall apart, like I couldn’t take this anymore. Not again. This couldn’t be the life I had in front of me. I wouldn’t be able to bear the thought of having to pick up and run at a moment’s notice all the time.

  Just thinking about it left my stomach twisting and my heart pounding. That wasn’t life. Always being nervous, always looking over my shoulder. Never being able to really put down roots or feel settled and established. It wasn’t something I could face.

  I wanted a life for me and for Gabby. She deserved to know what it was like to have a real home and to have consistency. Right now, she was still little and flexible. She would go where I brought her and accept life as it came. As long as she had me, she had the core of her life and wouldn’t really notice much different.

  Except for Darcy. They had gotten so close over the time we’d been living in my best friend’s apartment. I hated the thought of her not having Darcy in her life every day and how much both of us would miss her. I spent that evening trying to soak up every single second I could. I tried to act like nothing was different. I didn’t want either one of them to notice I was upset or think anything strange was going on.

  Instead, I greeted Darcy just like I always did. I asked her about her day at work and listened to her babble on about her co-workers and the stresses her job brought every day. I didn’t tell her what happened that morning. I dished up big servings of the food from the slow cooker and we all sat around together eating and laughing. I tried to etch every moment into my memory so I could hang on to it. They would keep me strong as I went into whatever was coming next.

  That night, I stayed up later than usual. I gave Gabby her bath and I told Darcy she would love for her to read her a bedtime story. After a shower, I curled up on the couch with a cup of tea. Darcy joined me and we talked for hours like we used to when we were little more than kids.

  Finally, I could see her eyes getting heavy and we said good night. I only let myself sleep for a couple of hours before climbing quietly out of bed. It was around three in the morning when I carried everything I’d packed outside and went back for Gabby.

  My plan was to sneak out of the apartment and call for a ride to bring me to the bus station. I didn’t know where I was going to go from there or even what I would do once I arrived. But at that point, I couldn’t wait for an entire plan to form in my mind.

  There wasn’t time.

  I had to take this step by step. It started with slipping out of the apartment without Darcy noticing. I didn’t want to have to say goodbye to her. That was more painful than I was ready to face.

  It was hard enough having to leave and not having any idea of what kind of life I was going to find next. Having to stand there with Darcy and tell her goodbye was too much. If I didn’t say goodbye, then it didn’t have to seem real. I could pretend it was just temporary and that we would be going back sometime soon. Saying goodbye made it concrete.

  I tried to get through the apartment with Gabby in my arms but being jostled in the middle of the night was too much for my daughter. She shifted in my arms and started crying. It was quiet at first, but before I could soothe her, she let out a wail. A few seconds later, Darcy walked out of her bedroom, rubbing sleep from her eyes. I rubbed Gabby’s back, bouncing her and making soft sounds to ease her back to sleep.

  “What’s going on?” Darcy asked. “What time is it?”

  “Um, around three,” I told her.

  She opened her eyes a little more and looked at me. “You’re all dressed. Are you going somewhere? Where are you off to at such a strange time?”

  I tried to come up with something to tell her, but there was nothing to say. I didn’t want to lie to her or make her feel like I was just skipping out on her. I never wanted her to think I didn’t care about her or appreciate everything she had done for both of us.

  The emotion built up in me so much I felt like I couldn’t bear any more. Fighting back tears, I made my way over to the living-room couch and sat down. Gabby adjusted herself so she lay across my lap and gave a contented sigh, slipping deeper back to sleep. I stared into her perfect little face for a few seconds before looking back up at my best friend.

  “I have to go,” I said.

  “What do you mean you have to go?” Darcy asked.

  “Matteo showed up today. I was cooking and someone knocked on the door. I thought it was a delivery driver and just opened it without even checking who was there.”

  “Gia,” Darcy said in disbelief.

  I shook my head. “I know. I know that’s not something I should ever do. I have to check.”

  “What happened?” Darcy asked, sounding like she was trying to keep her voice calm and steady.

  We had the conversation about me just opening the door a dozen times before. I always brushed it off, reassuring Darcy I was more careful than that. When somebody knocked on the door, I looked through the peephole. I asked who they were. I took those precautions like I took them in every other part of my life. But that morning was somehow different. Distracted by cooking breakfast and my good mood somehow, I let my guard slip for only a second. And now this was happening because of it.

  “He told me he had been looking for me since he found out about Gabby. He said he wanted to meet her.”

  “What did you do?” she asked.

/>   “What do you think I did? I told him he couldn’t come in and I held the door closed. He completely freaked out and tried to force himself in, but Grant stopped him. I don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t come to help when he did. Matteo was almost inside and so angry. He was going after Gabby. I just can’t even bear the thought of what might have happened if he’d gotten into the apartment.”

  “That man has been searching for you for two and a half years. He’s not just going to take no for an answer.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “That’s why I have to get out of here. I can’t waste any time. Gabby and I have to be gone by the time he decides to come here looking for me again.”

  “Give me twelve hours,” Darcy said without hesitation.

  “I can’t,” I said. “This is really hard for me and I don’t want to be away from you, but there’s no time. He could come back here at any second.”

  “Not now that he knows somebody is keeping an eye out for you. He’s going to lay low for a little while and let things calm down. Matteo might be many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. He knows people are looking out for you and now they’ve seen him. He’s not just going to pop back up within a day and try it again. He’ll hang back for at least a little while. At least until he thinks everything has blown over and he can go unnoticed. So just give me twelve hours. I’m coming with you.”

  The words almost didn’t process. She couldn’t have just said what I thought she did.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I’m coming with you. We’ll leave together.”

  “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “You’re not. You also don’t have a choice. We are doing this together.”

  “What about your job, your apartment?” I asked.

  Darcy shrugged and waved her hand through the air like she was brushing the questions away. “My job sucks. I’ve been wanting to find something else for a while. And this place is cute and all, but there’s always something new out there. Right? Adventures?”

  “Darcy,” I started.

  “No.” She shook her head. “You’re not going to talk me out of this. If you’re leaving, I’m going with you. I’m not going to let you be alone. Besides, what exactly were you planning to do?”

  “Get on a bus,” I admitted sheepishly.

  “I have a car. I have paid vacation time from my sucky job, so we’ll have some income coming in for a couple of weeks. We’ll pack up, drive until we find a place that looks good to settle down in, and that will be our new home. Matteo will never find us.”

  That broke my resistance and the tears started streaming down my cheeks. “Thank you,” I said, breaking down. “Thank you for doing this for me. For both of us.”

  “You two are my family,” Darcy said. “I would do anything for you. Now, come on. Take those clothes off and put on some pajamas. Let’s get a little bit of sleep before we embark on this adventure together.”

  I glanced over at the door. “We’ll have to bring in everything I brought outside.”

  Darcy laughed. For the first time all day, I smiled. The whole situation was still terrifying and uncertain. But it seemed so much less scary now that I didn’t have to do it alone.

  Darcy helped me carry in everything I had hauled outside and carefully changed Gabby back into pajamas. I dug mine out of my suitcase and put them back on. We went into Darcy’s room together and climbed into her enormous king-sized bed, piling in like a slumber party. Gabby and Darcy fell asleep quickly, but I lay awake. My mind wouldn’t quiet down. I knew it would be like this until we found a place that felt safe.

  Somewhere far from Sacramento, California.

  Chapter 5

  Clayton

  Every day on the ranch started early. The nature of the work meant we had to get started when most people were still buried deep in their beds and not even considering waking up for a good while. Most of the time, it felt luxurious to still be sleeping when the first hints of sunlight made it to the horizon. Hungry animals weren’t going to wait for us to catch a few extra winks.

  But moving days were the earliest. Those were the days when we drove the entire herd from one area of the ranch to another to give them access to new, fresh grass.

  A lot of people think of ranches the same way they think of farms. They envision a plot of land split up in a grid with corrals and fenced-in fields containing small clusters of animals. That was quite accurate.

  Montgomery Ranch sprawled over sixty miles, and while there were barns, corrals, and fences, for the most part it was open natural space. The vast majority of the three hundred and fifty head of cattle roamed at will. But that didn’t mean they were scattered all across the property all the time. The cattle naturally herded, sticking together more or less in groups they formed.

  These groups stayed in the same general area to graze and sleep, then moved along together when they needed to. Every so often, we had to gather them up and move them to other areas of the ranch. They tended to stay close to the same area. If we didn’t encourage them to move, they would deplete the grasses and damage the fields. Shifting them from place to place on a regular schedule ensured they had space for fresh grazing and the land was protected. It was a massive undertaking, but we had done it so many times we were like a well-oiled machine.

  In order to make sure we could get all of the hundreds of cattle to the far hills effectively and efficiently before nightfall, we had to get up well before the sun. It was dark and cool when we walked out of the house and headed for the barn. It wouldn’t be long before the heat of the summer afternoon started to kick in, so we enjoyed the weather as we walked along in silence. Boone and I each had a couple of cups of coffee in us, but it would be a few hours before we took a break to eat anything. We saddled up our horses and headed out onto the ranch to find the herd and start moving them.

  That was several hours ago, and we were still out on the ranch’s rolling hills. I took a moment to look out at the horizon and admire the mountains. Dark purple and blue against the sky, they looked stark in the summer heat. If it wasn’t August, those mountains would be covered in snow. They looked majestic when capped with white or when bare. Even though I knew they were many miles away, they looked like they were close. It was like they were right up against the fields of the ranch, surrounding the property with strength.

  When I was little, my father put me up on the back of his horse with him and we rode out into the middle of one of the fields as the sun was setting. The mountains loomed huge and powerful, even bigger and more impressive then they seemed now that I was grown. The memory stuck in my mind because it was just my father and me that evening. Dad always tried to spend at least a bit of time with each of the eight of us, one on one.

  It was hard, especially after Mama died, but he did what he could to connect with us individually. It was important to him to make sure he acknowledged each of his sons rather than only seeing us as a unit.

  That night was that special one-on-one time with me. I was young, and I remembered being amazed by the vastness of the ranch. It seemed so much bigger at night, like it stretched out to sleep before the stars came out. Dad showed me the mountains and told me they were there to watch over the ranch and protect us. I knew the mountains were just part of the earth, yet him saying that was comforting. I liked the thought of them being there to keep us safe and defend the ranch.

  I still looked at the mountains with awe. Now it was more about their age and resilience than about the story my father told me. But when I looked at them, I was still reminded of him. In a way, it was almost like he became a part of those mountains. That was how he was still with us. Maybe that was what he was talking about all those years ago. The spirit of everyone who lived on that land and put their souls into it stayed around to help the ones who came after.

  I only got a few moments to appreciate the view before I had to wipe off my brow and put my hat back on to get back to work. The afternoon sun was out with a vengeanc
e and Boone and I were both sweating bullets as we moved the cattle. We were both on high alert after the attack from the wolf the night before, but as of yet, we hadn’t had any issues. I couldn’t help but worry that come sundown that would change.

  The hope was that we would have the entire herd moved across the ranch to the other hills before nightfall. Even so, there was always the chance we would still be out riding when the sun went down. If the wolf was going to return, that was the most likely time. There was nothing we could do about it right then. We would have to face it when we got to it. Both of us had our weapons at our hips and would be prepared to use them if we had to. I hoped we didn’t.

  I looked over at Boone and saw him moving into the next maneuver. I turned my horse and rode along the edge of the herd in the opposite direction. Racing along the side that way kept the cattle in closer together. As they moved along, they tended to start spreading out and getting distracted. Us keeping our horses in action prevented them from getting too far. The cattle didn’t like the sound of the horses’ hooves as they ran or the feeling of the powerful animals getting close to them. It was funny in a way to see the cattle react so strongly to the horses, immediately moving in the opposite direction and cuddling in close to each other to stay away.

  Up ahead of me, I saw several cattle roaming away. I encouraged the horse beneath me to move faster and rode in a large arc to guide them back in toward the rest of the herd. It was a beautiful sight seeing the animals moving together that way, crossing the ranch the way so many other herds had done before them. Each of these animals mattered to us. Every head of cattle was important, and we put a tremendous amount of care into giving them good lives. We strived to keep them healthy and comfortable and even happy.

  Some would laugh if they heard us say that, but cattle who lived a good life would always be better quality. It was the way we were taught from the time we were old enough to get on the back of a horse and ride out on the property with our father. Dad taught us to respect the animals as living beings and treat them with care.