Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (29 page)

"
He
hurt your sister, Karlie,
he
tried to hurt you...you had nothing to do with it
.  That man is a bully and if it wasn't you, it would be someone else he was hurting,
" Gabe insisted.

"Don't you get it?  He did it, because of
me
...because I took his dog and made him mad.
..maybe I should just give Sarge back to him, and he'll leave me alone.
"

"He's not going to leave you alone, Karlie.  That's not how bullies operate.  He'll keep harassing you, trying to hurt you,
and
he'll hurt Sarge.
  We need to stand up to him and finish this once and for all. 
That man tried to kill
both of
us today, and he's not getting away with it
,
"
Gabe told her fiercely
, then asked,
"Where's your backbone, sugar?  If you had enough gumption to hog-tie a cop on the side of the road
to protect that mutt
,
surely
you can help me stop
Jake Johnson
."

CHAPTER
SIX

Gabe had been in front of the computer screen for five hours trying to weed out the six-thousand five-hundred and three Jake
or Jacob
Johnsons in
Central Texas
. 
He'd almost rather be looking for that needle in a haystack
. 
More information is what he needed, a da
te of birth, social security number, driver's license number, even a mailing address would help. 

Shoving a hand through his hair, he got up from his desk and
walked to the break room. 
He had to get some caffeine in his system, or he was going to
pass
out soon.  It was nearly two in the morning, and he hadn't stopped, since they got the
Lincoln
towed back to the Double B, and he'd helped Karlie change the tire. 

It had taken Cody three hours to get to them, because he'd been on another run when Cole called him.  Gabe had planned on calling the admin office at the rodeo
,
when he got back to town,
to see if he could squeeze some information about Johnson out of them
,
without a warrant, but they'd gotten back too late
.  He'd just have
to call tomorrow.

Because h
e still hadn't convinced her that this situation wasn't her fault,
Gabe
been hesitant to leave
Karlie at the ranch
. With her penchant for running away when things got tough, he was afraid she'd leave and he wouldn't have any idea where she was going.  Before he'd left, he'd alerted Luke to keep an eye on her for him.
  He couldn't call to check in on her now, because he'd have to call the house phone, since her cell didn't work out there
, and it was too late, everyone would be sleeping
.

Maybe he could drive by and make sure her car was still there, before he went home and passed out.  At least maybe he'd be able to sleep
knowing she was still at the Double B and safe
.
  Tomorrow he
was going to convince
her to move in with him
, so he could protect her
.
  He'd almost had her saying yes
when he'd asked earlier, but that had been interrupted, while they fought for their lives
, and it
hadn't come up again after that.

Jake dumped out the coffee maker and started a fresh pot, leaning against the counter, while he waited for it to brew. 
When Cole walked in with a funny look on his face, his eyes red-rimmed and his hair sticking up all over, Gabe's heart stopped.  For him to get out of the bed with Sabrina in the middle of the night, something bad must've happened, Gabe thought.  "
What're you doing here?"

Cole walked to the cabinet and pulled down a big 'Don't Mess With Texas' mug then jerked the half-full pot of coffee from the burner, emptying it into his cup.  "Something's up at the Double B...Luke called me."

Gabe pushed off of the counter as fear pulsed through him, and he asked shortly, "What happened?"

"Someone knocked down a fence and half our herd is out on the road.  Someone ran over a couple of them...I have to go out there and help round them up.  Karlie, Wade and Luke are out there right now."

"Karlie's out in the middle of the night in all that?  That's not a good idea considering what almost happened today," Gabe said with concern.

"They need her help,
we can't lose our cattle, Gabe," Cole said then drank down half of his coffee in one gulp
and
flinched.  "You need to learn how to make coffee, man...this shit is awful."

"I'll come help..." Gabe said, not really relishing getting up on a horse after nearly fifteen years of not riding, but there was no way he was going to leave Karlie out there defenseless, if this turned out to be some kind of ruse
by Jake Johnson
.
..and it sure felt that way
to him
.
  "You sure a cow didn't knock down the fence?"

"Nope, it was intentional...someone used a wire cutter, Luke was sure of it...took out three or four lengths to make sure they could get out.  Even Luke's new bull is out
there
somewhere...he's really pissed."

"Now you see how crazy this bastard is?"  It had to be Jake, Gabe thought, and he had a motive behind it, "I swear Cole, I'm not sure I'll be able to contain myself, if I catch him, he's terrorizing Karlie, and could have killed her
and
me today."

"You don't know that he did this, Gabe...watch jumping to conclusions.  It could have just been teenagers out late playing around."

"The farms out that way are pretty spread out, Cole...that's not likely."

"Well, even if it's not teenagers, that doesn't mean that Jake Johnson is responsible for it.  We need to wait and see, before we draw that conclusion
,
"
Cole said trying to reason with him.

"Wait til what? 
Til h
e really hurts Karlie or s
omeone else?" Gabe spat angrily, then shoved a hand through his hair.  "I'll reserve judgment, but we need to check his alibi
,
find out just where he is,
where he
was
today and tonight.  If that clears, I'll stop throwing blame on him."

"You still want to help?" Cole asked him through tight lips.

Gabe nodded and they walked out of the kitchen toward the front of the station.
  When they got to the Double B, all the lights were on in the house and the barn, and Cassie was on the porch swing drinking coffee.  She waved at them and they walked up to the porch.  "Morning, ya'll...there's fresh coffee in the kitchen if you want some.
"

Cole shook his head and asked her solemnly, "Luke and them out in the back pasture?"

"He
reached
some of the hands and they're fixing the fence
. 
Karlie and Wade
are riding
on the road to try and herd the
cattle
back through the gap...
and
I guess Luke is going back and forth helping all of them," Cassie said with worry in her eyes and a frown pinching between her brows.

"We're going to head out there and see what we can do to help.  You need anything before we go?"

She shook her head and warned, "I'm fine
, d
addy is getting dressed to come sit out here with me in a minute.  Ya'll just be careful, it's really dark out there tonight. 
I don't know if Luke told you, but s
everal cows were killed by cars
, so b
e
sure to
grab a reflective vest from the office in the barn
, and a rifle too
.  There should be a couple out there
, and some ammo.
  Never know what you'll run up on out there."

"Thanks, Cassie," Cole said then walked back down the porch steps toward the barn.  When they got there, Cole got a
g
ray gelding out of the stall and tied him in crossties, then walked to another stall and led a sorrel mare out then handed Gabe the lead.  "I'll help you saddle her in a second, help me get some tack," he said then walked toward the tack room, and Gabe followed.

When Cole finished
saddling
the gelding, Gabe told him, "I can do this, why don't you go get vests for us and the rifles.  I should be done by the time you get back."

Cole's eyebrows lifted and the corner of his lips quirked up.  "So you're a cowboy after all, huh?  Go figure..." he said then turned to walk toward the office.

No, Gabe wasn't a cowboy, but he knew which end of a horse to avoid, and how to saddle one.  He wasn't a total greenhorn, it had just been awhile since he'd ridden,
and he wasn't a huge fan of it,
largely
because he
hadn't
gotten back in the saddle the last time he'd been thrown by an ornery
mare
on his daddy's farm
.

He was fighting to get the horse to take the bridle and bit when Cole walked up with the vests and rifles.  Setting them down on the ground, he took the bridle from Gabe and pressed a certain point on the horse's jaw and she opened for him the first time so he could slide it right in, then put the straps over her ears.  He grabbed the reins and handed them to Gabe, then warned him, "You better check that she wasn't holding air when you saddled her or you'll wind up under her belly."

Gabe just looked at him dumbly, because he had no idea how that process worked.  He'd gotten the saddle on, and cinched it up tightly, that's all he remembered he had to do.  "Um...can you check it
for me
real quick?"
 

Cole chuckled, then walked beside the horse and slapped her belly.  She shifted her weight and Gabe saw a good bit of slack in the girth, and he cringed.  He would have wound up under the mare, if Cole hadn't said something. "Whew, thanks, man...that would have been ugly."

"Some things you don't forget...that's one of them.  I wound up under one once and that's all it took to burn it into my memory," Cole hooted then readjusted the straps, so they were tight.
  He picked up the vests and rifles, then handed one of each to Gabe. 

"There's a scabbard on the side of the saddle, just slide the rifle down in there," Cole told him then swung up on the gelding's back and said, "Let's go catch us some cows..."

Gabe was a little slower getting up in the saddle, but he managed and then balanced himself trying to relax his seat.  "After you," Gabe told him then Cole turned his horse and headed out the back of the barn.  Gabe's horse automatically followed.

When they cleared the gate behind the barn, Cole kicked his horse up to a trot, and Gabe's horse picked up his speed as well, rattling his teeth and jarring him in the saddle.  He grabbed the horn trying to put a little space between the saddle and his balls that were getting squashed with every downward motion. 

He sat back on his butt a little more and moved his legs a little farther forward to ease the pressure. 
It got a little easier to stay in the saddle, when he moved up to a
faster lope
and the horse jarred him less. 
After a few minutes, h
e was actually enjoying the night air brushing against his face.
  Cole got a little ahead of him, but he didn't care, he wasn't going to go faster and break his damned neck.
 

His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could see the tree line ending up ahead, and it turned to the left.  When he got around the point of the trees, there was a fence up ahead and he saw a good many cows milling in the pasture beyond it.  Cole got down off of his horse and opened the gate, then led his horse through and waited
for
Gabe to catch up.

Gabe slowed his horse to a walk, and went through the opening, then he stopped and waited for Cole to remount.  "We almost there?" he asked.

"You're like a damned kid on a road trip..." Cole chuckled, "Are we there yet?"

With a laugh, Gabe told him, "I can't believe I'm on a damned horse," he admitted ruefully.  "The last time I rode I wound up on my ass in the field, because the bitch of a mare I was riding had PMS or something...I haven't ridden again since."

"You know what they say--" Cole started with a grin.

"Yeah, I know what they say--but what
I
say
is
learn from your mistakes...and mine was getting on her back in the first place."
 

Cole laughed then prodded his gelding to a walk, and Gabe followed.  A few minutes later, he saw cowhands in the same reflective vests he and Cole wore, stringing up new barbed wire to the four posts where it had been cut.  He saw that a gate was open a little ways down
the fence line
and another hand was there with a cattle prod standing guard.