Page 8 of Malice

“Hey, can I talk to you a minute?” Malice called after the ranch supervisor as he followed him out the door.

Lurch stopped, turned on one bootheel and looked at him for a moment. “You talking to me?”

“I don’t see anyone else out here.” It didn’t take him but a few steps to catch up and stand next to the other man.

Lurch frowned as he glanced around. “Sure. I’m headed to the barn. Can you walk and talk?”

“Wouldn’t be much good to you if I couldn’t.” They started toward the barn again and it was several steps before he spoke again. “I wanted to ask if it was possible and if so, what would it take, for me to get one of the cabins like Ghost and Robyn are living in.”

Lurch scowled his way but didn’t stop moving. When they reached the barn, the other man unlatched the doors and swung one open to the far wall, latching it open, while Malice did the same with its mate. When that was done, they both stepped inside where Lurch hit the switch for the lights.

“Why do you want a cabin? You plan on moving your girl in with you like he did?”

“No. I’m not into girls.”

“I didn’t know you swung that way. Not that it matters, but if you don’t bring your dates home, I don’t think the guys will care. I don’t see that as a reason to need a cabin.” They moved farther into the barn, where the man in charge counted bags of feed, checked supplies, and made sure all was right.

“I don’t ‘swing that way’ I meant I’m not into girls, I prefer women but that’s beside the point. I’m not planning on bringing anyone back. I just need some space. I can deal with something like the bunk house short term, but very long and I start to lose my shit. I’m getting close to that line, and I don’t want to lose my shit on one of the brothers. I don’t want to do that. It will cause more problems than it’s worth all the way around. Easier to get a little space and head it off before it becomes a problem.”

“How much longer you think you can deal with the bunk house?” Lurch didn’t look at him as he spoke, but continued with whatever he was doing.

“A few more weeks max, but I don’t want to push it that far if I don’t have to. It’s warm enough I’ll find an out of the way spot to throw my bedroll and sleep outside if I need to. That would buy me some time, if I need it.” He could get away with it all summer if he needed to, but he’d prefer not to have to do that, at least not for too long.

“That won’t be necessary. I’ve been checking out the cabins, trying to decide which ones need the least work, and what we can do quickly. We can have one or two livable in a couple weeks.” He paused, inspecting something Malice couldn’t see, then turned to face him again. “I knew this was coming. Ghost warned me you’d need a space of your own. I believe what he said was that you’re a grumpy fuck, but some of that can be mitigate if you don’t have to live in the bunk house too long.”

Malice couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped at his surprise. He wasn’t surprised his old partner had called him grumpy. It wasn’t the first time. And he was sure it wouldn’t be the last, what did surprise him was that the other man had thought to mention it to the foreman. He’d have to remember to thank Ghost. His forethought would make things easier for Malice and hopefully make this process faster.

“That’s great. Any way I can get started as soon as I get my work for today done?” He didn’t say that if he could, he’d probably take his bedroll with him and sleep there tonight.

“I’m going to go take stock of a couple of them this morning. Finish your chores this morning and come find me, call if you need to, then I’ll let you know. I’ll walk you through the place and we can make a plan to get things done so you can move in.”

“Sounds good. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll get started on my day. Suddenly, I’m eager to get it done.” Malice turned toward the far end of the barn where he’d parked the truck the night before, and headed in that direction. His first job was to unload the feed he’d brought in the night before. As he made his way to the far end of the large barn, he thought he might have heard Lurch chuckle behind him. But he didn’t care.

There was a plan for him to move out of the bunkhouse, and hopefully soon, so he could handle more than he could have an hour ago. Things were looking up.

8

Bonniefinishedhershiftat the hotel later that afternoon and went out to her car. She sat for a moment and debated whether or not to go home or take care of a couple of errands before going back to her apartment. At least with an apartment there were other people around, even if they were in their own homes. Having other people around and the fact her apartment building had cameras, made her feel better than if she lived in a house all by itself on a lot.

With a sigh, she started the engine and backed out of her space. None of her errands were important, or if she admitted it to herself, were more than just killing time. She’d be better off going home and sketching out her latest ideas for the mural rather than spending money she didn’t need to spend.

She couldn’t help but think about Corey’s words that Phillip might be tracking her through her phone. She couldn’t dismiss it as impossible, in fact, the more she thought about it, the more certain she was that he was doing exactly that, but how would she go about stopping it? There had to be a way, but she didn’t know how, or even where to start. She’d already taken it in to the phone store, but they’d looked at it and said they didn’t see anything. They’d also told her that there were programs out there disguised as others, but they didn’t know what they were or how to find them. That would take some kind of tech specialist. The nearest one they knew of was in Denver. She didn’t have time, nor the money for a trip like that, nor the money to pay the specialist. Instead, she pushed the thought out of her mind or it would make her crazy with worry and went home.

Bonnie made it home and into her apartment without an issue. She turned the locks and told herself he wouldn’t be there, so she didn’t have to think about what to do if he came before toeing out of her shoes and curling her toes into the carpeting.

She couldn’t help letting her head fall back and reaching overhead to stretch as she flexed her feet into the rug, letting some of the stress and tension of the day ease from her muscles. A hot soak would do wonders but she didn’t want to take the time, not right now. Instead, she stripped out of her work clothes including her bra and put on the oversize sweatshirt and leggings she often wore when lounging around the house, picked up her sketch pad and went to the miniscule balcony off her bedroom.

There wasn’t much space out there, enough room for a chair and a small table but that was all she needed, and the fresh air and sunset view did wonders for her creativity. She folded herself into the chair and stared for a moment at the blank sheet of paper, trying to decide where to start, then put pencil to paper and did her thing.

The first thing she focused on was the landmarks. It was a long wall, nearly fifty feet long, so she would have quite a bit of space and could put more than one Wyoming location along the background. If she did it right, she could probably get several. It wasn’t like the scene would ever be compared to real life or used to give anyone directions. She could put the Devil’s Tower on one side of the room, then maybe a waterfall or even better a geyser on the other side, as if you could see Yellowstone from anywhere you could see the Tower. She felt one corner of her mouth quirk up at the thought, but continued to sketch out the skyline, maybe in the middle, way off in the distance, she could get a mountain skyline like you could see the Tetons.

Bonnie sketched until she had to stop because the light had faded enough that she couldn’t see to keep drawing any longer, then stood, stretching the ache from her muscles before picking up her cup and heading inside. A glance at the clock as she closed the sliding glass door and latched it told her she’d been out there a couple hours.

She set her sketchbook beside the bed, maybe she’d pick it back up, but for now she needed to think about dinner. She rolled her shoulders and headed for the kitchen. After pulling a dish of leftovers from the fridge and putting it into the microwave to heat, she picked up her phone, intending to scan her social media while she ate. But instead, she found she’d missed several calls, all from Phillip. Her stomach flipped and she wondered why she hadn’t heard it. No, she knew, she’d been so absorbed in her drawing she’d barely been aware of anything happening around her. There probably could have been a bomb go off beside her and she only would have noticed if it had thrown debris across her page.

She checked her notifications and found that though he’d called more than a dozen times, he’d only left one message. It looked like it might have been the last time he’d called. She stared at the screen for a moment as she wondered what she should do. It would do no good to call the police. Calling someone, even repeatedly wasn’t illegal. Hell, if it was, every teenager in the country would have a criminal record.

No, calling the police was out, but what about the message, she didn’t want to even listen to it. But should she?

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