by Becky McGraw
It had taken Cody three hours to get to them, because he'd been on another run when Cole called him. Gabe had planned on calling the admin office at the rodeo, when he got back to town, to see if he could squeeze some information about Johnson out of them, without a warrant, but they'd gotten back too late. He'd just have to call tomorrow.
Because he still hadn't convinced her that this situation wasn't her fault, Gabe been hesitant to leave Karlie at the ranch. With her penchant for running away when things got tough, he was afraid she'd leave and he wouldn't have any idea where she was going. Before he'd left, he'd alerted Luke to keep an eye on her for him. He couldn't call to check in on her now, because he'd have to call the house phone, since her cell didn't work out there, and it was too late, everyone would be sleeping.
Maybe he could drive by and make sure her car was still there, before he went home and passed out. At least maybe he'd be able to sleep knowing she was still at the Double B and safe. Tomorrow he was going to convince her to move in with him, so he could protect her. He'd almost had her saying yes when he'd asked earlier, but that had been interrupted, while they fought for their lives, and it hadn't come up again after that.
Jake dumped out the coffee maker and started a fresh pot, leaning against the counter, while he waited for it to brew. When Cole walked in with a funny look on his face, his eyes red-rimmed and his hair sticking up all over, Gabe's heart stopped. For him to get out of the bed with Sabrina in the middle of the night, something bad must've happened, Gabe thought. "What're you doing here?"
Cole walked to the cabinet and pulled down a big 'Don't Mess With Texas' mug then jerked the half-full pot of coffee from the burner, emptying it into his cup. "Something's up at the Double B...Luke called me."
Gabe pushed off of the counter as fear pulsed through him, and he asked shortly, "What happened?"
"Someone knocked down a fence and half our herd is out on the road. Someone ran over a couple of them...I have to go out there and help round them up. Karlie, Wade and Luke are out there right now."
"Karlie's out in the middle of the night in all that? That's not a good idea considering what almost happened today," Gabe said with concern.
"They need her help, we can't lose our cattle, Gabe," Cole said then drank down half of his coffee in one gulp and flinched. "You need to learn how to make coffee, man...this shit is awful."
"I'll come help..." Gabe said, not really relishing getting up on a horse after nearly fifteen years of not riding, but there was no way he was going to leave Karlie out there defenseless, if this turned out to be some kind of ruse by Jake Johnson...and it sure felt that way to him. "You sure a cow didn't knock down the fence?"
"Nope, it was intentional...someone used a wire cutter, Luke was sure of it...took out three or four lengths to make sure they could get out. Even Luke's new bull is out there somewhere...he's really pissed."
"Now you see how crazy this bastard is?" It had to be Jake, Gabe thought, and he had a motive behind it, "I swear Cole, I'm not sure I'll be able to contain myself, if I catch him, he's terrorizing Karlie, and could have killed her and me today."
"You don't know that he did this, Gabe...watch jumping to conclusions. It could have just been teenagers out late playing around."
"The farms out that way are pretty spread out, Cole...that's not likely."
"Well, even if it's not teenagers, that doesn't mean that Jake Johnson is responsible for it. We need to wait and see, before we draw that conclusion," Cole said trying to reason with him.
"Wait til what? Til he really hurts Karlie or someone else?" Gabe spat angrily, then shoved a hand through his hair. "I'll reserve judgment, but we need to check his alibi, find out just where he is, where he was today and tonight. If that clears, I'll stop throwing blame on him."
"You still want to help?" Cole asked him through tight lips.
Gabe nodded and they walked out of the kitchen toward the front of the station. When they got to the Double B, all the lights were on in the house and the barn, and Cassie was on the porch swing drinking coffee. She waved at them and they walked up to the porch. "Morning, ya'll...there's fresh coffee in the kitchen if you want some."
Cole shook his head and asked her solemnly, "Luke and them out in the back pasture?"
"He reached some of the hands and they're fixing the fence. Karlie and Wade are riding on the road to try and herd the cattle back through the gap...and I guess Luke is going back and forth helping all of them," Cassie said with worry in her eyes and a frown pinching between her brows.
"We're going to head out there and see what we can do to help. You need anything before we go?"
She shook her head and warned, "I'm fine, daddy is getting dressed to come sit out here with me in a minute. Ya'll just be careful, it's really dark out there tonight. I don't know if Luke told you, but several cows were killed by cars, so be sure to grab a reflective vest from the office in the barn, and a rifle too. There should be a couple out there, and some ammo. Never know what you'll run up on out there."
"Thanks, Cassie," Cole said then walked back down the porch steps toward the barn. When they got there, Cole got a gray gelding out of the stall and tied him in crossties, then walked to another stall and led a sorrel mare out then handed Gabe the lead. "I'll help you saddle her in a second, help me get some tack," he said then walked toward the tack room, and Gabe followed.
When Cole finished saddling the gelding, Gabe told him, "I can do this, why don't you go get vests for us and the rifles. I should be done by the time you get back."
Cole's eyebrows lifted and the corner of his lips quirked up. "So you're a cowboy after all, huh? Go figure..." he said then turned to walk toward the office.
No, Gabe wasn't a cowboy, but he knew which end of a horse to avoid, and how to saddle one. He wasn't a total greenhorn, it had just been awhile since he'd ridden, and he wasn't a huge fan of it, largely because he hadn't gotten back in the saddle the last time he'd been thrown by an ornery mare on his daddy's farm.
He was fighting to get the horse to take the bridle and bit when Cole walked up with the vests and rifles. Setting them down on the ground, he took the bridle from Gabe and pressed a certain point on the horse's jaw and she opened for him the first time so he could slide it right in, then put the straps over her ears. He grabbed the reins and handed them to Gabe, then warned him, "You better check that she wasn't holding air when you saddled her or you'll wind up under her belly."
Gabe just looked at him dumbly, because he had no idea how that process worked. He'd gotten the saddle on, and cinched it up tightly, that's all he remembered he had to do. "Um...can you check it for me real quick?"
Cole chuckled, then walked beside the horse and slapped her belly. She shifted her weight and Gabe saw a good bit of slack in the girth, and he cringed. He would have wound up under the mare, if Cole hadn't said something. "Whew, thanks, man...that would have been ugly."
"Some things you don't forget...that's one of them. I wound up under one once and that's all it took to burn it into my memory," Cole hooted then readjusted the straps, so they were tight. He picked up the vests and rifles, then handed one of each to Gabe.
"There's a scabbard on the side of the saddle, just slide the rifle down in there," Cole told him then swung up on the gelding's back and said, "Let's go catch us some cows..."
Gabe was a little slower getting up in the saddle, but he managed and then balanced himself trying to relax his seat. "After you," Gabe told him then Cole turned his horse and headed out the back of the barn. Gabe's horse automatically followed.
When they cleared the gate behind the barn, Cole kicked his horse up to a trot, and Gabe's horse picked up his speed as well, rattling his teeth and jarring him in the saddle. He grabbed the horn trying to put a little space between the saddle and his balls that were getting squashed with every downward motion.
He sat back on his butt a little more and moved his legs a little farther forward to ease the pressure. It got a little e
asier to stay in the saddle, when he moved up to a faster lope and the horse jarred him less. After a few minutes, he was actually enjoying the night air brushing against his face. Cole got a little ahead of him, but he didn't care, he wasn't going to go faster and break his damned neck.
His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could see the tree line ending up ahead, and it turned to the left. When he got around the point of the trees, there was a fence up ahead and he saw a good many cows milling in the pasture beyond it. Cole got down off of his horse and opened the gate, then led his horse through and waited for Gabe to catch up.
Gabe slowed his horse to a walk, and went through the opening, then he stopped and waited for Cole to remount. "We almost there?" he asked.
"You're like a damned kid on a road trip..." Cole chuckled, "Are we there yet?"
With a laugh, Gabe told him, "I can't believe I'm on a damned horse," he admitted ruefully. "The last time I rode I wound up on my ass in the field, because the bitch of a mare I was riding had PMS or something...I haven't ridden again since."
"You know what they say--" Cole started with a grin.
"Yeah, I know what they say--but what I say is learn from your mistakes...and mine was getting on her back in the first place."
Cole laughed then prodded his gelding to a walk, and Gabe followed. A few minutes later, he saw cowhands in the same reflective vests he and Cole wore, stringing up new barbed wire to the four posts where it had been cut. He saw that a gate was open a little ways down the fence line and another hand was there with a cattle prod standing guard.
Cole went that way and stopped at the gate. "Luke around?" he asked the cowboy.
"He's out with Karlie and Wade trying to round up the stock," he said tiredly, then added, "There's still a lot out there."
"We're going to help them...hopefully, we can find them. Of course this would happen when there's only a sliver of a moon," he said with a laugh.
"That's the way of it," the cowboy agreed nonchalantly.
Cole walked his horse through the opening, then Gabe went behind him, and they walked the horses across a deep ditch and onto the blacktop road. Gabe wondered again what the hell he was doing out here, he didn't know a damned thing about rounding up cattle, he barely knew how to ride a horse.
You're out here to make sure Karlie is okay, he reminded himself, then added with more than a little trepidation as he looked down at the road, even if you get your ass thrown off this horse and crack your skull on the concrete.
Gabe breathed a sigh of relief when Cole took them off of the road and onto a grassy shoulder to ride. "They should be around here somewhere, I hear some cows mooing up ahead. They probably have them on the unfenced acreage that's for sale up here. The cows probably went there to graze on the overgrown grass."
When they got close to the lot Cole was talking about, Gabe saw the body of a cow, her head all squashed, laying on the road, and he cringed. Then his gaze traveled up the road and he saw another smaller one, a calf, he thought, half on and half off the roadway, obviously dead as well. The edge of the trees opened to a huge field of overgrown wheat grass and he saw what he thought were cow's heads poking above it here and there. What he didn't see was Karlie, Wade or Luke.
"They're probably getting strays out of the woods, I think I see Luke back there making sure they stay herded here." Cole pointed over to the left, and Gabe could barely make out the outline of a horse and rider. "I'm gonna head over there, real quick and talk to him," Cole said then kicked his horse to a gallop, heading across the field toward where he pointed. Gabe held his horse back to a walk, and moseyed to the edge of the grass.
Suddenly, a gunshot cracked in the stillness of the night and the cows scattered, then another gunshot sounded and they were in full out stampede mode, heading directly for him. Gabe looked toward where he thought the gunshot came from down the road and headlights came on and blinded him, right before a big truck pulled out of the woods and headed right for him.
All he saw was a fancy chrome grill with a bull before his horse reared then took off like a bullet away from the truck and across the field, toward the oncoming herd. Leaning low over the out-of-control horse's neck, Gabe held onto the saddle horn for dear life, and pulled back on the reins with the other hand. He knew if he fell off the horse going this fast, he was a dead man. If he didn't die from the fall, the stampeding cattle would crush him beneath their hooves.
Faintly over the roaring in his ears, and the adrenaline soaking his brain, Gabe heard someone yelling behind him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. His sole focus was staying in the saddle and trying to stop the horse. Gabe didn't even hear the horse's hooves as Karlie pulled up on one side of him, and Wade on the other, matching their speed to his horse, before they squeezed the mare on either side, then gradually matched their speed and hers. Together she and Wade worked, until they managed to slow the mare down, then finally Karlie leaned over and grabbed the rein and yelled, "Whoa..."
Gabe's heart was pounding out of his chest and he could barely breathe, when the mare finally came to a stop. He knew his knees were too weak to stand, so he didn't try to slide down, he just sat in the saddle and tried to find his voice. Now, he remembered exactly why he didn't like to ride, and why he never would again, once he got off this beast. It wasn't the horse's fault he knew, she got spooked, but that didn't make dying any easier to accept.
"Gabe, say something, sugar...are you okay?" Karlie slid off her horse and put her hand on his calf. "You scared the bejeesus outta me," she told him.
Wade chuckled then said, "Scared me too...and that's saying something...I imagine you need to go change. I wonder what idiot fired those shots...they had to know it would scare the cattle."
Gabe gave Wade a heated look, then gazed down at Karlie and asked, "Did you see what happened?" Gabe wondered if she'd seen the truck. He hadn't because of the headlights, but he knew that custom grill, there was no mistaking it. He didn't think now was the time to bring it up though, even if he could force out the words. Cole already thought he had it in for Johnson.
She shook her head, "We were in the woods, and I heard the gunshots, then saw the cattle stampede, and came out to try to corral them, then I saw you...thank goodness you had that vest on." Karlie got back on her horse, then said, "You sit tight, we need to go help, Luke...we'll be back in a second. Will you be okay here?"
"Yeah, I'm just going to sit and watch, if that's okay with you..." Gabe told her weakly, finally able to take a deep breath.
She chuckled, then told him, "I think that's for the best, sugar...we'll be back."
Karlie and Wade kicked their horses then took off at a gallop across the field toward the herd. Gabe just watched dumbfounded at how easy that looked when they did it. She and Wade looked like they were part of their horses, not a passenger along for a hair raising ride like him.
Gabe was still sitting there when the sun came up. He could see Wade and Karlie now dragging a stubborn calf out of the woods with a rope around its neck from each sid. Once they had it back with the herd, Karlie hopped down and removed the ropes, then slapped its ass and it ran back in the group, then she remounted and headed across the field where he was then stopped beside him.
She leaned over and kissed his cheek, then asked. "You okay?"
"Yeah, now I am," he told her with a smile. "Is that all of them?"
"Yeah, I think so...now we have to get them down the road and back inside the fence, she told him and he saw Luke move to one side of the herd and Wade to the other, and Cole went to the front. "We're bringing up the rear, riding drag as the old cowboys used to call it. C'mon I'll show you how to do it," she told him then nudged her horse to walk toward the rear of the herd. Gabe followed her, so tired, he almost wanted to fall out of the saddle on his own. His ass and his legs hurt and all he wanted to do was lay down in his bed and sleep for a few days...with Karlie of course.
She rode to one end of the herd and pulled her rope off the saddle th
en started waving it and whooping, moving along the line then back again when a cow would move toward her, or try to run past, the horse almost moved and pivoted on its own staring down the cow, until it turned back forward again and started moving. She did this all the way down the line, until all of the cows in the back were pushing the ones in front of them to move forward. Luke and Wade set the boundary on the sides, and Cole in the front, keeping the cattle moving as a group. Gabe rode a little behind her staring in amazement as he watched her work. Then he nudged his horse up beside her once they were going toward the road.
"How the hell does watching you work cattle turn me on?" he asked in a low sensual tone. It was unbelievable to him, but seeing her and her horse dance together in such perfect unison made him think of other places he and Karlie were in perfect harmony.
"Probably the same reason you breathing turns me on," she told him with a laugh, then asked him, "You feeling better on that horse now?"
