Call of the Cougar (Heart of the Cougar Book 2) (19 page)

If any woman had told him she was taking him home to see her mom and dad and that shotgun weddings could be involved, he would have said no thanks. But with Tracey, the notion had some kind of crazy appeal. Was it a case of him not having been with a she-cat in a long damn time?

No. It all had to do with one firecracker of a she-cat—this one. He hadn't known any woman who would have wanted to have sex with him in the woods by the waterfall like this. And twice? It only got better. But it was a lot more than that. Her love of animals, like his. Her determination to bring the bad guys to justice, like he was just as determined to do. Her need to protect others, just like him. She loved the ranch and though he loved it too, she brought something special to the experience. Watching the sun rise. If he'd ever have the chance—watching the sun set. And running with her as a cougar up in the rocks.

Though he never ever thought he'd consider such a thing, he was thinking how perfect it would be to have a wedding and reception out here. He couldn't imagine anything better. Was he nuts? If any of his buddies had said a while ago that he'd be thinking along those lines, he'd have told them they'd had too much to drink.

He'd already rolled up the bedroll when he glanced at her to see her pulling her still damp T-shirt on.

She shivered. "I shouldn't have worn it into the waterfall pool."

"You didn't expect to slip and fall into it."

She smiled. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to take you for a dunking."

"Water kind of tamped down my libido for a moment." But only for a moment. After he pulled her close and her hot little body heated him up, his erection had all the encouragement it needed.

She chuckled. "I didn't think much would tame that wild thing down."

He laughed, then he grew serious.

He didn't want to discuss the next matter with her because they'd had such a lovely day, and he knew this wasn't going to go over well with her. But he had to because it needed to be said.

He helped her mount her horse. He was about ready to climb into his saddle when his phone rang. He glanced at it. And smiled. "It's Ted. He probably figured we got lost."

"I doubt it," she said. "He's just checking up on you."

Hal shook his head. "Hey, Ted, we're headed in."

"Okay, good. I knew you were fine, but Ricky's been bugging me for the past two hours, wanting to check on the both of you, afraid you fell off the face of the earth."

"Yeah, we did. But we found our way back. Talk to you in a moment."

"Out here."

He pocketed his phone and climbed into the saddle. "So, about you going to your parents' place…"

They started to head back to the ranch, and she turned her head to look at the wildflowers or the scenery. Or maybe she was just trying to avoid eye contact.

He finished what he had to say. "I'm going with you."

Her head whipped around. "No way, Deputy Sheriff Haverton." Her green eyes were feral, like a cougar's when she got ready for the kill.

He knew there was something really wrong with him when he found her annoyance with him appealing.

"Not only would my mother be penning in the wedding cake baking date on her calendar, but my sister would be scheduling our Save-the-Date and engagement photo sessions. And Dad would be cleaning his shotgun. Maybe even practicing with it a bit more at the range."

"How many bedrooms do your parents' home have?"

She frowned at him.

"Three? Plenty of room."

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

"Yes. I'll clear it with your folks first."

"Don't you
dare
call them."

"Then
you
call them and tell them. Because I'm going with you."

"All right. Your funeral." She got on the phone and made a call. "Hello, Mom?" She cast an annoyed glance Hal's way. He watched her, giving her the deputy sheriff's look that said he meant business.

"Okay, so Dad called Mick and you all need my help there. Right?" She let out her breath. "All right. So Dad thinks he's going to protect us all. But that's not the way this works. First off, I'm the one who has a badge—" She paused. "Yes, I know I'm on administrative leave. Sheesh. But I still have a badge. No, my boss didn't take it away from me. He knows better."

Hal smiled, thinking how much "fun" having the wild cat working for Mick had to be.

She nodded. "All right. But here's where we have a problem. I've been staying with a deputy sheriff. No, not for a long time. Just since early this morning. Mom, no. Don't you dare put a date on your calendar for making a wedding cake. He was watching over me for a little bit. A few hours. Like a bodyguard." She glanced at Hal. "Yes, he's in great shape."

Hal smiled. He already liked her mom.

"He's a deputy sheriff. Hal Haverton. He has to be in great shape. What? No, I haven't seen him eat any donuts. How would I know he's in great shape?" Her cheeks grew red, and she again glanced at Hal.

He couldn't help grinning back at her. He
really
liked her mom.

"No, you do not have plenty of room at the house. Not with Jessie staying there. No. Bodyguards don't sleep with the body they're guarding."

Hal chuckled.

"So can he sleep on the couch?" She paused. "How tall is he?" She looked at Hal.

"Six feet."

"He's six feet. Yes, he's here with me now. We went for a horseback ride and are headed back to the ranch. Yes, he's a deputy sheriff, a cougar, and a rancher. All right? Why do you want to know the color of his hair and eyes? Mom. He can curl up on the floor if the couch is too short for him. As a cougar."

She bit her lip. "Fine. I'll sleep with Jessie and he can have my room. Who? Who is Stan? Oh, for crying out—all right. Are they getting married? No? And you're letting her sleep with him in her bedroom? Does Dad know?" She glanced at Hal.

He chuckled.

"Fine. I'll sleep on the couch. Hal can have my room then. Where is his ranch? Out in the boonies. Two hours from Loveland. South. No, I don't have the address. Sure, you can ask him when he gets there. No, I don't need to know his address."

Hal smiled. He suspected her father was going to do a search on him. Probably call Mick to learn more about him.

"I don't know when we'll get there. Tonight, I guess. We've got to get packed, have something to eat, and we'll head on out there. I can help you bake some cakes while I'm staying with you. Oh, all right. If it interferes with my guard duty, I won't. Love you, Mom. See you in a bit."

Tracey pocketed her phone and glowered at Hal.

He shook his head. "See, it's fine with them. Parents never cease to amaze me. When we're kids, they have one set of rules. When we're all grown up?" He shrugged.

"Not
my
parents. Jessie must have thrown a fit and said she wasn't visiting if Stan, whoever he is, didn't get to stay with her."

"You don't want my address?" Hal was smiling when he asked her.

"You know what they're going to do with it? Investigate you!"

"I can handle it. I like your mom." He called Ted. "We're headed back but we're going to be packing up and leaving."

"Las Vegas?" Ted asked.

"Everyone's a wiseass. No. We've got some more problems. Think you can handle Ricky all right?"

"Yeah, sure thing. He's a great help, and he loves it here. Do you want me to fix us something to eat?"

"Yeah, go ahead. I've got fixings for beef stroganoff in the fridge, if you don't mind making that. We're going to pack up while you take care of the horses. You've got my number if anything goes wrong with Annie."

"Gotcha."

Then Hal called Dan. "I'll be pulling some guard duty at Tracey's parents' place in Loveland, so I won't be around for a little bit."

Dan didn't say anything for a couple of heartbeats.

Hal smiled. He knew he was going to get as many questions from his buddies as Tracey's mother had asked her.

"Mick called," Hal explained.

"Ahh, and he wanted you both at her parents' place?" Dan sounded confused.

"No." Hal further explained the situation. "Tell Mick, if you wouldn't mind, that I'm going to be at their house also."

"Okay, will do. What do you want me to tell the rest of the guys?"

"I'm serving as her bodyguard."

"Yeah, okay. Right. I'll…let them know."

Hal pocketed his phone and glanced at Tracey. She was watching him. "So, sounds like they wonder about what's up with this as much as my mother does."

"Dan never said anything about us going to Las Vegas."

Her eyes rounded, she said, "Who said anything about us going to Las Vegas?"

He chuckled. "Ted. He's a wiseass. Didn't I warn you about that already?"

Shots rang out near one of Hal's ponds off in the distance and Hal and Tracey turned around, knowing the shots were fired too far off to be anyone shooting at Tracey. "Damn it to hell," Hal said as ducks, geese, a swan, and herons took flight. "I'll meet you back at the house." He galloped off, but she rode after him.

He glanced at her. "I don't need backup."

"I'm giving it to you anyway." She was frowning so hard that he figured she'd take a cavalry-strength force of hunters on and arrest every one of them single-handedly, she was so mad.

He was glad she was on his side.

Chapter 12

Hal and Tracey continued past one pond, then through a stand of pine trees to make their approach a little less obvious, though the hunters would hear them riding through the area. She suspected they'd try to run off with their illegal catch before the landowner arrived.

Riding on horses to the scene of the crime with a hot deputy sheriff was a totally new experience for her, and she felt as though she was in an old western. She just hoped no one began to shoot back at them because she feared for the horses, most of all.

As soon as they saw the two thirtyish-aged men stalking through the grasslands away from the pond, rifles in hand, making a hasty retreat, Hal hollered, "Deputy Sheriff Hal Haverton! Drop the rifles and put your hands behind your heads."

One of the men looked at the other and the black-haired man swore. "You said that it was all right to hunt here, damn it."

"Put your weapons down
now
!" Hal said again, his voice stern, like he had been a military commander.

This time the men did as he said. "Walk this way, gentlemen."

"Can we see a badge?" the lighter-haired man asked as he glanced at Tracey.

"Don't need to because you're trespassing on private property,
my
property, and no hunting and no trespassing signs are posted all over the place. You can't help but see them." Before Hal could show his badge anyway, Tracey was showing hers.

He fought smiling at her.

"Special Agent with Fish and Wildlife Service. Hope you weren't shooting any protected birds on top of killing waterfowl on private property," she said. She didn't have as commanding a voice as Hal had, but both men's eyes bugged out. Which silently told her what she didn't want to hear. "You shot the birds and left them to rot?" She turned to Hal. "Did you leave food out for the birds?"

"Yeah, I put some seed out every three days. Which means, if the area
was
open to hunting, you still couldn't legally hunt here until ten days had passed since the seed was all gone. That means the timing would never be right, and you wouldn't have the right to hunt them." Hal holstered his rifle and dismounted. He handed his reins to Tracey, but she was ready to pull her Glock out if the men tried anything.

"Let's see some I.D. and hunting licenses, and then we'll return to the lake and see what kind of luck you had."

The black-haired man narrowed his eyes at Hal. "We couldn't have reasonably known the area was baited."

"So you know the law enough that you think you can say the right words and get around it." Tracey was dying to check out the birds, but she didn't want to leave Hal alone in case the men pulled anything.

Both men glanced at her, probably surprised she knew the situation as well as she did. They must have forgotten the part about the job she did.

Hal made a call. "Sheriff, I've got a couple of poachers on my land. Here's the information."

She assumed he called Dan by his title, which she hadn't once heard him use, to impress upon the men the trouble they were both in.

"They're both from Denver."

That said it all. They weren't cougars from the area or they would have known not to trespass here.

"All right. We're going to check out the birds they killed." Hal continued to eye the men with irritation.

She noted that not once had they denied they had killed any.

"Nope. They didn't take them with them. They heard us riding up on horseback and figured they'd take off on foot and pretend they didn't know anything about this. They just didn't realize that they'd not only have to deal with a deputy sheriff, but a FWS Special Agent also, who's trained in investigating poachers and more when it comes to the harm done to wildlife."

Watching the men's reactions, and knowing they wouldn’t get much more than a tiny fine and a slap on the wrist if they'd just shot some ducks illegally, she suspected more was going on here. Hal cast her a look that said he thought the same.

So what
had
they shot?

Hal handed them back their licenses after taking down all the information, seized their rifles and secured them, then remounted his horse and motioned for the men to walk with them.

It was killing Tracey not to ride ahead of the men, but she stuck with Hal, ensuring the men didn't decide to take off. They were both sweating now and looking nervously about.

"So what did you shoot?" Tracey finally said. "Couldn't have been birds."

Neither man said anything.

"What else visits the pond?" she asked Hal.

"Everything. Big game, when it gets hot and dry like this. Bull moose, mountain goats, bull elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep." He paused when the men looked guilty as sin. "You killed a bighorn sheep?"

"Jail time and damn big fines," Tracey said, furious, but glad something would be done about it. She suspected that because of the cougars running things here, they'd give them the maximum sentence they could.