Corralled (Blacktop Cowboys 1)

“Tanna was there. She stopped it.”

“For which I owe that girl a lifetime of thanks. But I’ve watched Ace spin things, charm his way in and out of good and bad situations. He’ll claim it was a misunderstanding. And without pissing you off and bein’ crude, if Lainie’s clothes weren’t ripped and she didn’t have the typical signs of an assault, they’ll question even what Tanna saw. Ace is slick as shit. He’s probably already conned a couple of guys into backing him up with a legitimate reason why he’d shown up in sports med.”

“So we just give up?”

No answer.

“Kyle?”

Kyle’s voice dropped and Hank strained to hear him. “When a woman makes an accusation of attempted sexual assault, the woman’s character is always brought into question, not the man’s. Especially not someone like Ace Newharth. Although we’ve been discreet, it might come out that Lainie’s been traveling with both of us. That’s bound to add more fuel to the fire.”

Fuck. Hank hadn’t thought of that.

“Sure, we can say she’s your girlfriend, but it’ll still cast a shadow on her character, not his. Is it fair? Fuck, no. That’s the way it is. I don’t see that there’s anything we can do for her besides just bein’ there for her.”

“It don’t seem like enough.”

“It ain’t.” He paused. “Look, the only other suggestion I have is to call Dusty. He knows Lainie wouldn’t cry wolf, and Dusty might put pressure on the powers that be in the EBS to bring sanctions against Ace.”

“You know, that’s a damn smart idea. I’ll suggest it to Lainie once she and I hash this out.”

“You’re on your way to River Bend now?” Kyle asked.

“Yeah. She claims she’s fine. I just need to see her. To make sure she’s okay with my own eyes.”

“That’s the best thing for her, havin’ you there. Lainie needs you. Let me know how she’s doin’.”

“For sure.”

“Good enough. Be safe on that blacktop tonight, my friend.”

“I will. You too.”

The drive had been a blur after that.

Hours later Hank knocked on the door of room 212. Just as he was thinking Tanna and Lainie were probably both asleep, the safety chain clanked against the metal door before it opened.

Tanna held her finger to her lips and rolled a suitcase out behind her, keeping the door slightly ajar.

“How is she?”

“Sleeping. I encouraged her to drink a little Jack Daniel’s for medicinal reasons and let’s just say she had more than one. She’s stayed asleep since right after you talked to her.”

“What else?”

Her eyes searched his. Tired eyes. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but don’t grill her first thing when she wakes up. I’ve already done that. If we were playing good cop/bad cop, you need to be the good cop.”

“I can handle that. Has she changed her mind about filing charges?”

She shook her head. “The son of a bitch needs to pay. We haven’t lost the window of opportunity, but it did close some when she didn’t take immediate action.”

Hank relayed Kyle’s suggestion about contacting Dusty, and Tanna nodded.

“Makes sense. It might have an effect, but I ain’t holding my breath that it’s gonna change anything.”

He frowned. “Why’d you push her to go to the cops if you didn’t believe they’d take action?”

“You misunderstand. I believe the cops would take action. They’d see it as attempted assault, whereas the Lariat and the EBS guys will agree with Lainie’s ‘don’t rock the boat’ attitude and sweep it under the rug.”

“Bullshit.”

“Look, you’ve been in the world of rodeo for a long time, Hank. So have I. But being a woman in this world is completely different. I’ve lived and dealt with and cried and fought against the discrimination and chauvinism that abound in this sport. Everything from hiring all-male stock contractors, to the all-male event promoters, to the all-male prize awardment committees, to the all-male sports medicine team.”

“Lainie ain’t male. I know. I checked.”

Tanna rolled her eyes. “Lainie is the only female working for Lariat down in the trenches on the circuits.”

“So?”

“So there are some people—men, specifically, men in positions of power, specifically—who don’t think she should be in what’s basically a men’s locker room.”

“That’s asinine.”

“The attitude is what it is. Be a tough row for her to hoe if she sticks around after making the accusation. We both know what the bastard did, but there are a lot of folks who won’t believe her. Who’ll believe she’s only saying it to get attention. Yeah, the whole situation sucks balls.”

They stared at each other in miserable silence for a beat or two.

“I f**king hate this.”

“Me too.”

His gaze landed on her suitcase. “You taking off right now?”

“You guys don’t need me around.”

“You’ve already done more than enough.” Hank cleared his throat. “I don’t know if I can ever thank you. If you hadn’t shown up there when you did, this could be a much worse situation to deal with. She could be . . .”