Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
“Shots?” Logan jerked in his saddle, his suntanned face twisting up with the word. Even in the shade of his hat, he was squinting hard at them as if he wasn’t quite sure he was seeing them.
“We’re not talking whiskey,” Cole muttered.
“Someone shot at us from your property. I’ve got the bullet holes in my truck to prove it.”
“You’re talking fucking crazy!”
Cole waved behind him, motioning in the direction of the truck. “You can come see for yourself.”
“Fuck you! There ain’t nobody here.”
Cole was ready to climb over the fence and pull Logan down off his horse. If they hadn’t seen him ride up, it was very tempting to point a finger at this bastard, naming him the shooter. But just because he wasn’t here didn’t mean he couldn’t still be guilty.
“So, you haven’t seen anyone acting shady on your property? No trespassers?” JB asked.
“Just the two trespassers I’m lookin’ at right now.”
“You better keep an eye out and get your own house in order. Don’t want to get pulled into a shooting. Daddy won’t be pleased about that,” JB said with a smug smile.
“Get the fuck off my land!” Logan roared, his face turning bright red, but JB was already starting to walk toward the road. Cole met Logan’s glare for a moment before he followed behind JB.
Cole remained silent until they’d reached the tree at the top of the rise and started down the other side toward the truck. “What do you think? He wasn’t the shooter.”
“No, he wasn’t, but he’s scared.”
“You think?” Cole tipped his head to the side so he could see the serious expression digging lines into JB’s face. It wasn’t too often he saw this dark side of the man. There was usually a smile on his lips. While Cole was glad to see that he was taking this seriously, it was a shame it meant losing his beautiful smile.
“I could see it in his eyes. I don’t know whether he’s surprised that someone was on his land taking shots at us, or that this person nearly got caught.”
“He could have told this person to shoot at you.”
“I know. I don’t like this. It’s a fucking mess.”
They jogged across the road. It looked like the shooter had managed to bury at least three bullets in the vehicle. One took out the rear passenger tire and another embedded in the tailgate, while the final one broke out the rear window. A few more inches to the left and it would have gone right through the back of JB’s head.
While they replaced the tire with a spare, they debated calling the cops. The police would need to at least follow up with Logan and the people on his ranch. It would be nice to shake them up a bit, but JB was certain the cops would brush the entire affair off as stray shots from someone scaring off a predator or even ricochet from target practice. They already hadn’t done much about the report of poisoning. At the end of the day, there wasn’t much to go on.
Cole wasn’t willing to let this get to the point where JB was a corpse to finally convince the cops that something was happening in their backyard. They needed to track down this lunatic before more than just a couple of cows ended up dead.
Chapter Fifteen
Cole’s temper built as they drove to the house. JB could have been killed. The thought of this world without the good-natured man stirred something in Cole. A darkness that tugged at his chest. They were both quiet on the drive to the ranch, and the silence grated on Cole’s last nerve, but if he opened his mouth, all the anger swirling in his system would come spewing out. He gritted his teeth and held it in, but it grew larger until he was a living ball of fury.
It was only when they’d reached the guest house that Cole felt that he had control of his temper enough to speak. “I really think you should call the police.” He stood with his hands in fists at his sides in the small living room. He tried flexing his hands, tried to shake off the anger, but it was too strong, like a living entity in his chest. He kept seeing a different outcome with JB on the other end of those bullets.
JB frowned at him. “I told you, they’ll write it off to a stray bullet from a ranch hand going after predators.”
“Well, that’s not what it was.”
“No.” JB ran a hand through his hair and stalked into the kitchen. He slammed a few cabinet doors, then started a pot of coffee.
“Really? That’s what you do now? Make coffee like this is just an ordinary morning?” Cole stomped into the kitchen after him.
JB turned toward him, still frowning. “What would you have me do, Cole? Besides call the police.”