Chapter Nineteen

~ Jos ~

"Are you ready to head back to the ranch?"

We had cleaned up and dressed long ago, but holding Miko in my arms as he lightly dozed was not something to be squandered or underappreciated.

"Do we have to?"

"No." I chuckled. "But it gets mighty cold out here at night without sleeping bags."

Miko twisted so he could look up at me. "Sleeping bags? We can really sleep out under the stars?"

"If that's something you want to do we can. I just need a little time to get everything ready." It hadn't been that long since I'd slept outside. Moving cattle up and down from the mountain pastures took a bit of time and a lot of hard ground. "We're not adequately prepared for it right now."

"That could be fun," Miko said as he settled back against me again.

"Maybe you can go on the fall cattle drive with us."

"Cattle drive?"

"Twice a year we move cattle either up to the fields in the mountains or down from the mountains to fields closer to home. It takes about two to three days to get them all moved. During that time, we sleep outside."

We did a lot of things outside during a cattle drive. Sleep, eat, piss, you name it. If Miko went with us, he and I would definitely be doing a few other things that didn't involve the ranch hands.

"It's going to get dark pretty soon. We should probably wrap this up and head for home." It wasn't good to be running a horse in the dark.

I hated the sadness that filled Miko's face as he sat up. I pressed my hand against his cheek and tilted his head up until our eyes met. "We can come back another day if you like."

A smile spread across Miko's lips and his eyes started to sparkle. "Really?"

"Sure," I replied before pressing a quick kiss to Miko's lips. "This is our lake. We can come here any time we want."

Even as I said that, an idea began to form in my head. If I could get enough supplies up here, I could build us a little one room cabin with a wood stove and a large front porch. Miko and I could come here whenever we needed a little time away together.

I'd keep it a surprise until I knew if I could pull it off or not.

I stood up, lifting Miko to his feet. "We should go."

Miko stuck out his lower lip.

I just stared, mesmerized. It was the cutest damn thing I had ever seen in my life. It was also a gesture I'd never seen him do before. I hoped it meant he was getting more comfortable around me.

I reached out and gently ran my finger across his bottom lip. "Careful," I whispered. "Keep sticking your lip out like that and I'll be forced to bite it."

One of Miko's dark eyebrows went up right before he got a playful grin on his face and then stuck his lower lip out even farther.

I laughed even as I leaned in to bite gently at his lower lip. This more mischievous side of Miko was a delight and I was glad he was finally showing himself.

That little bite quickly turned into something more, making me really glad I hadn't put my saddlebag on Bucky yet. By the time we came up for air, the sun had started to set and it was quickly growing darker.

This time, I knew we couldn't fool around again. Being outside near the main house at night was one thing. Being in the wilds at night was something totally different, and much more dangerous.

"We really need to head back to the house, Miko."

" Hai ."

Miko helped me pack up our picnic supplies and then we mounted up. As I steered Bucky back toward the house I warned Miko, "Don't put Sally into a run if you don't have to. In the dark, there is a higher chance of her stepping in a gopher hole or something. It'll take us a little longer to get home, but just take it slow and easy, okay?"

" Hai ."

I made sure that Bucky was right next to Sally as we started riding home. We'd been out several times riding the horses, but never at night. Sally was a good horse, gentle and calm, but I was worried she might get spooked and take off. Miko had no experience stopping a frightened horse. He could be seriously injured or worse.

I wasn't about to let that happen.

"Aren't we close to the house?" Miko asked after we'd been riding awhile.

"Yeah, pretty close," I replied. "I can see the lights from the barn."

"Then why aren't there any lights on at the house? It's not that late, is it? People should still be up. There should still be lights on, right?"

I glanced at my watch. "It's a little after seven."

Miko was right. There should be lights on at the house, but even the bunkhouse was dark.

"Could everyone have left?"

I couldn't think of a reason for everyone to leave the ranch. "Yes, but it doesn't make any sense that there wouldn't at least be one light on even if it's the front porch light."

"What about the power?" Miko asked. "Is it on the same circuit as the main house and the bunkhouse? If it's not, maybe there was a power outage or something."

That might explain it, but the growing knot in my stomach said otherwise. Something was definitely wrong in all of this. I just didn't know what that something was.

"Miko, when we reach the main house, I want you to put the horses in the corral and then go hide in the barn. I need to check the main house and bunkhouse."

"I can help," Miko said.

My gut clenched at the very idea.

"Miko, I don't want you in danger." The very thought made me see red. Miko should never be in danger.

"I no want you in danger."

And he'd lost his English again.

"Miko—"

Miko stuck his nose in the air. "I help."

I wasn't going to get out of this. I could see that now. Miko was getting stubborn. "How about we do it together, huh?" I'd rather be by his side if there was danger than split up. At least then I could protect him better.

" Hai ."

"You'll do everything I say?"

Miko nodded quickly. " Hai ."

I shook my head as we continued to ride silently toward the main house. This was a really bad idea. I could feel it in my bones. We were headed right into danger. If I was smart, I'd tie Miko up somewhere he'd be safe and go deal with this on my own.

I was just afraid he'd never forgive me.

As we drew closer to the main house, I couldn't shake the feeling that trouble was waiting for us. When we reached a small cove of trees, I grabbed Miko's reins and pulled both of our horses to a stop.

When Miko looked at me, I held my finger to my lips and then slid off my horse. I looped both our reins around a low hanging tree branch, not tight enough to keep the horses there if they needed to run, but just enough to keep them in one place and out of danger.

I grabbed Miko and pulled him down from Sally's back. I pointed a finger at him. "You do exactly what I say and do not leave my side for any reason. Understood?"

" Hai ."

I grabbed Miko's hand and pulled him along with me as I headed toward the bunkhouse, keeping in the shadows as much as possible. With the lights out in both the bunkhouse and the main house, that was pretty easy.

When we reached the backdoor to the bunkhouse, I cautiously opened it and stepped inside the mud room. After Miko stepped in, I closed the door and then turned to face the other entrance, my head cocked as I listened for sounds that would alert me to someone's presence.

I was getting nothing and that in itself was worrying. This was a bunkhouse where several fully grown cowboys lived. There should be some noise.

I tugged on Miko's arm and started for the entrance to the main room of the bunkhouse. I had expected Miko to follow along with me, but he pulled away.

When I turned, he was looking toward the large shower room attached to the mud room. It had three individual walk-in shower stalls inside, enough for more than one person to take a shower at the same time.

Before I could stop him, Miko opened the door to the shower room. He quiet gasp sent me running for him. What I found in the shower room made me totally understand his gasp.

There were five bodies inside, none of them moving.

I squatted down next to the first one and reached out to feel for a pulse. When I felt a steady thump under my fingertips, I blew out a relieved breath.

Wade was alive.

I quickly checked the others. Each of them had steady a heartbeat. That was a good sign. What was a bad sign was that they were all unconscious and had their hands tied behind their backs.

This was done on purpose.

I grabbed my cell phone off my back and sent Sheriff Ken a 911 text, telling him we had trouble at the ranch and to come in silent as there might be armed assailants on the ranch. I also told him we were going to need an ambulance or two, but they also needed to be silent when they arrived.

I didn't want to call him case someone overheard. A text was better.

Ken immediately texted back that he and his deputies were on their way, maybe ten minutes out. I hoped that was enough time for them to get here before something else happened.

Miko tapped me on the shoulder and then nodded to one of the shower stalls.

Yeah, that might work.

I picked Wade up and dragged him into the shower. I propped him against the shower stall wall and then turned on the cold water, spraying it right on him.

It took a moment, but then Wade started to sputter and bat at me with his hands. I covered Wade's mouth with one hand and turned the water off with the other.

By the time I looked back at Wade, he was staring at me with wide eyes. I leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "Intruders on the ranch. Sheriff is on his way."

I removed my hands from his mouth when Wade gave a simple nod. I backed out of the shower and then held an arm out to Wade to help him. He might have woken up, but he was still a little unsteady on his feet. I did this four more times until every ranch hand was awake and moving.

I pulled my cell phone out again and brought up my note app. I explained as much as I could considering I knew next to nothing about what was going on. One by one I showed each person what I had typed out so that they would understand the situation we were in.

Axel grabbed my phone and typed something out before handing the phone back to me.

"I heard cars coming up the driveway when I stepped out of the back door after dinner. I heard Monty yell something, but when I turned to go back into the house, something hit me in the arm and everything went dark."

When Miko saw what Axel had written, he made grabby hands for the phone. "My uncle's men use darts that are dipped in a drug that incapacitates people."

When I glanced at the floor, Miko started typing again.

"You won't find any of the darts. They never leave evidence behind."

That was not helpful.

"You think it's your uncle doing this?" I typed out.

Miko shrugged.

"Okay, are any of you still armed?"

They all shook their heads.

"Get armed and then meet us back here, and stay quiet. I don't want to alert anyone that you guys have woken up."

All of the ranch hands hurried out of the mud room. I put my cell phone away and then turned to look at Miko and whisper, "I don't suppose I could convince you to stay here?"

Miko just grinned at me.

Yeah, I didn't think so.

I wrapped a hand around the nape of his neck and yanked him forward until he hit my chest. "You remember the rules?"

"Do exactly what you say and do not leave your side for any reason."

This one time I wished his memory was faulty.