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“Do you want me to carry the shotgun, the combat knife, or the garrote wire?” Ben asked, reminding me that he was once in the Marine Corps.
“I need you to be my witness that I didn’t do anything stupid,” I replied, grabbing my keys. “And possibly bail me out if I do.”
* * *
West’s ranch had a pair of ostentatious metal gates with two rearing bulls topping the metal twists. I gunned the truck, heading at a clipped pace down the driveway, and dust flew off my tires into a tornado. I didn’t care. I would tear through the goddamn place if I had to. I didn’t care about the quirky signs or the horses grazing on the land. All I needed to do was find West and the woman I’d had slapped with cuffs and dragged to jail—if I had the power.
The house was a carbon copy of the hundreds of ranch houses in Texas, with a multi-storied, long porch, sandstone bricks, and red slate roofing. I stomped on the brake, yanked the vehicle into park, and jumped out.
I marched up to the door and banged on it, my fist clenched so hard the pain reverberated up my arm, but I kept pounding until West yanked the door open and stepped out.
The moment he saw me, his gaze went haughty and scornful. “What areyoudoing darkening my doorstep?”
“Repaying the same unexpected visit you did when you dropped on my doorstep,” I snarled. “Your Miss Hernandez almost crashed into—” how was I going to describe Rayna so they wouldn’t get suspicious. “—Miss Everett’s car yesterday. Care to answer that, West?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replied coldly. “She never said anything to me.”
“Well, Miss Everett said it to me, and she described the hideous jeep she was driving as well,” I added. “The big, black jeep you retrofitted into the size of a dinosaur. Give it up, West. I demand a confession and an apology.”
“You’ll get nothing,” he sneered. “You have no proof.”
“Get her down here now,” I ordered.
“Miss Hernandez is otherwise engaged,” he said smoothly. “Even if she were not, I would never subject her to answering your baseless claims.”
God knew the only thing I wanted at that moment was to put my fist through his face, and from the smug smirk he wore, he knew it too. If I didn’t know he could sue the skin off my ass and wipe my face with it, this dance would have long ended with his jaw spinning to the other half of his face.
West stepped closer, a malicious glint in his eyes. “You want to use that clenching fist of yours, caveman? Go ahead, do it.”
“If you don’t know that I can see a trap from a mile away, then you ain’t as smart as you think you are,” I replied icily. “I won’t lie, I’d love to see your smug face eat dirt, but you’re not worth the trouble. Especially when you’ve been trying to up man me for years but still aren’t even close.”
His eyes flashed with fire, and I knew I’d broken through a chink in his armor. “Admit it, West; you’re jealous of me. The poor, uneducated simpleton who has more clout with his piddling five-thousand-acre ranch while your eleven thousand is still trailing miles behind. Isn’t that so, West?”
“Get the hell off my ranch before I have the police throw you off like the trash you are,” he snarled.
“Same to you,” I replied. “If you step anywhere near me, I’ll have a restraining order slapped on you so quick, your head will spin. And tell your woman I will have the confession, one way or another.”
Not caring about his glare searing over the side of my face, I hopped down the few steps and strode to my truck, glad when Ben jumped inside in a second. Before I turned the vehicle, I saw a shadow at the window above the porch and spotted Maria there right before she dropped the curtain.
Otherwise, engaged my ass.
I drove home, mindful not to let my anger wrap us around a tree.
“You rattled him back there,” Ben said when we were half a mile away.
“I’d have preferred to rattle his teeth in his head,” I replied as we got to the highway. “Pompous asshole.”
“For a moment there, I was wondering if you were going to accuse him about the calves, too,” Ben added. “But I’m glad you didn’t.”
I hated to admit I’d forgotten about that part; all I wanted was justice for Rayna. “He doesn’t need to know that yet. But he will when we get a few solid leads to make us legally look his way. We need to reel that fish in before we fry it.”
When we returned to the ranch, I was taken aback when I saw Rayna’s car parked at the front drive. Before I could run off and find her, I gave Ben instructions about revving up the surveillance around the ranch and to let me know if we needed more equipment.
“Will do.” He tipped his hat.
I returned to the main house, hopped to the front porch, and headed inside my office—but she was not there. I turned around and nearly ran into Sarah, who pointed me in the right direction. She was on the porch with Sam, flipping through a magazine.
Rayna looked up while I was discreetly looking over her for any sign of bruises or injury. Just as she told me, though, she looked unharmed. I leaned on the doorjamb and crossed my legs, “My, my, what do we have here?”
