I understood her outrage that someone was taking pot-shots at the horses, but why did she have to go alone, why not take Fenixx or at least jump in one of the farm utes? Assure herself of some protection from a stray or deliberate bullet.
If any harm came to Blake, no man, gun or not, would be fucking safe from me. Hunting the prick down and taking my pound of flesh will be a certainty.
Driving up to the main stable, I quickly turned off the engine and threw myself out, realising belatedly that I forgot to put on my seatbelt when I left the auctions in a frantic rush.
Damn, get your head into gear Hott.
I didn’t even get to the door before Eddy was striding out of the stable, leading Lancelot, saddled and ready, with my rifle too.
“Any word?” I barked, reaching for the reigns.
“Derek Thompson from Ridge Valley called, he said he saw the mob running across his property like someone lit a fire under their arse earlier this afternoon.”
“And Blake headed in the direction of Kelly’s Track, right?”
Eddy nodded. “That’s what she said, yeah,” he affirmed, and I took a small calming breath. Kelly’s Track wasn’t anywhere near Derek’s land, but she was still out there, and the light was rapidly fading into the early evening.
“But that was a few hours ago, and they could be anywhere by now.”
“Okay, I will—” I was cut off by the shouting coming from Nixx, running towards where I was standing his mobile phone in his hand, and a thunderous expression on his face.
Fuck! What now?
“Drixx, fuck, we have some big shit happening,” Fenixx growled, skidding to a halt on the gravel.
Putting his phone to his ear, he told the person on the other end he was putting him on speaker, then held it out again.
“Go Pete, Hendrixx is here too.”
Pete? Peter Hanson, our closest neighbour to the west of the Triple H.
“Pete?”
“Hendrixx, not more than ten minutes ago, I saw five men on horses pushing the mob to the bottom of the valley, heading to Kelly’s Track. All men were armed from what I saw. I have some of my men saddling up to head out now.”
My head whipped up, my eyes collided with Fenixx, in his I saw the fear that must be in mine. Blake was going that way, for all I knew she was already there and unknowingly putting herself in danger. Grinding my jaw, I flicked the reigns over Lancelot’s neck and shoved my foot in the stirrup.
“Hey, Hendrixx,” Pete said, as I mounted Lance. “One of my guys told me someone approached him at the pub last week about earning some fast, easy cash doing a job herding up some brumbies.”
I held Lance still; an uneasy chill raced down my spine.
“And?”
“He said the guy was dressed in a suit and silk tie, hair perfectly styled like a … well, I won’t tell you what he described him as, but essentially the offer was to herd the brumbies to the valley, shoot each and every one of them, and leave the carcasses on Triple H land.”
“Fuck! Fucking Roberts!” An ear-splitting roar left my throat, Lance danced nervously under me, sensing my mood and reacting to it.
“Call Marty at the station, tell him Roberts is behind this and have that cunt found. I swear to Christ if one strand of hair on her head is hurt, he is going to feel more than my fist in his face.” I didn’t recognise my own voice, the deadly edge not something I ever used, and going by the alarmed look on my brother’s face, he was thinking the same thing.
“Call Noxx, tell him where I am heading,” I ordered Fenixx, then turned to look at Eddy, “saddle up a couple of men and send one to the west just in case Blake is still heading that way, and another over to Pete’s. I want to know exactly what went down at the pub.”
Fenixx still had the phone held out in front of him, which meant Pete could hear everything I said. “That okay with you, Pete?”
“No worries mate, Dazza turned him down, but others were approached too, a few of them Daz didn’t know,” Pete explained grimly.
If Pete’s worker didn’t know the other men, then it was quite possible they didn’t have a community connection and didn’t give a shit about the brumbies or the rules of the mountains. Money was a highly motivating prize to men out of work or who didn’t give a fuck, shooting horses to some was an easy thing to do. A frightening conclusion but a very real one.
Fenixx pocketed his phone and stepped up to me, laying his hand on Lance’s strong neck. “I will arm some of the men and send them out on patrols, you go find Blake, mate, find her before they do.” His voice low and ominous.
“There is no other option acceptable, Nixx,” I returned, urging Lance into a canter leaving Nixx in charge to keep the Triple H guarded just in case that idiot Roberts had more plans to get his revenge on me.
Sitting back in the saddle, I held on as Lancelot flew over the gate that led to the first fifty-acre paddock I would have to cover before the mountains and open land and the valley. Somewhere out there, Blake was walking into a situation she had no chance of getting out of uninjured or worse.
Giving Lance his head, I leaned over his neck and spoke to him. “Don’t stop old mate; our girl needs us. Get me to her, get me to my heart.”
The shots echoed through the quiet. I counted seven, then eight, then nine, and I prayed that they were
