40. Duke
DUKE
If I ever let anyone think that I’m a good, stand-up guy, I’m proving how wrong they are tonight outside of an Oklahoma strip club.
It’s two a.m., and the rain has been falling in a steady drizzle since we got here twenty minutes ago.
Sam is to my right in the passenger seat, a bow in his hands.
“Don’t kill him,” I warn.
He nods, brushing his fingertips over the string.
I’ve watched him aim right for a man’s eye and shoot him at point-blank range. He never misses.
As we slowly approach the truck near the corner of the parking lot, I hear the distant sound of female laughter and the steady bass bumping inside the club.
Holden is on his way, but he’s an hour behind us. It’s just me and Sam here now.
We’ve been tracking Matt for days, ever since Sandy ghosted Dallas. We’re hoping he’ll have the boys with him, but this is the first time we’ve finally decided we had to escalate our efforts if we wanted to find them.
We followed the location of my phone, driving all the way to Oklahoma. Luckily enough, we found out it was still in Matt’s truck, which we’re walking up to now.
“When we find him, I need you to make sure I don’t kill him before we find out where the boys are. Got it?”
Sam nods again. I trust him with my life.
I’m assuming our target is inside, getting his dick wet, and to avoid witnesses, we plan to wait for him to come out.
But on the off chance there’s something of interest in his truck, we’ve decided to scope it out.
I feel for where the hidden key was last time, under the driver’s-side tire. To no surprise, it’s gone. My eyes travel over the passenger seat. All I see is a pile of fast-food bags and an empty bottle of Jack Daniel’s.
“Bust it out,” Sam says.
I shrug, figuring it can’t hurt. He won’t be capable of driving again anyway when I’m done with him.
After the last four days of causing my girlfriend the pain and agony of thinking she might never see her sons again, I have big plans for her ex-husband and his family, who helped him kidnap her kids.
Big fucking plans.
I pull my pistol out and press it up to the glass.
The silencer on the end will keep it from making a loud noise when it fires.
I pull the trigger, shattering the glass and shooting into the passenger seat.
I reach in and unlock the door and pull it open.
I search through the pile, looking for anything of use, maybe a receipt for a motel where the boys might be.
After finding nothing, I move to open the back door, freezing when I see what’s inside.
Two sleeping little boys rise to the sound of the door opening.
“Cowboy?” Dawson whispers.
My heart nearly shatters inside my chest. I hide the gun behind my back, shoving it into my jeans.
“Hey, buddy. How are you doing?”
He looks down at his brother. Dutton’s pushing his bottom lip out, looking like he’s about to cry at any second.
“We miss Mommy,” Dawson says, and I can tell he’s trying to be brave.
“You know what? It’s your lucky day. I came to pick you up and take you to see your mom. Does that sound like a good idea?”
They both nod, immediately moving toward me.
Dutton wraps his arms around my neck. “I hungry.”
“Cool. We’ll stop and get something to eat. You can have whatever you want, as long as it’s open.”
Dawson reaches for my hand. My body shifts into survivor mode. I want to break down right now. I want to crash the fuck out and strap Matt inside this truck and blow it up.
But I have to get my shit together. I have to get these kids out of here, then deal with him.
I turn around to face Sam, whose eyes are wide and focused on the twins. He’s speechless. We didn’t expect to find them here.
In a fucking strip club parking lot.
“Boys, this is my other cowboy friend. His name is Sam. Isn’t his bow cool?”
They nod in unison.
“He’s gonna help me get you into my truck and we’ll find a place to eat. How does that sound?”
I turn back to Matt’s truck, gritting my teeth when I don’t see any car seats. Of fucking course he doesn’t have any.
I scoop them each up in my arms, walking calmly in the drizzle of rain with Sam on my heels. We make it to my truck. I deposit the boys into the back seat.
“Cowboy, I hungry,” Dutton says.
“Okay, buddy, let’s go get a snack now. What do you want?”
“Chicken nuggets and Goldfish.”
I slide into the driver’s seat. My hands are shaking so bad that I can barely get the key into the ignition of the old pickup.
Sam picks up his phone. “Should I text to let them know?”
I shake my head. “No. No paper trail.”
It sucks, but when there’s a murder investigation, our phone records could get pulled. The one Sam has is new and not traceable to him or me, but we had to get it to track my old phone and find Matt.
I hope to God the fact that I reported it stolen a few weeks ago is enough to keep my name off of the suspect list.
I twist the key in the ignition and drive out of the lot toward the closest gas station.
After sending Sam in to get the boys a snack, I tap out a message on the burner phone I purchased a few days ago.
Duke
You almost to the spot?
Holden
Fifteen minutes.
Duke
We have a surprise for you.
Holden
Good kind or bad kind?
Duke
The best fucking kind.
Sam hops back in the truck, a bag of snacks in his hand.
“All right, I got Goldfish, Ritz Crackers, grapes, Cheetos, and blue Gatorade. They didn’t have chicken nuggets, sorry buddy.”
“Yes! I love blue,” Dawson says, leaning over the seat.
“Did you get green?” Dutton asks.
“Ah, sorry, buddy. They didn’t have green.”
Dutton sticks his lower lip out, pouting. I open the bag of Cheetos and hand it back.
“Man, you couldn’t get green?” I ask him.
Sam shakes his head. “They didn’t have it.”
I frown, turning back to Dutton. “What if I get you green tomorrow? Will that be okay?”
Dutton nods, munching on a Cheeto. “Okay, Cowboy.”
“Cool.”
Dutton leans forward, wrapping his little arms around my neck. “I love you, Cowboy. Can we go see Mommy now?”
Emotion chokes me. I pat his hands, attempting to hold back the tears threatening to fall and failing.
“I love you too, buddy. We’re going to see your mom really soon.”
Sam is driving the truck with the cattle trailer and a very drugged-up man thrashing around in the back of it.
It was my idea for him to bring the trailer with him. We’re cattle ranchers. It’s normal for us to drive a long way to pick up a horse or a bull from another ranch.
In this case, I knew none of us would want to be inside a vehicle with Matt for that many hours.
It’s still dark when we make it back to Redford Ranch.
The boys slept most of the way, thankfully, but Holden had to take over driving so I could get in the back with them when Dawson woke up with a nightmare and wouldn’t stop crying.
He finally fell back asleep on my stomach, his little fist wrapped up in my shirt.
When we pull up to Holden’s house, where Dallas is staying, I lift both the boys up and carry them up to the porch. Holden unlocks the door and pushes it open for me.
I walk in and make my way toward the guest room on the first floor, where I know she is. The door is cracked, so I gently push it open.
Dutton lifts his head. Light from the lamp in the hallways spills inside. Dallas is buried under the pink striped bedding.
I sit on the edge of the bed, gently laying the boys down. “Wake up, Mamas. I got something for you.”
Her eyes flutter open. They’re bloodshot from crying, dark circles heavy underneath them.
“Mommy!”
Then she registers who I just brought back to her. She shoots up from the pillow with a sob. Dutton jumps on her, followed by Dawson, who was still half asleep when I carried him in.
“Oh my God, oh my God!” She sobs into their little shoulders, clutching them tightly to her chest. “My sweet babies!”
Tears are streaming down my cheeks when her eyes rise to meet mine.
“Thank you,” she sobs.
“Mommy, I missed you!” Dawson whines, clinging to her neck. “I missed you so much.”
“Mommy missed you a thousand times more, baby, a thousand times more.”
“No, I missed you mostest,” Dutton says.
She’s still sobbing uncontrollably. Her hand reaches out to grab my wrist, pulling me into their hug. My arms move around the three of them, squeezing them tightly to my chest.
“They’re home now. They’re safe,” I whisper into her hair, my voice hoarse.
She pulls back, shaking her head. “No, they’re not. Not yet.”
And I can see it in her eyes—exactly what she wants me to do.
Darlin’, you don’t even have to ask.
Moonlight Ranch is unique.
It’s got a lot more water than Redford Ranch, which means it can run more cattle. It’s called Moonlight because of the beautiful reflection of the moon on the water.
And right now, it’s looking prettier than ever.
“Do you remember the first time we met and I told you that I would put you in the hospital?”
Matt is choking from the rope around his neck, but I can tell he’s trying to answer.
“I was lying. And I don’t usually lie. I try my best not to make a habit of it, you know? Moral upbringing and all that good stuff. But I’ve decided the hospital is too … comfortable. I think I’d rather put you in the ground.”
I walk the other end of the rope back to my horse and saddle up. I wrap it around the horn of my saddle and click my tongue, gently pulling back on the reins. Lady Liberty obeys instantly.
I wasn’t sure she would, considering she’s used to my rope being around a bull’s horns and not a man’s neck.
But she does exactly what I want.
I watch his shadow writhing, gargling sounds coming from him as he struggles to breathe and slowly suffocates to death.
When he draws his last, I finally feel like I can inhale fully for the first time in months.
Sam is waiting nearby, flipping his knife open and closed patiently, letting me have my fun. Another reason I love my best friend: he isn’t judgmental.
He watched me kill a man and thoroughly enjoy every second of it, and now he’s going to help me dig his grave.
And we’ll continue on this friendship without ever speaking of this night again.
The sun is starting to rise, and the birds are chirping. We’ve been up all night with this hunt, but thankfully, it ended with a satisfying kill.
Sam finally approaches the body, lifting the knife to cut him down. The thud on the dirt is like music to my ears.
“Let’s dig,” he says.
And just like that, the nightmare is finally fucking over.