Texas Pride

“So how it’s all looking from here?” Austin asked, his arms crossed over his chest, his stance matching the officer in front of him. He was concerned about his men. None were detained last night, but he’d called his attorneys preparing to fight any charges filed against them.

“Every story’s holding together. Your ranch hands all have proper ID and up to date permits to carry concealed weapons. Right now, it looks like Verne brought it on himself, but it’s still under investigation. Verne was intent on causin’ harm, and Jose could’ve been killed. Texas law allows for this kind of thing. Besides, Verne wasn’t supposed to be within thirty miles of the place. If Kitt had been there, this might have been a very different story. Off the record, it’s a good thing your men were watchin’ the place. I try to keep my men close to here,” the sheriff said, dropping his eyes back to the pad and finishing up his notes. He flipped the small spiral closed and tucked it back in his pocket. The sheriff didn’t make any movement like he planned to leave, and Austin stood there watching him.

“Being the sheriff around here, it would’ve been common courtesy to notify me of this many armed men in my county.” Wilson continued, his eyes trained on Austin.

“It was more of a stayin’ completely hidden kind of deal, Sheriff. We never intended to do more than keep unwanted attention off my land.” Austin never broke the direct stare. He wasn’t going to apologize for being here, or the last few months. They were the best of his life.

“I should’ve been warned of anything unseemly trackin’ the area.” The sheriff added as he pulled his cowboy hat from under his arm and tugged it down on his head.

“I need this to stay quiet. We’ve had no trouble here. If I get some, I promise you’ll be the first to know. I’m stayin’ hidden, and no one’s talkin’ about me anymore. Pretty soon it’s not gonna matter. I’ll be just like every other citizen around here.”

“I guess that’s about it for now. Thank you for your time, Austin. Tell your parent’s hello for me.” With that, the sheriff retreated down the steps and headed back to his patrol car.

On so many levels, this was the exact reason why Austin had chosen here to hide. No one treated him any differently because of his celebrity status and certainly not the sheriff who’d just walked away from him.

As he walked back inside his too quiet house, Austin looked around with nothing to do. It had been three very long days since Kitt left, and the cattle drive still wasn’t over. The sheriff had made it clear, in his prediction of what could have happened if Kitt had been around. Did Verne have it out for Kitt? On top of everything else Kitt dealt with, he had a focused enemy intent on destroying him? How had Austin never known about this in all these months he and Kitt spent together?

Austin wanted Kitt home, tucked away safely, never to walk outside again. The sheriff said it was a good thing his men were keeping an eye on the Kelly’s place. He didn’t like that at all. Verne had come after Kitt. If his men hadn’t been there; if Kitt had been at the barn alone…Austin’s heart seized in his chest at the thought. Kitt always carried his rifle in his saddle, but what if it hadn’t been close at hand when Verne pulled up? Did Kitt know the severity of Verne’s intentions? Verne could have easily pulled the trigger on Kitt. The pain of potential loss crushed his soul, and it took a full second to push it aside.

Reminding himself it didn’t happen that way, Austin forced himself to do something functional today. What could have been didn’t matter right now. He needed to get his mind off the what if’s until he could get Kitt safely home. Both ranches were pretty much in lock down, only doing the minimum needed.

Austin decided he could kill a couple of hours doing some checks on his market reports and checking in with his dad. He ended up talking to his mom and all of his brothers and sisters trying to kill more time. Even in all those conversations, Kitt stayed foremost in Austin’s mind.

About noon, Austin went to feed the animals. All the yearlings were locked up tight in Austin’s barn. Even hurt, Jose felt better about keeping a close eye on them himself. He dropped hay in the feeding troughs, and then drove the property. An unknown call came through on Austin’s cell. At the same time, several messages popped up on the screen of his phone. He bypassed the unknown caller opting for the messages, hoping they were from Kitt, that he’d gotten signal somewhere along the way. He smiled running a finger over the screen and brought his pick-up truck to a stop in the middle of the pasture. He didn’t want to miss a minute if Kitt had time to talk. The phone number of the message he’d opened came up as unknown, but the image that greeted Austin wasn’t. It was a picture of Kitt. It was one from his email, the one where Kitt stood partially nude outside his log cabin.

For a long second, Austin sat there confused looking down at the photo. Sliding a finger across the screen, Austin pulled up the next message. It was the picture of Kitt bending down to kiss Fisker. Jealousy raked his heart and for a minute more, he wondered why he’d put these on his phone. The next message was the deed for the land he lived on. Clarity came crashing in as he saw the New York area code on the phone number. He opened the next incoming message as his phone alerted him of a voice mail from the same number.

The message was simple: ‘This is Chrissy from Enquiring Minds Entertainment News. We know you’re in Texas. We know you live next to Kitt Allen Kelly, and we know these were in your email. You have until the morning to agree to an exclusive interview to set the story straight before these hit every major market around the world. Even if you can stop us in the States, you can’t stop us worldwide, but it’s your choice how this plays out. Call me.’