Page 49 of A Cowboy's Claim
Declan snatched up a rag and shoved it in the man’s mouth. “You eat with that mouth? Enough.”
“I’m grabbing the girls,” Sydney announced. “If you’ve got this under control.”
“If we don’t find keys, we’ll need to cut the locks.” Declan stood, fisting the back of the man’s shirt and dragging him toward the stalls. “I’ll give you a hand. I’ll just tuck this trash into the stall next to where you left the other one so it’s easier for the police when they get here.”
Chaosat its finest reigned for the next two hours.
The police came; the police left with the promise the two invaders would be safely locked up for the foreseeable future. Tansy and Petra reclaimed their phones and got a hold of their guys, who were luckily already on the way home.
In one of those never-ending type of days, parts of the story were repeated over and over, especially once Jake and Aiden got home and reassured themselves everyone was really okay.
With Jeffrey temporarily out of the way, passed out in his bed from the excitement of the zoo day adventure, the rest of them met at the kitchen table to catch up.
“We were out in the barn taking care of the rescue animals,” Petra said. “Next thing, I hear someone talking to Tansy—quiet at first. Which, fine. Didn’t expect anyone else to be in the barn, but people do show up with strays at times. But then her volume went up, and she told him to mind his own business and get the hell out of the barn.”
“Damn leg cast,” Tansy complained. “Couldn’t move fast enough. He hauled me into the stall and dumped me inside.”
“You did call outBlackbird,” Petra pointed out. “Gave me enough time to text Declan the heads-up signal before the second guy surprised me.”
Aiden’s glare tightened.
“Neither of them roughed us up,” Petra assured him. “It felt like they were trying to be sneaky—then gave up and went full-on brute force instead.”
“I think they weren’t really supposed to be doing what they were doing.” Tansy waved a hand. “Sorry, that made no sense, because obviously— I mean, they weren’t looking for information because someone told them to. More like they’d an idea on their own and were feeling it out.”
Interesting idea, but Declan kept the story moving forward before it could get derailed. “Sydney and I got Petra and Tansy unlocked and waited for the police to come. Turns out the breaking and entry charges were more than enough to get things started because there were warrants on file for both their arrests.”
All eyes turned to Petra.
She held her hands up innocently. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t have time to shove any lies into the system.”
“So we won’t have a return visit from those two anytime soon?” Jake clarified.
“Nope,” Declan confirmed. “It’s still a mess, though, so if you could check with your friends and make sure Russ wasn’t tied to this, I’d appreciate it.”
“And we need to talk to Logan,” Aiden said firmly.
“Agreed.” Through the window, Kevin’s truck was visible as he made his way down the drive, returning home with all the hands. Declan debated the wisdom of immediately hauling the kid up in front of the entire group, but none of the ladies would leave, and no one wanted to wait.
“This is our home too,” Tansy said softly. “And he’s part of the High Water family. Family meetings are part of the deal.”
“Let’s handle this fast—before folks show up expecting supper,” Petra said.
“I’ll grab him,” Jake offered, slipping out the door.
11
While his brother hurried to fetch Logan, Declan floated a quick idea. “Revamp supper plans? We can fire up the barbeque and do burgers.”
“Sounds great. We have tons of ingredients for salads,” Tansy offered. “And I can whip up a sauce for macaroni and cheese in the same amount of time it takes you to heat up the grill.”
Supper plans dealt with, Declan turned to check on Sydney, suddenly aware no one had questioned her continuing presence in the discussion.
She belonged.
Everything got quiet as Jake and Logan stepped into the house.
Jake settled next to Tansy, taking her hand in his.
