Chapter Twenty-Three

Ruben led the way through the brush after his ranch work. He'd teamed up with one of the new guys, Jim Delmont, a big, beefy African American cowboy with a smile that could cheer up the fussiest person, and Jet, the veterinarian.

"We came through here one day and there was a snake the size of my arm," Ruben told them, making Jet laugh.

"That's a fish story if ever I heard one."

Jet's long black hair was in a braid and it hung almost to his waist. Ruben flipped it playfully. "You know they can get that big."

"I think you have big snakes on the brain now that you're getting some."

Jim laughed at that, his smile even wider than usual. He was handsome and sweet, always willing to pitch in to help. He was one of the last hired, but he'd already made his mark, jumping to do the work no one else volunteered for. "I hear that. Last boyfriend I had was a big guy, but he had the littlest dick you ever saw. No bigger than my pinky finger."

Ruben gasped. "No way!"

"You do realize," Jet started, "That five inches is average for me, right?"

"This wasn't half that," Jim said as he led his horse through the thicket. "When can we ride again? These new boots are killing me."

"Up ahead here. This brush is a little tricky with holes and such. No use having one break their leg."

"Had one fall in a gopher hole once in New Mexico. Broke my damn heart."

Jet groaned, "I hate those stories. You know, a vet can mend a leg. The horse can stud or foal still. Waste to put it down."

"My old boss wouldn't hear o' it. He would pinch a penny thinner ‘an a danged old train."

"A train?" Ruben asked.

"You never put a penny on a train track? Train comes along and flattens it out real purty."

Ruben just giggled. "Guess I was busy chasing hot boys back then."

"When you was twelve? Damn!"

"Yeah, I started being boy crazy back then. It was hard for me! Bonita always had guys over and man, she had hot boyfriends."

"Saw that other new guy checking her out the other day. Frankie or Freddy or whatever. He's hot as fuck," Jet said, then realized what he said. "I mean…you know."

Jet was a doctor, even if it was for animals. He was super smart and totally hot too. Ruben brushed off his embarrassment. "Don't worry, Doc. We all noticed."

"I sure did. Sad as hell he was straight," Jim added. "But your sis, she's a looker too. Pretty as a picture, but tough! Saw her hefting a bale o' hay like it wasn't no bigger ‘an a tick."

They mounted their horses again and pointed north. "We should head that way."

They started to head north and an eagle called somewhere to their right. Jet started that way and said, "Maybe he's telling us something."

"God, your Creek is showing."

"And yours is hiding," Jet teased. "Nature tells you more than what the meteorologists tell us."

"Right," Jim said. "I get that. This old dog I had once, he was like that. Always told me when shit was off, ya know?"

"Did he tell you when Timmy fell down the well?"

While Jim appreciated the joke, laughing with Ruben, Jet scowled at them. "You'll learn one day. Nature always tells the truth, no matter how brutal."

"We're going in that direction, Jet, cool your jets," Ruben teased.

Jet finally smiled and they got their horses into trots to move over the land a little faster. Ruben loved riding on the land. When Harrison still ran the place, it was always an escape for Ruben. Going out to work the cattle or check fencing was his time without that old man looming, barking orders and dissing the hands.

He hated everyone, it seemed and now that he was missing, Ruben wondered if it was one of the hands that had done him in. It wouldn't be a surprise to him in the least.

There were few clouds in the big sky, the air was crisp and cold, the company great, and he was having a great day. The only thing missing was being with his men. He found he missed them terribly.

"Thinking about them?" Jet asked as they slowed their horses.

"How'd you know?"

"Big ol' silly grin," Jim answered for Jet. "Goofy as hell."

"Oh," he said, then felt his face heating. His horse, Nelly, started to turn right and he looked in that direction. Remembering the creek that was nearby, he told the others, "Let's water them and eat some lunch. I'm hungry."

"Yeah, they could use the break," Jet said and they headed to the creek. Once there, the horses drank as Jet got out his sandwich and Jim got his in his hand too. Ruben, however, took out his phone and tried to call Dallas, and when he didn't answer, Marius. Neither of them answered. That worried him.

"What's up, Ruben?" Jim asked.

"Nothing. Dallas and Marius aren't answering."

Jet soothed, "They're out here somewhere. You know the service isn't great in some areas. Don't stress yet. They're together, right?"

"Right."

"They're big guys and they have weapons. I'm sure they'll be okay."

"Sure. Yeah, you're right," he said, but trying them again, and having it go to voicemail on both numbers…his worry elevated to near panic. "If anything happens to them…"

"Like he said, Ruby, they got guns. That city fella is a mafia dude, right? Ain't no one gonna wanna tangle with the likes of him."

He hoped they were right.

*****

Marius got off his horse and followed Dallas as he walked on the frozen snow, crunching it with his boots. Marius shivered, and Dallas felt irritated all over again with him. "This is blood all right," Marius said when he saw the drops on the snow alongside a swath that had been made through it. It looked like someone was trying to made a trail through the snow, three feet wide and smooth.

Until he saw the print of a man's size boot that was still visible through the swath. "Looks like someone was dragging something here."

"Something or someone?" Marius asked.

Dallas looked to where the drag marks headed into the trees. "Could be either," he said, trying not to panic or have Marius panic.

"Dallas…it could be a deer or something. Right?"

"Yeah. Sure, it could be an animal they were dragging," he said to soothe him but knew what it looked like to drag a deer after a hunt. There was no stray fur from the deer in the snow, and there was not enough blood. He didn't say this to Marius, though. He was afraid Marius would take off in the direction of the dragging and head right into danger.

Though, he had a gun already in hand. "Put that away."

"Not a fucking chance!"

"What if it was one of the search parties and someone got hurt and they were dragged to safety or to their horse to head back to the ranch?"

"What if it's not, Dallas?"

Good point, but still, he didn't want some terrible accident on top of everything else. He grabbed the rifle from the saddle and pointed it to where the drag marks led. "Let's go, but don't shoot anything or anyone unless you see them pointing a fucking gun at you or something."

They walked along again, but the drag marks ceased once they got to the creek that ran beside the trees. It was like all evidence disappeared at the creek.

Dallas started across the creek, but Marius whined, "I don't have boots on, you know."

"Then stay back there."

He turned his head to see Marius sitting on the edge of the creek to take off his heavy sneakers and socks, then he rolled up his pants. Dallas laughed, but commented, "You're getting winter clothes and shoes or you can stay back at the office from now on."

"You know, domming me in bed is one thing, but not out here. Out here, I…well, I'm not the boss, but…"

Marius was used to being the boss, being he was the boss of his mob crew. Still, he had no idea what he was doing in the wilderness. "Sure, whatever you say, but you're still getting better outfitted or you're not coming anymore."

"Whatever. I look good," he snarked as he started crossing the creek in his bare feet.

Dallas hid his laughter as Marius yipped and hollered until he joined him on the other shore. "That water is fucking freezing!"

"It's melted snow, you dumbass. What did you expect?"

"You're in a mood."

Dallas stared at him in complete awe. "We're…never mind."

"Sorry, baby. I guess I'm in a mood too. If anymore dead bodies show up, it's not looking good for this resort. If Dante can't do this, he's likely to lose his shit. I'm supposed to be helping to get this place up and running. Instead, I'm hunting possible dead people."

Dallas understood. He sat on the bank with Marius and tossed a few pebbles into the water that wasn't frozen. "I get it. It's probably a deer and we're chasing some hunter. Still, there's not supposed to be hunting on this land without permission. If we can keep the hunters away, that will help too."

"No, yeah, I get it. It's a good thing. Yeah, no use more people running around with rifles that aren't one of us, huh?"

"Let's find us a poacher. Maybe, if we think that way, it'll be easier."

"You got it, cowboy."

Instead of drag marks on the ground, all he found were the boot prints. Following those, he got to the tree line and saw it. On the edge of where the snow stopped, where the trees made a thick canopy, he saw it and lost all hope that it was a deer. He just wasn't ready to tell Marius.

There was a drop of blood frozen in the snow. The only reason he noticed it was because it stood out so starkly from the brilliant white. Dallas wasn't one to stick a finger in and taste it in case someone walked all the way out in the forest to hide the fact he was drinking cherry kool-aid. That had always bothered him to see on TV and movies. He'd hunted and slaughtered animals, found others killed by predators, so he knew what blood looked like.

"They definitely went this way," he said to the man who walked with him. The one that didn't know how to properly dress for a Montana winter. He was shivering in his leather blazer jacket and pitifully thin scarf.

"It's probably some wounded animal. That dead body was a one-off. Even your sheriff said that."

"Sure, sure," Dallas agreed, but added, "but if it's not, we need to know."

Dimples asked, "So, you don't trust the guy either?"

Throwing a look back, feeling it in his gut that it wasn't an animal they were about to find, Dallas sighed heavily before he whispered, "Not as far as I can throw him."

Into the trees they went, Marius so close behind him, it was like he wasn't to merge with Dallas. "Back off a little."

"Not a chance! If someone jumps out, I'm plugging them between the fucking eyes."

"It could be one of our people!"

"Carrying a dead body into the woods? Then they need plugged between the eyes."

While he wanted to argue, Marius made a good point. "Just…walk on the side of me then."

"In front of you would suit me better. You think I want you getting hurt? I'm supposed to be protecting you."

Although that brought up a little fury that he would think Dallas needed his protection, the overwhelming emotion came as a soft caress of love. He turned to Marius and gently said, "I don't need protection, Marius. But…we can work together, okay?"

"If something happens to you, you won't know what kind of fucking wrath I will take on every single person I come across until I find the one that did it. I know, I'm funny, I'm a big teddy bear with you and Ruben. You don't know me well enough to understand that I climbed up the ranks of my family for a reason."

Dallas decided not to press him about it. He thought better of pushing him in any way.

"Let's go, together, and if I get hurt, know that you couldn't stop me. Don't blame yourself and don't go after everyone. There is someone doing weird shit, yes, but this could be a normal thing. Someone could have been out searching the land, and got hurt. That's why there isn't more blood."

"I'll try not to shoot on sight. Okay?"

"Good as I'm going to get. Let's go."

The floor of the forest didn't have a lot of snow, but it had a lot of mud. The snow melting from the tops of the trees made the ground give way deep as they walked, making their progress slow.

Each step made the scent of evergreen waft to his nose, and the trees were dark brown from the moisture. Creepy, to say the least, he found himself on edge, likely to shoot on sight, and if he felt that way, he knew it would be the same for Marius.

Out of all the dark colors in the woods around them, a bright red spot caught his eye. It was a tiny spot on a rock that was low to the ground, half buried in forest debris. Heading over to it, he already knew what it was, but until they were standing right next to it, did he say it aloud. "More blood, and it's fresh."

"It's…not much. Couldn't be from a person bleeding out."

Dallas let his eyes scan the area, and twenty feet away, he saw another color that didn't fit. Yellow, bright like a lemon. Just a tiny glimpse of it behind a felled tree. "Marius…I think we're about to find the source of the blood."

Marius followed his stare and raised his gun. "Unless that's who's doing it and he's hiding."

Dallas nodded once and raised the rifle to walk with Marius over to the tree. It wasn't like they could be sneaky with the twigs and slush of the ground under their feet, but once they moved enough and the yellow shoe hadn't moved, Dallas feared the worst.

Around the log and there he was, one of the construction workers. His T-shirt was torn, he wasn't wearing a coat and his clothes were filthy.

That wasn't close to the worst of it, however. The worst part was the open wound right across the man's throat. The blood has stopped flowing, but it too, was fresh. Dallas crouched by the man and huffed, "Sorry, buddy. We were just a little too late for you."

"Unless the mother fucker heard us coming and did this to make an easier escape."

Dallas rose and the rifle pointed out in front of him. "Mother fucker," he hissed. They searched the woods for an hour before they called it in to Tango. He was there in a short time, complaining about how long it did take. "Fucking hell," he said as he saw the body. "This is Nick Galapos. He was one of the hires from Chicago. Dante's people brought him."

Marius remembered. "I saw his name on the list. Tango, this is going to make Dante crazy."

"Why do you think I came out without telling anyone. Jace doesn't even know yet. I'm afraid one more thing happens and he's going to drag me and Roland back to Colorado."

"This could send a lot of people packing," Marius said. "We need to tell Dante, but it should be me."

"The cops will handle it, I'm sure," Dallas said sarcastically.

"Unless we don't tell them," Tango suggested.

Dallas couldn't believe his ears. "What the fuck, Tango? We have to!"

"No, we don't," Marius said. "Not right away, anyway. We come up with a plan, we clean this place up so no one can know we found it, and then call the cops."

Dallas was unsure of all that, but unless he wanted to leave the ranch, he knew he had to go along. "Marius, along with you not getting yourself killed, I don't want to see you in prison. Tango, the same. How do you think Roland and Jace would feel to have to only see you on visitor day?"

Tango nodded curtly. "I get it. I know we're…not skirting the law. We're running right over it, but this could shut the place down for good. Dante and the rest of us have a lot invested in it. Not only money, either."

Dallas felt the same way. "I'm…I'm in with this, but please, take every precaution."

They spent another hour, until the sky was darkening, cleaning up the area of every sign they'd been there, including the manure the horses left behind. Tango rakes the floor of the forest behind them as they left the woods, and they left together, though Tango had taken one of the four-wheelers.

They were quiet on the ride back. Marius was chewing his lip something fierce. Dallas could feel the tension in him, and he didn't think there was any amount of play or sex that would release it.

What he didn't count on was Marius releasing it violently on one of the ranch hands.

When they rode into the ranch proper, Marius was telling him that he'd meet Dallas back at the house. He has some people he had to speak with, including Dante.

Dallas felt for him already, but he didn't realize how much pressure the body had placed on his partner. Either that, or the man just really connected with California King.

They heard a horse whinnying loudly, and Dallas snapped the reins enough to get the horse into a run. Somehow, Marius did the same and was on his tail. When Dallas got around the corner of the stables and saw what was happening, he dismounted quickly, but wasn't quick enough.

Alex Joseph, one of the newest hands, was leading California King by the bridle and reins toward the stable. The horse was reluctant, to say the least, so Alex was taking it upon himself to whip the living hell out of the horse, ducking away as the horse tried to kick him to death for the pain.

Dallas was one that never took a whip or crop to a horse, and had fought with men over the use of spurs as well, but this was more than he'd ever seen happen to a horse. That guy was whipping the horse with a crop to the point that Dallas knew there'd be blood if he wasn't stopped.

Marius, however, was taking it upon himself to do the stopping. He went to Alex and grabbed him around the neck, throwing him out of the way of the horse, yelling to California King, "Take off!"

Like the horse knew what he said, King ran east like his ass was on fire, which is likely the way it felt. Before Dallas could react, Marius threw the man to the ground and moved over him, using his fist to start punching the man over and over, cursing him as he did.

"Never touch a mother fucking animal like that, you piece of fucking shit! I'll kill you! Mother fucker, animal-abusing piece of human shit!"

By the time Dallas came out of his shock and got to Marius, Alex's face looked like a bowl of hamburger. He threw Marius off with a growl and then stopped him using both hands from getting back to the unconscious man.

"Baby! Stop! He's…he might be fucking dead! We have enough of that right now!"

Men were running toward them from the bunkhouse, and Dallas headed them off, but told Ruben, "Go take him out of here."

"Right," he said, staring at Alex as he passed.

"Hold on, people. The fucker was abusing the horse, and you all know that don't hang around here. Felix, Jim, go get him and take him to Jet in the jeep. He can at least bandage him up enough to get him the fuck off the ranch."

They worked quickly and Alex was soon in the back of the jeep. Marius was seething. "If a fucker hurts an animal, they aren't going to care about hurting a person."

"Marius…you don't think…?" Ruben asked, staring off in the direction the jeep drove.

"That mother fucker is the killer? No way! He was here," he said, but took a step like he was taking off after them.

Dallas grabbed his arm to calm him. "Marius, don't. We have to be sure, or you'll kill the wrong man."

"It's not going to hurt my feelings killing that fucker."

"Ruben, have you seen him all day?"

"No, but I was gone with Jim and Jet. We just got back here like an hour ago."

He was harried, knowing if the answer didn't come fast enough, they'd likely see that wrath Marius mentioned earlier. "There's Tango," he said, and Marius called him over.

Tango jogged to see what was happening, and Dallas told him quickly. "I'll head over there now."

"I'm going with you," Marius said, and Dallas knew he'd never stay back at the stable.

"I'll go with you too."

"Me too," Ruben yelled.

"No," he and Marius said in unison, and when Ruben tried to argue, Dallas gritted, "You're not going. Stay here and start asking around to see if anyone had seen him. We could be way off the mark here."

"Fine, I'll do that and call you while you're on the way to Jet's. But, we're going to talk about this!"

Marius growled at him, "You'll do what we want or sleep the fuck alone. I'm not having you heading into danger."

Ruben's eyes narrowed, but he thankfully didn't say a word. The problems between them could hopefully keep until much later.

They took off in Dallas's truck, Marius cracking his knuckles as Dallas drove. Tango had gotten in the middle of them, and Dallas thought he regretted that. "We're not killing him. I know, it's tempting, but if we can hand him over to the cops, our entire problem is solved."

"I'm gonna kill him," Marius said and Dallas looked over to catch Marius's jaw popping as he gritted his teeth.

"Marius, no, please. We have to be able to hand him over like Tango said. Please, baby."

Tango and Dallas exchanged a look and it told Dallas that Tango had wished he could have called Dante first. Dallas hoped he didn't mention that right then, and thankfully, he didn't.

Jet lived in a small cabin next to the office he used for paperwork and had one small room for working on the animals, and the hands, if necessary. When they arrived, they saw the office door, wide open, which wasn't a good sign. He'd never leave the door open in that kind of cold. They exited the truck fast and Marius was the first to the door, rushing in with a scream, "Fuck!"

With his heart in his throat, sure he'd find his friend, Jet, dead, he stopped only long enough to gather his wits and courage.