Page 19 of The Earl’s Wrangler (Cowboy Nobility #3)

“Why don’t you pick on someone else?” Randall said from behind him. The bruiser turned as a truck pulled into the yard, followed by a second one. “It seems you’re outnumbered.”

With Randall now in front of him and Sawyer behind, the bruiser looked back at him and then returned his attention to Randall.

He must have figured he stood a better chance with him.

The bruiser took a swing at Randall and missed as he dodged.

Randall countered and got the guy square in the nose.

Sawyer heard the crunch as it broke. Maybe if they set it right this time, it would improve his looks.

“Jesus,” the bruiser groaned as he covered his face, blood streaking through his fingers.

Randall attacked again, this time catching the guy in the gut.

He doubled over, gasping for breath, but Randall wasn’t done.

He used both hands together to snap him in the back, bringing him flat on the ground.

“Don’t move or I’ll break your bloody neck.

” Randall stepped back, probably in case the guy decided to try anything.

“You broke my nose,” he mumbled.

“It’s an improvement. Now stay down,” Randall snapped. “Don’t make me kick you in the head until you pass out, because I will.”

“What happened?” Alan asked as he and George hurried into the barn. They came to a stop near the prone man, looking at Randall with a touch of awe.

“Where were all of you?”

“A huge section of fence was down. We had to get it back up before the herd spread halfway across the county.” He put his hands on his hips. “The fences were damaged, and I’m willing to bet this idiot was the one who did it.”

“That’s cattle rustling and destruction of property,” George said with a smile.

“You know, they kill people around here for less than that. String them up from the nearest tree and let the birds peck at them.” Sawyer bit his lower lip to keep from laughing as the guy on the ground began to shake.

“I saw it last year. It wasn’t pretty. After the coyotes and wolves were through, there was nothing left.

” The guy shook harder as a siren drew closer.

The bruiser tried again to get up as more of the men joined them in the barn, forming a ring around him that parted as the sheriff and a deputy strode in. “Please don’t let these people get to me,” the bruiser begged. The sheriff turned to Alan, who did his best to look innocent.

“All right. We’ll take you back to town and put you in a nice, safe jail cell.

” He smirked as he cuffed the man and got him to his feet.

“Don’t bleed all over my car,” he added before getting him into the back seat.

He left the deputy to watch over the suspect and returned.

“What did you tell him?” he demanded of Alan.

“It wasn’t me. George told him a whopper that scared the crap out of him. I thought he was going to mess himself.” He tugged George to his side.

“He threatened me for payment,” Sawyer said.

“And I believe he ran down a section of fence that we had to replace,” Alan added. “So add attempted rustling and destruction of property to the charges. He’s probably from out of state, so make sure the judge knows this guy will run if he gets out on bail.”

The sheriff narrowed his gaze at Alan. “I’m well aware of how to do my job.”

“We only want to make sure you have all the facts,” George said. “He threatened Sawyer.”

The sheriff approached Sawyer, and he explained everything that he said. He also told him how the bruiser threw the first punch and that Randall had done nothing more than make sure he was down and didn’t hurt anyone.

“It seemed as though he might have gone a little overboard,” the sheriff said. “He looks beaten to hell, and you don’t have a scratch on you.”

“I caught him in the nose and then the belly. It seemed to me that he was going to try to attack again, so I made sure he ended up on the ground. Other than his nose, I didn’t break any bones, and I certainly could have.

As it is, if he gets it set correctly, he’ll come out of it better off than he went in.

” Randall shrugged. “Either way, it was self-defense. He was the one making threats. We simply neutralized him.”

The sheriff made notes.

“Also, where is his vehicle? It has to be around here. He cut the fence to get everyone away, so what was he planning? We had been gone and just got home, so he had no idea if we were here or not.”

“Sheriff, do you want me to run the suspect into town? I can return to pick you up,” the deputy said.

“You book him and get him in a cell. Call Doc Harper and have him give him a look over once he’s secure. I’ll call in and request backup. I can ride in with them.”

“Will do,” the deputy said and got back in the car, taking off with the sirens blaring. The sheriff called in with his request for backup and then took a walk down the drive. Sawyer went along with him.

“The guy couldn’t have walked over here,” the sheriff said.

“Sheriff,” Sawyer said and led him to the stable area, pointing out a set of keys against the wall of the second stable.

“You’re probably looking for these.” The sheriff pulled on gloves and pressed the red panic button, and a horn began to sound.

“Just over here.” He led the way to a depression in the road where a black SUV had been parked, its lights now flashing.

The sheriff silenced the vehicle and Sawyer stayed behind him as they approached the vehicle.

He waited while the sheriff went through the inside and pulled out a can of gasoline from the very back. “Do you think he intended to use that?” He turned toward the ranch buildings.

“Don’t know. He’ll say it was just extra fuel, but I doubt that. The gas tank is nearly full. My guess would be that he’d set a fire to send a message that he meant business.”

Sawyer figured he was right. “What can you do?”

“When I get back to the office in town, I’ll talk to him, but I doubt I’ll get anything out of him.

He’ll lawyer up pretty fast once he calls his boss.

But I’ll watch his calls, and maybe we can find out who he works for.

Not that it’s going to do him a lot of good.

He isn’t going to be let loose. Judge Walker doesn’t look kindly on troublemakers like him. ”

“That’s good to know. But you can never tell. They’ll probably send him some high-powered lawyer who is going to try to run circles around everyone.”

“Maybe and maybe not.” He backed out of the truck.

“Other than the gas, there is nothing in here that tells us anything.” He closed the door.

“I’ll have it towed in tomorrow. I’m going to need you and your English friend to come in and give statements.

And we’ll come out to see if we can get any physical evidence off the fencing that he cut.

If we can put him there, then we have direct evidence of vandalism and property destruction. ”

“If there’s anything we can do….” Sawyer wanted to put this behind him if possible. “Should Randall and I follow you into town to give our statements?”

“That would be good.” They walked back toward the ranch buildings as another deputy pulled into the drive. He picked up the sheriff, who went to do his job while Sawyer got Randall so they could get their statements taken.

“IS THAT all there is to it?” Randall asked two hours later as they left the sheriff’s office.

“For us, I guess,” Sawyer said. “The sheriff doesn’t think he’ll be granted bail, but you never know.

At least what we gave them should help.” He hoped so.

The last thing he wanted was for this guy to get loose and threaten him again.

Not that he had any illusions that this little episode was the last he was going to hear about it.

But he had also sent a message that going after him was not going to be a walk in the park.

He supposed that was the best he could do.

“We’ll see.” Sawyer got in the truck and Randall did the same as one of the deputies hurried down the steps and out to where they were about to leave.

He lowered the window. “Is there a problem?”

“The suspect we brought in says he wants to bring charges against Randall.”

“Can he do that?” Sawyer grew nervous. That was all he needed.

The deputy shrugged. “I suppose he can try, but he swung first, and that makes it self-defense. It isn’t going to go anywhere, but the sheriff asked me to make sure you knew. He said he’ll take care of it.”

“Good.”

“But please don’t go anywhere until this is cleared up,” the deputy said.

“I’m supposed to catch a flight home on Saturday, so tell the sheriff he has until then to clear up whatever he needs to. After that I have to get back.”

The deputy leaned closer. “The sheriff is the law around here—”

Randall shook his head. “That isn’t how it works here or back home.

The law is the law, and he’s bound by it.

I was defending myself and Sawyer… along with everyone else on the ranch.

I have witnesses, and nothing is going to change that.

So like I said, please inform the sheriff that he has until Saturday.

Otherwise I will be leaving, and he can discuss it with Mrs. Justice. ”

Sawyer bit back a chuckle. Dealing with Mrs. J was the last thing the sheriff wanted—she had his number. “Thank you, Deputy. I’m sure everything will be straightened out by then.” He raised the windows and pulled out of the lot.

“The sheriff has a lot of authority here. There are courts and judges, but a lot of them live in other towns. So being in jail can mean days before seeing a judge at all. In the meantime, it’s the sheriff who calls the shots.”

Randall snickered. “Except with Mrs. J.”

“Yeah. Except with her. Everyone knows that she has a lot of sway with folks in town, and neither the sheriff nor any other elected official wants to be on her bad side.” They pulled out of town, the lights receding behind them.

Sawyer hated to think about the fact that Randall was leaving in a matter of days.

Everything had changed for him in such a short period of time.

Sawyer had always thought he was one of those people who was better off alone.

But Randall had changed all that. Yeah, he could go back to the way things had been, but the idea didn’t appeal.

It had been nice to have someone to do things with.

Alan and George always went riding together.

They often camped out or took road trips together, just the two of them.

Sawyer hadn’t really thought about it, but now he wanted what they had.

Somone to talk with, take trips with, ride with, sleep with, and know was there for him.

Still, he couldn’t ask Randall to stay. There was nothing for him here, and he had duties to the folks back home.

If he convinced Randall to stay, he’d be no better than his father, and Sawyer knew Randall was a much better person than the man who sired him.

There was no way around it—Randall had to go home.

Sawyer was going to need to get used to being alone and doing things on his own once more.