Page 27 of The Cowboy's Magic Touch

“I hadn’t thought about that.”

“This is almost over. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon and I’ll see you in little while.”

“Okay, and Brody,” she whispered, “I love you.”

“Hey, I love you too, baby.”

Ending the call and letting out a sigh, he strode from the house and headed to his work shed. The broken fence was directly across from the barn and he needed to replace the entire plank. Carrying it over his right shoulder with his tool bag in his left hand, he marched down the path with Bella trotting along ahead of him. The weather had been perfect, but glancing up he noticed dark clouds in the distance.

“I sure hope that doesn’t come this way,” he muttered, still staring at the sky as he reached the broken fence.

The two horses in the pasture meandered over to find out what was going on, then stood a short distance away as he began the work. He had the old plank off and was about to nail the new one in place when Bella suddenly started barking and ran towards the forest.

“Dammit! Bella, come back here,” he yelled, breaking into a run after her. “Bella, wait!”

To his great relief she did, but looked back at him and continued barking.

“What the heck…ohh…did you see the wolf?” he panted, catching up to her.

As she stopped sounding the alarm he stared into the forest. Though he saw no movement, the wolf’s presence was the only thing he could point to that could have caused her to kick up such a fuss—then it suddenly hit him. Geoff’s thugs.

“Stay with me,” he said, touching Bella’s head, then wishing he had his shotgun he walked slowly into the trees. Except for the familiar sounds of the pristine environment he heard nothing, but glancing at the ground ahead he noticed a candy wrapper.

“Damn,” he grunted, striding forward and picking it up. “I guess that answers the question. Good girl, Bella. You were right to warn me. I should—”

Bella’s low growl cut him off.

Feeling a shiver ripple down his spine, he slowly turned his head.

The big wolf was standing off to the side only about twenty yards away.

“Bella, lie down,” he said firmly. “Now.”

As she obeyed, the wolf turned and disappeared into the trees.

“That is the damndest thing,” he muttered, staring after it as he pushed the wrapper into his jeans pocket. “Come on, girl, let’s get back to fixin’ that fence.”

But as he started back to the paddocks he continued darting his eyes from side to side, looking for both the wild dog, and the human predators.

* * *

After running as fast as they could across the open field to their car parked on the side of the road, Gabe and John climbed in and tried to catch their breath.

They’d been walking through the trees towards Brody’s ranch eating energy bars when they were met by a huge, snarling dog. Instinct told Gabe to run, but John had grabbed his sleeve, told him it was a wolf and not to move.

After what felt like endless terrifying minutes the animal finally turned and galloped through the forest. In spite of John’s warning to walk quietly away, there was no stopping Gabe. As he took off running, John felt he had no choice but to keep up, and when he looked behind them he was glad he had. The wolf was back sniffing around where they’d been standing.

“I’m not going back there,” Gabe panted. “I don’t care how much money Geoff throws at me.”

“I’m with you,” John muttered. “We can just drive here and sit in this fucking car. He won’t know the difference.”

“Now, that’s a plan. I might—what the hell?” Gabe grunted as their cell phones chimed simultaneously.

As they hastily checked their messages, John read his aloud.

POLICE ALERT: Country singing sensation Annie Baker has been found. Authorities are seeking information on the whereabouts of her manager, Geoffrey Palmer, last seen in the small town of Smoky Hill between Lubbock and Fort Worth, Texas. See attached image. If you see this man please contact your local authorities.

“Thank God we checked into that camping ground under my name,” Gabe grunted, “but this isn’t good. This isn’t good at all.”

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