Page 42 of The Cowboy's Ultimatum

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Leaving the kitchen with Ranger padding along behind him, Andy entered the bathroom, peeled off his clothes and moved into the shower stall. As he began washing off the day his thoughts stayed on Helen. He loved the sparkle in her eyes, her sassy mouth, and most of all he loved her big heart. But when she’d starting talking about herotherlife, the one that involved hanging out in noisy nightclubs with flashing lights, too much booze and undoubtedly drug use, he’d felt a wave of disappointment. It didn’t seem to fit with the girl he loved. Soaping his body, then standing under the hot water as it splashed over him, he decided he had to tell her if she wanted to go to clubs, fine, but he wouldn’t be at her side. Finally turning off the water and stepping out, he began toweling off when she knocked on the door and poked her head around.

“Shoot, I wanted to join you,” she said with a soft smile as she entered.

“Just as well you didn’t,” he replied, managing to smile back. “We both need our rest. Who knows what would’ve happened if you’d been with me all wet and slippery?”

“Well, there is that.”

“I’ll see you in the bedroom, darlin’.”

Lightly kissing her, he grabbed his robe from the hook on the back of the bathroom door and wrapped it around his body. But as he turned down the hallway towards the bedroom, Ranger suddenly froze and began to growl.

* * *

Putting on his helmet and riding his bike slowly through the dark woods, Kenny had emerged into the field and picked up speed. When he reached the road he’d climbed off, and leaving his helmet on the seat, he’d walked briskly across into Andy’s driveway and started up towards the barn. He planned to let all the horses out, knowing when Andy woke up in the morning he’d have a hell of a shock—and it would be a sure-fire wake up call.

“Don’t fucking mess with me, cowboy,” he muttered under his breath, but he was passing the house when he heard barking.

As far as he knew Andy didn’t have a dog, but when he darted his eyes around and saw what looked like a German Shepherd climbing through a doggy door, his heart stopped. Though he knew there was no way he’d out run the snarling canine he had to try. Praying the cowboy would come out of the house and call the dog off, Ken sprinted towards his bike.

“Ranger! Stop!”

Though he heard Andy’s voice Kenny didn’t look around. Racing to his bike and frantically pulling on his helmet, he climbed on and started up the powerful engine, but from the corner of his eye—to his horror—he saw the dog leave the ground with an enormous leap.

There was no escaping the hit.

Though the animal almost knocked him off the bike, Ken somehow managed to keep his balance, and with the powerful canine in pursuit he managed to ride away.

As he approached the bend in the road he dared to look behind him. To his shock, not only was the dog still chasing him, it was running with unbelievable speed. But the sharp turn was suddenly in front of him and he had to slow down. Easing off the accelerator, terrified the extraordinary dog would catch him, he leaned into the curve, then squeezed the accelerator as he came out of it. Roaring off down the country road, he looked behind him. The dog was gone.

“Fuck!” he growled as he sped down the country road. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

Then barely a moment later, he heard a siren.

Rolling his eyes and thinking he was in the middle of a lucid nightmare, he slowed down and came to a stop.

“Take off your helmet, step away from the bike and put your hands behind your head.”

* * *

Still in his bathrobe, as Andy watched Ranger gallop back to him, he heard a siren. Sheriff Cooper often had his men on the back country roads to catch the night time speeders. They were usually out of town visitors. Breaking into a grin, Andy jogged back to the house, making a fuss of Ranger and telling him what a good dog he was. But in the years he’d known Ranger, and even though he’d seen videos of Belgian Malinois in action, he’d never realized just how athletic he was.

“What happened? Is Ranger okay? Are you okay?” Helen asked anxiously as they walked in the door.

“Yep, we’re fine. There was a biker walkin’ up to the barn and Ranger chased him away. He literally jumped on him as he was about to ride off on his bike.”

“You’re kidding. Was it Kenny?”

“I have no idea, but I’ll soon find out. Right when Ranger was comin’ back to me I heard a siren. I’m pretty sure one of the sheriff’s boys got the guy for speedin’.”

“That’s fantastic.”

“Sure is, but there’s something even better. If it was Kenny or one of his guys they won’t be comin’ back here for a while. Ranger has seen to that.”

“The timing is amazing.”

“Sometimes things just fall into place.”

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