Page 46 of Operation: Unify

A police car with swirling lights pulled onto the street behind Tod’s car. He bolted toward it. Connor jumped for him, catching him at the waist and pulling him to the ground. He was done letting this guy have the upper hand.

With one well-placed and incredibly satisfying punch to the face, Tod was finally subdued. He lay on the ground as the police cars pulled to a stop, blocking the street. Men and women officers poured from the cars and took control of the situation.

Cal hadn’t even made it a block before he was pulled over. Connor answered the questions the police had for him, but all he cared about was making sure Lacy was alright. He watched asthey loaded Tod in the back of a patrol car. Lacy had been right, it was satisfying to watch, knowing he wasn’t getting out anytime soon.

Lacy finally came over and holstered her pistol. “They asked me questions about it, but since I didn’t have to shoot, they let me go.”

He shoved his own gun into its holster and pulled her close. He’d pictured her on the ground with a bullet hole and that irrational thought wasn’t going to go away soon. “I can admit when I’m wrong. I’ll take you home tomorrow and we’ll deal with Viceroy head on if we have to. It’s better to lead from a position of knowledge than to run headlong into danger without knowing anything.”

She nodded her agreement. “Randy will have to follow along later. He was locked in a yard with a dog known to be a fighter. The police won’t tell me how he is, just that he will make it and what happened is nothing short of a miracle.”

“We like miracles.” He kissed her forehead, letting the short hairs on her hairline tickle his face.

“So, I get to go home.” Lacy sighed. “I am so ready to never leave again.” She laughed. “Traveling isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

He laughed. “You wonder why ranchers never go on vacation? That’s why.” He loved that she could find humor so quickly after such a horrible situation.

“Somehow, I doubt this is what ranchers expect when they leave the homestead.” She threaded her fingers through his and headed for his truck.

“Maybe, but who wants to take chances?”

“Not me. I’ve never had a greater desire to sleep in my own bed.”

She slowed her steps. “Things will be different once we get home. I’m worried we’ll go back to being just how we were before.”

He opened his door for her and waited while she climbed across the seat, then climbed in after her. “I know what you mean. Everyone at home expects us to be a certain way and they’ll notice immediately if we aren’t. How do you feel about keeping this to ourselves until we can come to an agreement on where this might lead?” He still wasn’t sure if she ever wanted to be married to him again.

“I like that plan. Secrets aren’t good. In this case, we need to figure this out on our own before we let anyone else decide our future for us.”

Chapter Seventeen

The following morning, Connor checked his phone and saw Randy had sent him a text. He hadn’t expected to hear from him though Lacy had said his situation was miraculous. He threw the covers off the bed and glanced at the other queen bed in the room. Lacy slept deeply, curled around a few pillows. He wanted to let her sleep as much as possible, especially because Melinda wouldn’t be released until the afternoon and the drive home would be long.

He slid open the sliding door and stepped outside onto the narrow patio. It was just wide enough to fit a chair in the corner. If it had been sitting facing directly out, there wouldn’t have been room for his knees. He lowered himself into the seat and pressed Randy’s number to call him.

“Morning.” Randy sounded groggy but answered right away.

“Morning. Want to talk about it?” Connor asked.

“If I was the believing sort, I’d say it was a miracle.”

“You’re not?” He hadn’t suspected that but a lot of people in their twenties seemed to go through a period of exploration where they decided what they really believed or didn’t.

“No, at least I wasn’t. Not sure what I believe now. Cal shoved me into a back yard with a growling dog. It was huge. I couldn’t even tell you what kind it was, but it was angry. It knew I wasn’t supposed to be there, and it went for my face.”

“I’m not usually afraid of dogs, but I’ve got to admit that would be terrifying.”

“Yeah, but here’s the part I can’t explain. The dog wasn’t chained, but he couldn’t reach me. He was clapping his jaws together so hard that I could hear his jaws snap. I could feel his damp breath hit my face. I’m lucky Cal ran off to go help Tod. If he’d known I wasn’t being eaten alive, he’d probably have shot me. He threatened to, but didn’t want to go to jail for the crime. He figured this would look like I was trying to break into the house and got what I deserved.”

Connor couldn’t explain the miracle any more than Randy could. “Well, praise God. Are you in the hospital?” He’d thought that’s what Lacy said, but the last few days were starting to blur in his mind.

“I went there last night to get checked out. Other than a cut from the fence, I’m fine. The dog never bit me. Thankfully. What happened with you?”

He told Randy about racing away from the brothers and almost getting shot, then having the police arrive at the last minute. He hoped going home was a lot calmer than the trip to New Mexico had been.

Randy went quiet for a few seconds. “So, do you have room at that ranch for one more? I’m good in hospitality. I promise, I won’t start any sprinklers without motivation.” He laughed.

They had hired temporary cleaning staff while he’d been in the hospital almost a year ago, since Lacy had stayed with him. That job had bothered him all this time because he didn’t personally know the pair who did it. Then again, Randy was used to front desk work, not cleaning.

---