Forty-five
Cap looked at his big brother for help. There was no way he was going to tackle the redhead holding a shotgun, because they all knew Bree wasn’t afraid to use it. ‘Ryder?’
Ryder rolled his eyes. ‘Bree, you will not spend the rest of your life in prison for murdering this douchebag.’ He stepped forward and in some seriously fancy military move, he’d removed the shotgun from her hands and unloaded it in a matter of seconds.
‘Hey, that’s my shotgun. Give it back.’
‘No.’ Ryder rested it on his shoulder. ‘The first rule of murder club is no witnesses .’
‘I’ll back you up, Bree,’ said Dex. ‘I’ll supply the rope.’
‘Stuff the rope, let’s use the chain,’ said Charlie, poking at Gavin’s chest. ‘We don’t like anyone hitting women round here, boy.’
‘No one is murdering anyone.’ Cap stepped up, playing his part as the family’s peacemaker, and put himself in front of Gavin.
‘Can I at least hit him?’ asked Dex. ‘Just one punch, or five.’
‘Oh, me too. I’ve always wanted to play dentist.’ Bree tried to push past Ryder.
‘No.’ Ryder held her back. ‘Dex, stop stirring up the redhead.’
Ash calmly strolled up to Gavin with a grin on his face. ‘You know what would work in this situation?’
‘What?’
‘If you were to leave.’
‘Fine. No problems, I’m happy to go.’
‘Nah, mate, I don’t think you’re getting me,’ said Ash. ‘You need to leave the Territory. Because Bree and her grandfather know everyone, and the Territory is a small place. None of the locals like women-hitters, which is what you are.’
‘Mia lied. It was just an accident.’
‘We all saw the damage you did.’ Cap’s fire instantly refuelled, to hiss through gritted teeth. ‘The bruises.’
Sarge growled and Cap gripped his halter. ‘Easy, boy.’
‘Get that dog away from me.’ Gavin stepped away with his eyes widening.
‘It was you!’ Mia made stabbing motions at Gavin with her finger. ‘You poisoned Cap’s dogs.’
‘Mia? Is that true?’ Cap was so stunned by her words, he nearly let go of the dog.
‘I’ve got him, Cap.’ Ash took control of the shepherd’s halter.
Charlie poked up his hat’s brim. ‘Girlie, are you saying this mongrel who hit you, also poisoned Cap’s dogs?’
‘I wish I’d thought of it sooner, but it only made sense now.’
Dex stepped right behind Gavin. ‘Don’t move, arsehole. It seems we have some unfinished business.’
Gavin struggled to swallow. ‘Mia?’ His voice was strained.
‘What makes you think this mongrel poisoned my dogs?’ The thought made Cap’s blood boil.
‘Gavin is a diesel fitter for the mines,’ said Mia, facing the man who’d plagued her nightmares. ‘Lead is everywhere. I know lead is used to line the tanks that hold corrosive liquids that are commonly found on mine sites. It’s also in the big batteries for their machinery, and there are stacks of them in Gavin’s workshop at the mine.’
‘Why would he do that, girlie? He doesn’t know us.’ Charlie squinted at Gavin like he was rotten meat. ‘I’ve never met the bloke until today.’
‘Because Gavin is working for Leo. It’s why he hasn’t left the Territory, because Leo was going to pay Gavin double what he was getting at his old job if he didn’t mind getting his hands dirty.’ Mia wagged her finger at him. ‘Leo is your boss. He’s paying you, isn’t he?’
‘It’s a job, that’s all.’ Gavin shrugged. ‘Easy money to buy that farm you always wanted.’
Mia shuddered, holding up her palm to make him stop talking. ‘You confronted me in the car park at the campdraft because you’d followed me back from the dog tent. It’s why Leo made such a fuss over Willow at our display tent about owning her. It was a distraction, so Cap would come running, leaving his dogs unattended, where you poured the poison into their water bowls. I watched Leo text you when it was all over after I’d won Willow. He was texting you to warn you that Cap might come back!’
She then pointed to the back cage of Gavin’s ute. ‘That dog cage on the back of your ute, I know it’s new. Which doesn’t make sense when you hate dogs!’
‘So? Some people don’t like cats.’
‘I bet it was you who let those wild dogs out on this property.’ She shook her head. ‘I was there when Cowboy Craig told me about the tyre treads on the vehicle used to dump those wild dogs on this property. He said they were special all-terrain tyres commonly bought by concrete cowboys.’ She pointed to his car’s tyres. ‘I remember the fuss you made in getting these and how it took ages for them to arrive. Bree would recognise the tread. She was there.’
‘Me, too,’ said Charlie. ‘And Craig took pictures on his phone.’
‘It was you who hurt the dogs. YOU.’ Mia stood right before him stabbing her finger at him. ‘Leo paid you, didn’t he? Go on, be a man and admit it.’
‘Yeah, alright. As soon as Leo told me he’d seen you here, shacking up with these mongrels, I did all of it—’
‘You arsehole.’ Cap saw red. His hands squeezed tight into fists, and he lashed out at Gavin. Bang bang . Two quick punches into Gavin’s right eye, in the same spot Mia wore her black eye. ‘That’s for Atlas.’
And he was just warming up, to let loose with another flurry of lightning-quick punches that smashed into Gavin’s nose, the gristle and bone no match for Cap’s fists. ‘And that’s for all those wild dogs we had to put down, too.’
But Cap wasn’t done; he still needed to dish out some justice. Yet, he waited a beat for Gavin to take a swing, just like they’d all been taught.
Gavin swung.
Cap ducked, deflected Gavin’s punch, to hit hard with his elbow, clipping Gavin’s lips in the same place Mia had her fat lip.
Gavin collapsed to the ground, and Cap booted him right in the ribs. ‘And that’s for Mia.’
Even though Gavin was a bloody mess kissing the dirt floor, Cap dragged the cretin up by the shirtfront. ‘If I ever see you again, I will play by the rules of murder club, and I will take you to that watering hole to meet those crocodiles myself, and I will watch them tear you limb from limb.’
‘Cap, please stop.’ Mia tugged on his arm, pulling him away as Gavin fell back to the ground.
Dex leaned down and checked over Gavin. ‘You’ll live.’
‘Good. Time to leave.’ Ryder roughly dragged Gavin like a rag doll, shoving him into the driver’s seat of the maroon ute. The big man then said something quietly to Gavin that made her ex’s eyes widen in terror, before he quickly drove away.
‘Well done, brother.’ Dex patted Cap on the shoulders. ‘We taught you well.’
‘I’ve never seen you fight, Cap.’ Ash arched his eyebrows at his brother. ‘You’re always stopping the fights as our peacemaker.’
‘Sometimes you have to make war to get peace,’ said Ryder, watching Gavin’s ute drive away.
‘I’m sorry, Mia. I know you told me to keep my temper, but after what you said about the dogs, I couldn’t let him get away with that. Not after what he did to Atlas, and especially to you. I want you to be free from him, to live without fear.’ With his sore, bloodied hands, he cupped her cheeks, only to pull back. ‘I’m getting your good clothes all dirty.’
‘Dirt never bothered me. I know I’m all about saving the environment and being a peace lover, but that was hot. The rush of the whole confrontation, and you, you’re so nasty.’ She giggled.
He chuckled, slinging his arm around her shoulders, using the crook of his elbow to bring her close. ‘I’d do it for you again in a heartbeat. But Bree?’ He showed the redhead his fists. ‘Have you got anything in your witchy kit for knuckles?’
‘Come on, you big bad hero, I’ve got a freezer full of ice and a jug of gin with your name all over it, we’ll fix up those cuts in no time. If your brother gives me back my shotgun?’ She narrowed her eyes at Ryder.
Ryder peered down the empty barrel. ‘This shotgun is a mess. It looks like it’s been buried in the dirt somewhere.’
‘So what, if it has? It would’ve worked.’
‘What are you worried about, kid? You’ve got plenty of shotties stashed all over the place.’ Charlie grinned at his granddaughter, as the Riggs brothers raised concerned eyebrows at each other. ‘But I reckon you boys have earned yourself another invite to pizza night. We can celebrate Mia’s win.’ Charlie hooked his arm through Bree’s. ‘What do you lot say?’
‘I’m in,’ Dex said. ‘I’ll get the beer and we can spend the night convincing you to give us our cattle brand back.’
‘You can try.’ Charlie gave a coy grin, his grey eyes sparkling.
‘Harper, get Mason. It’s pizza night over at the caretaker’s cottage.’ Ash jogged after Dex and Ryder, heading for the farmhouse.
Beside his Tojo, Cap hugged Mia, admiring her lively aroma of orange blossoms. ‘You do realise you told me you loved me, in front of everyone?’
‘I did. I’ve never done that before.’
‘Are you sure it’s not too soon for you?’
‘I knew the second I saw Gavin earlier today that I didn’t love him. I never loved him. Not like I love you. I settled for him because Gavin desired me, when I didn’t think I deserved better, and then I came to fear him and that fear made me fear everything. But since coming to Elsie Creek Station, I’ve learned to push past my fears to find true love, like I have with you. Because of you I found my courage to try to do more, live more, and to take the centre stage in my own personal arena.’
‘I’m sorry I missed your event.’
‘Maybe next year?’ She grinned at him. ‘And we’ll see which one of us gets the higher points.’
‘You’re on.’ He cupped her cheeks and lovingly kissed her. He might not know how to be a romantic, but he sure as hell knew how to show her how much he loved her in one kiss.
As the sun set over Elsie Creek Station, the campdraft might not have gone to plan, but in the end, he got the girl. And that’s what mattered to him.