Page 19 of Austin (The K9 Files #29)

He’d been so good at so many things, and, even though she’d been born here, had grown up here, he’d taken to it like a duck takes to water and seemed to run circles around her.

Her father had even taken to him, and Jake was notoriously against everybody in her world, mostly because her father loved her so much and wanted to see her with somebody serious and good, though she didn’t realize that at the time.

Naturally, when she’d found Austin, they’d all been thrilled, until she sent him away.

Then it had been one recrimination after another, until she’d told them to stop it or she was leaving too. Another ultimatum.

They had stopped lashing out at her, and those conversations about Austin had died instantly, and she’d been left to mull over the choice that she’d made alone.

Now with Austin right here in front of her, it just seemed as if those choices had been magnified, almost as if the universe was asking if she was happy with the choices she had made, and were they choices she wanted to keep making?

Of course the answer was hell no. She definitely did not want to keep making ultimatums. She just didn’t think she had any other option at the moment with Austin.

That he was here helping them out right now was huge, that he’d only arrived because of the War Dog, was much harder to come to terms with, but it’s not as if she’d given him much leeway to come back to talk to her.

She’d told him to disappear and to never come back, and, well,…

as much as she hated to say it, he’d done precisely that.

As Austin slipped up to a large tree around the side, he saw Charlie dancing just out of range of some stranger trying to grab his lead rope. Seeing the scene happening in front of him, Austin whistled, and Charlie backed up.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” the other man called out, “get over here.”

Charlie danced just far enough away to stay out of his reach.

Austin whistled again, letting Charlie know he was here, hoping Charlie remembered who Austin was in terms of which man the horse should listen to.

When a second whistle filled the air, he realized that Rox had heard and was calling out to him too.

Charlie stepped back a little bit from the man who was getting too close, but Charlie was kind of penned in.

It wasn’t that there was a pen per se, but a couple other men were here too.

Austin stepped forward with a strong limp and called out, “Whoa, Charlie. It’s okay, buddy.” Charlie started to nicker in response.

The other men turned to look at the intruder and glared. One of them stepped forward. “Who the hell are you?”

Austin stared at him and replied, “I work here.” Then he frowned.

“Who the hell are you?” It wasn’t anyone he knew.

The leader of this trio was older, a little rougher, and looked as if life hadn’t been all that easy for him the last many years.

He was probably in his fifties or maybe sixties.

The other two men with him didn’t look terribly comfortable right now.

Austin stepped into the ring that the three men had made, and Charlie moved over to him.

Austin stroked his nose. “Hey, buddy. It’s okay.” Austin looked over at the men. “He doesn’t know you, so he’s very unsure.”

One of the men turned and looked around at the other guy. “Time to go.”

That man glared at him and snapped. “Not time to go yet.”

The first man shrugged. “It is for me,” he declared, as he started to back up.

“Any particular reason you’re leaving?” Austin asked, looking at him closely. “Where’s the dog?” he asked casually. “We heard it bark.”

“Didn’t hear no dog,” he snapped. “We didn’t hear nothing.”

“It was pretty hard to miss,” Austin stated, with a smile, “unless you’ve got your hearing aid turned off.

” The other man glared at him, and Austin nodded.

“I can see you don’t like anybody questioning what the hell’s going on here, but the truth of the matter is, you’re on private property.

So you three are trespassing, and I really want to know what the hell you’re up to here. ”

“None of your business,” the main man snapped, as he backed away. He looked over at his partner and added, “I told you we need to get out of here.”

His partner hesitated, as if he wasn’t at all happy about the whole situation, but then finally nodded begrudgingly. “Fine, we’ll just come back later.”

“You might,” Austin replied, “but, if you’re up to no good, don’t bother.”

He laughed. “Like what you say has anything to do with it.”

“Maybe not to you, but it’s not as if I’m here alone.”

Immediately the man stiffened and looked around.

Austin continued. “Do you really expect to be on private property and causing whatever trouble you’re thinking of without some pushback?”

The older man glared at him. “We’re not on private property.”

“Oh, you sure are,” Austin declared. “You’re on Jake’s ranch, and you know it.

There are signs all over the place, and you didn’t get here by chance.

” Just something about him seemed familiar, but not.

Austin looked over at the other man, who had been trying to flee the whole time.

“And what’s your excuse?” The man just glared at him, and Austin nodded.

“So, unless this is something I need to call the sheriff about, I suggest you disappear.”

“Why would you even call the sheriff? We’re just walking here.”

“No, you’re not,” Austin snapped. “You don’t just walk around on private ranchland.”

The other man glared. “Nobody should own this much land,” he snapped. “He doesn’t need it all.”

“That’s beside the point, but he sure does own and need this land.

Fun fact, every head of cattle requires a certain amount of land, so unless you’re one of those people who don’t eat beef, Jake needs what he needs,” Austin shared, simple and casual.

“And besides, it’s his and has been in his family for a very long time.

You obviously don’t understand what it costs a rancher or a farmer to raise the things you consume, or you wouldn’t be sitting here, mocking him for having the land he does.

And, by the way, if you’re thinking of stealing any beef, that’s still quite a serious offense in the state of Texas. ”

The other man laughed. “Those are ancient laws, and nobody ever uses them.”

“I wouldn’t really count on that, not with all the guns people in Texas have,” he added, with half a smile.

With Charlie at his side, he quickly swung up onto his back, patting the horse on the neck.

“You sure got him riled some. What I want to know is what the hell are you trying to do, and where the hell is that dog?”

The men all started fidgeting, looking at each other, starting to back away to where the highway would eventually meet up with them.

“We’re just leaving,” the third one finally said, speaking up. “We just came out for a walk, and obviously we didn’t realize it was private property.”

“That’s a load of bull,” Austin argued, as he watched them. “No way you couldn’t have known. All this area is private land and posted as such. Did you see any signs of state parks or other government lands?”

“No, of course not,” he snapped.

But the men continued to back up, and Austin let them. It was important to know just what the hell they were up to, if they even had any idea themselves. This was more BS than Austin expected, but, hey, they would get to the bottom of this at some point in time, at least he hoped so.

The two men continued to back away, but the old guy suddenly lunged at Charlie and made a grab for the rifle. Charlie reared up on his back legs, and it was all Austin could do to keep his seat, as the horse fought against his own fright from the old man making the sudden lunge.

Austin glared at him. “What the hell was that shit?”

The old man just glared right back at him. “I want the rifle on his back.”

“That’s nice, but you’re not getting it.” Austin patted it carefully. “Unless you want to get shot right where you stand,” he added.

The old man glared at him. “You ain’t nothing but a cowboy,” he snapped. “You won’t shoot me.”

Austin gave him half a smile. “Mister, I just finished two tours overseas,” he shared and finished with a smirk. “I don’t give a shit about what you want. I’ll drop you without a thought if I need to, so you best not ever try to take anything off me again.”

With that the older man’s eyes widened, as he realized he was tangling with someone with military experience. Then he just glared at him. “That ain’t cool. You shouldn’t even be out here. You’ve probably got PTSD or something.”

“Doesn’t matter what I got or what I don’t,” he replied. “It’s none of your fucking business, but right now you’re pissing me off. I suggest you get the hell off this land before I call the authorities, or, better yet, I’ll call in Jake.”

At that, the older man’s lips curled. “Yeah, you do that. He’s been nothing but a pain in my ass for a long time.” At that, he turned and strode off, following the other two men who were already hightailing it back to the highway.

Austin let out another whistle, only to hear a response right behind him. He turned to see Rox coming up close behind Charlie, who turned ever-so-slightly and nickered at her. She sighed when she got there and pulled his head down to cuddle him. “Why the hell did you take off like that, buddy?”

“I think it was Cowboy barking,” Austin suggested, with a thoughtful look. “How close were he and Cowboy?”

She frowned at him, turning to look around the area where they stood. “They were really close. Do you really think Cowboy’s out here?”

“I definitely heard a dog,” Austin stated, shaking his head. “I can’t tell you how, why, or where. I just know I heard a dog.”

“I did too,” she noted, “but not until you pointed it out.”

He smiled. “And that’s okay too.”

“You always had that bloody superior hearing.”