Chapter 19
“Clark?”A man standing on the sidewalk looked around in shock as he saw the couple getting out of a truck. “Holy shit, you haven’t changed.” The man rushed forward and gripped Clark in a bone-crushing hug. They parted and introductions were made. “Hell, I think you’re bigger than you were in high school. You’re definitely in shape.” Jared grinned as he patted his own flat stomach. They saved any small talk until they were inside, and Naomi didn’t know if it was because it was a Monday or what, but they were seated immediately. She was grateful that Clark had requested a table and not a booth. It didn’t take the hostess long to move one of the chairs so Naomi could wheel up to the table.
Once settled they ordered drinks, and Naomi liked that none of them ordered alcohol. Not that it was a problem, but she knew they had over an hour to drive home, and she didn’t know how far the Hillards had to go. As they waited for their meals, they continued to talk, catching up. It wasn’t until after Clark finished his dinner and pushed his plate aside that he stared at his friend.
He looked at Naomi and smirked. “Rin is probably going to kick my ass for doing this, but I would like to invite you out to the ranch to discuss some matters that have been happening lately. We’ve run into some problems, and we’d like to know what we can do. Legally.”
“First, who’s Rin?”
“Erin, my sister.”
“I don’t know if I remember her. If you don’t mind my asking, why would she care if you invite me out or not? What does your father have to say about these legal problems? Doesn’t he have a lawyer to help him?”
“Shit,” Clark said as he hung his head and gripped Naomi’s hand she had laid on his arm. “Erin is the sole owner of Erin’s Way. Both Mom and Dad were killed over six years ago, and Rin lost her hand in that accident. Because I was still in the military, she inherited everything. I’m going to nutshell things here for you.” He looked over at Naomi again when she grabbed a pen and napkin and started drawing on it. He nodded and turned it toward Jared.
“Since Erin took over the ranch, she kept running Erin’s Way, but she also started another ranch on the property.” He pointed out what Naomi had drawn.
“This new ranch is still on the original property?”
“Yes,” Naomi said. “I am in charge of Broken.” Together, she and Clark explained what the new ranch was all about and what they did there, and why.
“Wow, that sounds like a fantastic thing she did. What do you need me for?”
“From my understanding, there are a couple of people that are trying to steal the horses back that Rin purchased from the SPCA. See, again, from what I had been told, the police or SPCA would get reports of animal abuse. It was investigated, then when there were horses involved, they’d contact Rin when these animals had to be removed from their current circumstances. It was safer to have them taken to Broken than leave them there, or have someone scramble to try to find room for them. This is what The Broken Wheel is all about.”
“Actually, they would contact me,” Naomi said. “I’m in charge of Broken while Erin runs everything else. I get the call, and the call is from the agency or the police that they need to house the horses. We have the room, and we are like fosters for them while the investigation is being conducted. At the end of the investigation, if the abuser is found guilty and convicted, then Erin gets the first opportunity to purchase the animals.” She shook her head and looked at the others with a smirk. “Most of the time, we’ve found that the judge would order the convicted person not to have any animals in their possession when they get out of jail. Part of the sentencing is they relinquish all rights to the animals they’ve abused, and that’s when Erin is offered to purchase them. Well, it’s not really a purchase, it’s more like a hefty donation to the SPCA or any other organization involved, and we receive ownership papers. From the second the horse is on Broken’s property, we document everything with photos and words.”
“Okay, I can see where this is going. What happened?”
“One guy served an eighteen-month sentence for his abuse of an animal. The day he got released, he showed up drunk and started screaming that Erin was a horse thief. We were able to contact the authorities and he was arrested. Oh, and he was drunk when he arrived.”
“Okay, but what do you need me for?”
“He was let go on bail. Weeks later, his brother and sister-in-law had animals taken away from them. To my knowledge, there is an on-going investigation for this couple, They both received bail. Then a few weeks after that, the brothers, along with four others tried to steal cattle from the Riceman ranch. Again, they were caught, arrested, and made bail.”
“Don’t forget that they shot Perry in the process of trying to steal the cattle,” Naomi said.
“And they made bail?” Jared asked in shock.
“Yes, but that’s not all,” Clark said as he turned to look at Naomi. “Tell him what happened on Denver’s first day there.”
Naomi took the next five minutes to explain everything, and the more she disclosed, the angrier Jared became.
“Are there documents on this?”
“Yes, I have copies of the police reports, as does Erin. I don’t know whether you know this, or if you do, if you remember this, but Erin’s Way doesn’t take up all three counties, but it is in three different counties. So, whenever we call the authorities, they all show up and they sort it out when they get there.”
“How big is the ranch?”
“Three thousand acres.”
“Damn.” Jared turned to his wife. “Do you want to go out to the ranch?”
“You can bring your children. I don’t know how old they are, but if you talk to Erin, we have enough hands to show them around.” Clark grinned at her and nodded toward Naomi. “We even have a cabin you can stay in.”
“Okay, but what exactly are you asking me to do. I love you like a brother, Clark, but I won’t put my job or my reputation on the line for you.”
“I’m not asking you to do that. I’m not asking you to do anything illegal, I’m only wondering why these assholes keep making bail for these charges they keep racking up when they come after us. From my understanding there’s a drunk and disorderly, cattle rustling, attempted murder, and I don’t know what the charges were, but they showed up at Broken with guns, trying to take their horses from there.”
“They made bail every time?”
“Yes, well, I don’t know about this last time, but I want to know what our next step should be. Erin said our lawyer isn’t really equipped to handle what we need. He’s like an estate lawyer, not criminal, or defense. I’m not sure what we’ll need. I would like you to look into the matter and see what our next step should be. Who do we need to hire besides our ranch lawyer?”
“Who are the brothers?”
“Philip and Ernie Firth,” Naomi said, and breathed easier when Jared pulled out his phone and made a note of the names.
“Do you know who their lawyer is?”
“No, that’s where we need you. By no means do any of us want you to put your job in jeopardy, but could you look into why these criminals keep getting out on bail? I don’t know the law specifically, but by my calculations, they’ve all racked up several felonies in the last year trying to take from us.”
“Also,” Naomi said as she finished her water. “Twice now, Philip showed up at Broken. He went directly there.” She pointed to the napkin with the drawing and used her knife to explain. “There is no entrance from the main road to Broken. You have to go past the main ranch to get here.”
“Do you think it might be an inside job?” Tessa asked. “Someone on the original ranch?”
“I don’t know,” Clark said. “I’ve only been home for three weeks.”
“No,” Naomi said. “Not from Erin’s Way or Broken, but definitely from the SPCA.”
“How do you know that?” Jared asked.
“Because a man by the name of Paul Miller was with the Firths the last time they tried to attack us. He has been at Broken before. He’s our contact from the SPCA.” Her statement left the others speechless, and they were quiet for several minutes until the waitress arrived to remove their plates. As they’d talked, Tessa had been on her phone.
She looked at her husband and showed him something on the screen and they used non-verbal movements to converse, before Jared turned toward the two of them. “Tess just showed me that we all happen to have this weekend off. We can be there around ten Saturday morning if that will work for you?”
“It will,” Clark agreed, then looked Naomi with a raised brow.
“Works for me.”
“I can discuss your case further with Dr. Rob, and bring everything with me,” Tessa said to Naomi. “I can even talk it over with Erin while I’m there.”
“That sounds good. I’ll give her the heads up on what we want to do. I don’t know if she kept up with her licensing or not, but we can find out.”
They slowly stood and left the restaurant. The Hillards stayed on the sidewalk while Clark got Naomi settled into the truck. After the door was closed, she called Tessa over to her while the men said their goodbyes.
“What’s up?”
“Talking about what happened with the Firths reminded me of something.”
“What’s that?”
“That night the Firths and Miller showed up with guns to try to take the horses that Erin had purchased, Philip Firth or Paul Miller, I’m not sure which one, did a flying tackle at me and knocked me out of my chair. That’s when I felt something, I guess you could say, give, and then everything else started to happen. I mentioned it earlier, but I just wanted to make double sure you knew and understood what I went through.”
“Got it, I’ll talk with Dr. Rob in the morning.”
“Thanks, Dr. Hillard.”
“Please, when we’re not in the office, call me Tessa. For this weekend, can we really stay in a cabin?”
“Yes, there are four bedrooms and each one has their own bath. I don’t know how old your children are, but each bedroom has a queen-sized bed.”
“They are nine and seven. The nine-year-old is JJ for Jared Junior. Molly is our seven-year-old. They had Scouts tonight. I think I’ll wait until further into the week to let them know we’ll be at a horse ranch this weekend.” Tessa rolled her eyes. “Molly is forever asking for a horse of her own.”
“I understand,” Naomi said, and they broke apart and went their own way. On the way home, both Clark and Naomi were silent until they had driven through Fool’s Gold.
“What?” Clark had looked over and caught a weird expression on her face.
“I’ll let you tell Erin that Broken will be having guests this weekend.”
“Gee, thanks,” Clark snorted a laugh, picked up her hand, and kissed the back of it. He continued to hold it the rest of the way home. Since they had left from Naomi’s house, Clark drove directly there. It took a few minutes to get her out of the truck, and because of who he was, he followed her up the ramp to make sure she made it inside safely.
Once they both entered, Naomi turned to stare at him.
“What? Do you need me to do something for you?”
“Yes, but I don’t need it. It’s more of a want.”
“Anything, Naomi, you can ask anything of me.”
“I know this sounds silly, but can you lie down next to me and hold me while I fall asleep. I have so many emotions running through me, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fall asleep.”
“It would be my honor.” Clark toed off his shoes as she wheeled herself down toward her bedroom. While he waited for her to call out to him, he busied himself with making sure the coffee pot was full and ready for the morning. When she called out to him, he made his way slowly down the hall. He wasn’t stalling, but he used the facilities, washed his hands and face, and went to her bedroom. When he saw she was settled in the bed, he shook his head.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, but when I move in here permanently, we’re going to have to rearrange this bedroom.”
“What? Why would we have to do that?”
“Because being the man of the house, it will be my job to protect you. Whether you’re in your chair or walking. To do that, I sleep closest to the door.”
Naomi looked at him in shock. “Oh.”
“Yeah, but we can discuss this later, I see that the way the room is set up now is the best for the wheelchair.” He walked around the bed and sat on the edge of it, sitting facing her. “Not now, but eventually I want to live with you. I like you, Naomi, and I want to see if we can have something between us. Nothing sexual will happen tonight, but it will soon. I want you to understand that from the get-go. If you have a problem with anything I’ve said, you’ll have to let me know now.”
Naomi smirked and shook her head at him. “No problems, except you’re over there and I’m over here. Not to be forward, but if you’re not commando, then why don’t you strip and climb beneath the covers with me?”
Clark threw his head back and laughed as he quickly stood and removed his shirt. As it cleared his head, he thought he heard her swearing, and he looked at her in concern. The expression on her face gave him pause.
“Keep looking at me like that, and things might happen quicker than I anticipated. One thing you need to know, I do not have any condoms on me.”
“Oh,” Naomi said as she licked her lips from the sight of his well-toned six-pack abs. She closed her eyes when his hands reached for the snap on his jeans. She didn’t open them again until she felt the covers pulled back. It took a few moments to settle herself on her side of the bed, and when Clark gathered her in his arms, she sighed heavily.
“Thank you,” she said, and didn’t realize how tired she was until she matched her breathing to his, and was soon asleep.
Clark followed close behind. When he woke the next morning, he would realize that was the best night’s sleep he had had in a long, long time.