Best Friend's Ex Box Set
Two hours passed with absolutely no activity, and I had drained the coffee pot dry. My energy was fading, and the howling of the wind was lulling me to sleep, but then the camera angle flashed to the one just beside the barn. It overlooked my driveway and most of my front lawn, and when I saw the figure emerge from the side of the camera view, I stopped the toggling, zooming in.
There was a figure in a ski mask, and they were headed straight across my driveway to the barn that held Cheyenne’s horses.
“Cheyenne!” I called. I ran up the stairs and burst into her room, and she was already stirring from her sleep.
“Cheyenne. Call the police. Someone’s on the property.”
“What? Where are they?” she asked.
“I got it. Just call the police.”
I dashed into my room and grabbed my shotgun before I loaded my pockets down with rounds. I flew back downstairs and took another look at the cameras, and I saw the figure with the mask dash to the side of my barn.
This was it. This nightmare was about to be over, and if Cheyenne wasn’t calling the police, then I’d be dragging them out of my barn with bloodied legs they couldn’t walk on.
I decided not to call out to them. I knew they were there and that they weren’t carrying a gun big enough to scare me, and that was enough. I kept the floodlights off and ran towards the stables, just as the horses began to kick up. I saw the shadow of the intruder edging around the barn, so I darted off to the opposite side and decided I’d cut him off from the back entrance. He obviously learned from his last attempt to stay away from the front door, but I knew exactly where this fucker was, and he wasn’t getting away this time.
I found him around the back of the barn trying to jimmy the door open, and I held the gun up to his back.
“I’ve got a gun,” I said. I watched the man put his hands in the air, and immediately knew once again I wasn’t looking at Bill Coates. This man was too tall and slender to be that asshole, but I didn’t care. I was ready for this nightmare to be over so Cheyenne could feel safe in this town again.
So we all could feel safe again.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked. I cocked my shotgun, and the man simply stood still, but I saw his shoulders rise with a deep breath. I knew exactly what was about to happen, but what I didn’t predict was how fast he would take off.
Before I knew it, he had bolted around the barn and was out of my sight again.
“Shit,” I said. I ripped the barn door open and ran right through the stables, and when I opened the latch, throwing the front double doors open, I heard and felt the impact of something solid crash into them.
“There you are,” I said, growling. I dropped my gun and stepped around the doors, and that’s when the floodlights at my house turned on and illuminated the entire driveway. I watched the man in the ski mask get up, and before he could go anywhere, I threw a nasty right hook into his jaw and knocked him solidly to the ground.
“Colt?” Cheyenne called from the porch. “Colt? Are you alright?”
I grabbed the back of the man’s black jacket and pulled him into my driveway, and he kicked and scraped his hands along the ground, trying to get away.
“You think you can terrorize people in this town and get away with it?” I asked.
He stumbled to his feet and tried to get away, but I put my knee into his stomach, and he doubled over, trying to catch his breath.
/> “You think you can come onto my property and terrorize my animals?”
“Colt!” Cheyenne shrieked.
I could hear sirens in the distance, and I knew this debacle was finally over. I felt pride surging through my veins as my vision began to tunnel, and the only thing I had left to do was rip this asshat’s ski mask off and reveal to the world who it was. Cheyenne was running towards me and Tif had hobbled out onto the porch, coming to see what all the commotion was.
Then I felt Cheyenne grab onto my arm, begging for my attention.
“Take a breath, Colt,” she said. “We’ve got him.”
I pulled the man up to his feet by the collar of his jacket before I grabbed the back of his ski mask. Police cruisers were charging up with an ambulance in tow, and I felt a rush of relief when I heard them pulling up into my driveway.
When I ripped the mask off the man I held in my grasp, I was stunned.
“Rick?” Cheyenne asked.
“Rick?”
His eyes were wide with terror, and I heard the doors of the police cruisers opening. His mouth stayed screwed shut while tears brewed behind his eyes, and I was stunned silent while the sheriff walked up beside me.