Chapter Seventeen

~ Jos ~

I could still see the two fancy sedans following us as we drove through the countryside toward town. The Eagle Creek Ranch was on the opposite side of the small town from our ranch. We had a ways to go before we got there.

"Miko, get my cell phone out and call Sheriff Madras."

"Do you think there's a problem?" Miko asked even as he did what I asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I just want to give Ken a head's up just in case."

A moment later, the call connected and I heard, "This is Sheriff Madras."

"Hey, Ken, this is Jos Cross."

"Jos, what can I do for you today?"

"I'm currently headed toward the Walker place with Miko. Seems they have a mare having trouble and the vet requested Miko's help."

"And you're calling because of this?" Ken asked.

"No, I just wanted to give you a little head's up. Miko's estranged family from Japan showed up at the ranch today trying to start shit. When we left the ranch to head to the Walker place, they followed us."

"Trouble?"

"Not sure yet," I admitted. "I don't think so, but I wanted you to be aware of the situation just in case. These might have been the foreigners that were staying in town."

I know it had been a couple of months since Ken mentioned them to me, but it was the only connection I had. As far as I knew, Miko had been secreted out of Japan and brought here to the United States without his uncle's knowledge. He wasn't even supposed to know where Miko was, unless someone was keeping tabs on him.

"I'll swing by out that way and have a look around," Ken stated. "If there's trouble brewing, I'd like to stay on top of it."

"It could be nothing, Ken."

"What's your gut saying?"

"They aim to make trouble."

Ken snorted. "I'll see you out there."

I nodded to Miko to hang up and then glanced in the rear view mirror. The two cars were still following us. "Look through my contacts for Jake Cooper and call him."

Miko did as I said and then held the phone out near me. When the line connected, I quickly said, "Cooper, this is Jos. Miko and I are headed your way, but we might have some out of town trouble following us in two black sedans. I've already alerted the sheriff, but you might want to put your guys on standby."

"What kind of trouble?" Cooper asked.

"Fox in the henhouse kind of trouble."

"I'll let my boys know."

I nodded to Miko to hang up once again, but he gave me a peculiar look. "Fox in the henhouse?"

"That means someone is trying to take something that doesn't belong to them like a fox does when it breaks into a henhouse."

"Ah." Miko nodded as if he understood, but he was still frowning. "Is that really a thing?"

"It is."

"This isn't going to turn into some big fight is it?" Miko asked. "I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"It shouldn't turn into a fight," I answered, really hoping I spoke the truth. "I just don't want your First Uncle thinking he can come in here and intimidate us into giving you up because that is never going to happen. You belong to me now and to the Cross Creek Ranch by default because of your father. We're not giving you up."

That, at least, put a smile on Miko's face.

It was easy enough to get through town, but I was kind of surprised when one of the cars broke off and headed in a different direction. The other one stayed right behind us. They weren't even trying to pretend that they weren't following us. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but I would have preferred they both went away.

When we turned and went up the driveway to the Walker place, the black sedan stopped at the end of the driveway. I kept going, driving up to the main house.

The sheriff's SUV was parked in front. I parked next to him and climbed out before going around to Miko's side of the vehicle. As amusing as I found it when Miko had to slide out of the truck because of his smaller size, now was not the time.

I opened the door and lifted him out, setting him on his feet, and then grabbed his hand and walked with him to the front porch. As soon as we climbed up the steps, Cooper stepped out of the house.

"Glad you could make it," he said. "Ethan and the vet are in the barn with Mimi. He'd be out here to greet you, this being your first time and all, Miko, but he refuses to leave Mimi's side."

"I understand," Miko replied. "Where is barn?"

I cocked an eyebrow at his poor English, making Miko flush.

It was a cute reaction.

"Everyone is in the barn," Cooper stated. "This is Mimi's second birth with King. We're all a little excited, but it's not going easy for her, which is why I guess the vet called for you. Her first birth was a lot easier."

"What can you tell me about her condition?" Miko asked as we headed for the barn.

"She's pretty agitated. Doc says her labor is taking too long and he can't calm her down enough to help her with the birth. He doesn't want to give her a sedative because of her blood pressure. It's too high. He's afraid if she doesn't give birth soon, we may lose both of them."

"Any excessive bleeding?"

"You'd have to ask the vet," Cooper replied. "I've been waiting for you to arrive so I haven't been to the barn for a few."

"I need hot water and towels," Miko said, "and I might need someone to run into town for some herbs."

"Colby keeps a fully stocked greenhouse," Cooper stated. "He might have what you need here. Just tell me what it is and I'll have him check. If he doesn't have it I can send someone into town."

Miko perked up. "Greenhouse?"

I almost smirked at the twinkle of wonderment in his eyes. "Would a greenhouse help you, Miko?"

Miko nodded rapidly. " Hai ."

"I'll talk to your father about putting one in back at the ranch, but you'd have to pick out the plants. I'd have no idea what I was looking for."

Miko nodded again, a smile gracing his lips.

Things seemed relatively quiet when we reached the barn despite the small crowd of ranch hands hanging around one of the stalls. Someone had strung extra lights around the stall, brightening it up.

When we reached the stall gate, I hung back with Cooper and watched Miko go in and start talking with the vet and Ethan. I didn't understand everything they were talking about, but there was a sudden flurry of activity.

I quickly stepped back out of the way, standing at the stall fence, and watched as Miko did his magic with his needles and the birth was underway.

Not ten minutes after we got there we were looking at a beautiful lightly tanned foal being cleaned by her mother. Both mother and baby were fit and healthy.

"How did he do that?" Cooper asked.

I shook my head. "I have no idea." I wasn't even sure what Miko had done. "He saved Bucky after he got gored in the hind end during a stampede. Bucky is fully recovered."

Cooper's dark eyebrows shot up. "Seriously?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we even rode him earlier today."

"Damn."

"I don't understand hardly anything that he does, but it works."

"I'm glad Doc called him," Cooper said. "Ethan and I are working on a breeding program and this little girl is our first birth. If we'd lost her, we would have had to start all over."

I slapped Cooper on the shoulder. "Glad we could help."

"What kind of payment does he want for this?"

"Knowing Miko, probably a chance to pick Colby's brain about what herbs grow around here. He's pretty interested in that stuff."

"Tell ya what," Cooper said. "If you get the materials, we'll come over and help with putting that greenhouse up. I'll even have Colby toss in some starter plants for Miko. Does that sound fair?"

It sounded more than fair.

"I think he'd like that."

I was pretty sure he'd be thrilled.

Miko had a happy grin on his face when he stumbled out of the stall. He walked right into my arms and peered up at me. "Did you see her?"

"I did." I returned his grin. "You did good, Miko."

"I'm pretty sure I couldn't have done it without him," Doc said as he ambled over, wiping his hands with a clean towel. "Mimi was too agitated to give birth. I was worried I'd have to do a C-Section and those are never pleasant."

"What is C-Section?" Miko asked.

I leaned down and whispered into his ear, telling him the basics of what it was. Miko paled and immediately started shaking his head. "I never want to see something like that."

Yeah, couldn't blame him there.

"Colby has food on for everyone," Ethan called out. "Why don't we head to the house and get something to eat? Let mama and her new baby have a little bonding time."

"I done ate already," one of the ranch hands—an older man—stated. "I'll stay out here and keep an eye on them."

"Thanks, Cookie," Ethan replied.

I didn't know all the ranch hands on the Eagle Creek Ranch, but I knew most of them. Cookie had been around longer than most. He was a cranky old soul, but he was a fount of information when it came to ranching. Id' learned a lot from him over the years.

I kept a tight hold of Miko's hand as we followed Ethan, Cooper, and the others to the house. I wasn't concerned about any of the ranch hands here, but I still didn't know what had happened to First Uncle.

I wasn't taking any chances.

The sheriff was sitting at the dining room table when we got inside drinking a cup of coffee. He glanced up when we walked in. "That black car hung around the gate for about ten minutes before heading back into town. Pretty sure they are the foreigners from before."

"How can you be sure?" I asked. "It's been a couple of months since they first appeared in the area."

"My deputies reported that they rented a suite at the hotel. Three people had been staying there until a couple of days ago when a bunch more showed up, all staying in the same hotel suite."

I glanced at Miko, the knot forming in my gut making me a bit queasy. "Miko, besides that stupid betrothal crap, can you think of any other reason your uncle might be wanting to keep tabs on you?"

"Not really," Miko replied. "As far as I know, I didn't inherit anything from my mother or my grandfather and everything I own was brought here with me."

"Was there anything in your belongings they might want?" Ken asked.

"Nothing I can think of," Miko said. "Certainly nothing of value."

Considering what little Miko had brought with him, I was sure he was right. I aimed to change that. I might not be able to buy him luxury goods, but those didn't seem to matter much to Miko.

I could provide him with what truly made him happy, like a family that truly cared about him, fully stocked greenhouse, and a horse of his own. He had kind of found the dog himself.

"I'll send one of my deputies to keep an eye on them," Ken said. "If the step out of line, I'll toss them in my jail for a few days, maybe call the State Department and get them kicked out of the country."

"I'm not sure you can do that," Ethan stated. "You can certainly put them in jail if they break a law, but they'd have to do something pretty big to get on the State Department's radar, and we don't want that."

It was at that moment that I remembered that Ethan had been a lawyer back East. Not sure why I had forgotten it before now since I'd explained it to Miko, but I had.

"Is there any kind of injunction we can get to get them to leave Miko alone?" I asked.

"Have they threatened him?"

"Not in so many words, but the intent was there."

Ethan shook his head. "Intent won't cut it. You need a clear threat in order to get a restraining order."

Damn.

Miko stood up, turned around, and lifted his shirt, showing off the scars I had discovered long ago. "First Uncle ordered this done. Now he is back, threatening that he will do it again if I disobey him. Is that a clear threat?"

I heard several of the men swear under their breath even as Ethan said, "Yeah, that's a clear threat."

Miko pulled his shirt back down and retook his chair.

"Is there anything we can do?" I asked.

"I'd say file a restraining order, but let me make a phone call in the morning to a friend back East. I want to make sure I know the requirements for filing a restraining order against a non-U.S. citizen before we do anything. They might be different."

"We'd appreciate it, Ethan."

I was all for doing whatever it took to keep Miko safe and keep him family away from him. He was mine to protect and I'd carry out that sacred duty till my dying breath.