Page 85 of Pigeon

“Hours. I couldn’t call in the beginning because he was hot on my tail, and I was running. He got close enough a couple of times to try to run me over. When I finally could, I didn’t have service,” Ivy answers in a subdued voice. “If I could have made it to the barn or the horse pasture, I could have grabbed a horse to ride, and he’d never have gotten close.”

Climbing out of the truck, I hold my hand out for hers when I get the first good look at her face. Gripping it gently, I turn her head so the truck’s interior light gives me a better view.

“Holy fuck,” Trigger mutters as he stops next to us.

“I’m fine. It’s bruises, and they heal,” Ivy insists before pulling away from me and walking toward the barn.

Realizing why she’s going that way, I step in front of her. I don’t want her to see whatever Ted did in there to any of her pets.

“Go to the house with Livi and James. I’ll go to the barn,” I order softly.

Hesitating a beat, she turns and lets James wrap his arm around her and lead the way to the house. Going into cop mode, Livi enters first, gun drawn. When she shouts “clear,” James and Ivy enter and shut the door behind them.

“I hope to fuck he didn’t have much time to spend with her animals,” I mutter.

The guys follow me to the barn. Opening the door and flipping on the lights, the first thing I see is Annie. Dead, bullet to the head. While my stomach drops, I hear whining and know that someone has survived Ted’s rampage.

Petey slides the stall door back, and I watch in relief as Thor and Cody rush out. Both appear uninjured, and I’m confused as to what Ted’s plan was. Cash swears loudly from just outside the barn, and I turn to see why. He’s standing next to four large gas cans that I’ve never seen around here before. Walking the length of the barn, I note that each stall door that exits outside is closed. Ivy’s horses were locked inside their stalls, something she seldom does.

“Son of a bitch. He was going to torch the barn, probably other buildings too, with her animals trapped inside. The dead dog must have surprised him and got shot because of it,” Petey states in a low, angry voice.

“I’ll bury her dog. You guys open those stalls and let her horses out like she would want them to be,” Cash says while picking up a shovel.

“Hey! I think he was hiding out here. We just walked through the other buildings and found empty beer cans in the bunkhouse,” Axel says when he enters the barn.

Thinking back to Ivy mentioning the light in the bunkhouse, I remember other odd things that happened here lately. Things moved, beer missing from the fridge, food gone too. I never thought too much about those small things, but now they make my skin crawl. Knowing he was this close to Ivy, waiting for a chance to strike. Anger surges through me, and I sincerely hope we find him so I can end him.

Working together, we right the barn, feed and water the animals, and Cash buries Annie. By the time the sun is up, we’re sitting around the kitchen table, sipping coffee. Exhaustion is evident in everyone’s face, but no one’s leaving until we find Ted. Angry energy blasts through the room when Ivy walks in. Her face is battered, as are her ribs, back, arms, and legs.

Livi and I had warned the men, but a warning doesn’t matter when physical proof of her brother’s brutality is standing in front of you. Having refused to go to the hospital, Ivy did concede to a warm bath and sleep. Livi helped her with the bath and attended her many bruises, scratches, and cuts. I laid with her until she fell asleep before returning to help the others in and around the barnyard.

Self-consciously, Ivy attempts to keep the worst parts out of view, but there isn’t much left to see that doesn’t show damage. I stand and point to my chair. Ivy sits, waits a minute before looking at each of the people in her kitchen.

“Thank you,” she simply says, and there isn’t much else to say.

Ted’s crimes, not hers.

To stop the questions everyone has for her, Ivy looks to Petey and asks, “Livi said Ava and Gunner had their baby yesterday. Congratulations. Shouldn’t you be with them?”

“Saw the baby and them yesterday at the hospital. I’ll see them again soon enough. Trudy’s with them, and Bailey and Tammy have the kids. They’re covered, darlin’.”

“Livi and James are staying with Ivy. Let’s go,” I say to the room.

We find Ted, still in the gully. He’s nearly impossible to identify due to the amount of damage his body took from the cattle he spooked. Livi was right. Ivy’s smart. Ted wasn’t. She knew to do the best she could to be above the danger of a spooked, stampeding herd of cattle. Ted didn’t and paid for that stupidity with his life.

In the light of day, it wasn’t hard to find the side by side. Ted had parked it a ways off and walked to the gully. Most likely hoping to sneak up on Ivy in the dark. Leaving his body where it lies, Rex takes pictures and then video of the area, same as he did inside the barn last night. Petey drives the side by side back to the ranch, and we follow. After speaking with James and Livi outside, it was decided to contact the local police department and let them handle Ted’s death. As James said, it happened during a crime he was committing, and it was obviously accidental.

I sat with Ivy and told her what we found. No expression on her battered face, she listens and then nods in understanding. I then broke the news about Annie and watched as her face crumbled. Holding her, I let her cry out her anger and grief. When the storm passes and the cops arrive, Ivy stands at my side and tells them what happened yesterday.

The cops take notes, listen carefully, and Axel and James take them to the gully. I send Ivy upstairs with her cat and dogs to rest and then wait for the cops to return. When they do, they tell us we’ll hear back from them, maybe need to answer more questions, but that they didn’t expect any problems. The ambulance with Ted’s body can be seen in the distance as it turns onto the driveway but doesn’t come our way. When they turn to leave, one cop stops and looks at me.

“I remember them in school. Ted was a dick even back then and apparently, didn’t change his ways. He had a great life here, but it was never enough for him. Ivy was the opposite. Everyone liked her, especially the kids that she defended. I was one of those kids. My family was poor, and I got picked on for wearing second-hand clothes and not having a cell phone,” the cop stops speaking for a minute and then laughs. “Ivy spent some time in the principal’s office for her methods of sticking up for me. I heard the principal hollering at her one day, and Ivy responded by telling him she wouldn’t have to slap idiots upside the head if he did his job and protected the kids.”

I thank him for coming out, and he says, “Glad I got this call. I hope Ivy heals up and puts this behind her. He’s not worth anyone’s tears.”

The cop car leaves, and shortly after, my club family does too.

Finding Ivy sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee, I sit across from her.

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