Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
B arry rubbed down Buddy. He’d progressed from halter breaking his horse to putting on a bridle and saddle. Buddy wasn’t a fan of a tight cinch, but Barry was taking his time working with the animal. He wouldn’t put any weight on that saddle until Buddy was one hundred percent okay with the tack.
“Barry?” Andrew’s voice from the front of the barn had him leaning over the stall door. “In here.” Seeing who was with Andrew, he put down the curry brush, then gave Buddy his last carrot and stroked him down the neck. “See you tomorrow, Bud.”
He stepped out of the stall and offered Roman his hand. “Good to see you again. I think?” He looked at Andrew, who was tightlipped and appeared to be pissed .
Roman shook his hand and looked around. “Is anyone else here?”
“Gary and Dolan just went to the bunkhouse. I take extra time with him.” Barry nodded toward his horse.
“Good.” Roman leaned against the stall wall. “I’ve been doing some digging. I didn’t like that Jackson Gill could disappear so easily, so I had one of our computer experts take a look. They’re a hell of a lot better than I am, but because this wasn’t a case we were working on, I had to wait until they had time and could run down the information.”
“Okay. Thanks for that.” Barry knew the guy didn’t have to take the case further than he’d already gone for them.
“No problem. Let’s just say I hate leaving problems out in the wind. I’m a neat and tidy type of person.” The guy chuckled at his own joke. “Jackson Gill’s last digital marker was in South Sioux City, Nebraska.”
“Which puts him in our neck of the woods.” Andrew nodded.
The realization that Fish’s brother could be the one causing all that shit was a weight off his shoulders and simultaneously a huge worry. “What kind of skills does he have?”
“That’s a damn good question.” Andrew looked at Roman.
“He was trained in the same way you were. Escape, evasion, cover, concealment. He isn’t a sniper by any means. The only thing he had trouble with during training was shooting the M4. He barely qualified each time he had to fire.”
“Which is probably why he didn’t kill you or Tegan when he was shooting at you from that knoll,” Andrew added.
“Well, I’m thankful he’s a terrible shot, but how do we go about smoking this guy out?”
“Barry’s right. Neither of us is safe until he’s found, charged, and put away.”
“That’s going to be the tough one. Right now, all we have is speculation, and local law enforcement doesn’t have the manpower to scour the thousands of acres surrounding Hollister,” Roman acknowledged.
There was no doubt about that. Barry looked past Roman to the vast horizon visible from the barn door. “So, we’re back to ground zero.”
“Not necessarily.” Roman smiled. “I can gather some equipment, cameras that detect motion and heat. We can surround the ranch house, the bunkhouse, and any other structure you’re concerned about. We’d have immediate alarm capabilities that would funnel to whoever you wanted to respond. It isn’t perfect, but it is protection.” Roman stood away from the stall wall. “And if this guy has been living off the land since all these things started to happen, he’s lean. No matter how good you are, the elements take a toll. He’s going to need to restock.”
“All the small ranchers are on guard; I don’t think the man has gone south enough to be on Marshall’s property. ”
Roman chuckled. “He hasn’t. If he does, he won’t know what hit him.”
“How’s that?” Barry asked.
Roman looked at him for a long moment. “Guardian Security has a … presence on the ranch.”
“Oh.” Barry blinked and then looked at Andrew. “The men that come through the town?”
Andrew nodded. “The ones everyone welcomes and no one talks about? Yeah.”
“Huh.” Barry shrugged. “Guess I was too far inside my own head to worry about people passing through.” He turned to Roman. “My girlfriend and mom’s houses. Can you monitor them? Mom is right in the middle of town, but Kathy is out on the edge of town. I’ve been staying away because I didn’t want to draw anyone to her location.”
“Yeah, sure. We can hook them both up with all the bells and whistles. I’ve been given a blank check for equipment. Manpower is something we can’t provide at the moment. Someone’s working on that, though.” Roman spread his hands. “I wish we could do more.”
“Man, I’ll sleep a lot easier knowing his family and my women are safe.” That weight seemed to get lighter and lighter as he talked to Roman. “And you’ve done more than anyone has, so for that, you have my eternal gratitude. I’m not Guardian, but if you ever need anything from me, I’m there for you, man.” He extended his hand and gripped Roman’s in a tight squeeze .
“Whatever it takes, my friend. I’ll get that equipment and some techies here to set it up. Figure two days, max, before it all arrives. I’ll give you a call when I’m heading up here to get things installed.”
“Thank you.” Andrew shook Roman’s hand, too. “Never thought I’d have a need to call you in on something, but this is just …”
“Unusual, to say the least.” Roman nodded. “Believe it or not, unusual is my specialty, and I know enough people who like to have all the answers that we figure it out.”
“I’ll walk you back to your vehicle,” Andrew said, and they headed out of the barn after one last handshake from Barry.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Buddy’s nose was right there, thinking he still had a carrot. When he didn’t get one, the horse snorted at his attempt to pet his nose and walked away. There was still a lot of work to be done with the big guy.
Barry smiled and pushed the icon for Kathy’s number.
“Hey!” She answered almost immediately.
“Hey, yourself. I just had some great news.”
“Really? What? Mitzi, put that shoe down.” He heard her snap her fingers. “No. Sorry, she’s fascinated with my heels. I don’t wear them often and just pulled them off the shelf. You’d think they were made of steak. Honey is being such a good girl.”
Barry laughed at Kathy’s monologue and decided to hedge a bit because Andrew once told him to forget he’d ever met Roman, so … “Someone Andrew’s working with is bringing some security equipment for your and Corrie’s houses.”
Kathy made a noise in her throat. “How expensive is it? I have a small savings account, but …”
“Nothing.” He’d pay for everything—hell, he’d put it on a payment plan if he had to, but the safety equipment was going in the houses.
“Are you sure?”
“Yep. Donated stuff.” He guessed, but if not, it would be donated by him.
“Okay, then. When? Not tonight, right? You’ve got a date, if you recall,” she purred, and boy, did his body take notice.
“Believe me, I haven’t forgotten. I’m just finishing with Buddy, then grabbing some dinner before I clean up. I’ll be there at seven. How’s the community hall looking?” He knew she and a couple of others had spent the day decorating and putting up tables for the turnout.
“It looks great. We used twinkle lights and Edison lights for the outside area, and Declan set up a dance floor outside. Stephanie had some tiki torches that we put on the perimeter past the parking lot. It’s going to look amazing at night. Oh, and don’t eat too much. Tegan has half a cow waiting to be grilled. Declan was fussing that he would run out of cold beer because he had to put so much meat in the coolers. ”
“It sounds like they expect the entire town to show up.” Barry chuckled and sat down on a stack of hay bales.
“They are. And most of the town and the ranchers will stop by, at least to make an appearance.” Kathy sighed. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” He glanced around the barn just to make sure he was alone. “Maybe we could sneak away for a while tonight.”
“Don’t you threaten me with a good time, mister.” Kathy laughed. “I’d like that, and I was thinking, why don’t we go to Belle or Spearfish for a weekend? Could you get someone to watch the dogs and Buddy?”
That was one hell of an idea. “Yeah. Damn, why didn’t I think of that?”
“Because you’re worried about recent events and have been focused on them and work, and I don’t have either of those pressures. Oh, and Mom wants to know if you’re coming to Sunday dinner. I told her probably not.”
“I don’t want to put them at risk.” If Jackson had a vehicle … but he didn’t think Jackson had one, someone would have reported it. Stray vehicles were noticed pretty quickly when all you saw on a daily basis were cattle, horses, and antelope.
“I can’t wait for this to be over. I hate now that we’re … well, you know, together, we can’t actually be together.”
“Do you mean now that we’re having sex?” He taunted her with a small laugh after his question.
“Yes, that. ”
He could practically hear the flush in her cheeks turning darker. “I think with the new help Andrew has gotten, it’ll be over sooner rather than later.” With as bold as the guy had been with the rattlesnakes, it wouldn’t be long before he tried something. And with the cameras and security systems, it would be only a matter of time before the guy was caught.
Barry heard the sound of the dinner chimes at the main house and looked at his watch. “I better go if you want me there on time.”
“Okay, I need to let the dogs out and then jump in the shower.” Barry may have groaned a bit at the thought of her wet and naked. “I heard that, and I agree,” Kathy said. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” Barry said and disconnected. He really needed to catch a break and have that shit end. Taking two steps backward was normal. Setbacks happened. He could only control how he reacted to the events. The thoughts raced through his brain, and he stood up, frowning. He really needed to get Doc Wheeler out of his head.