Page 26 of Ranch's Resolve

“The horses are still nervous, but they’ll calm down. It would help to clear out the burned wood. They get anxious when the wind wafts their way.”

“Maybe we should move them further away from the site. We could fence off the back acres for them, but I don’t like the idea of them being too far from the house. Whoever sent someone here to set fire to the barn is still out there.”

“What the fuck is going on?”

“Some asshole has been calling me, offering to buy the ranch. I kept telling him no. Last night, he called again. When I told him to fuck off, he told me I’d be changing my mind. Then this happened. I talked to one of the firefighters after they put out the fire. Paul Hoffman. He told me other ranchers are getting similar calls. Paul works part-time at the Blanchard Ranch. Did you know Old Man Blanchard is in the hospital with a broken leg?”

“No. What the fuck happened?”

“Paul said someone spooked his horse. He broke his leg when he fell off the horse. It happened after he told the buyer he didn’t want to sell. Ever. He’ll need months to recover. Blanchard will likely sell because he can’t do the work. His daughter is caring for the ranch, but she’s struggling.”

“A few of us could go over and help her,” Max offers. “They don’t have many animals, but I could see how hard it would be for one person.”

“Yeah, go ahead and talk to her. See what help she needs. I’m going to the clubhouse and let the club know what’s happening. I’m sure a few of the guys will be willing to help, too. I want more guards on our land. This asshole may try again, and I want to be ready.”

I don’t tell Max about the man hanging in El Bodego waiting for us to question him. We’ll find out if he set the fire and who he’s working for. Chaos will discover his secrets. Hopefully, those secrets will help us put an end to whoever is behind this mess.

In the daylight, I look over my bike. It has a few scratches that will be easy to buff out. I make a mental note to ask Torch to take a look at it after Church.

The parking lot is full when I arrive at the clubhouse. I back into my spot and head inside to find Chaos and Dante waiting for me.

“Did you learn anything from the asshole Simon caught at my place?” I ask.

“Yeah, the dipshit had his wallet on him. His name is Carlos Ruiz. He’s twenty-nine. He had $500 in his wallet. We’re thinking that was the money someone gave him to attack you.”

“Let’s go find out who paid him,” Chaos says, leading the way to El Bodego.

We find Babe, Reaper, Ghost, and Scar waiting for us inside. Hanging from a hook in the ceiling is the asshole who attacked me the previous night. He has the reddish-brown skin of a Mexican, with dark eyes, black hair, and the beginnings of a mustache. Someone stripped him down to his no-longer-white tidy whities. A trickle of blood slid out of the gash in his right arm. The gash isn’t from a knife but a bullet. That means the bullet I shot made contact. Good.

“Welcome to El Bodego,” Dante says as he stands in front of the prisoner.

“Please don’t kill me,” Carlos begs. “Please. I only did it for the money—my son. He’s sick, and I needed the money. I didn’t know what they were going to do. I swear it. Please don’t kill me. My son is alone, and he’s so young. He’ll die without me.”

“Maybe you should have thought of your son before you attacked me,” I point out.

“I was desperate. I needed the money. Two men offered me $500 for an hour of work. I couldn’t turn it down. It was for my son. All I had to do was distract you so they could leave you a message. I swear, that’s all I know. I didn’t know they were going to burn down the barn.”

“How did you know they did?” I ask.

“I heard the horses screaming.” He was crying now. “I would never have helped them if I knew what they would do. Did they kill your horses?”

“No, we got them all out.”

He slumps in genuine relief. I glance at Dante to get his take.

He’s studying the man with an emotionless expression.

“Who paid you?” Dante barks.

“I don’t know. I swear I don’t know their names. Two men approached me outside Home Depot. Several of us gather in the parking lot, looking for work. I should have known they werebad news when the other men scattered at their approach. They offered the money and said all I had to do was distract you.”

“By tying a wire across the road and attacking me?”

“I tied the wire close to the entrance because I knew you’d slow down to make the turn. They wanted me to tie it further down the road, but I was afraid that would kill you. I didn’t want to hurt anybody. I just want to take care of my son. I’m all he has.”

“You don’t know the names of the men who hired you?” Dante asks.

Carlos shakes his head.

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