34. A Thorough Stalker
A THOROUGH STALKER
R owan
I walked into my family barn and looked up at the current subject of our brotherly group chat. We’d been calling him a runt that we may have to put down soon. It wasn’t clever, but we did run a ranch, and we had animals that would get sick. It wasn’t unheard of.
After Aspen got a solid bullet in, Oliver had bandaged his leg up and thrown him in the bed of the truck.
Once he’d survived the trip back to the ranch, Theo was able to use some halfway decent military first-aid on him, and here he was—hanging out.
I chuckled at my own joke as I watched him sway back and forth.
My brothers were letting him down every couple of hours to eat and drink water. Just enough to keep him alive for this moment, and then he went back up in chains. I didn’t want him to be comfortable. I wanted him to suffer, so suffer he did.
I glanced over my shoulder as Theo strolled into the barn.
“How is she?” he asked.
“She’s okay. Banged up and bruised. Couple of broken ribs and a concussion we have to keep an eye on.
Ivy and Payton are at the house with her now,” I told him.
I knew I should’ve done a better job of keeping my brothers in the loop on how Aspen was doing.
They’d grown to really care about her over the last couple of weeks together, but I’d been in survival mode since the moment I laid eyes on her in that dingy motel room with her piece of shit ex.
“Good. His truck is in the ravine on the way out of town. They won’t find it for a while. Wyatt cleaned up anything that needed cleaning. Did you talk to the cops?”
I nodded. “Yup. Told them we broke in when we’d spotted his truck, and he took off running.
Got in his truck, and I wasn’t worried about him until I knew my girl was safe.
” I smirked, knowing that old Sheriff Levi wasn’t believing a word I’d said.
He’d been friends with my dad growing up, so I wasn’t worried about him trying to dive too deep into the truth of it all.
Aspen’s x-rays said anything I may not have been clear enough on.
My accident photos from my truck backed it up even more—as if we needed any more evidence to prove this fucker was a dead man walking.
When Wyatt and Theo had gotten there, they’d called the police over immediately, telling them briefly what they knew.
They were on their way out and saw their brother's truck smashed to bits on the road. When they’d called Oliver and me, we realized Aspen was taken by her psycho stalker ex-boyfriend.
Thankfully, her other stalker was better at his job.
The fucker had not only rear-ended my truck, he’d also rammed into the side at least three times.
I was shocked his truck was even drivable as many times as he’d rammed her.
But I didn’t care about the truck. I was just happy my girl was okay.
My brothers had brought him out here and watched over him until I could get Aspen back home and safe.
Which brought us here—to the present.
I walked over and picked up a dirty bucket of water we’d used to clean up some of the horse stalls earlier and threw the water on our guest of honor. He let out a half screech, half what the fuck at us, and I chuckled.
“Dumb fucker,” Theo muttered under his breath. “Do you want me to call the rest of the guys in, too?”
I smirked and pulled out my phone.
Me: Going to have to put down the runt after all. He isn’t going to make it through the night.
“There. Alert sent,” I said, my eyes not leaving the man of the hour.
His eyes were open, and he was panting now, looking down slightly at me.
We didn’t have to hoist him too high because he wasn’t a very tall guy.
He had barely an inch on my angel. I wasn’t sure why, but this made me hate him even more.
“Hello, fucker,” I said with a smile.
He glared at me, his mouth drawn in a hard line.
“That’s fine. You don’t have to speak if you don’t want to. The outcome will be the same either way,” I said. I walked over to the side of the barn and pulled out a branding iron. “Do you know what outcome that is?”
“Fuck you,” he mumbled.
“Oh, no thanks, you’re not really my type. You see, I prefer them brunette, curvy, and a bit spicy. I’m sure you know what I mean, right?”
He scoffed. “Nope. Couldn’t wait to sleep around on her, so I can’t relate.”
I rolled my eyes. I knew he was trying to goad me, and it wouldn’t work. Not with this topic at least.
“You drove over ten hours just to stalk her and try to kidnap her, so don’t think you’re fooling anyone there, bud,” Theo said from behind me.
I glanced back at him, and he was standing closer to the barn door, his legs wide and his arms crossed over his chest as if he was ready for a fight to break out at any moment.
Looking back at Samuel, I noticed he hadn’t spoken, but his eyes said it all.
“You’re angry.” I chuckled. “Now, that I get. I’m angry, too.
Ya see, I’ve never been much on the commitment train.
Childhood trauma. I’m sure you understand.
But the moment I saw Aspen? I was hooked.
The way she smiled and laughed. How she stood out in a bar full of people like the sun was shining on her in the middle of the night.
She was—no, she is magic. Pure and simple.
So when my brothers did some digging and found out some asshole from her past had been dead set on keeping her hidden—caged, hurt—you can imagine the kind of anger that brought out in me. Right, Samuel?”
He stared down at me, his mouth still in that hard line. Made me want to gut him like a pig. Instead, I let out a long breath through my nose. I could feel my twin next to me before he spoke.
“Not much of a talker, huh?” Wyatt said.
“Nah, doesn’t seem like it,” I replied.
“Fuck, there’s two of you? Is that why she chose you? Fucking you both? Makes sense for a fucking whore,” Samuel mumbled. I’m not sure if we were supposed to hear him or not, but it was pretty clear what he was saying.
I looked at Wyatt. “Damn, you’re fucking my girl, too?”
Wyatt chuckled. “Nah, I have a different gal in mind at the moment. Spicy like Aspen, though. I think they’d get along well.”
I nodded. “Makes sense. Can’t wait to meet her.”
Wyatt scoffed. “Yeah, me, too.”
I stared at him for a moment, unsure what that meant exactly, but now wasn’t the time to have a brotherly bonding moment.
“So, I’ve been wracking my brain with questions the last few days, sitting in the hospital room watching my girl come in and out of a drug-induced sleep,” I said casually.
Sam stared down at me before arching a brow as if asking me to proceed with my questions.
“What the fuck is your problem? Truly. You had an amazing girl who loved you, and you treated her like shit, abused her, and then chased her halfway across the country trying to drag her back. So truly, what the fuck is the deal?” I asked, my tone calm and curious.
He didn’t respond for a moment before he let out a breath. “She was easy. Easier than the others, at least. Didn’t ask questions, didn’t complain. I trained her well, and I didn’t feel like training another one.”
I rolled my eyes. “Truly, that’s pathetic. I was hoping for something…more, to make this sweeter.”
“To make what sweeter?” he asked.
“Your death, obviously,” Theo chuckled.
Sam’s eyes widened for a moment before he let out a disbelieving laugh. “You’re not going to kill me. Seriously? You’ll leave me here for a few days and then throw me in my truck…” His voice stumbled off at the end when he looked around at all of our faces. “You can’t be serious,” he whispered.
“Oh, some may say deadly serious,” I replied.
“You hurt my girl. The girl I plan to make my wife and carry my children. The girl I love with every fiber of my being. You came after her, hurt her, terrified her, and then tried to do it all over again. So yes, I plan to kill you. Anything to make sure my little angel gets her full amount of beauty rest.”
His mouth was gaped open for a moment before he started chuckling. “Oh, well, I guess she didn’t tell you, huh? I wouldn’t count all your chickens before they hatch. That’s the backwoods saying, right?”
I left my face blank, knowing he’d elaborate just to give himself more time to talk and stay alive.
“She can’t have kids, you dumb redneck. Doc said it’ll be next to impossible from all the…well, you know. Terrible accidents she had. The stairwell one really did her in for whatever reason,” he said with what I assumed was a shrug, although it wasn’t successful with him hanging the way he was.
The rage started boiling in my veins—not at the prospect of never seeing Aspen pregnant with our children.
No, I wasn’t even fully sure she wanted kids of her own, and it was her choice too.
I was happy either way. We could adopt if need be, or even just enjoy life as a family of two. Maybe get a cat. I just wanted her.
No, I was angry that it was one more thing this fucker had taken away from her. One more thing I couldn’t fix or heal or help with.
I gripped the branding iron tighter in my fist, and I heard Wyatt and Theo take a step back.
I knew Oliver was behind me as well, there if I needed a hand, but for this, I didn’t.
I walked up and swung the iron along his thigh, chuckling when I heard a sick cracking sound.
I swung again and hit him in the ribs, pleased when I heard another crack.
It took me a moment to really register that he was screaming. No words, just loud screeching noises coming from his mouth. It sounded as if he was gasping for breath. Broken rib must’ve hit something.
“I should’ve brought duct tape. I didn’t think about it.
I’m new at this, ya know?” I said calmly.
I looked up at his face and smiled as the tears streamed down them, and once he finally stopped wailing, I continued.
“Just so we’re on the same page and you go out of this world knowing how I feel—I don’t give two fucks if Aspen ever gives me children.
That was simply because you’re a piece of shit.
” I swung for the other side of his rib cage this time, and then I just went in like he was a pinata, and it was my tenth birthday party.
Theo stepped up next to me once I stood back, panting. He was looking at Samuel from a few feet away. “Well, say your goodbyes, boys. He won’t last much longer. Shocked he hasn’t croaked yet, honestly.”
I shrugged. I didn’t need some splendid torture session; I just needed to see the light fade from his eyes. I needed to see him disposed of and gone so I could tell my little angel that she was safe now. That was all I cared about.
So that was what I did. I stood there and watched as he paled and took his last breath. My brothers helped as I pulled him down, and we carefully dismembered his body to dispose of it around the many acres of our family ranch that weren’t fit to be built on.
No one would find him, and my girl would be safe.
Two hours after Samuel took his last breath in this world, I walked back into my house. It was a little after two in the morning, but I was in clean clothes again. The ones I had on had been burned in a burn barrel with my brothers. Some more family bonding time for us this evening.
I walked into the living room, and the girls were all sprawled out on the couch, sound asleep. I smiled and pulled the blanket up over my sister’s shoulders. I couldn’t even begin to tell her how full my heart felt knowing that Aspen had her in her corner now, too.
Ivy was already burrito-bundled at Aspen’s feet. Her eyes opened slightly when I leaned down over the top of my girl, and she smiled, going back to sleep. I slowly scooped up my angel, though. I wasn’t going to sleep without her next to me—ever again.
I cradled her against my chest and carried her upstairs to our room.
Tucking her into the plush bed, I undressed and curled up behind her.
She jumped slightly, but when I whispered against her ear, she immediately calmed down.
I hadn’t asked what had happened when Sam had taken her.
I had no intention of pushing her unless she wanted to talk to me about it.
She cuddled back against me, and as soon as I started to close my eyes, she spoke. “Did you shoot a tracking device in my ass cheek?” she whispered.
I felt my body freeze, unsure of how to go about this question at two in the morning. I assumed she’d ask me eventually how I’d found her; I just hadn’t come up with a single story that made any damn sense.
“Yeah, I figured as much. Thanks for being such a thorough stalker, cowboy, goodnight,” she whispered after a moment.
I smiled and kissed her cheek.
I’d be her thorough stalker forever, as long as she’d have me, and even if she wouldn’t.