His Dirty Hands (The Montgomery Boys Book 2)

by Jessica Mills

  Shirt or not, I was mounting my horse. The sound wasn’t far off, but I didn’t want to waste any time. Boone was either going to follow on foot or have to saddle his horse before he could get to me. My guess was he was going to hoof it on foot. He was spry as all hell and could move like the wind when he needed too. Right now, he needed to.

  I tore through the night and grimaced at the sound of the screaming stopping and then starting again louder, only to be cut off abruptly. There was a tree line by the creek on the south bend and I pushed my ride harder toward it. Switches snapped at my bare chest and arms as I rode into the small wooded area and pulled the reins, stopping us. I could hear the sound of the wolf, its feet padding around as it likely tore into its prey.

  A soft whimpering sound came from just beyond where I was now, and I reached down into my pack for the powerful flashlight I always carried. Pressing the button, I pointed it toward the sound.

  Eyes flashed back at me, and the growl that accompanied it was fierce and full. It seemed to come from everywhere, as if the wolf wasn’t a wolf at all but a spirit of the trees. It reverberated around me and I had to fight the temptation to look around and make sure I wasn’t surrounded. If I took my eyes off the wolf in front of me, it wouldn’t matter if I was surrounded. This one would have my throat in an instant.

  A sound off to the side of me told me Boone had caught up and I wondered how long I had been standing here, staring at the wolf in a stalemate. It seemed simultaneously like forever and only an instant. I kept my hands to my sides, knowing that any sudden movement would cause him to leap. If Boone was coming up around his side, then at some point its attention would be drawn away from me.

  Suddenly, a snap of a twig caught the wolf’s attention and I reached for my sidepiece. I yanked it out of the holster, but the wolf was already charging me, having seen my reaction and taking it for a challenge. I barely had the gun rising up when a shot rang out, echoing in the thick night. The wolf disappeared from my vision and I heard it thump just beyond me. My horse whinnied behind me and the quick, frantic sound of the wolf taking off into the night, yelping, thundered away from us. Boone got it but didn’t kill it, and now it was disappearing off into the darkness once again.

  “Did I get it?” Boone hollered.

  I didn’t respond immediately other than to nod, which he likely couldn’t see. My attention was fixed on the cow that lay on its side, moaning softly as it bled into the ground. Its throat was slashed and one of its legs was chewed beyond repair. It was dying and would bleed out eventually if the wolf hadn’t been able to rip its organs out while it breathed.

  “Clayton?” Boone said again, this time much closer. “Ah, shit.”

  “Go back to the herd and make sure everybody else is accounted for,” I said evenly.

  Boone nodded but hesitated before he took off back where we camped. He knew what was coming as well as I did. He didn’t want to be around for it any more than I wanted to be. Even still, he stayed a moment.

  “I can take care of it, boss,” he said.

  I shook my head. “No. Just get back to the herd. We leave before sunup.”

  “Roger,” he said, and his footsteps pounded away. I hoped whatever sleep he had already was enough to rest him a bit. Neither one of us were likely to sleep any more tonight.

  Stepping quickly up behind the cow, I knelt beside her head. She was obviously in tremendous pain and was scared. I didn’t want to prolong that any longer than I absolutely had to. Putting the barrel of my sidepiece at the base of her skull, just where it connected with the spine, I didn’t hesitate as I pulled the trigger. Her whimpering sound stopped immediately as the shot rang out, and she let out one long last breath.

  I sat down fully next to her, putting my hand on her shoulder and listening, making sure the mercy shot had done its job. When I looked down at my hand, I noticed it was shaking. It wasn’t fear or sadness, though there was plenty of both of those to go around. It was fury. I was furious at the wolf, and even more so that it was still out there. Boone had done his best, snapping off a shot in the dark at a leaping wolf, but it was still out there. In the darkness. Waiting.

  I stayed there for a while out of respect before standing and patting the body that I knew I would have to send someone for later on. When I got to my feet, the ache inside my boots was nearly unbearable, but I shook them one at a time to wake them up. It was going to be a long morning, and they could rest when I got back to the ranch house and had a shower. Until then, there was work to be done.

  There was always work to be done.

  Chapter 8

  Gia

  I slept better that night than I had in a long time. The quiet around here was a different kind of quiet than when Darcy wasn’t in the apartment in California. This was a soft quiet, like a blanket settling down around the entire town as the sun set. It surrounded everything with calm and ushered in a night chorus of singing insects and birds calling in the distance.

  I still woke up a few times. But when I looked out through the window and saw the gentle lights glowing beside the doors and along the storefronts that filled Main Street, I felt the sense of peace come over me again. So I curled up closer to Gabby and fell back to sleep. Thursday morning, I woke up more refreshed.

  “How did you sleep?” Darcy asked when she came out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel.

  “Really well,” I told her. “It’s strange. I know the last few nights have been harder because of Matteo showing up, but I think last night kind of proved I haven’t actually been sleeping well for a long time. Living with you in Sacramento was the closest thing I’ve had to being really settled down and comfortable since Gabby was just a baby. I was happy there, but I was always a little bit on edge. Last night, I woke up a few times but not nearly as many times as I usually do. It’s more of a relaxed feeling.”

  “So, maybe you want to stay?” she asked hopefully.

  I gave her a look. “Don’t push it too much. It’s nice here, and I slept well, but we’re still too close to California. If Matteo could find me there, he can find me just a few states over. I’m glad we stopped here for the night. We definitely needed it. But I think we should get back on the road and get a bit farther away.”

  She looked like she wanted to argue with me but nodded. This was about me, after all. We left because I didn’t feel safe and wanted to find somewhere to start fresh. Darcy agreed to come with me so I wouldn’t have to face this on my own. I was eternally grateful to her for doing that for me, but I needed to do what I felt I was right. She knew that and wasn’t going to argue with me. And that moment, I felt so fortunate. With everything I had to go through and was still facing, at least I had an incredible best friend I knew would be there for me no matter what.

  “Well, at least let’s go down to the hotel restaurant for some breakfast and then get some supplies before we head out. Gabby is running low on her snacks and juice, and I was thinking maybe she might like a couple of new distractions.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said.

  Breakfast at the hotel was just as comforting and delicious as dinner was. Almost as soon as we sat down, a young waitress who looked like she could be Connie’s granddaughter came by. She dropped off a pot of coffee along with a plate overflowing with biscuits and muffins. My stomach rumbled just looking at them.

  Darcy and I filled the mugs already sitting at our places and added milk to Gabby’s sippy cup. We ate until we couldn’t fit in another crumb of food, then went to the front desk to let Connie know we were checking out.

  “We just need to pick up a few things in town,” Darcy told her. “Is that all right?”

  “Oh, of course,” Connie said. “No hurry. You take your time and check out when you’re ready. It’s not like we have a whole lot of tourists kicking down the doors to stay here in Green Valley.”

  We grinned at her and made our way out onto the sidewalk. It was still early, so the heat wasn’t quite up to sizzling point yet. Th
at felt like a very welcome bonus since we would be walking up and down Main Street to stock up on supplies to carry on with our road trip. Our first stop was a little General Store where an older gentleman teetered at the top of a tall, old-fashioned wooden ladder. He clutched it tightly as he arranged cans on a tall shelf.

  “Good morning,” he called to us. “I’ll be right down to help you in just a moment.”

  “It’s fine,” Darcy said. “We’ll just look around and find what we need.”

  “Suit yourself.” He smiled. “But if you need anything, don’t hesitate.”

  We gathered up some groceries, and by the time we got up to the cash register, the man had made it down from the ladder. He asked us about our trip and we sugarcoated it for him, saying we were just taking a girls’ trip for some quality time together. Whether he believed us or not, he moved on to chatting about the town.

  We took his suggestions for where to stop as we spent the next couple of hours walking through town. Everyone we encountered was exceptionally friendly and helpful. There was even a gentleman who offered to let us leave the bags of purchases we’d already made with him at his bakery while we finished up shopping so we didn’t have to juggle everything. We stopped by a coffee shop and ordered iced coffee to give us another jolt of caffeine but to also ward off the gradually increasing heat.

  I let out a sigh as we walked and Darcy looked at me out of the corner of her eye.

  “Doing okay?” she asked.

  I looked over at her and nodded. “I feel more at ease here than I ever have. That sounds so completely bizarre since we just got here, but I’m totally comfortable.”

  “Me, too,” Darcy agreed. “Everybody has been so sweet and it’s just so nice here. I’m glad we stopped.”

  We continued our exploration of Main Street and learned a little bit more about what else lay on the few other streets and crossroads that made up Green Valley. Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped by the bakery where the gentleman offered to keep our purchases. He then slipped me a cookie wrapped in wax paper.

  “For the baby,” he said.

  Gabby’s eyes lit up and I handed the cookie down to her.

  “Thank you,” she said before taking a massive bite.

  My heart warmed. These were the types of moments I wanted for her, the type of childhood she deserved. I wanted my little girl to have a fresh chocolate-chip cookie smearing chocolate on her cheeks and her not wanting me to wipe it off being the only thing she had to worry about. That feeling only underscored the notion that leaving California when we did was the right decision. It was hasty and I could admit to myself that I didn’t really spend a whole lot of time thinking it through. But it was getting clearer with every minute that it was exactly what we needed to do.

  As we approached the hotel, I noticed Connie standing outside with a couple of other men we had seen out on the sidewalks. Another man, a young cowboy we hadn’t seen, stood close to them talking. I paused, unable to take my eyes off him as I listened to what he was saying.

  “Everybody best be careful,” he said. “That wolf came out of nowhere. He’s still up in the hills, and if he attacked my cattle that way, he’ll go after others, too. He had no fear, and when Boone shot him, he just ran off into the dark. Barely even affected him. Let everybody know.”

  The words made my breath catch in my throat and my heart pound a little bit faster. It was hard to wrap my head around what he was saying. It struck me that this was an entirely different way of life than I had ever seen. The man turned around suddenly and took a stride down the sidewalk. It made him bump right into me so he nearly knocked me off my feet. He reached out and caught me by the arm.

  “Whoa, there,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you standing there. You aren’t hurt, are you?”

  “No,” I said shaking my head. “No, I’m fine.”

  I looked up at the man and was immediately overwhelmed by him. So tall he towered over me, he was extremely good looking. But also intimidating. There was an intensity and strength about him. That reflected in the long scar that sliced through his right eyebrow and traveled down the side of his neck. I wondered what kind of accident could have caused an injury like that. The warning I heard him giving Connie and the other men went back through my mind and I wondered if it could have been an attack from a wolf.

  “That’s good to hear,” he said. “I would hate to think I hurt you being clumsy. Sometimes, I think my feet get ahead of my brain. I’m Clayton.”

  He held out his hand and I put mine in it.

  “Gianna,” I told him. “Gia.”

  His shake was warm and confident, not so hard it felt like he was trying to prove something but also not too gentle. I found myself not wanting him to let go and feeling a bit disappointed when his fingers finally dropped mine. His eyes moved down and a smile came to his lips. I realized he was looking at Gabby, who was hiding behind my legs.

  “Hi, there,” he said. “What’s your name?”

  My daughter giggled and buried her face in the backs of my knees.

  “You don’t have to say hi if you don’t want to,” he said.

  It seemed his kind understanding was exactly what my little girl needed to warm up. A second later, I felt the pressure lessen as she glanced at him again.

  “Gabby,” she said quickly.

  “Gabby,” he repeated. “That’s a beautiful name. And you’re a beautiful girl. You look like your mama.”

  She giggled again and buried her face against my legs. In that moment, I kind of wished I had somebody’s legs to bury my face in, too. His smooth voice was like bourbon and his words caused a flutter in my stomach.

  “This is my best friend Darcy,” I said, just so I had something to fill the silence.

  “Good to meet both of you,” he said. “You two definitely don’t look like you come from around here.”

  “No,” Darcy said with a laugh. “We drove in from California.”

  He nodded and I waited for the flicker to go across his expression that said he was impressed, but it didn’t come. He was just acknowledging what she said. That was strangely intriguing.

  “What are the two of you doing in a small town like this?” he asked.

  “We’re just passing through,” I told him. “Looking for a new place to settle down.”

  He smiled and looked around. “There’s no better place than Green Valley.”

  Clayton hooked his thumbs into his belt and rocked back slightly on the heels of his boots like a good old-fashioned cowboy. I couldn’t deny I was attracted to him, especially his drawl and the way he smiled at me.

  “It’s very nice,” I said. “But we’re moving on this afternoon. We actually just picked up our supplies and are getting ready to check out of the hotel.”

  “In a hurry to get somewhere specific?” he asked.

  “No,” I admitted.

  “Then why don’t you stay for a while? Stick around for a couple more sunrises and see what you think. She’ll win you over like she does everyone.”

  Without another word, he tipped his hat and walked away. Darcy and I stared after him for a few seconds before walking into the hotel.

  “Who on Earth was that?” Darcy breathed.

  Connie was cleaning up around the lobby and overheard the question. She chuckled and shook her head. “That’s Clayton Montgomery. But don’t go falling in love with that man. He only has eyes for the land in the sky.”

  I bit my bottom lip and tried to quiet the curiosity in my heart as we headed back to our room.

  Chapter 9

  Clayton

  I’d already had breakfast a couple of hours before, but nothing got my stomach rumbling quite like the sandwiches the bakery made every morning. Sausage, eggs, and cheese wrapped up in flaky, buttery pastry. It was fancier than what I usually gobbled down to keep myself running when there was work to do on the ranch, but I couldn’t help but indulge when I smelled them. Cody grinned at me from behind the counter
when I came through the door.

  “You know what I’m after,” I told him.

  Cody laughed. “Has anyone ever told you that you are predictable, Clayton Montgomery?”

  “I’ve been called a lot of words before in my life, but that’s not one of them. But I’m not denying it. You keep making those sandwiches, and I’ll keep coming in and getting them.”

  He reached into the display case and pulled out the biggest of the breakfast sandwiches. There weren’t many left on the tray since it was late in the morning. I was happy to have gotten in right under the wire so I didn’t miss them. He slipped the sandwich into a white paper bag and handed it over the counter to me. Eyeing the ones left in the display case for a few seconds, I ordered another. He chuckled and slipped the remaining three into another bag.

  “Give them a good home,” he said with a wink and only charged me for the first two.

  “I know just the one.” I laughed.

  “Did you get a look at that new woman?” he asked as he handed my change to me.

  “What new woman?” I asked, even though I figured I knew who he was talking about.

  “Pretty little thing with big brown eyes and long black hair. Came in here with a sweet little girl. She and her friend were doing some shopping around town. I offered to let her keep her packages here until she was ready to go back to the hotel.”

  “Just out of the goodness of your heart?” I teased.

  “And what other reason would I have?”

  “I did see her,” I said. “Talked to her a little bit. Apparently, she isn’t new in town. She’s just passing through. But I think I might have convinced her to hang around a while longer and enjoy some of Green Valley.”

  “That would be nice,” he said. “We don’t get fresh faces around here too often.”

  “That’s for sure. Well, I have some errands to run for the ranch today. Thank you for the sandwiches. They will definitely help me through my work. Oh, and I’m warning everybody. There’s an aggressive wolf out on my land. He got to one of our cows the other night. Boone tried to take him down, but he ran off. You warn your daddy to keep his eye out around his herd.”