Finding Forever (Smoky Mountain Lawmen Book 1) (17 page)

Sally
turned back to Ben as she released his hand.  “Well, you must be something
then.”

Ben
smiled down at her.  “No.  He just doesn’t scare me.  I’m bigger.  And he isn’t
the only one with a badge.”

Sally
laughed.  “I like this one, Gems.”

Gemma
hooked her arm through Ben’s and glanced up at him.  He grinned down at her. 
“Me too,” she said happily.

“Well,
good.  I’m happy for you.”  She turned to look at the crowd.  “You ready for
this?”

Gemma
nodded.  “Do you need my trailer closer or can the horses walk that far?”

Sally
started off toward the corral.  “The two that I want you to take can walk
there.  The worst ones are going to the ASPCA barn or to a couple of local
vets.  Yours just need some extra feed and hoof care.”  She unlatched the gate
and Gemma and Ben followed her into the pen.  “I’m guessing he only acquired a
few of them in the last few months.  There are several that aren’t as bad off
as some of the others.”

Sally
stopped at the line of horses tied to the corral fence.  She walked down the
line to the last two and started untying their ropes.  She had just handed one
rope to Gemma when a pick-up roared into the yard.  People scattered as it made
a beeline for the corral.  Gemma felt the steel band of Ben’s arm wrap around
her waist as he prepared to pull them from the danger. 

Just
as Ben started to pull her back toward the barn, the truck came to a halt
inches from the fence.  A red-faced man rocketed out of the truck and
practically tore the gate from the hinges, a shotgun clutched in his hands. 

“Who’s
in charge here?  You can’t take my animals!  You got no right coming on to my
property.  I told you people on the phone what would happen if I caught you out
here again.”  He cocked the shotgun.  People cowered behind any cover they
could find.

“Shit,”
Ben muttered.  Gemma mentally echoed the sentiment.  “You are a friggin’
trouble magnet, Gemma,” he said softly in her ear.

Gemma
was beginning to agree with him.

Suddenly,
the man fired the gun and buckshot peppered the side of the barn.  The horses
skittered and whinnied, pulling at their ropes trying to break free.  The one
she was holding reared and Gemma broke free from Ben’s hold to calm the
terrified animal.  The gun swung her direction as she moved.

“You! 
Let go of my horse!”  Gemma registered the sound of the gun cocking again, but
couldn’t let go of the terrified horse for fear he would trample someone. 

“I
said, let him go!”

Gemma
spared a quick glance at the man.  “I can’t.  You’ve scared him to death and if
I let go he’s going to hurt someone.”  Gemma saw Ben creep toward the fence. 
With the man’s attention on her, he didn’t notice Ben slinking behind the
horses so he could circle around the crazed man.  Hope lit in Gemma’s chest. 
If anyone could resolve this, it was Ben.

So
she’d keep the man’s focus on her.  “Why don’t you quit waving that gun
around?  You’re not helping your situation by threatening us.”

“I’ll
do as I please, lady.  This is
my
land.”  He motioned with the gun. 
“Now get over here with that animal.”

“If
you’ll let me calm him I can tie him up again and move away.  I mean you no
harm, sir.”

Ben
slid through the fence rail and followed it.  He could hear Gemma trying to
talk the man down from the frenzy he was in. 
Good girl
.  While he was
terrified to see the shotgun pointed at her, she was keeping the man’s
attention trained on her, so that he could end this. 

He
glanced around the yard and saw the sheriff’s deputies who’d already been on
site advancing toward the corral.  Ben, making sure the irate owner couldn’t
see him, flashed his badge at the deputies and waved them toward the vehicles. 
They took cover and Ben turned his attention back to the man and Gemma.

He
peered around the last horse and stifled a curse.  There was at least twenty
feet of open territory before he could get behind the man.  With the angle,
he’d never make it without being seen.  He saw Gemma’s eyes dart toward him and
it gave him an idea.  The man needed to turn toward the barn so that he could
get behind him.  He motioned to Gemma to get her attention.

He
quickly motioned with his hands that he wanted her to shift so that the man
would turn away.  By now, she had calmed the horse enough to hold his rope with
one hand.  She let go with one hand and let it drop to her side where she made
a quick okay sign.

“He’s
calm now, so let him go.”  The man advanced on Gemma several steps.  Ben
gripped the fence rail to stop himself from running out there.  He’d had enough
of people threatening his woman.  With the mood he was in, this jackass was
going to feel the brunt of Ben’s frustration when he took him down.

Come
on, baby
, Ben pleaded silently. 
Get the bastard to turn so
I can ambush him
.

“Okay. 
Please don’t shoot again.  I’m just going to walk him over here to the barn and
tie him to the post.  I don’t want him to get scared again and take off.  He
could hurt someone.” 

That’s
it, baby
, Ben thought as he watched Gemma slowly move toward
the barn.  The man turned with her, his rifle still pointed at her.

Ben
didn’t hesitate.  He ran out from his hiding place, stepping lightly, and snuck
through the still open gate.  He motioned for the deputies to be ready. 
Drawing on every ounce of his special forces training, Ben crept toward the man
thankful that Gemma was milking the task of tying up the horse for all it was
worth.             

He
made it within three feet of the man when the guy got irritated with Gemma’s
slow progress.

“God
almighty, lady.  How long does it take to tie up a horse?”  He took several
steps in her direction.  Ben froze to see what he would do next.  Gemma pulled
the rope tight around the post and lifted her hands.

“I’m
done.  He’s secure,” she said. 

“Good. 
Now who’s in charge?  You?”

Gemma
shook her head.  “No.  I’m just one of the trailer drivers.  I haven’t seen the
person in charge yet.  I got here right before you showed up,” she said,
stalling for time and not willing to give Sally up.

When
the guy started to move toward Gemma again, Ben knew he couldn’t wait.  If he
got close enough to grab her and Ben missed his chance to disarm the guy, Gemma
was going to be in a lot more danger.  He slipped forward, using his larger
size to his advantage, and grabbed the man’s wrist from behind, jerking the gun
up.  It spun the man around and Ben landed a solid left hook to the guy’s face. 
The gun pulled free from the man’s grasp as he landed in a heap on the ground. 
Ben quickly spun it around to aim at the man.

“FBI. 
You’re under arrest,” Ben said, his voice deadly calm.

The
man looked up at him incredulously, a hand pressed to his bleeding nose.  “The
feds?  How the hell are my horses a federal matter?”

“They’re
not, you jackass, but that’s my girl you just held a gun on.  We were just here
to help remove the animals from your property,” Ben stated, matter-of-factly. 
“Now, get up.”

The
man rose, cursing a blue streak, still clutching his nose with blood dripping
from between his fingers.  One of the sheriff’s deputies took his free hand and
twisted it around, leading him to a squad car.  Ben lowered the shotgun and
handed it to another deputy before turning to Gemma who still stood near the
horse.

He
was at her side in two long strides.  He wrapped his arms around her.  “Are you
okay?”

She
nodded against his chest.  “Yeah.”  She chuckled.  “I really do have the worst
luck,” she said, looking up at him.

He
grinned.  “You really do.”  Ben pushed the hair back from her face, his grin
slipping.  “Are you sure you’re alright?”

She
nodded and smiled up at him softly.  “Yes, I’m sure.  It’ll probably hit me
later, but right now, I’m fine.  You ended it before he could get
really
irate.”

Ben
kissed her hard, some of the adrenaline leaving his system.  He pulled back to
look down at her.  “You have no idea how happy I am that you’re one smart
woman.  You did exactly what I needed you to do and I didn’t have to say a
word.”

“That’s
because I know you,” she said.  “I’ve learned to read you, Ben Davidson, and
you were telegraphing loud and clear what you intended to do.”  She shot him a
sly look.  “And for the record, that whole grab and punch thing you did was
really
sexy.”

Ben
lifted an eyebrow.  “Is that so?”

Her
arms rose to circle his neck.  “Yep.”  She rubbed against him like a cat and
Ben had to bite back a groan.

“You
need to stop that.  There are people everywhere and I imagine one or two of
them are going to be over her any minute to take our statements,” he said
through gritted teeth.  Gemma’s curves glided along his torso, lighting a fire
in his blood.

She
giggled and moved against him one more time before kissing him hard and stepping
back.  Ben made a grab for her and brought her back against him just as someone
called her name.

They
both turned to see Sally walking up to them with a sheriff’s deputy in tow.

“I’d
ask if you’re alright, but I can see you came through just fine,” Sally said to
Gemma.

Gemma
nodded.  “I’ll admit to a little fear at having a loaded weapon pointed at me,
but I trusted him to take care of it,” she told her friend while gesturing to
Ben.

“I’m
very glad you were here, Agent, is it?” Sally said.  “I guess you really do
have a badge, and a pretty nice one at that.  I can see now why Tristan doesn’t
intimidate you.”

Ben
grinned at the comment.  “I’m glad I tagged along too.  Trouble seems to be
following Gemma around lately.”

The
deputy spoke up then.  “I’ll need to get statements from the two of you.”

“Give
us a couple minutes and we’ll come find you, deputy,” Ben said. 

The
deputy nodded and walked away, Sally following to give the man her own
statement.

Ben
turned to Gemma.  “I need to call Sheriff Raymond.  We’re going to have shift
tonight’s plan a bit.”

Gemma’s
shoulders slumped.  “I’m sorry, Ben.  I really thought we’d be out of here by
now and on our way home.”

Ben
rubbed a hand down her back, soothing her.  “It’s alright, Gems.  It’ll still
work, we just have to make a few adjustments.”

He
pulled out his phone and dialed.

Gemma
shut the stall door behind the second rescue horse and sighed.  She really just
wanted to go home, but now was the time for the show to begin.  She sucked in a
deep breath and straightened her spine.  If all went according to plan her life
would be back to normal tonight and the last few terror-filled weeks would be
just a memory.

Well,
most of it anyway
, she thought, an image of Ben popping
into her brain.  He would most definitely
not
be a memory. 

She
smiled and took off toward the offices to find Ben.

He
looked up when she entered her office.  The two officers who would be hiding
inside flanked him.

“You
ready?” he asked.

“No,”
she said.  “But let’s get this over with.  I want my life back.”

Ben
stared hard at her for a few moments, assessing her, before he nodded and
stepped forward.  “Let’s go then.”

Gemma
followed Ben out of the office and down the hall to the front door.  He pushed
it open and held it for her.  She stopped in the doorway like she was supposed
to and did her best to glare at him.  His imploring look told her she could do
better so she tried.

“Look
at me like I’m Tristan and I just ran off one of your dates,” he whispered.

Her
eyebrows immediately slammed down over her eyes and she crossed her arms. 

“That’s
better,” her murmured, fighting a grin.

She
held her glare just barely.  “Don’t you dare laugh, Benjamin.”

“Wow. 
If I didn’t know better I’d think you were actually mad,” he said quietly,
adopting an indignant and exasperated air.

“You
keep up the teasing and make me laugh and I really will be mad because you’ll
have blown the whole thing,” she told him, throwing her arms wide.

“This
is good.  See I told you, you could do it.  You ready?”

“Nope,”
she said, though her eyes telegraphed that she was in fact ready.  She was
conscious that there could be unwanted ears close by.

Ben’s
demeanor immediately changed and she was suddenly grateful that this was all
staged.  She wasn’t sure she could stand it if he looked at her like that for
real.  His eyes hardened to the color of cold steel in the light pouring from
the building and his jaw went rigid.  He straightened and seemed to grow
several inches.