Page 51 of Knot Her Cowboys (Big Sky Omegas #2)

“I’ve had to act fast a lot of times in my life.” I ran through what I remembered of the whole situation, my body shaking as I was forced for the umpteenth time to face what could’ve happened if I’d failed.

“You could’ve died,” Dakota pointed out.

I shuddered. “Better to risk death than to let Darrell have her. I lost her once and that’s never going to happen again.”

“That crash looked intense. Should we call an ambulance or is he dead?”

“He’s gone,” I replied, using Ranger to keep myself steady.

“I know it’s too early to process, but how are you feeling?”

“Good fucking riddance to Darrell. I hope everyone he hurt finds peace and that he rots in hell.”

Dakota nodded firmly. “The world won’t miss a man like that.”

The walk back didn’t do much to calm me down.

Our guests were gathered at the muster point along a flat turnout on the entrance road, a couple of our team members hemming them in and keeping them calm.

The horse barn was reduced to ash and framing by the time we arrived, but it looked like our team was winning the war.

They had gone old-school, filling buckets from the horse troughs and passing them down the line to bolster what the hoses provided.

One of the tractors towing a water tank rumbled past and was immediately put to use.

“We have good people,” said Dakota as he watched them work and we navigated the two horses back toward the main barn.

“We have fucking awesome people. We’re damn lucky they love this place like we do.”

We got the horses into their stalls and I promised Ranger I would come back for him soon. Dakota and I went back out to join the line, finding Riley, Cash, and Levi assisting with the fire suppression.

“You’re supposed to be inside,” I admonished Riley while moving straight to her and pulling her into my arms, desperate to remind myself she was safe.

“Please let me help. This is my home too, Cooper.”

Her home. I was so fucking relieved she saw it as that after everything.

There was no point in fighting her on it when she could be as stubborn as I was.

So, we all worked together. The professional fire crew showed up when we were nearly done, completing the work and making sure nothing was still smoldering.

The police arrived on their tail and found Darlene yelling for help where she’d tangled herself in the underbrush and couldn’t get out because the electric fence kept zapping her.

Good. It was a minuscule amount of suffering compared to what she’d done to Riley over the years.

She cussed all of them out, bitching about Darrell leaving her behind.

The officers who’d come out looked exhausted.

“Goddamnit, Darlene. We warned you what would happen if you got arrested one more fucking time, and now we’re catching you trespassing and aiding in a kidnapping? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“If she would’ve just gone—” Darlene started and was immediately cut off by the other officer.

“Zip it. You know all the jazz. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Don’t make this worse for yourself than you already have.”

They helped her out of the brambles and tossed her into the back of their squad car.

“What about Darrell?” I asked.

“One less Decker in the world,” the first officer replied.

“If he weren’t dead, Darlene would sing like a canary and get them both locked up anyway.

Ambulance is on its way to collect the body, and the cause of death is obviously the crash.

Vehicle isn’t on the road, so we can send a road crew to collect it tomorrow.

As far as we’re concerned, a deer jumped out and he swerved.

He wasn’t wearing a seat belt, she was, and you got her out safely. Don’t worry about the rest.”

I never thought I’d be so grateful for cops skipping out on their jobs, but here I was.

“What’s going to happen to Darlene now?” Riley asked, leaning hard into my side.

The officer sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “With kidnapping and assault charges she’ll go away for ten years at least. She’s mostly been a nuisance and we tried to go easy on her, but she’s violating her parole. Clearly easy doesn’t work on this one.”

“Never has, never will,” Riley told them.

That was putting it lightly. Darlene Fletcher held a grudge like nobody’s business.

“The courts will handle it,” he promised. “We’ve already contacted the fire investigator. Likely her or Darrell set the fire as a distraction, and if it was her, you won’t have to worry about seeing her again.”

We all hung around while the professionals did their work and our team got our guests back to bed once the firefighters deemed it safe.

The ambulance arrived and checked over Riley, thankfully finding nothing of particular concern besides bruising. After getting her assurance she would go to the hospital if new symptoms cropped up, they moved along to collect Darrell’s body.

Our pack crowded around Riley, but I’d claimed her sitting on my lap, needing the warm anchor of her weight to remind my racing mind that she wasn’t going to vanish if I let go. The others traded off necessary tasks, and I stayed right where I was with my heart in human form.

The fire investigator checked out Darlene first, finding traces of accelerant on her hands. None of us were surprised by that, and I was grateful it had been her instead of Darrell. At least Darlene could still be punished and it would keep her away from Riley.

“Does this mean I’m actually free of her?” Riley asked as the cruiser left the scene with Darlene in the back.

“Sure looks like it,” replied Cash. “If the courts fuck up, we’ll press charges. That woman isn’t getting anywhere near you ever again.”

Dakota emerged from the big house. “All our relevant families have been updated and calmed as best I could manage over the phone.”

Levi joined us. “Grizzy and the horses are settled too.”

Riley let out a heavy breath. “Are we allowed to go to bed?”

“I’ll check,” said Cash. He returned a minute later, nodding. “They’ll finish up, head out, and contact us tomorrow.”

I scooped Riley into my arms while we waited, and she wrapped her limbs around me. “I love you so much.”

My Riley.

I’d almost lost her today and the thought of it made me sick. I’d protect her until the day I died, and lucky for us, a few of those targeting her were no longer a threat. “I love you more.”

She sighed, pressing her cheek to mine. “I don’t think that’s even possible.”

“You’re not going to out-stubborn me on this one.”

Riley squeezed me tighter. “I’m sure going to try.”