Stockman’s Stormcloud (Stockmen #3)

Thirty-seven

‘You two are not serious about me fighting against Leo for our station?’ Dex glared at Ryder and Bree, once again agreeing on something—but this was so much bigger, this was for their home.

‘Do you see it, Bree?’ Ryder narrowed his eyes at Leo, walking towards the fight organisers with Hank skulking off in the other direction.

‘I do.’ Bree quickly shoved her boxes of bottles, and her folded table into her Kombi van. ‘It’s a distraction.’

‘What?’ Dex asked.

‘Leo is distracting you two, giving Hank time to warn the others and get away. Leo did that at the campdraft, making out he owned Mia’s dog, while his offsider was poisoning Cap’s dogs.’ With her Kombi locked up tight, Bree started moving.

Ryder caught her arm. ‘Find Finn.’

‘No, you find Finn.’ She pulled her arm free, to drag out her shotgun from under the chassis of her Kombi. ‘Hank has your cattle and I’m not letting that prick get away with it.’

‘We can’t let Bree go on her own.’ Dex watched her leave, fearless as always.

‘I agree. You find Finn, let him know what’s going on. I’ll watch that woman’s back.’

‘What about my fight?’

‘Stall the fight somehow. Just don’t start until I get there.’

‘What about the bet? Do we go through with it?’

Ryder’s hands landed heavily on Dex’s shoulders. ‘Do you believe you can beat Leo?’

‘Leo must know about the ribs.’

‘Forget that. I want to know if you believe you can beat him.’ Ryder’s eyes locked on his brother. ‘I know you can. And so does Bree. Come on, we both know Bree would bet against you if she didn’t think you’d make it. And I wouldn’t be fronting my share of the station either.’

‘That’s a lot to put on one fight.’

‘Think about it. I honestly don’t believe Leo will follow-up on that bet, not when he’s got no backup, or witnesses of his own.’

‘So, it’s a distraction?’

Ryder nodded. ‘Listen, brother, you may have to go through with the fight, but know you have my support because I believe you’ll beat him. And, who knows, maybe they can beat Leo at his own game, but don’t hold your breath. And don’t start without me.’ Ryder ran off into the dark.

Could Dex do this?

Oh, he so very much wanted to face Leo. It was the ultimate Christmas present for this fighter.

But first, he had to find Finn.

It wasn’t hard, when Finn was skulking around the beer tent.

‘You will not believe this…’ Dex informed Finn of what had just happened, nodding in the direction they’d left.

‘What are you going to do?’ Finn asked.

‘Fight.’ He was looking forward to it, too.

‘You can’t fight for cattle stations.’

‘This is the Northern Territory. It has happened before. It’s why they call it the final frontier.’

‘You know who Leo is?’

‘Do you?’

‘Leo was a legit boxer who used the sport as a hobby, to prove himself to his bosses that he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. His family is said to be connected with the mob in Sydney and Melbourne. ’

‘So what?’ Dex was a well-trained, highly experienced bare-knuckle boxer. He’d gone up against other fancy professional fighters in his time, and always had them kissing the dirt when he was done, because this place had no rules. ‘I can take him.’

‘Leo won’t fight fair. Trust me on that one, because his day job is smuggling.’

‘Smuggling what?’

‘Drugs, through the docks for his bosses.’

That explained the lethal edge to Leo, but also his patience to play the long game. It still didn’t scare Dex off. ‘And he’s here to be legit?’

Finn scoffed. ‘Rumour is Leo scored that cattle station over a debt he collected.’

‘Do you really think someone like that is out here to start a lithium mine?’

‘No. I’m not sure what his reasons are, but Leo is after you guys. From what Bree’s told me, he’s toying with you guys—’

‘Like a cat with their prey?’ It was enough for Dex to give a hard swipe over his dry mouth. ‘As a betting man, I’d wager that Leo is not the type of man to keep his word. Like this bet we made for cattle stations.’ That even if Dex did win, Leo wouldn’t cough up his station, or would he? ‘Leo said he knows the organisers.’

‘Leo’s probably getting a cut from these fights, and he always plays to win.’

Just like Dex.

‘Let’s hope the bust goes down before you enter that ring.’ Finn patted Dex’s shoulder and took off, leaving Dex to walk back to his fighting gear, being babysat by Sophie.

He spotted her standing on a crate beside Charlie. She climbed down and walked towards him, his dear, sweet Sophie. Without a thought, he dragged her against his chest and hugged her.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Everything…’ He quickly explained the situation of how he was now being asked to face Leo for the future of their cattle st ation.

‘Who is Leo?’

‘The guy in the black hat standing near the referee.’ He nodded slyly in Leo’s direction.

Sophie’s eyes widened, as her jaw dropped. ‘You can’t fight that guy.’

‘Don’t you think I can win?’ Dex believed he could. In fact, he relished the chance to beat the crap out of Leo’s smug face.

‘I didn’t say that. You need to buy time.’

She was right. ‘But how? I can only stall for so long, or I get penalised.’

‘You!’ A woman stormed up to them waving her finger at Dex

‘Careful, that’s Marla. Hank’s missus, cattle rustler number two,’ he whispered into Sophie’s ear, as he dragged her to stand safely behind him.

‘Hello, Marla. Did you lose some weight?’ Not that he could see it or cared either. He’d seen two out of three rustlers, so where was number three, Marla’s brother, Joe?

‘You can’t beat Hank in your fight. He’s bet all our dosh on your fight when it’s meant for our house, so I want you to throw it.’

‘Nick off. Don’t insult me like that. I’ve never thrown a fight.’ Dex frowned at the waste of oxygen.

‘Just who do you think you are?’ It was Sophie. Sweet, timid Sophie pushing Marla away. ‘Don’t get in my man’s face and expect him to throw a fight. He won’t do that for you or anyone.’ Sophie then looked Marla up and down like she was a bug. ‘Did you really leave the house looking like that?’

‘What the hell!’

Was Sophie channelling Bree? Or was this another side to Sophie, the bad side? ‘Sophie?’

‘No. This is my fight.’ Sophie lifted that dainty chin to taunt Marla. ‘My partner will never hit a lady, but I certainly can. If you can call yourself a lady.’

‘I’ve had enough of you.’ Marla swung, but Dex caught her fist and squeezed.

‘Don’t even think about it.’ Dex snarled. No one would dare strike at his family, especially Sophie. Even if Sophie did stir this up.

‘ALL FIGHTS MUST BE HELD IN THE RING.’ It was the referee. ‘If you two ladies are going to duke it out, do it in the ring.’

The crowd opened a pathway straight to the inner circle of light.

‘Coming, princess? I’ve always wanted to beat the crap out of a blonde.’ Marla waddled in her cowboy boots and long shorts, but with the confidence of a brutish woman about to kick Sophie’s butt.

Dex grabbed Sophie’s hand. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Giving you and your family the time you need.’

‘Can you fight?’

‘Um, no. But I’m sick of people walking all over me. As Bree would say, I’m in need of some anger management.’ She tugged her arm free.

‘I can’t let you do this, Soph.’ Not his sweet, smiling Sophie, tightening up her ponytail.

‘Charlie?’ She waved to the old stockman standing on his perch amongst the crowd. ‘Can you put a bet on me to win?’

Charlie gave her a double thumbs up. ‘You give ‘em hell, girlie. We could win enough to feed your cat for a year.’

‘You can’t do this, Sophie.’ Dex followed her.

‘Watch me.’