Chapter 22

22

Colton

“ K yle and Jason are with the sheriff at the gate,” Sammy says as he comes back into the house, snow falling from his boots. “They’re checking the cameras and the motion sensors. Some of the wires were cut apparently.”

“And that’s how they got through without triggering the alert on my phone,” I grumble while pacing the living room.

I stop by the fire for a few moments, welcoming the heat as I give Melissa a long, wondering glance. She’s glued to the armchair, pale as a ghost and scared out of her mind. I wish I could hold her and kiss it all away, but clearly it wouldn’t be enough.

“How are you holding up?” I ask her.

Darla scoffs. “Dumb question, son. She’s terrified, and for good reason.”

“Hey, I’m trying to help,” I defend myself.

“Sorry. We’re all on edge, I guess,” Darla sighs. She gives Melissa a shot of whiskey, but the glass ends up on the table, untouched. “You need to unwind a little, honey.”

“I’m fine,” Melissa mumbles. “What do we do next?” she asks me. “They came all the way up here. Hell, they practically walked through the front door, Colton. God, I should have just left like I planned.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Ethan snaps. “We protected you, didn’t we? They left.”

“Doesn’t mean they won’t be back.” Mitch sighs heavily, his head hanging in defeat.

I’ve never seen him like this before. “It’s not over, but we know what we’re dealing with now,” I say. “We can handle them. We will handle them.”

“How?” Melissa replies. “Mitch is right. They only left because they were supposed to give you a message if they couldn’t get to me.”

“And because we wounded one of them,” Ethan grumbles.

“I’ve already spoken to Sheriff Kavanaugh,” I say. “Deputies will be stationed at every gate, 24/7. He’s bringing state troopers to assist as well. And I called in a favor with a buddy of ours from the security company. They’re coming in tomorrow to install a couple of new features on the system, as well as to fix whatever wires were cut.”

Melissa exhales sharply. “They got too close, too fast, Colton.”

“I need you to have a little more faith in us,” I insist, though I can’t exactly blame her for being wary. They did take us by surprise, and it could’ve ended way worse than it actually did. Dammit, she’s right. They got too close, too fast. It cannot happen again. “Stay here. Ethan, Mitch, with me.”

Darla and Sammy stay with Melissa while my brothers and I head outside.

It’s afternoon, but the temperature is quickly dropping. It’ll be near freezing soon, and it’s still New Year’s Eve. The champagne won’t go down as easily as I’d hoped, but I sure as shit am not letting the Esparza cartel ruin this for us. We survived fucking Bosnia and a whole lot of other fresh hells so we could live out here in peace.

We’ll do whatever it takes to protect our ranch and our woman.

That much I know.

“Melissa’s right,” Mitch reminds me as we get in my truck.

I turn the key in the ignition, and the engine rumbles to life. “I know. I just couldn’t let her sit with these thoughts, man. The last thing we need is to for her to try to run off again.”

“The law can’t do much,” Ethan says. “They don’t have the proper resources up here.”

“But we do,” Mitch replies.

“We need to cross the T’s and dot the I’s before anything else,” I cut in, driving up the dirt road to meet with the sheriff at the front gate. “We secure support through every legal channel, and then we draw a plan for ourselves. Those Esparza fuckers are determined to make an example out of Melissa. Jake Miller needs to pay for this.”

Mitch nods in agreement. “We need to handle the cartel before we take care of Miller.”

Ethan snarls. “Miller is the one who ripped off the cartel. They should be after him, not our woman.”

“We don’t have any proof to support that yet,” I say as I pull over by the gate.

Kyle and Jason give us slight nods as they continue to assess the damage done to our security systems while taking notes on their phones. Sheriff Kavanaugh keeps looking around, squinting at the great sea of snow surrounding us.

“Sorry you had to come out here today, Sheriff,” I tell him. “We certainly didn’t have angry cartel goons on our bingo cards for the end of the year.”

“We sort of knew this was coming, didn’t we?” he replies with a raised eyebrow, hands deep in his dark green jacket pockets. “They took you by surprise.”

I point at the wires Kyle is currently photographing. “Only because of that.”

“We’ll need to secure the wiring,” Ethan mutters. “To stop others from doing the same or worse.”

“I put a BOLO out on the three SUVs,” Kavanaugh says. “I wouldn’t hold my breath, though. They probably dumped them already.”

“Every bit helps,” I tell the sheriff.

He gives me a curious look. “How’s the girl holding up?”

“Scared out of her mind,” I say. “But we were there. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“And are you always going to be there? All day? All night?”

I know where he’s going with this, and while I don’t want to call in any favors too soon, the situation demands it. I place a hand on his shoulder. “We’re grateful for your men, Sheriff. Having them on patrol duty will surely help. I need more, though.”

“Listen, as soon as you fellas called, I reached out to the DEA. They’re sending somebody over tomorrow to assist us. We’re opening an investigation into today’s events,” he says. “I’m not sure how else we can help.”

Frankly, I’m not too sure either.

It’s a small town and a small county. A whole lot of land, but only a few souls scattered across. My guess is they drew their courage precisely from this line of reasoning. Small town, small town folk... they could get away with a lot in these parts if they keep moving and stay out of sight.

“Colt,” Ethan says, looking somewhere to the east.

I follow his gaze and hear the rumbling of snowmobiles. Three of them, to be specific, approaching the ranch gate at high speed. They slow down as they get closer until they reach the gate and stop altogether.

As soon as they get off and start walking toward us, I recognize them.

“Marty?” I call out.

“And my two strapping young lads,” he replies with a broad grin as he removes his woolen scarf, lips instantly red upon contact with the cold air.

“Marty, what the hell are you fellas doing here?” I laugh lightly and shake his hand, then do the same with his sons, Joe and Marty Jr. “It is good to see you both. And damn, y’all are going to be taller than your daddy by the looks of it.”

The twenty-something-year-olds give me a pair of crooked smiles.

“We heard you need help,” Marty says.

“We were going to celebrate New Year’s Eve at the pub, but Joe thinks riding those bad boy snowmobiles and chugging champagne would be more fun,” Junior adds.

“What are you talking about?” Mitch asks, understandably confused.

Marty gives the sheriff a slight nod, then looks at me. “Colt, I’ve known you boys since you were in diapers. This is our land, too, in a way. If anybody comes for you or your loved ones, they’re coming for us as well. As soon as the sheriff told me what happened, I had to do something.”

“I’m not following,” I say.

“I told you I’m bringing Staties in, but even they’re limited,” Kavanaugh replies. “Marty had an idea, and I figured you’d be alright with it.”

More engines roaring. Trucks aplenty drive up the road and pull over just beyond our gate. I recognize all of them. The patriarchs—and in two cases, the surviving matriarchs and widows of ranchers revered across the county. Our neighbors, spanning as far as half a county over. People we only see once a year maybe at cattle auctions and seasonal fairs. Good people.

“I can’t believe this,” I mumble, humbled by the people who are willing to stick their necks out to help us.

“Well, I can’t guarantee we’re going to be able to protect the whole ranch twenty-four-seven,” Marty says, “but we’re going to do our best. We’ll take turns patrolling; you’ll have deputies and Staties at the gates. That way, you fellas can do your thing and get those cartel schmucks out before they hurt somebody.”

“Marty, you’re serious,” Mitch exclaims. “Y’all did this for us?”

“You would do the same for us,” Joe, Marty’s eldest, says with a stern brow. “You served this country, fellas. Loud and proud. We thank you for your service. Consider this our way of expressing our gratitude.”

My eyes sting. I could probably cry a little if there weren’t so many people around.

“Colt, Mrs. Ramsay wants to know if she and her ranch hands can handle the western hills patrol,” Kyle cuts in.

I look over to Mrs. Ramsay, in her late fifties but still rocking jeans and plaid shirts and a cocked rifle on her arm, beige coat making her seem bigger than she actually is. “Mrs. Ramsay, you’re too kind,” I tell her. “Of course, you can take the western hills. I just don’t want to impose.”

“Nonsense, you’re not imposing,” she says, smiling with deep crow’s feet extending from her pale blue eyes. “It’ll be easier for me and the boys to bolt back to the ranch if something comes up, since your western hills are closer to home.”

“I cannot thank you enough for this.”

“Don’t you worry,” she says. “Somebody needs to show those drug lords this ain’t Miami.”

“It’ll certainly help,” Ethan says. “Thank you. All of you.”

Mitch and Ethan start dividing the patrol tasks among our fellow ranchers, fetching a map from my truck to show them which sections of the property fence may be more vulnerable to a breach than others. Marty and his sons join the gathering while I stay behind with Kavanaugh. In the meantime, Kyle and Jason finish assessing the security system damages and send me their notes.

“Fucking hell,” I mutter as I gloss over their observations. “They were prepared and familiar with the system.”

“Jake Miller was over here twice,” Kavanaugh reminds me.

“He must’ve surveyed the gate and the security measures,” I reply with a slow nod. “I really need to get that fucker out of the picture before he does something worse.”

“It’s safe to assume Jake’s helping the cartel with the whole scheme,” Kavanaugh says. “But without any proof against him, she does get the short end of the stick here.”

“He lied to the cartel because he was the one delivering for them,” I reply. “My guess is they squeezed the door on him. He has no choice but to hound Melissa, even though he is responsible. Speaks to his character aplenty.”

I look forward to smashing his face. It should be me, anyway, because if Ethan gets first dibs on the guy, Jake won’t survive.

“He saw the ranch, Colt,” Kavanaugh says. “All these acres, all this land. He thinks you’re loaded. Speaking of, would you be able to pay him off if push came to shove?”

“I could pay the cartel off, yes,” I tell the sheriff. “But it won’t stop them from killing Melissa the first chance they get. I spoke about this with my brothers as well. And they agree. The Esparzas will never let Melissa walk away from this, not while they consider her responsible for the bust. Our best way forward is to find evidence on Jake that would clear Melissa’s name.”

“And in the meantime, you gotta keep their goons at bay,” Kavanaugh sighs. “You’ve got your work cut out for yourselves, huh? I wish we could do more.”

“I get it, I really do. We’re stretched thin enough as it is,” I say.

“I’ll keep trying them, Colt. We’ve got that DEA fella coming; maybe I’ll get him to apply some pressure on his bosses, get us a few more boots on the ground. It’s gonna be worse otherwise.”

I nod slowly, fully aware of the implications. And he’s right. Each and every one of these ranchers, Marty and his sons, Mrs. Ramsay, all of them, are putting their lives at risk to help keep us safe. I’ve lost so many friends already in my life; I don’t want to see more fall, especially not while they’re voluntarily protecting us.

“Let’s just pray this will do until we find a way to bring Jake Miller to justice,” I tell the sheriff.

He’s inclined to pray with me, judging by the sour look on his face.