Bill’s face colored to an even deeper shade of red. “Just because you run a sanctuary doesn’t give you the right to steal my horses. That is theft pure and simple. That horse is my property.”
“You abandoned it,” I snapped, fiddling with my phone. “You left it at Jacob’s clinic after refusing to pay for the treatment provided. He did the right thing by bringing him here.”
; “That horse is mine, and I will get him back!” Bill shouted. “Even if I have to call the sheriff to do it!”
It took all my restraint to not shrivel back in fear. I was taller than Bill, but when it came to strength, the man was pure muscle and fat. Spittle covered the corner of his lips now as he dug through his pant pockets for his phone.
“I’ll call them,” I told him, waving my phone at him. “I’ll explain to him that you have no paperwork to prove the horse is yours. I’m assuming you don’t have the paperwork, from the shape the horse was in. Are you sure you want the sheriff coming by with PETA on your ass now? You know, he’ll get them involved. Even though they can’t do much, they sure are a pain in the ass.” His face turned a shade of purple at that. “It’s not going to look good on your part, Bill.”
“No one bothers with paperwork around here. You’re the only one who does.”
“That should change then,” I said. “This animal has been abused. I have every right to keep him here because you refused to pay for treatment, and Jacob put him in my custody.” I pointed to the open office door. “Now, kindly remove yourself from my property before I have the sheriff trespass you.”
Bill took a step in my direction, his mouth gaping open and his eyes blazing with anger. His hand reached behind him. For a wild moment, I thought his fingers were reaching for the hilt of a .9mm he always carried on him. All the ranchers carried a concealed weapon while walking along their property lines in case they encountered wild animals. Just the shots were loud enough to scare them away most of the time.
Heart pounding, I watched as Bill’s hands slowly came back around empty-handed. He pointed a fat finger at me again. “This isn’t over, lady,” he growled. “I can promise you that. This is far from over.”
He slammed the door, causing the glass window to shatter as it hit the side of the barn. I let out the breath I’d been holding as soon as I heard his truck roar to life. Gravel and dirt flew everywhere as he backed around furiously and peeled out down the road. Dizzy with adrenaline, I grabbed the door to steady myself as I watched Bill’s truck until it was out of my sight.
“This isn’t over.”
Those words echoed in the back of my mind as I closed the barn door with a shaky breath. There was no doubt in my mind that Bill Coates had every intention of fighting me now. I needed to keep on eye trained on the black stallion that was now cowering at the back of the pasture behind the group of horses.
As the wild eyes of the black stallion met mine, I caught a glimpse of the intense fear that flared in the heart of this once magnificent animal.
“I won’t let you go back to him, boy,” I called out. “I won’t let that man hurt you again.”
Chapter Four
Colt
I knew something was wrong when Tiffany showed up to the restaurant some thirty minutes after I had shut and locked the doors.
“What is it?” I asked, concerned at the stricken look on her face. “You’re going to break my glass doors down with all that pounding.”
Tiffany rushed in when I pushed the door open to let her in. She ignored the jest, twisting her hands nervously in front of her.
“It’s Cheyenne,” she said. “I think she’s in trouble, or about to be in trouble.”
My concern only deepened when I saw the terrified expression on Tiffany’s face. I motioned for her to sit down. Whatever it was, it was enough to rattle Tiffany, and that wasn’t easy to do. There were only a handful of times throughout my whole life that I remembered my sister scared. She was fearless. Our dad taught us to never be afraid.
“What sort of trouble?” I asked, sitting down. “Is she okay or do we need to—”
“We need to keep an eye on her,” Tiffany said as she sat in the chair across from me.
“That horse she picked up from Jacob is a stallion that belonged to Bill Coates.”
Bill Coates. An icy anger rushed through me at the mention of his name. The man was a disgusting drunk. I’d kicked him out of my restaurant for his foul attitude only two days after opening. I knew how he treated animals over at his ranch and that he was close friends with Jim Staffer. There was no doubt in my mind that the man treated his business and his ranch the same way he treated everyone else around him—including his animals.
“I imagine Bill is not happy about that,” I said grimly, my mind whirling.
“He isn’t,” Tiffany said. “If that’s not bad enough, Cheyenne called PETA on him, too. Bill is on a tirade from what I heard in town earlier.”
“What did he say?”
“He promised revenge on Cheyenne from what I was told. I just ran into a few people who had been dancing up at Suds. They all heard him say he was going to get her sanctuary shut down one way or another.”