Cowgirl Rescue (Selkirk Family Ranch Book 3)

by Irene Vartanoff

  “Hopefully the stink of all that booze you drank will clear out. Why do you drink so much, anyway?”

  She groaned. “I like the taste of booze, and it dulls the pain of being treated like dirt by my own family. Is that clear enough for you?”

  “You feel awfully sorry for yourself.”

  “Dam—darn right I do.” She cursed. “There I go, automatically cleaning up my language because I was taught to act like a lady. What good does it do me?”

  They drove past the Green Gables main building to the parking lot in the back. “Take a right past the dumpster,” she said.

  At the corner of the well-lit lot, the headlights picked out a faint track. Rolf asked, “You call that a road?”

  Tess hopped out, surprising him. He killed the motor and followed, leaving the headlights on. She bent over the ruts in the track, examining them.

  “Look,” she said, excited. “Nothing’s growing in the ruts. Someone’s used this road recently.”

  The track did look well-used, but despite what Tanisha had related to him, he wasn’t convinced Tess was correct. “Could be regular ranch vehicles, people taking a shortcut. People who know the ranch well.”

  “Weren’t the hands told not to drive past the veterans’ homes? To use the ranch roads in and out?”

  He nodded. “We made that rule three years ago when JD began the project. Didn’t want any loud, unexpected noises nearby. Vets startle easily.”

  “How did the hands take it?”

  “Never had any trouble with compliance.”

  “Would the rehab staff report trucks going by?”

  “Staff might. Not the soldiers.” Rolf paused. It wasn’t easy to talk about the ins and outs of PTSD.

  “Why not?” Tess pressed.

  The words came out reluctantly. “If it happened at night, some of the vets might think it was part of a war flashback.”

  “Oh, Rolf.” Her voice was sympathetic. “Your nightmares must be awful.”

  She was right about that, more right than she knew. JD and he had always shielded the Selkirk women from as much of the truth of war as possible. He glanced back at the building. Aside from the hall lights that stayed on all night, more than half the apartment lights still were shining at this late hour. Maybe those rooms sheltered men who couldn’t bear to sleep with lights out. The others couldn’t sleep at all.

  He shook off the unpleasant thoughts. “The ranch hands have no incentive to take this road as a shortcut. If they’re on the clock, they don’t care if they have to drive the long way around.”

  “Which leaves the rustlers using this road,” she said, with triumph in her tone. “Let’s follow the track and see what we turn up.”

  “Shh.” He held up one hand to silence her. “I hear something.”

  “A motor. Coming from the track,” she said, peering out into the dark landscape.

  The noise grew louder.

  “Quick, get in the truck. Now!” he said. He threw himself into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

  Tess obeyed him and swung herself up into the high passenger seat.

  “Hold on,” he said. He slewed the four by four around in reverse, so it was partly hidden by the large metal commercial trash bins. After killing the motor and the headlights, he took his foot off the brake so there would be no betraying light.

  The motor sound was louder now. Suddenly, a truck topped the rise and bore down on the parking lot. The truck had no lights on, but the parking lot was brightly lit. Whoever was driving had a clear target to aim for.

  “Don’t move,” Rolf said.

  The lights from the lot shone on the approaching truck. The painted logo on the side was easy to make out.

  “Look,” she said in a whisper. “The Selkirk logo on the side panel.”

  The parking lot offered no cover. With their windows down, the noise of the approaching truck sounded incredibly loud. Rolf said, “If they came from outside the ranch, they’ll notice our vehicle wasn’t here before. Duck down so they can’t see us.”

  “I’ve got a better idea,” she said, leaning over and wrapping her arms around him. “We’ll pretend to be making out.” She put her lips on his.

  Did the truck roar by, never hesitating? Or was the roar in his head generated by the touch of her lips? Rolf drew back. The truck was gone. “I can’t think straight when you do that.”

  In the light from the parking lot, her smirk was evident. “You’re not supposed to. Now let’s go after them.”

  She switched gears faster than he could, and she was the drunk here.

  “No need. It’s a Selkirk truck. Some ranch hand sneaking out for a rendezvous,” he said. “Mystery solved.” Although it was a late hour for an escapade.

  “Maybe not our truck.”

  “How can that be? It had the logo.”

  “Tell you later,” Tess said. “Hurry, before the taillights are gone.”

  “No way.”

  “Don’t you even want to find out which ranch hand is breaking the rules?” she asked, showing her exasperation.

  “Not at two a.m., I don’t. I’ll have Davis check it out tomorrow.”

  Tess was practically bouncing in her seat with her urgency. “You’re letting them get away. They’re the rustlers. Go after them.”

  He shook his head. “We have no backup. Backup is why soldiers live. I’m not going to risk our lives on a crazy hunch. Tomorrow, I’ll investigate.”

  “Tomorrow, you’ll discover that we just lost another twenty head of cattle,” she said bitterly.

  ***

  She was ready to spit tacks. “Go after them, Rolf!” she urged again. He was way too cautious. The pleasant haze from the evening at the honkytonk had worn off. This was so frustrating. They’d already lost their best chance to follow the rustlers. Even delaying a few seconds meant the truck was getting too far ahead of them. It would reach the main road long before they could, and they’d never know which direction the truck went.

  Why didn’t anyone at the ranch believe in her? She needed a drink. She needed several. The way she felt right now, even if Rolf had been willing to let her seduce him tonight, she wanted to beat on him, not sex him up. “Go after them!”

  ***

  Rolf finally started the engine. Lucky this vehicle had the option of shutting off running lights. He didn’t want anyone seeing them, whether it was rustlers like Tess thought, or ranch employees out joy riding. He took no chances and kept his speed slow.

  “Don’t lose them!” she cried.

  “I don’t want to be visible in their rearview mirror,” he said. “Green Gables is too well lit. I have to keep back.”

  “Speed up!” She pounded the dashboard.

  Rolf crept past the Green Gables main building. Beyond the front of the building, where the lighting ended, he punched the accelerator, hoping the truck driver wasn’t looking back. There was a small hill up ahead. It would hide Green Gables’s lights and he wouldn’t be backlit anymore. Past the hill and around one bend, the truck’s headlights were now on and visible, but nearly at the main road. Then the terrain took another twist, and he couldn’t see the lights anymore.

  “Hurry up! They’re getting away!” Tess bounced up and down on the seat, agitated because he wasn’t going fast enough.

  By the time they reached the end of the drive, the truck was gone.

  “We lost them. Shoot!” Tess exclaimed.

  The road was visible in both directions for half a mile. Nothing. They must have put on a burst of speed when they hit the highway.

  “Go that way,” Tess pointed away from the ranch.

  Rolf turned on the headlights, but braked to a stop. “They have too much head start now.”

  “We could catch up to them.”

  “And then what?”

  “We’d learn where they take the cattle. We’d get them.”

  “Not without backup,” he repeated. Seeing she didn’t get it, he said, “Let’s say there are two rustl
ers, maybe three, to load a lot of cattle in a hurry. One man with one gun can’t easily arrest three people. We need backup. We don’t have any.”

  “We can call Sheriff Logan. If he knows what to look for, he can find them.”

  “It’s after two a.m.”

  “Shank of the evening,” she said. “I’m calling him.”

  As she thumbed in one or two clicks, Rolf cast a glance at her. She had the sheriff on speed dial?

  “Matt, it’s Tess. No, I’m fine. Rolf’s driving. Listen…” She described what was afoot. “Yes, sir. Thanks.”

  She clicked off. “Sheriff Logan says they’re not likely to double back toward the ranch so he’ll try to head them off where this road hits the big highway. He says we should go south.”

  Smart of Logan to steer Tess away from where any criminal confrontation was likely. Rolf wasn’t surprised that they didn’t see the truck again. When they arrived at the main ranch entrance, he turned in.

  “Wait. Shouldn’t we keep going?” Tess asked.

  “They’re long gone by now. Tell me what you meant about the truck not being ours.”

  “Davis told me Baron sold a bunch of trucks and didn’t have them repainted.”

  After she explained further, Rolf nodded. “Got it.”

  She called Logan again. From her tone of voice, Rolf knew instantly. “Oh, oh, I see. That’s too bad. No trace of them?”

  After a few more words, Tess clicked off. “He’s calling it a night. Says he can’t check any auction houses until we report missing cattle.”

  Rolf stopped the vehicle at the main ranch house. “We don’t know yet if that truck was the rustlers. You go to bed. I’ll alert the hands and check on the cattle.”

  “We should have followed after them immediately.” Tess visibly fretted. “Even twenty-five head taken is a twenty-five thousand dollar investment gone. Sure, we can easily absorb the loss, but not if the thieving keeps happening.”

  “If that truck was the rustlers.”

  “It was them. Not one of the hands.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Get some rest.” He didn’t plan to.

  Wrong thing to say.

  Tess glared at him in the light of the dashboard. “Don’t worry my pretty little stupid airhead over anything important? I might as well return to California and go surfing all day. At least Dan respects what I can do.”

  His swift jealous reaction surprised him into saying, “He’s too old for you.”

  She pressed her fingers to hold her head as if it might explode. In slow, measured tones, she said, “Will you stop talking about me as if I’m a piece of meat?”

  “I’m not—”

  “All you seem to think about is whether I’m having sex with this man or that. I saw how you looked at Dan back in L.A. He’s old enough to be my father, but you suspected he and I had a thing. Some men treat me like a human being. And even if there was sex involved, that doesn’t mean there has to be love, or babies, or anything. Lots of people have sex just for fun.”

  She leaned in close to him and said, on a lower tone. “I like fun. You want to have some fun?”

  He smelled the liquor on her breath. Rolf drew back. “You’re still drunk. No thanks. Anyway, you know where I stand. I want you to make a commitment, to stay here with me. Not fun and games.”

  She threw her head back and heaved an exasperated breath. “Why do I even try to get through to you? Life should be as much fun and games as we can make it. You’re totally missing out.”

  She leapt from the vehicle and slammed the door. “See you tomorrow. Maybe.”

  Chapter 11

  The next morning, Tess couldn’t find anyone. No one was in the ranch office and Rolf didn’t answer her text asking where he was. The double doors to the master suite were closed, so Paula wasn’t available. In the kitchen, Miss Betty said Rolf and JD had taken off for another part of the ranch an hour before. “I think they’re meetin’ Sheriff Logan.”

  “What?” Tess dropped her coffee mug in the sink and gave Miss B a quick peck on the cheek. “No time for more. I want to catch up with them.”

  “Child, I don’t know where they went.”

  “I have a good guess.”

  Tess gathered up her hat and leather gloves and took the first SUV she found in the garage. A four-wheeler might have provided a more entertaining ride over the uneven ranch terrain, but she wanted to get to the meeting as fast as possible.

  Instead of heading out to the main highway and going the long way around, she took a ranch road that led to the old Shepherd ranch track. In mere minutes, she had the pleasure of surprising Rolf, Matt Logan, and JD when she barreled down on them at the edge of the Green Gables parking lot. She carefully stopped her vehicle next to where the track ended.

  Sheriff Logan tipped his hat and smiled at her in welcome as she swung down from the driver’s seat. Rolf, looking tired, glanced sideways at JD, obviously planning to take his cue from her brother.

  “Where did you come from?” JD demanded.

  “The old ranch road I told you about yesterday morning. Remember?”

  Rolf asked, “So it really does connect up to a Selkirk ranch road?”

  She nodded. “It’s super direct. Plenty of signs it’s been used lately, too.” She smiled, pleased she could contribute useful information.

  Rolf said, “We lost fifteen head of cattle last night. It appears that truck we saw was the rustlers after all.”

  “You probably rode all over their tracks.” JD frowned. “Let us handle this.”

  She said, “It’s too dry here this time of year for the trucks to leave tracks, and anyway, we already know it’s one of our old trucks.”

  Rolf said, “I told him about the truck sale issue.”

  She asked the sheriff, “Have you checked with any auction barns yet?”

  “Tess, go away,” JD said. “This is ranch business.”

  “I can help.”

  JD made a slicing gesture with his hand. “Stop acting like a kid who wants in on a game. Leave this to us.”

  “But JD—”

  “You’re in the way here. Go back to the house and get drunk again.”

  “Why are you so mean?” she asked, despair in her voice.

  “Go home.” He turned his back on her and asked Sheriff Logan about contacting auction barns, as if Tess hadn’t asked the same question a minute before.

  ***

  Rolf saw the hurt visible in her eyes and downturned lips. Sheriff Logan, clearly trying to stay out of it, answered about the auction barns. Tess stared at each of them in turn. Rolf didn’t know what to say. Should he comfort Tess? Or tell JD he was being a jerk?

  Tess stared at JD’s back for a second more, but he ignored her. She looked at the other two men for support, but JD was the man in charge. Tess turned and stomped back to the SUV without another word. She reversed the vehicle and drove back down the track.

  “You were pretty rough on your sister,” Rolf said.

  “She’s butting in where she doesn’t belong,” JD replied.

  Logan frowned. “Tess was the one who thought of that track. She’s a sharp observer.”

  JD’s face held a look of incredulity. “She’s just a girl. She thinks this is a game of cops and robbers.”

  Rolf said, “She’s acutely aware of the business implications. She knows to the penny how much the loss of even one head of cattle costs this ranch.”

  JD shrugged. “Whatever. We don’t need my little sister’s help to catch the rustlers. If they’re the usual thieving idiots, they’ll do exactly what they did last night and we’ll surprise them.”

  Not wanting to air more Selkirk family dirty linen in front of Logan, Rolf said, “I can follow up with the local auction barns. What about the trap for tonight?”

  They discussed the plan details, agreed on a time, and Sheriff Logan climbed into his SUV and took off.

  Alone with JD, Rolf said, “I don’t like the way you talk to Tess.”

/>   “She doesn’t get that the ranch is not her business.”

  “Isn’t she an equal owner with you and Baron?”

  JD shook his head. “Dad still owns everything. He has views on women running ranches. When he finally signs it over, he’ll give it to me and Baron. Tess won’t own any part of it. Depending on who she marries, Dad might cut her in for a share of the profits, though, or more likely, her husband.”

  Rolf pushed his Stetson back on his head. “That’s incredibly old school. And unfair.”

  JD walked to his vehicle. “Nothing for you to concern yourself over. I know your sister runs your family’s ranch, but this place is far too big and complex for Tess to handle.”

  For about a second, Rolf considered arguing with his old army buddy. Shaking his head, he thought better of it. JD had a lot on his mind with Paula being so sick and the rustling on top of his other responsibilities. This wasn’t the moment to push him. He’d always had a short fuse. He’d been through hell in Iraq, getting blown up by an IED.

  Aw, he was making excuses for his buddy. Why couldn’t Rolf lay it on the line with JD, tell him once and for all to treat his sister right? They weren’t soldiers anymore. JD was in the wrong, yelling at his little sister, acting like he was twelve years old and the family ranch was a boys’ club she wanted to break into. She’d been speaking only the truth when she said the ranch was her home. Damned if Rolf wanted to stay if Tess ever were forbidden to return, or if she decided enough was enough.

  ***

  Tess drove back to the main house, steaming mad. It was always like this with her brother. He shoved her aside and said deliberately mean things while doing it. What had she ever done to him to cause him to be so nasty to her? Now that he had recovered from his wounds and was happily married to Paula, why did he still sneer at Tess as if she were worthless? That’s what he did. Sneer.

  Baron she could fight, and talk to. JD shut her out and abused her when he did it. Why had she come back here? She stifled a sob. The ranch was her home, but her brothers made her feel like an outsider. Especially JD. Sure, she had the cash to buy her own ranch somewhere, run her own cattle, enjoy the beauty of the countryside somewhere else. But this ranch had her heart. Even if she did buy a new place, would Rolf be willing to leave here and be with her? His loyalty seemed to be to JD first and foremost.