Chapter 25 #2
Working the horses on the track did loads to help Austin’s exhaustion, but little in the way of helping his heavy heart.
They worked Hooch without tiring the young colt, but they gave him a good run.
Austin rode his own horse, holding the reins to Hooch and one of their fillies, Little Lady.
They headed back to Kitt’s stable. Jose rode beside him holding the reins to the other two horses, and they kept at a slow trot until they came over the ridge by Kitt’s cabin.
The small hill gave them a perfect angle to see something was going on at Kitt’s barn.
Austin’s security team was involved. Several of them were in a standoff surrounding a man and Austin’s heart plummeted.
Had he been found out? Maybe this was the bad feeling he’d had hanging over him for days.
“Son of a bitch!” Jose yelled and brought his horse to an abrupt halt, effectively breaking Austin’s train of thought.
His first instinct was to barge down there to take care of the problem.
The paparazzi didn’t need to harass the Kellys to get to him, but he brought his horse to a stop at Jose’s words and action.
“Do you know him?” Austin called out.
“Stay back. It’s Kitt’s dad’s son-of-a-bitch old foreman. The one that sliced Kitt’s tires the other night!” Jose yelled and Austin furrowed his brow. He hadn’t heard that story, or anything about this guy.
“Stay back, I’ll handle it. If he sees you, the whole town’s gonna know.” Jose didn’t wait; he tossed his ponies’ reins to Austin and kicked his horse into a gallop, rushing toward the altercation.
=?=
“Verne, you know you aren’t supposed to be here.
” Jose dismounted his horse about three yards from where the old foreman swayed on his feet, surrounded by Austin’s security team.
They were still playing ranch hand but showed way more brute strength and aggression than a normal everyday run-of-the-mill cowhand.
The drunk old man looked angry and agitated.
His eyes crazier than normal as they focused on Jose.
“This is mine! This place is mine! He was gonna leave it to me, not that pantywaist son of a bitch!” Verne stumbled, but caught himself before he fell on his face.
“A fuckin’ wetback foreman…that’s fuckin’ bullshit!” Verne tried to spit at Jose but did little more than drool down his jaw. He was way too drunk to even form a proper spit.
Verne kept his hands in the pockets of his filthy jacket even as he stumbled around. That seemed odd, and Jose watched Verne’s hands closely, trying to see if it was possible the old man had a weapon.
“Verne, you need to leave before I call the law in on this. The courts say you shouldn’t be here. I’ll get someone to take you back to town, but you need to leave.”
Jose took a step forward. Verne kept swaying heavily on his feet, lurching around.
The security team stayed right on him, and Jose could tell it was hard on them not to just handle this situation themselves.
One of the security guards held a weapon in his hand, right alongside his leg, pointing it down toward the ground.
Had they been on Grainger land, Verne would be lying facedown on the ground, begging for his life.
“You’re a fuckin’ wetback cock sucker. Does he make you suck his cock?
Is that part of your job?” The question was so ludicrous it caught Jose completely off guard.
The hesitation seemed to piss Verne off that much more, like he’d got something right.
Anger flared in his eyes. Jose was completely unprepared when Verne snapped up a gun from his pocket, aiming it as best he could in Jose’s direction.
The Grainger security guards didn’t hesitate. Multiple shots were fired.
=?=
Austin turned the horses, holding on to all four of the young ones and moved slowly back to his barn when he heard gunshots.
He came to an abrupt halt, tugging hard at the reins of his mount.
He flipped around, dropping the reins to Hooch and the others and he took off toward the Kelly barn.
He hadn’t gone far, so it didn’t take long as he pounded forward in a full gallop, barreling up onto the scene.
His men’s weapons were drawn. Jose was holding his left arm, and the old foreman lay spread out on the ground.
Austin didn’t stop until he got to Jose.
“What the fuck happened?” Austin yelled toward his guards. Three were on the ground with Verne. Austin jumped off his horse and ran to Jose who held the side of his arm, blood dripping down. “Are you all right?”
“It just grazed me,” Jose said. A cowhand ran to them carrying several towels. Austin’s eyes were back on Verne as he stalked forward.
“What the hell happened?” Austin called out to Sam.
“He came on the property while you two were gone, saying all kinds of shit. We homed in on him as he went toward the barn. He told us to get out of the way, he was setting the place on fire.”
Two guards kept their weapons aimed at Verne, but Sam was down on his knee. He checked Verne's pulse as the other two performed CPR. He tried a couple of spots and shook his head toward Austin and Jose.
“He was breakin’ a restrainin’ order. Has anyone checked on Lily?” Jose forgot about his arm and palmed his phone, dialing her immediately. Her truck came down the trail from the main house as he put the phone to his ear. She must have heard the shots.
“Are you sure he’s gone?” Austin dropped down on his knees next to the security guard who pumped Verne’s chest. Another bent down, tearing his T-shirt over his head, holding it to the bullet wound at his shoulder. “Call nine-one-one.”
“We’re too far from any hospital out here,” Jose said.
“I heard the shots.” Lily came running for them, her phone in hand. “I already called the sheriff. He’s headin’ out here.”
“See if he can get a paramedic.” Austin took hold of the T-shirt, pressing down, trying to stop the blood flow. Another guard bent Verne’s head back and began mouth to mouth. They worked on Verne for several minutes, counting off, doing chest compressions until they finally got a faint heartbeat.
“There’s no time! Load him up, put him in the back of my truck.
Lily, call the sheriff back. See if he’ll meet us on the road, escort us in.
” Jose kept his tone normal, but his actions were anything but.
He moved quickly, giving clipped instruction to the guards.
Three lifted Verne, while three continued to work him.
“Jose, your arm.” Lily forced Jose to pause and tied a clean towel around his upper arm.
One of Austin’s guards was in the driver’s seat of the truck.
Jose jumped in beside him and they were off.
They wasted no time, speeding down the trail before either had their doors closed.
Lily, watching them leave, was back on the phone with the sheriff. His siren screamed in the distance.