Harder Than the Rest

by Shirleen Davies

  “Hey. You MacLaren?”

  “That’s me.”

  “Got one more message here for you.”

  Will walked back to the desk and grabbed the message from the man’s outstretched hand. It was from Drew. How the hell did Drew know he was in Cold Creek? Will read the message twice, swore softly under his breath, then grabbed paper and pen to quickly craft a reply. After handing it to the operator and paying the fee, he headed toward the restaurant and his own lunch, alone.

  “MacLaren.”

  Will saw the portly man amble across the main street towards him. He’d completely forgotten the summons to stop by the jail.

  “Sheriff. What can I do for you?”

  “Got a couple more questions for you, if you have the time, of course.” Both men knew this wasn’t a request. The sheriff looked like a man ready to explode and most likely at Will.

  “Sure. Where do you want to talk?”

  “My office would be best, then you can go about your day.”

  Once inside the office, the sheriff motioned for Will to take a seat before launching into his soft spoken but hard edged tirade. “Is there a reason you didn’t tell me that Chad Hawley died more than three years ago in Santa Fe?”

  Will thought about the disappearance of the deputy right after Hawley had been reported dead. Nothing illegal about the deputy coming up missing, but the coincidence was curious. “Chad Hawley wasn’t killed in Santa Fe. In fact, a few days after the body was found, they realized a drifter was also missing, but they’d already had the burial. Never could determine for sure that it was Hawley in the grave. Even the sheriff admitted all the circumstances seemed strange, but because it was his deputy who’d reported seeing the killing, and identified the body, he was forced to show the death as Hawley’s.”

  Dutton listened to Will’s story. He knew for a fact that the bounty hunter had it right. Hawley had murdered the drifter and Dutton had identified the body as Hawley’s. The sheriff knew he was taking a chance talking with MacLaren, but he needed to understand how much the man knew. He knew a lot.

  “Sounds like a bunch of guessing to me.” Dutton wanted to find a way to throw the man off, get him to move on before Hawley did something stupid. If it came down to it, Dutton would quit his job and leave his partner to his own fate. The sheriff knew he could get a job in another small town where he’d never be associated with the killer. He’d lose what they’d been working for, but at least he’d keep his life.

  “Believe what you will. Hawley is Chet Hollis, and I’ll prove it before I leave Cold Creek. And when I leave, I’ll either take Hollis with me, or leave him here for you to bury.” MacLaren’s voice was hard, unwavering. He knew his search would end in this small Colorado town.

  ******

  Amanda couldn’t sleep. She tossed around, pushed off the covers, tugged them back up, stared at the ceiling a while, and finally grabbed the book next to her bed. The cause was obvious. She couldn’t get her mind off their new ranch hand. Amanda had sat in the wagon all the way to town and back, watching him and the image he made riding his beautiful horse. Muscular legs and a soft hand controlled the animal with little effort. She’d found herself wondering what MacLaren would look like without a shirt, sweat on his chest and back from working. He was broad shouldered, and by all appearances, someone you wouldn’t want to rile. Amanda concluded that he’d be magnificent. She knew her thoughts were headed in a dangerous direction but her mind wouldn’t shut down.

  Throwing back the covers, Amanda got out of bed and snatched her wrapper from the wardrobe before heading down the stairs to the kitchen. Warm milk always made her sleepy and she needed whatever help she could get to stop thinking about the much-too-handsome wrangler.

  She reached the kitchen just as an odd sound came from outside. Amanda continued to pour milk into a pan until she heard the sound again. What was that noise? It came from behind the house, just around the corner from where she stood looking out the kitchen window. The noise continued until she couldn’t ignore it any longer. She shoved her feet into boots, grabbed the rifle, and stepped outside, into a clear, chilled night. Fall was one of the best times of year, just before snow blanketed the area for several months. It wouldn’t be long now before chores and travel would be much more complicated.

  Amanda followed the sound until she stood just at the corner of the house and peered around. What she saw stopped her cold. MacLaren stood not ten feet away, without a shirt, chopping and piling wood at what seemed a frantic pace. Each time he’d raise the ax the muscles of his back and arms would tighten, creating one of the most exciting visions she’d ever seen. She rested the rifle against the side of the house and watched for several moments, mesmerized by the sight before her. He was just as she’d imagined. Her gaze intensified with each movement until she couldn’t break the spell and could barely breathe.

  He felt rather than saw her behind him and waited for Amanda to announce her presence, but she said nothing.

  “You just going to stand back there and stare at my half naked body, Miss Taylor?”

  Amanda jumped at his sudden words.

  Will set down the ax, picked up his shirt, and turned to face her. He wasn’t prepared for the image before him. She wore a simple wrapper over her nightgown, and the full moon cast shadows through both layers of thin fabric. Her silky black hair was fashioned in one long braid that had fallen over her left shoulder, covering one breast. His mouth went dry and he worked to control his breathing. She was an extraordinary vision.

  He took a deep breath and forced his gaze to her eyes. “What can I do for you, Miss Taylor? Did you need something from me?”

  “I…well...” She couldn’t force the words out—they’d become locked in her throat.

  “Yes?” Will chuckled at her obvious discomfort.

  She recovered when she realized he found the situation humorous. “I heard noise and came to check it out. Why are you out here, chopping wood so late? It’s after midnight, Mr. MacLaren.”

  “Couldn’t sleep. I often can’t, and need to do something physical to calm my mind. Any problem with that?” He continued to let his eyes roam over her beautiful form as the wind whipped the fabric around her legs and the folds clung to her body. She’d become a stunning sculpture. He tried to drag his eyes away, but found he could not.

  Although he’d slipped into his shirt, he had yet to close the buttons. She couldn’t keep her eyes off his broad chest, peppered with reddish brown hair and tanned from working in the sun. Breathing became more labored as each second passed and she had difficulty swallowing.

  Will watched her eyes as they traveled from his chest up to his neck, then to his face. What he saw in those eyes pulled him back to the present. “Miss Taylor, did you hear me?”

  “Um, yes, I mean no. What did you say?” She felt foolish and needed to get back into the house before she acted on her irrational and reckless impulse to walk up and touch him, feel his skin beneath her hands.

  “I think you’d best get back in the house where it’s warm, Miss Taylor. I’m finished here. The noise won’t disturb you any longer.”

  Amanda managed to pull her eyes from him long enough to control her raging thoughts and focus on his words. “Yes, it is a little chilly.” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “Well, good night, Mr. MacLaren.” Amanda reached for the rifle and, cradling it gently, walked back into the house.

  “Good night, Miss Taylor.”

  But each lay in their bed without sleep until the early morning hours, trying to calm the unanticipated desire that had sprung up between them––a desire that neither had the slightest notion how to stop.

  ******

  “Amanda, I want you to ride out with MacLaren this morning and show him the spots where we think the cattle have gone missing. You know where I mean.” Even though her parents owned the ranch, Jake still ran the operations while they were gone, and assigned the jobs each day.

  “All right, but you know he won’t
be happy about it.” It had become clear to everyone that the ranch-hand was a loner who didn’t want or appreciate others tagging along when he worked.

  “Yeah, well, he’s the hired hand and I’m the foreman, so he’ll have to get used to taking the orders I hand out. Besides, I already told him and he’s waiting for you at the barn.” Jake turned back to the sink to toss out the last drops of coffee.

  “And, Joey?” After last night, Amanda didn’t want to work alone with MacLaren all day. She needed her brother to tag along, provide a barrier and a distraction.

  “I’ve already got him working with Tinder, Johnny, and Frank, so it’ll have to be just the two of you.” Jake looked at her a moment, wondering at the anxious tone in her voice. “You okay this morning, Amanda? You seem a little unsettled.”

  Yes, she was unsettled, but she didn’t want Jake to know it or learn why. “No, I’m fine, just didn’t sleep too well.” She pulled on her boots and started for the door. “See you in a few hours.”

  ******

  “So he knows the truth, does he?” Hollis wasn’t surprised, but had hoped he’d be able to find a way to convince the bounty hunter he wasn’t the man he sought.

  “That he does and he means to stay until he proves you’re Hawley. Doesn’t matter to him if you go back alive or in a box, but I’m guessing the box would be his first choice.” Dutton was scared and didn’t mind if Hollis knew it. MacLaren was a danger to both of them and the sheriff had no intention of staying around to get caught in the crossfire. “We’ve got to move the cattle we have, sell them, and get out of here. Leave before he gets the proof he needs. We can start over somewhere else, further north, some place he won’t think to look.”

  Hollis turned on his partner and shoved him against the wall. “Now you hear me and hear me good. We aren’t leaving until we’ve got the number of head needed to make good money. He won’t drive me out and if I stay, you stay.” He let go of Dutton and stepped back a few feet. “As for the cattle, there’s no way to rid ourselves of them without raising suspicions. The herd is a good size and holed up in a big valley with only one way in and out. No one will find them. Wiley’s with us and so is our man at the Taylor ranch. Between the four of us and the other men we’ll keep the cattle fed and safe. Anyway, we can’t move them until the boss has everything ready.”

  “Damn it, Chet, who is this boss you keep talking about who’s pulling the strings? I want to meet him. We’ve never needed anyone before and I still don’t know why you brought someone else into it. Who is he?” Ellis Dutton had been blind-sided several weeks before when Hollis had told him he’d hooked up with someone with money, power, and connections in Denver. But the man wanted to run the operation, call the shots, and use Chet and Ellis as the front men. The sheriff knew the man must have something on Chet or he never would’ve let the man take over. Ellis didn’t like any of it. “Take me to see him, talk some sense into him. Don’t you see, it’s just not worth the risk? MacLaren’s gotten every one of those involved in his wife’s death. He won’t back down until he gets the last one—you. We aren’t safe here.”

  “You may be right, but we aren’t changing anything yet.” Hollis refused to back-off. They were too close to getting what they wanted. Besides, the man who’d forced himself into their plans would never agree to closing up until all the cattle he wanted were safely tucked away. Hollis knew he could die at the hands of the bounty hunter, but he’d be just as dead if he challenged the other man. “Besides, I’ve got plans and they include staying in Cold Creek, and building on the land we bought up river. I’m going to have a regular life, be respected, even if I have to get rid of that bounty hunter to do it.”

  Dutton paced to the window and watched the clouds obscure the sun, darkening the sky as a slight mist began. “You’ll never get her, you know. She’ll never marry someone like you even if her Pa would allow it, and we both know he won’t.”

  “Yeah, well, he’s not here to protect her. She has the one old foreman and a few decent hands, but none I can’t take down if needed.”

  “And MacLaren? He’s part of the Big G now.”

  “Understand this, Dutton. I’ll do whatever it takes to have her, and that means getting rid of anyone who gets in my way, including the bounty hunter.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Where to now, Miss Taylor?” Will’s voice was hard, devoid of any inflection. He was more than ready for the morning to be over so they could return to the ranch. He needed to get away from Amanda—far away. Neither had mentioned the night before, but it hung between them like a dense fog.

  They’d dismounted and were resting under some large pines. Riding for three hours straight without a break wasn’t uncommon, but today it was just too long. Amanda pulled out a sack from her saddlebags and shared the cold chicken and biscuits with Will. He needed this distraction.

  “As far as I know, there are only two more places where we seem to lose cattle, then we can head back. I don’t want to be out here with you any more than you want to be with me. The sooner we’re done, the better I’ll feel.” She was tired from lack of sleep and the constant tension. She’d never felt this way before around a man, not even the man she’d planned to marry.

  “Miss Taylor, about last night…”

  “I don’t want to speak of it, Mr. MacLaren. Let’s just forget about it, all right?” Talking would only conjure up images of the man beside her. Images she’d like to erase from her memory.

  “That’s fine with me. I just thought it’d be good to clear the air.” Will jumped up, brushed off his pants and walked over to Justice. He was ready to finish this torture and return to the ranch.

  Amanda watched him as he stroked his horse, spoke to him softly, and mounted. She wondered if that was how he treated his women, with soft strokes and calm assurances. Once again Amanda forced her brain to other thoughts, different subjects.

  “Have you ever been married, Mr. MacLaren?” As soon as the words were out she wanted to pull them back.

  He rested an arm on the horn of his saddle and leaned over Justice’s neck so that he could look directly into Amanda’s eyes. “Yes.” With one quick move he turned Justice and galloped up the hill, toward their next stop.

  Amanda hurried to catch up. She felt terrible. It was only one word, but the pain in his eyes was unmistakable. Amanda lagged behind several yards, trying to give him the space she thought he needed. Was his wife still alive, and if so, where was she? Had she died? Are there children?

  Will slowed his pace to allow Amanda to catch up since she knew the next location where Jake suspected rustlers had been stealing cattle. Too many head had gone missing from the Big G over the past several months, and if the numbers continued, it would have a significant impact on the profits of the ranch.

  “There’s a valley up and over that hill, then around to the right, where we often find strays.” Amanda rode up alongside Will. “We can almost always count on finding ten or more head there, but lately, nothing. Still, we’re losing cattle. It’s as if the rustlers know exactly where to look. I can’t shake the feeling that someone from the ranch could be feeding information to the thieves.”

  “How many total are you missing?”

  “It’s got to be close to a hundred head by now. That’s a lot for us.” Amanda had not sent word to her father about the cattle. She hated for him to come home to the news but knew if she sent a message he’d only use it as an excuse to shorten the trip and bring her mother home. The trip was important to her mother and Amanda didn’t want to be the messenger who ruined it.

  “But where do they take them? You don’t just hide cattle with ease. Are the other ranchers missing numbers, too?”

  “Yes, but not the numbers we are, at least not that I know about. A couple of the ranchers have lost fifteen, twenty head, and Bierdan, at last count, had lost about thirty—at least that’s what he told Jake. Got to be over two hundred head by now, including all the ranches. It’s not that much total, but it w
ould make a decent profit for someone who hasn’t had the expense of raising them.”

  “Bierdan, you said? Doesn’t his land butt up to the Big G?” Will wondered at the coincidence.

  “Yes. After us, he’s been hit the hardest. He and father started their ranches about the same time, but the two don’t get along—never have, from what I can tell. Bierdan doesn’t have quite the acreage for grazing. His land is more mountainous, which makes it easier to lose cattle.”

  “Yet you’ve lost a lot more. I wonder why that is?” Will’s mind raced over the possibility that a neighboring rancher might be somehow involved. Someone who owned a significant amount of mountainous land where it would be easy to separate and hide small herds. He also agreed with Amanda that there could be someone inside the Big G feeding information to the rustlers, but who?

  They rode in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Will rode to a large rock formation and dismounted. Below was the valley Amanda had mentioned and he wanted a better view. It was a dead end, easy for cattle to get lost, and easy for rustlers to move the animals to another location.

  “If they grabbed cattle from here, where would they take them? Which direction?”

  “Further north would be my guess, away from most of the local ranches. The only one who has more land north is Bierdan, but I don’t think he watches it much. Good water, but not much grazing. There’s lots of open country up that way—once you get past the mountains—and plenty of long, narrow valleys between the two where the cattle can be hidden. It’d be an easy route to a train station to load the cattle for Denver.” Amanda had thought this through so many times that she could almost see the rustlers herding Taylor cattle to market. It was frustrating. She dismounted and joined Will. Exhaustion suddenly overtook her and she dropped to sit against one of the large boulders.

  “You all right, Miss Taylor?” Will looked at her with concern. Perhaps they should start back now.

  “You know what? I’d really like it if you’d call me Amanda. And, yes, I’m fine, just tired.”