Page 56 of Claimed By the Cowboy
“Tom,” Daniel says quietly as he joins us. “We should probably?—”
“Stay back unless I need you,” I cut him off, my voice taking on the command tone that’s been dormant since I left the SEALs. “This is my operation.”
I walk toward the three men with deliberate calm, letting them see exactly what’s coming their way. They huddle together like sheep sensing a wolf.
Behind me, the Sutton men fan out—Angus and Henry like immovable stone, Daniel sharp-eyed and calculating, Ethan measured and unshakable, Gabriel bristling with coiled aggression.
Six of us. One line. United.
I let the silence stretch long enough for the weight of that image to settle before I speak.
“Gentlemen,” I say, stopping about ten feet away. “I’m Tom Sutton. Whichone of you wants to explain why you’ve been poisoning my water supply?”
The tallest one—a grizzled man in his fifties with calloused hands—steps forward with false bravado. “We ain’t done nothing illegal. Just following instructions for a legitimate environmental testing operation.”
“Environmental testing.” I let the words hang in the air. “That’s interesting. Because my wife is in the hospital with heavy metal poisoning.”
“We didn’t know anyone got hurt. We were told it was monitoring equipment,”the mustached man beside him pipes up.
“Monitoring equipment that dumps lead and cadmium into a creek that feeds ranch wells.” I step closer, and all three men instinctively back up. “You poisoned my wife.”
“Look, man, we’re just hired hands,” the youngest worker, a man with red hair and freckles, says quickly. “We don’t know nothing about what the equipment actually does.”
“Bullshit.” The word cracks like a whip. I take one slow step forward and grind my boot down on aplastic valve, crushing it flat with a snap that makes all three men jump.“You knew exactly what you were doing. You just didn’t care who got hurt as long as you got paid.”
Behind me, I hear my brothers and cousins spreading out, creating a loose circle around the group. We’re not threatening them—not yet—but we’re making it clear that running isn’t an option.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I continue, my voice deadly calm. “You’re going to shut down this operation. Right now. You’re going to remove every piece of equipment from this site. And you’re going to tell me who hired you.”
“We can’t do that,” the older man says, but his voice wavers. “We got contracts?—”
“Youhadcontracts.” I take another step forward, letting them see the controlled violence in my eyes. “Now you have a choice. Cooperate, or explain to the sheriff why a young woman is fighting for her life because of your greed.”
“Jesus, I told you this felt wrong,” the redheaded man says to his colleague. “Some girl’s in the hospital?”
“Shut up,” the older man snaps.
“No, I won't shut up!” The young man turns to me, his face pale with genuine distress. “Look, mister, we didn’t know anyone would get hurt. The guy running the operation said it was temporary, that it wouldn’t affect drinking water.”
“Who told you that?” Daniel asks, stepping up beside me.
“Some corporate type. Said he represented an environmental consulting firm doing impact studies for a potential development project.”
I exchange glances with Daniel. “Where is he now?”
“Don’t know. Payments come through a drop box at the post office. We haven’t seen him in a week.”
Ethan moves closer, his voice carrying the same deadly calm as mine. “Doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that this stops today. Before anyone else, human or animal, gets hurt.”
“Look, we’ll shut it down, okay?” the older man says desperately. “We’ll pack up and leave. Just...don’t involve the cops.”
“Too late for that,” Gabriel says with grim satisfaction. “Sheriff’s on his way. Environmental crimes unit will be here within the hour.”
The three men exchange panicked looks.
“But,” I continue, “your level of cooperation from here on out will determine whether you’re treated as dupes who got in over their heads, or as accessories to attempted murder.”
“Attempted murder?” the mustached man squeaks.
