“Austin, do you want me to go there tonight? I can wait for him. Either at his house or yours… And someone has to tell Lily and the girls,” Cara said.
“Shit, I forgot about that. Kylie’s away at college. If she can come home for a little bit, that would be best. Get her a ride home. If she can’t, get security on her. Shit, Cara, can you go there until I can get back home?”
“Yes, I’ll leave right away.”
“I’ll call Lily myself right now. I’ll tell her you’re coming there. I’ve got security tight around them, but let me see if I can get Kylie home tonight. Cara, handle anything that comes your way. Use anything you need, but get them all taken care of.” Austin abruptly stopped speaking as room service entered, carrying a tray of food. “Let me know when you get there.”
Austin disconnected the call and stood silently watching the waiter set his dinner on the table. He’d been a part of too many situations where room service wasn’t really who they said they were, and left with photos of him or some story of what they saw in his room. Austin wasn’t taking any chances tonight. He signed the ticket and walked the waiter out, handing over a twenty as he closed the door behind them.
Lily was a speed dial away.
“Lily, it’s Austin. I need to talk to you.”
“Is Kitt okay?” she asked, sounding a little panicked.
“Yes, I think so. Look Lily, I need to tell you some things, and I need to ask you to please keep them to yourself. Well, at least for the next few hours.” He actually gave a harsh laugh at what he just said. He thought the bubble of laughter might sound a little hysterical and grabbed the vodka before strolling across the living room to sit on the sofa and kick his feet up on the coffee table. This was going to be the first of many conversations just like it, and he needed the practice.
“Lily, let me start from the beginning...”
~~~~~~
The cattle ran easily through the back fence of Micah’s pasture. It seemed like they were just as tired of this little exercise as the rest of them. The excitement of the trip was drained, leaving a bunch of exhausted, irritable teenagers and even more irritable adults. Over all, it turned out to be a good exercise for the kids. It let each and every one of them know how hard life used to be for a cowboy, and in Kitt’s opinion, it taught the importance of an education. He’d spouted that thought over and over during the trip, hoping it would sink in.
Kitt got every head inside the fence. Micah’s boys stayed back there with him, helping to guide the herd in. The others scattered, trying to find their parents who were scheduled to pick their offspring up.
Micah’s land sat off the road. This gate was several miles from the main road, and Kitt weighed his options. He could easily sneak out the back, loop around, and be home in about fifteen minutes, or he could go tell everyone bye and help get the kids off. As he made the decision to sneak off, something caught his attention. He saw Austin’s security guys close by. There were four or five of them on horseback riding straight toward him. Mike was leading their way. They were all in full gallop, driving their horses with a hell bent purpose. It took a second for him to realize they were riding to him.
“Rusty, get the gate!” Kitt yelled. He would have dismounted, but the concern of seeing them all headed his way had him riding Bullet around the cattle, causing a bit of a stir. That’s when Kitt saw Micah. He was on horseback, a few hundred feet behind Mike and the security team. The look on Micah’s face said it all. Kitt instinctively knew, they’d been outted.
“Kitt, go out the back way! Lily and the kids are at the house and safe! Austin’s outted, you’re outted, and the press’s swarming the place!” Mike yelled out, barely slowing down as he rounded the herd to the back gate. Micah came from the other side and Kitt did little more than follow as Austin’s security did their best to surround him. Micah was off his horse and unlatching the gate, opening it wide. As Kitt got closer Micah held a tabloid up for him. Kitt grabbed it as he rode by. The front cover was a full body shot of him in the nude, his privates blurred out, his robe billowing around him. Kitt’s heart fell from his chest. His eyes looked directly into Micah’s who stared straight back at him.
“Go!” Micah reached out, slapped Bullet on the flank, kicking Kitt into gear. He urged Bullet on, driving him forward in a burst of power. The exhaustion from just a few minutes ago was gone, and adrenaline fueled both man and horse. They rode hard, circling back around several miles until Mike finally motioned for them to stop, hidden in the dense forestry surrounding Micah’s property. Sam, the security guard Austin talked to the most, stayed right beside Kitt the entire ride.
“He left you a message on your voice mail and this on his table. I brought it with me because I’m not sure it’s safe to go back to his place right now. Austin has all of us on your place,” Sam said. Mike just sat quietly staring back at him. No one else said a word.
Kitt pulled his phone from his pocked. The battery was low, but there was a weak signal. He dialed his voice mail. There were so many messages from reporters it took a minute to get through them. Kitt was in shock, he felt numb, a little disjointed, and his thought process faltered as his eyes focused back on the tabloid picture. When had this picture been taken?
Finally he got to Austin’s voice mail. He listened to the whole thing, and then restarted it, listening to it again. Austin’s voice was desolate. His words were sad, and Kitt’s heart hammered too badly to hear everything clearly.