Raising a Cowgirl (9 page)

Diego stood staring out his window waiting impatiently for word that something right
had happened. The idiots had bumbled the first mission, killing the woman
,
but they had found a business card of a woman who had suddenly called into work.
His men had the best money could buy of
resources
in the United State
s
, no one could hide from him.

Although he wished the woman had
cooperated
and given them the information they needed
. N
o matter, she had felt his wrath.
They all would.

His phone rang and Diego grinned. They had found the child. “Yes,” he said darkly
into the phone, keeping his men afraid of him was the only way he could maintain control
f
r
om where he was located.

“Sir, we miscalculated
,
”
h
is man said.

“What do you mean
—
you miscalculated?” Diego barked into the phone.

“We found the woman, she logged into her computer from a hotel. When we arrived there
were already two men there waiting for her. We had to improvise, but they were prepared.
One of the men took the baby, and the other one protected the woman. We shot and
hit the woman, but they escaped
,
”
t
he man said reluctantly.

“So you left a mess?” Diego growled.

“No sir, we killed the
clerk
who could identify us, took the video
,
and got out of there. The cops were arriving when we left. We are clean
,
”
t
he man
said
.

“You had better be or I will kill you myself. Now, I have a backup plan because I
had a feeling that you were going to fuck this up. Fall back, and let me call the
appropriate people. I
can’t
afford for anyone to tie me to this mess yet. They will come for me before I reach
my goal. Wait for my call
,
” Diego ordered and hung up the phone.

One good thing, he did have a backup plan like his father always taught him. He would
not fail his father
—
revenge was at hand.

Diego picked up the phone and called in a favor from the scum who owed him money.
His men could not be caught when they had already established a cover
. H
e would have to use mercenaries. The one he was thinking of would sell his own mother
if he could.

A Family Comes Together

"I know we could both go on with our lives and we could both be fine, but I've seen
what we could be like together and I choose us."

Unknown

Jolie slowly became aware of her surroundings. She remembered the pain in her arm,
and the two men she had never met before yelling. Then she looked down and saw the
blood and it was all over.

Jolie didn’t do well with blood. She grimaced as she moved. Her arm was wrapped
in something, holding it close to her chest, and she heard rumbling. She was in a
car.

“Where?” she licked her lips and whispered.

“We are going to the airport. Here take this, it's something for the pain,” a voice
said.

“No, Sammi?” She struggled to open her eyes.

“She is here, and fine. We need to get you both to safety. We don’t even have time
to stop. Take the pill, I will wake you,” the voice said and she nodded opening her
mouth. Her arm hurt so badly, but she could feel the safety surrounding her. They
would take care of her.

“Hey darlin', wake up,” a voice said to her and she moaned.

Shit, the pain was worse. What the hell had happened?

She licked her dry lips again and said, “Where?”

“We are landing at a small airfield on a friend's spread. We have someone waiting
for us to check you out,” the voice said and she opened her eyes.

They were unfocused, she blinked several times trying to clear the cobwebs from her
brain.
What the hell had they given her?

When her eyes finally focused a little, she was staring into the most beautiful blue
eyes she had ever seen on a man. His piercing stare held her gaze as he grinned.
Holy shit
, she wondered if he was aware that his face was so gorgeous. Full kissable lips,
dark hair, and a strong chin and cheekbones.
Hell, she was freaking dreaming.
Plus, this was not the same hunk that grabbed her and kissed her in the hotel lobby.
He was just yummy, too, although he had blonde hair and blue eyes.
They were like sexy bookends
, she thought and wanted to giggle.

“Awe, you are cute,” she whispered and tried to raise a hand to the man's face, but
yelled when she felt the pain coming from her right arm. That brought back the memories
of why she was there.

“Sammi?” she croaked and tried to sit up.

“Gage has her,” the man pointed to the large man sitting in the chair across form
them in the small airplane who was sleeping with the baby’s head on his chest.

“Okay, who are you, and what the fuck is going on? I know Marie is dead, I saw the
news reports. What have we gotten into?” Jolie demanded still struggling to sit up.
“And help me up!”

The man laughed but helped her. “My name is Sheriff David Conner, that's Gage Loman,
he is godfather to Sammi.”

“And where the hell has he been while all of this was going on?” she said, feeling
guilty the moment the words left her lips. It wasn't his fault—the fault lay on the
men who were chasing them. This was crazy, she moved until she was comfortable enough
and looked down. Her shirt was hanging limply at her side, cut in half and covered
in blood. She was wearing only her bra and sweatpants that were also blood covered.
Her injured arm was tied to her body with what looked like a pair of pantyhose. She
frowned and looked around. Was there a woman here, too?

“Uhh, sorry, those are the flight attendance spare hose, they are clean,” David said
weakly and she rolled her eyes.

“At this point, I don’t think I should worry about that. I am pretty sure I should
be worrying about who was trying to kill me,” she said dryly.

“Oh right,” David said flustered when she realized he had still been staring at her
silk covered breast.
Well, at least she had clean underwear on
.

“Spill it,” she ordered and waited. Gage began to speak without opening his eyes
from across the cabin. His sexy low grumble flowed over her as she tried to figure
out what the fuck was going on.

“How about you tell us first?” Gage said and peeked open one eye, not moving so he
didn’t disturb Sammi, who was snuggled in his big arms.

“Oh?” she said in surprise. “Marie called me on Monday morning from a pay phone at
a gas station, said she needed to talk to me privately. I am a Social Worker at the
VA, and I told her to come in and we could use a conference room because she seemed
worried about people seeing us. She agreed, and when she arrived, she was in a panic.
At first, I couldn’t understand what she was saying. She was talking about a phone
call, and being watched. Seriously, if I had not known she was the most
levelheaded
person I know, I would have thought she was going crazy. Anyways, she told me someone
had contacted her. Threatened both her and the baby unless she met with them. Something
about Ted’s job. She refused and they sent her a text message of her on the phone
talking to them. Marie had no idea what they wanted, but she said she had a bad feeling.
She wanted Sammi away when she met them, in case they tried to hurt her. I tried
to get her to call the police and the Commander, but she said they told her they were
monitoring her calls and following her. She had an appointment at the VA for counseling
and told them she had to keep it or the Commander would be notified. They agreed,
but she had to go to them directly after the appointment. She did exactly as they
said, called her boss, and took leave saying she needed to take care of something.
When she came over, she brought the baby’s bag and gave me a phone number with instructions.
I was supposed to leave, check into a motel, and wait. I did what she said to the
letter, and then I saw the news when she didn’t contact me on the disposable cell
she brought with her. It was crazy, I knew I should have called someone, but she
was desperate. I agreed and here we are.

"Now what the fuck happened at the hotel. I remember noises and pain. That's about
it,” Jolie snarled and waited.

Gage lifted his head and looked at David. Jolie turned to them and was struck with
the feeling they could communicate without speaking. “Were you a member of the team
as well?”

David smiled, “No, I really am the Sheriff of a small town called Healing in Wyoming.
I met the guys there when they moved onto the ranch. Gage just became a Deputy with
me, and we have become fast friends.”

“Oh, gay? You know don’t ask don’t tell?” she said.

“What? NO!” Gage yelled and sat up, waking Sammi who startled. She began to cry
and Gage looked at David with terror in his eyes. She could have laughed but didn’t.

“Give her to me,” David said softly and took the small bundle. It only took a few
moments for him to sooth her and put her back to sleep. Gage was shaking his head
in wonderment.

“Well you know more than we do, but we are going to find out,” Gage said grimly.

“What do you know?” she whispered.

“Marie was tortured and beat in order for them to find out some information,” Gage
said and Jolie gasped and looked at them with horror-filled eyes. “Sorry, that came
out coldly. She was my best friend's wife, and like my sister. Right now, all I
can think about is getting you to safety and finding the son of a bitches who started
this.”

Jolie nodded but still felt the tears fall as she thought about what her friend had
gone through,
it was terrible
, she felt a rush of anger. “I stay until you figure this out.”

Gage raised an eyebrow and said to her, “Not like you had a choice.”

“Oh, well, I am saying I will cooperate,” Jolie said and blushed. “Now what is going
on right now.”

“We are waiting, when we arrive to the ranch we have armed guards and security being
installed even as we speak. Sable, which is Alex and Slone's wife, is waiting for
you with the doctor. Lou, our honorary grandmother, will be there as well,” Gage
said and then waited for it.

“Uh, you said Sable, was married to Slone and Alex? Uh, I don’t get it,” Jolie said
confused.

David is the one who answered, “Healing isn’t like many places you have been to.
They are accepting of everyone’s lifestyles. The town was built from families who
shared women way back when. In the Old West, it was easier if they shared women because
of the harshness of the land. One could even say it became the norm back then. Healing
stood on its morals. Women were meant to be cherished not hurt.”

“Oh, well, it doesn’t bother me. I mean, I am not one of those people who judge others.
So I think we are good.” Jolie smiled and looked at the two men. She wondered briefly
if they had a woman they shared.
Surrounded by these two would be like heaven.

“We are landing,” Gage said and held out his hands for Sammi who made a happy cooing
sound. Jolie noticed he was gentle with her, although slightly uncomfortable he didn’t
shy away from holding her.
Cute
.

“Let’s get you buckled up,” David said and helped her move into the seat and get her
seat belt on. She felt the descent and was anxious to see where they were. Jolie
had been out of California only a few times, she never had enough money to travel
the way she wanted.

The landing was smooth and fast, she was surprised when they announced they were on
the ground and opening the doors. The bright sun beat down on her when she exited.
It was a different kind of hot there, dry and brutal. She sighed though, finally
in the sun again, last night she had not been sure she would make it to see a new
sunrise, and today she was in Healing, Wyoming.

Her eyes drifted and noted the lush green grass, and the animals.
Wow, there were a lot of cows here,
she thought. There were several large trucks waiting for them. Jolie gasped when
she had to jump the last step and it joggled her arm.
Yep, this is what it felt to be shot by a gun
, she thought and made a noise, which cause both of the men to pause and make sure
she was okay.

A small woman jumped from one of the trucks and rushed to her. David took off his
hat out of respect, and Jolie felt a jolt of surprise at the action, men just didn’t
do that anymore.
Heck, if her mother met these two well-mannered men she would have her married to
one of them in a week.

“Sable,” Gage said and moved Sammi to the other arm and put his free hand around her
waist. “This is Jolie Trime. She took care of Sammi for Marie. Jolie, this is Sable,
Alex and Slone's wife, and basically our mother hen.”

“Oh you,” Sable said and slapped him in the arm. “Ignore these twits. The doc is
on his way. And hopefully we can get you all settled and resting before all the banging
starts again.”

Jolie was confused but nodded in agreement. This woman was a ball of fire, talking
fast, and helping her move to the truck. Hell, Jolie looked like an Amazon compared
to Sable, but she directed her carefully. She looked over her shoulder with a pleading
expression to both David and Gage, who were smirking behind her.

Jolie narrowed her eyes and said, “Thank you, Sable, I haven’t eaten in twelve hours,
with all of this crap going on, I haven’t been hungry. But I am feeling a little
sick right now.”

Sable paused and turned to glare at Gage and David. “Seriously? You didn’t feed
her even a cracker and she has been shot and drugged by you!” Sable yelled and both
of the men grimaced.

Jolie stuck out her tongue at the men while Sable was turned around chastising the
guys. Both of them looked like they were deer in the headlights opening and shutting
their mouth trying to get a word in edgewise.

“Get that baby in the car, I bought a car seat. And when we get back to the ranch,
Lou is going to want a word with you I am sure.” Sable finished and turned around.
“Come on, Jolie, let’s get you to the ranch. Lou made some vegetable stew and fresh
bread, it should be done.”

Jolie actually felt her stomach grumble at the mention of a home cooked meal. She
wasn’t much for cooking, especially since it was only her. Making Mac-n-Cheese microwave
cups were the extent to her culinary ability, and every once in a while, she got a
little wild and added a chicken breast.

Getting in the truck seemed to be a little difficult and finally David swept her in
his arms and settled her in the front seat. She gasped at the contact with him.
Once again, she felt the zing of awareness. What the fuck was going on with her?
She was going to have to take a cold shower at the rate she was going.

David and Gage got into another truck and followed. Sable chatted while they drove,
but Jolie was looking at the wide-open land.
Wow, this place was beautiful.
She saw a huge ranch house, with a wrap-around porch in the distance and loved it
immediately. When they pulled into that driveway, her heart began to beat faster.

This was her dream place. Somewhere quiet and secluded that she could decompress
after working. Dealing with PTSD could be stressful and exhausting. She could only
imagine what it was like for the servicemen. Since beginning to work for the VA,
she had seen the worst and the best of the military. Although she would never speak
out in public about things, she also knew what was right and wrong. The way the servicemen
who returned from war were treated—was not fair. It only made things more difficult
when trying to adapt into society.
How could they expect them to go back to being normal with the things they had seen?

She was so focused in her thoughts she didn’t realize they had stopped and she was
staring at a tree when Sable came into her view. She smiled and then tried to move
to get out. Tears came instantly when she moved and brushed her arm against the seat.

Suddenly, David and Gage were there, helping her get out. Jolie noticed an older
woman holding Sammi, and an older gentleman standing with her, smiling down at the
baby.

She stumbled a little and Gage swore under his breath, swept her up into his arms,
and stalked to the front porch. David was helping him by opening the doors, without
a pause she was taken upstairs into one of the biggest rooms she had ever seen.

It was cheery and inviting, decorated in appealing shades of yellows and greens.
She loved the fluffy bed they laid her on. She closed her eyes and tried to relax.
She hurt, and she was not too proud to actually pitch a fit pretty soon if someone
didn’t do something about it.