AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Please do.”
“Yes, ma’am. If you’re ready, we can head back.”
“I am.”
He watched her nudge her horse and the horse ran off. She could definitely ride. With a grin, he nudged his horse and tore off after her. When she glanced over her shoulder at him, he saw the surprise in her eyes, then nudged her horse again and took off like a shot.
Alex shook his head, kneed the horse, leaned over its head, and ran after her. He soon caught her, and passed her. He chuckled when he heard her laughing.
After returning to the barn, he cooled the horse, put it in its stall, then strolled to where Dylan was putting her horse into a stall. She glanced at him and grinned.
“A time or two?”
Alex grinned. “At least.”
“So, now what?”
“I’ll get to work on this. I want to see if any other cases had the fence cut before any livestock were stolen, but that could be hard to prove. I’ll be in touch. Have a nice evening, Dylan.”
“Thank you. You do the same… Alex.”
He smirked, touched the brim of his hat, and strode to his truck. He needed to get the hell away from her because he was way too attracted to her, and he couldn’t do anything about it as long as he was on the case.
When he got home that evening, it was late. He was so tired, but he needed to eat first, then he’d hit the sheets, and hoped he slept like the dead…
Alex had his gun raised as he crept through the trees. In front of him were two men standing near the fence, their voices a low murmur. He paused to look around for the other three agents and spotted Creed McBride on his left, Macaulay ‘Mac’ Carter on his right, and Eli Hawkins behind Mac. Alex saw Creed nod at Eli who stepped out from behind the tree, weapon in hand.
“Livestock agents, drop your weapons and put your hands up!” Elishouted.
The two men spun towards him, but Alex knew this wouldn’t end well. Meanwhile, he heard someone coming up behind him; and before he could turn around, he felt an intense pain along his lower jawline close to his earlobe as a gunshot rang out. All hell broke loose as more bullets began to fly.
Alex hissed in a breath at the pain; he could feel warm liquid running down his neck and knew he’d been grazed. Pain seared through him once again as another shot caught him in the back just below his collarbone sending him crashing down to the ground. He could hear someone shouting, but with every passing second consciousness escaped from him as blood drained from his body...
Alex jerked awake and sat up. He raked his fingers through his hair and blew out his breath. So much for sleeping like the dead. Damn nightmares.
“You’d think after three years, you’d stop dreaming about it,” he muttered as he turned the light on, tossed the blanket aside, and went to the kitchen.
He removed a bottle of water from the fridge, twisted the cap off, and drank half of it. He heard the pet door flap and saw his Golden Retriever, Peaches, enter the kitchen. She sat in front of him and stared up at him.
“Hey, girl. What are you up to? You look too innocent.” Alex grinned as she tried to get closer.
He walked back to his bedroom, with the dog on his heels, set the bottle on the nightstand, and sat on the edge of the bed. Agent Mac Carter lost his life that night and Alex, Creed, and Eli had been lucky. Those men were going to kill them too, but more agents arrived. The thieves ran and were never caught. Alex wanted them so badly; he could taste it, and he knew Eli and Creed felt the same.
Alex turned out the light, slid under the sheet, closed his eyes, and prayed for sleep. Without the dream.
Chapter Three
Dylan sat on the sofa drinking wine while Peyton and Marlowe sat on the floor, playing with Zoey. Her mind was on her bull and someone stealing him. They had no right! She sighed.
“Anything from the agent?” Peyton asked her then tickled Zoey’s belly making her giggle.
“Not yet. I’m so pissed that Travis lied to me. Again. That’s all that man does. He wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped him the face.”
“You shouldn’t be surprised that he lied, Dylan. It’s all he’s ever done,” Marlowe said.
“I know, but this is different. He told me he was in Missouri. Why would he say that if he wasn’t involved with the taking of my bull?”
“Now that I don’t get. Why would he be involved?”
