Page 103 of Maddox

The horses were suffering.

Hell, I was suffering. Chopping wood every day kept me in shape, but I was getting too old for this shit.

From what I’d been told by a few locals, all of them insisting they were experts, I hadn’t planned carefully enough to keep the cows well fed from grasses. That’s why I was constantly supplementing their food with hay. At this point, Iwouldgo broke.

Even after the hefty paycheck I’d received months earlier.

The thought made me grit my teeth even as beads of sweat trickled down both sides of my face. I wiped them away more roughly this time as I gazed at one of several pastures while standing in the bed of the truck. I’d finally pulled off my gloves, scrubbing my face with my hand. The last thing I needed was to think about Charmaine. Not now. Nope. I couldn’t do it.

Sadly, an image of her beautiful face remained ingrained in the forefront of my mind.

Damn it.

Another truck pulled alongside mine, Randy sticking his head out the open driver’s side window. It was already getting dark and it was barely four-thirty in the afternoon.

I hated everything to do with winter.

“The other pastures are taken care of, the horses fed and put to bed. Is it okay if I go? Molly planned a special dinner since it’s my birthday.”

Molly. His wife. The one he barely got to spend any time with since I was apparently a slave driver. At least according to her.

Well, shit. I was also a crappy boss. Randy Cullan was a damn good foreman, able to take a heavy load off my shoulders. I hadn’t even known it was his birthday. “Shit, man. I’m sorry. You should have said something.”

“Not a problem. I know you’re stressed.”

Stressed. He thought about the ranch. That had little to do with the anxiety that had plagued me for months. “I’m just fine. Go have a good night.”

“See you in the morning.”

I nodded, waiting until he drove off before jumping off the truck’s bed. The view was beautiful. I’d give it that, the mountains glowing in the light pink sunset. I’d hoped for respite when I’d bought the place, a refuge from the noise of city life and the constant images festering deep in the back of my mind.

A place where I could finally heal, able to lock the demons away.

Nothing seemed to be working.

Not long hours.

Not exhaustion.

No amount of booze, which I’d have to curtail or I’d be right back to where I’d been up to the day of purchasing the ranch.

Even the haze had little to do with the war and the crap I’d endured. My mind was completely and utterly occupied with wondering about Charmaine and her new life. As expected, I’d been told shit other than she and her parents had been accepted into the witness protection program. I’d even checked on her parents a couple of weeks after, but it was as if they didn’t exist.

I’d done the right thing in convincing her that her life was more important, but goddamn it, I felt hollow inside.

And the last thing she’d said to me before walking out of my life?

“See you around, cowboy.”

Yeah, some fucking cowboy I was. Maybe it was time I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I closed the tailgate, staring at the mountains for a few more seconds before heading to the cab. I had a feeling Charmaine would have liked the place.

Jesus. I was talking about her as if she was no longer breathing. Then again, I didn’t know for certain and I’d held back on contacting Gray after learning she and her family had been placed in a safe location. He’d assured the area had met her approval.

But I knew better. The girl would be like a caged bird for the rest of her life. Maybe one day she could return to her former life.

That all depended on how the dozens of court cases went. I’d lost count of how many indictments there’d been, men andwomen who’d worked with Alfaro for years doing everything from looking the other way to pushing back on Congress’ effort to curtail the supply of drugs coming into the country.

Plus, we’d been right in our assumptions. Dozens of people in at least eight countries had been accused of hiring Alfaro in murder for hire situations. And everything had been designed to increase their wealth.

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