Smoked (The Invincibles 5)

While most people assumed cattle rustling was something read about in history books or seen in John Wayne movies, modern-day cattle thieves cost ranchers like me thousands, even millions of dollars.

Given the Blazing T’s location, I’d never thought much about the need for an elaborate security system. The ranch was on top of a mountain, for Christ’s sake. “I’ll make a call. There’s a guy I work with who might be able to help us.”

“Ashford?”

“Yeah. You know him?”

“Heard of him.”

Asking Zeke how or where he’d heard of Decker Ashford, one of the founding partners of the Invincibles, would likely raise more questions than get me answers, so I let it drop.

“Anyway, I’ll contact him and see if I can get something set up.”

“Sorry, boss.”

“Don’t be. With cattle prices skyrocketing and the rest of the economy goin’ to shit, it stands to reason that the challenges of our terrain wouldn’t thwart thieves forever.”

“I hear you brought a woman home with you.”

“That’s the other thing I came to talk to you about.” I told Zeke about Siren being shot, her surgery, and the strokes the doctor said she’d suffered. “I’ll be taking her to Asheville this week to meet with a specialist.”

“Anything else I need to know?” he asked, repeating almost verbatim what I’d said to him a few minutes earlier.

“She has amnesia.”

Zeke’s eyes opened wide.

“Siren believes that she and I were in a relationship.”

“Were you?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, we weren’t. In fact, we couldn’t stand the sight of each other.”

“Interestin’,” he said, rubbing his chin.

I got up and walked out of the office. The situation with Siren was bad enough as it was; I didn’t need shit from Zeke or anyone else about it.

* * *

I was walking along the bank of the creek when I got another call from Hammer.

“Whadaya want?” I answered his call like he had mine.

“You’re such a bastard. Do you appreciate anything I do for you?”

I laughed. “I thought you were doin’ this for Siren.”

“You make a good point. Anyway, I’ve got a guy comin’ to the ranch.”

“For?”

“Siren.”

I held the phone away from my ear and looked at it. Had I never noticed Hammer and Siren worked my last nerve equally?

“Just jokin’ with ya. I’ve got a buddy who lives outside of Asheville. He specializes in PTSD.”

“Thanks, Ham. When should I expect him?”