Page 50 of Protecting Silver
“When will she be up here again?”
“We’ve made it a pact that we’ll camp out up here every year for our anniversary. We didn’t see any last year for our honeymoon, but a few months before that, Grady and Tymber came up here for a day and they saw about fifteen, but we never found them.”
Hector turned and pointed toward the area Finn had mentioned, where there was a natural spring. “Through the path on the other side of the spring, that takes you to another meadow about the same size as this one. This one is around a hundred acres. The mustangs use the path to go between the two meadows. But the space through the trees is long, if you go investigate the other meadow, you’ll want to ride, it’s too far to walk it.”
“Thanks for that information,” Patch said, and shook his hand. He and Silver watched as Finn and Hector mounted their horses, and took the reins of the pack horses to pull behind them. “Until Saturday,” he said and watched as they disappeared through the trees. Once he was alone with Silver, he looked at her and grinned. “This place is awesome.”
“I know, let’s get the horses settled, then finish setting up. I want to settle in and relax tonight. We can explore tomorrow.”
“Works for me,” Patch grinned, and went over to the horses and walked them over to the make-shift lean-to that Hector had erected with a tarp. They spent the next couple of hours setting up, and by the time the sun went down they were settled on logs with a small fire burning in the fire pit, and eating their dinner.
Chapter 24
Saturday afternoon,Silver climbed off Paige and stretched as she stood in the barnyard of Ronnie’s farm. Today was Saturday and she and Patch had gone camping for most of the week. They had been surprised when late the previous afternoon Finn and Ronnie had arrived with the empty pack horses in tow. Ronnie had taken the day off and had wanted to come up to the meadow with Finn to help bring Silver and Patch back down.
“How was it?” Hector asked as he took the reins from her and looked at Silver.
“Amazing, I don’t think I’ve ever unplugged like that before in my life. No other people, no stress, no phones, no traffic. The quiet took only about a day or two to get used to, but it was awesome. I can’t wait to do it again.”
“And you?” Hector asked Patch as he joined them, handing the reins over to another man standing there. That man led the two horses away.
“Oh my god, I think I needed to unplug more than Silver did. Not that her life isn’t as stressful, but not having to wonder if my pager or phone would go off at any minute. No patients to operate on, no hospital personnel to answer to. It was absolutely and utterly amazing.” He grinned as he looked over at his best friend. “And to think all these years when you said you and Ronnie went to the meadow, I thought it was because you had your woman to yourself and sexed it up the entire time, but it’s not that is it?”
“Nope, though we do have sex,” Finn grinned at his wife’s snort of laughter. “It’s the utter silence and being able to commune with nature that relaxes me.” They all walked into the barn, and while the other hand took care of the horses, Silver, Patch, and Ronnie began unloading the pack horses. With Ronnie’s help, they were able to store the items away as soon as they unloaded them. At one point, Patch looked at everyone standing around the inside of the barn, and rubbed the back of his neck. “I hate to get back into the thick of things, especially after that amazing week we just had, but any news?”
“Amos called yesterday afternoon. The Feds were due in early this morning. After talking with them at his office, and going over the report you gave him, he’s bringing them out here. I didn’t want to ruin your stay in the meadow, so I didn’t want to mention it last night.”
“Thanks for that.” Silver nodded, and they all paused as they heard a vehicle approach. Instead of going out to greet them, they stayed in the shadows of the barn, and watched as the vehicle parked. Several minutes later, a lone figure climbed out from behind the wheel. Even from the distance from the barn, they saw he was dressed in a very expensive suit.
“Handsome man, wonder if he’s one of the Feds?” Ronnie asked, then they all froze when Silver swore.
“Fuck me.”
“What?” Patch asked as he whipped around and looked at Silver. He reached out and grabbed her arm when she went deathly white and swayed on her feet.
“What is it?” Ronnie asked in confusion.
“That...” Silver said as she pointed toward the man standing several feet from his car, turning in a circle to look at his surroundings. “...that man is Eddie Freedman.”
“Holy fuck,” Patch said, and hurried over to his pack and pulled out the handgun he had stored there. He noted Finn did the same with his pack. They both placed them at the small of their backs, and looked at Hector when he disappeared and came back carrying several rifles. He handed one to the other farm hand, then one to Ronnie, keeping the last one for himself. They watched out the doorway as Eddie Freedman placed his hands on his hips, which caused his suit jacket to move to the side, and plain as day they saw the gun strapped to his side, but there was no badge to indicate he was a cop clipped to his belt. Before anyone could say or do anything, two more vehicles approached. The first one belonged to Sheriff Amos Bronson, the second was occupied by two females.
“We’re going to go out there,” Patch said, then looked at Hector, the ranch hand, Ronnie, and Silver. “Stay here.”
“Okay, but if he opens his mouth and starts lying his ass off, I’m coming out to set things straight. Though I trust both you and Finn with my life, the sheriff is here, and I’m assuming those two women are the Feds he talked about earlier this week. Don’t take any risks, Douglas.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you, Silver.” Patch grabbed her by the back of the neck and kissed her hard. “Stay here.” Then he nodded to Finn and after giving a low whistle and several hand signals, both Major and Mary Jane walked on either side of Finn and Patch as they exited the barn. They knew Hector would keep the women out of harm’s way.
“Help you?” Finn called out as they left the barn. He noted that Amos and the two women were still in the process of exiting their vehicles.
“Yes,” Freedman called out. “I’m Special Agent Alexander with the Chicago FBI office. I’m here looking for a Silver Roundtree. She’s wanted back in Chicago for questioning.”
“That’s a fucking lie, Eddie,” came a voice from behind Patch, and he froze as he felt Silver’s hand on his back. By the feel of it, she had his shirt bunched up in her fisted hand. Everyone saw the two women and Amos approach, and as soon as Silver had said Eddie’s name, all three of them pulled their guns and aimed them at the single man.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Liar,” Silver said, and stood between Finn and Patch as she glared at the other man. “Your name is Eddie Alexander Freedman, you’re a cop in the Vice Department of the Chicago police department, or you were four years ago. And...” she paused and smiled when he reached for his gun on his side, but paused when he saw a red dot in the center of his chest. Everyone saw it, but no one reacted, except to point their guns at Eddie. While Silver made her next statement, both Finn and Patch pulled their guns, and aimed them at him. Out of the corner of her eye, Silver saw Hector and the other man, who she hadn’t caught his name yet, come out of the barn with their rifles at the ready. “And...” Silver continued, “...three months ago, you accosted me at Club Nitro, where you dragged me out to the alley behind the club, and beat the living shit out of me, then tossed me in the dumpster like trash.”
“Because, that’s what you are,bitch!” Eddie yelled. “Nobody leaves me and lives to tell about it. If it wasn’t for you, none of my other girlfriends would have left me. I’m sick and tired of you telling the women in my life that I’m a fuck up.”
