Stockman’s Stormcloud (Stockmen #3)

Thirty-nine

The dark car park was cool and quiet, with a ceiling of stars above them as the crowd roared, announcing the beginning of another fight.

Dex was so proud of Sophie. Who was not just nice, she was naughty—which was hot. He loved a woman who came out swinging, and he loved her, and she loved him. He really was about to trip over into the land of happily ever after, looking forward to waking up to the little blonde minx in his bed for the rest of his life.

But first she needed to get over tonight’s war wounds. He dabbed antiseptic over her knuckles and bandaged them up, even kissing them to make her smile with her fat lip. Oh, she was going to feel that tomorrow.

‘What the hell were you thinking, Marla?’ It was Hank, shouting at his partner as they wove their way through the parked cars. ‘We’re meant to be leaving but, no, we had to wait for you.’

Dex held Sophie to his chest, and whispered, ‘Don’t move, it’s the cattle rustlers.’

‘I was fighting some blonde.’ Marla spat out blood, holding an icepack to her face.

‘I can’t believe you let that little cream puff beat you. I lost money on that bet.’

‘So, you’re just mad at me about losing the money that you spent on yourself? That was our money, for our house. Not to fight or bet with.’ Marla stabbed at the air as she limped behind Hank .

‘We just have to sell the cattle.’

‘No one is buying that stock. So far every punter has recognised that cattle brand like it’s some witch’s curse to back away from any deal. We should have listened to my brother and gone down south to his mate at the meatworks.’ Marla stomped after Hank as they wove through the car park towards the dark edge of the paddock.

‘I want you to go and sit with Charlie,’ Dex whispered to Sophie.

She grabbed his arm. ‘Where are you going?’

‘I’m going to follow them. I’m not letting Hank and Marla leave with our cattle, especially not after you risked yourself like this. Go sit with Charlie.’

‘But—’

‘Go. You’ll be safe there.’ Dex pushed her tenderly towards the lights. ‘Keep the ice on your face.’

Satisfied that she’d headed for Charlie, Dex dashed between the parked vehicles to chase after the arguing couple, who led him deeper to the edge of the paddock where a large shadow towered just before the trees. It was the truck, highlighted by a small camping lantern.

‘This whole fight meet is a bust. No one wants the cattle.’ Stocky Joe swaggered over to meet the couple, where he’d been leaning against the cab of the truck. ‘What the hell did you do to my sister?’ Joe used the lantern to highlight Marla’s face. It was a shocker.

‘Nothing,’ replied Hank, rummaging around the esky for a beer and cracking open a can. ‘Marla was the one who hopped in the arena to take on some blonde. Not me.’

‘Did you kick her arse?’ Joe checked over his sister’s face, while Hank drank his beer like a prince.

‘I lost. She was possessed or something,’ whined out Marla. ‘Can we go now?’

‘We should have left as soon as Leo told me the cattle station owners were here,’ said Hank.

‘Why didn’t we?’

‘I was waiting for Marla to get her face beaten up.’ Hank shook his head at Marla.

‘Can you drive, Sis?’

‘No. My face hurts and I’m getting a black eye. Is there any ice left in the cooler? Or did you leave the lid off again and let it melt?’ She scowled at Hank before rummaging through the beer cooler for some ice.

Sneaking through the dry grasses, Dex moved closer, to pause and listen. It was the stockman’s tune, cattle lowing from the back of the truck.

It was his cattle!

Dex was about to make a move when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

‘Shh.’ It was Ryder.

‘Why hasn’t Finn arrested them yet?’ Dex whispered to his brother.

‘Finn is waiting for them to get inside the truck.’

Dex couldn’t see anyone this far into the paddock, only the arena’s lights shining like a mini city in the distance. ‘Where’s Bree?’

‘With Finn. Why are you here?’

‘The fight got delayed, just like you wanted.’

‘How?’

‘Sophie picked a fight with Marla.’

‘No way.’ Ryder arched an eyebrow.

‘Sophie won, too. I’ve never been prouder. She was hot.’ Dex couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.

‘Sicko,’ mumbled Ryder, but the grin was there as they crouched low among the dried grasses. ‘Come on, get in there you arseholes.’ All they could do was wait and watch the trio of morons less than twenty metres away.

‘You know what, I’ll drive.’ Hank snatched the truck keys from Joe.

‘Where are we going?’ asked Joe. ‘We can’t travel east with this load. We’ll run into an inspection crew.’

‘We’ll head to Alice Springs. I’ve got a mate with plenty of contacts there.’

‘Why didn’t we do that in the first place?’ Marla pressed a fresh chunk of ice to her face while sipping on a beer can, that she then pressed to the other side of her face.

‘Because Dex was here,’ complained Hank, stabbing the air in Marla’s direction. ‘I told you, already. You knew the plan.’

‘And you never got to fight him. And we never made a sale. The only thing that happened was I lost my fight, and YOU lost our money.’

‘Get in and whine at me while we’re on the road. Look, I’ll even play nice and help you get into the cab.’ Hank opened the door and helped Marla up.

‘You should be nicer to my sister,’ warned Joe.

‘She did this, not me.’

‘No, you were the one who made us wait this long when we could’ve hightailed it down south a week ago.’

‘Not my fault that no one wants this load of cattle,’ said Hank.

‘You should have known everyone would’ve recognised that station’s cattle brand.’

‘Okay, okay, I stuffed up.’

Joe made a stabbing motion at Hank, as he said, ‘Or that Leo mate of yours gave you a bad tip when you sucked up to him for cash. Do you have the means to pay back the money you owe Leo? Because he’s not the type of bloke to let you walk away.’

Dex and Ryder scowled from the shadows, hearing how their nasty neighbour was involved in this.

‘I’ll deal with Leo later.’ Hank hoisted the cooler and lantern into the truck’s cab. ‘First, let’s hit the road and head for Alice Springs, we’ll get rid of the cattle there.’

‘You’d better. Or we’ll be letting this load go on the side of the highway before we cross the border.’ Joe climbed into the passenger seat.

‘We’ll be right, trust me.’ Hank juggled the set of keys, walking around the front of the truck’s cab to climb up to the driver’s door.

‘Here we go.’ Ryder was crouched like a jaguar, ready to sprint for the kill. Dex was doing the same.

Hank slammed the driver’s door shut, the truck’s engine came to life, the lights came on, and its large tyres rolled with a crunch over the dry soils.

‘They’re leaving.’

‘Let’s go.’ Ryder and Dex ran across the field and leaped onto the back of the trailer.

Dex struggled to get his boots up onto the ledge as the truck started to gain momentum.

‘I’ve got you, brother.’ Ryder’s grip was like a vice under Dex’s armpit, pulling Dex up.

Dex finally got his boots to wedge against the small ledge. With his hands on the rails, he faced their cattle. ‘Was this part of the plan?’

‘I’m not letting them get away with our cattle.’

‘So, we hold on for how long?’

The truck built up speed as it hit the dirt track. It bounced around with the cattle lowing, their manure potent as the wind whipped around them to blend with exhaust fumes and dusty paddock dirt.

When the truck slowed down to cross the dry riverbed, there was a flash of red-and-blue lights as vehicles rushed at them from two sides, with a large truck blocking their path. Trapped.

The rustler’s truck doors opened. Hank ran in one direction. Joe hightailed it in the other, sprinting across the field.

‘Ryder, get Joe. Hank is mine.’ Dex jumped off the truck and ran across the paddock, his boots churning up the dust to cover the distance, getting right behind Hank, who dodged like a rabbit to hide behind a tree like a child.

‘Face me, you coward. This could be your last shot at the title.’

Hank stepped out, tossing his hat aside, and pushed up the sleeves of his shirt. ‘I’ll take that bet.’ And swung a roundhouse.

Dex ducked, not expecting the knee to his shoulder. ‘ Oomph.’

‘See, I can beat you.’ Hank taunted Dex like a bully in the schoolyard. ‘You’re not so big now, without a crowd.’

Dex pushed back and got into position, rolling his shoulders, shaking off the pain, just like he’d trained all these years. It helped him focus quickly, to come back swinging. It took a right, a left, another two quick jabs to the chest, an uppercut and then two jabs with the right, to finish it off with a wild left.

If he did this in the main arena his bookies would be scowling at him, with the organisers lecturing him, because he got paid better odds the longer he stretched out a fight. It’s the way they played their dangerous game, that only seemed deadlier now Leo was involved.

But this fight wasn’t in the arena. This fight in the dust was for his cattle and for his family. Dex slammed his knuckles into Hank’s chin so hard it snapped his neck back. Hank wobbled on his legs as if walking on stilts, until his eyes rolled back and he crumpled to the dirt like a house of cards.

Dex dragged him up by the scruff of his neck. ‘You stole our cattle.’

‘That he did.’ It was Bree, aiming her shotgun at Hank. ‘You can go now, Dex.’

‘And what are you going to do? Find a waterhole to feed your pet crocodiles.’

‘Oh, we’ve got special plans for this one.’ Bree cocked back the hammer of her shotgun with a stern glint in her eyes.

‘You’re scaring me, Bree. What are you going to do?’ Because the woman wasn’t afraid to use her firearms. She’d already shot one bloke.

‘My grandfather and some of the other staunch stockmen have a plan for these cattle rustlers. It’s a tradition the local stockmen keep from way back.’ She gave a sickly sweet smile at her captive over the barrel of her loaded shotgun. ‘Do you want to meet my friends?’

The look was enough for even Dex to put his hands up, as he stepped back from the redhead. ‘You’re in trouble now, Hank.’

‘I’ll cooperate, I swear.’ Hank was on his knees, hands behind his head, pleading with the redhead holding a shotgun.

‘Babe, you can drop the shottie,’ said Finn, approaching them. ‘And it had better be registered. I can’t cover your arse with the local cops around.’

‘Marcus knows I’ve got it.’ She lowered the hammer and rested the shotgun on her shoulder. ‘Marcus sent me out here to help Dex while you were backing up Ryder with the other bad guy.’ She then leaned in and said to Hank, ‘You have no idea how lucky you are that the cops are here to protect you.’

Dex didn’t realise he’d been holding his breath, until Bree gave a sly wink. Was that story true about Bree and the other stockmen?

‘You’re under arrest.’ Finn slapped a pair of handcuffs on Hank, dragging him away.

‘Hey, I just heard Sophie got into a fight. Is that true?’ Bree asked Dex as they followed Finn dragging Hank through the dry grasses that brushed at their denim knees.

Dex grinned. ‘Yeah, Sophie did that to give us time.’

‘Thank goodness she did,’ said Finn. ‘Because we’d been waiting on that truck to block the road.’

‘It won’t stop the punters.’ Bree pointed to the field. The arena’s spotlights had been doused, and a stream of cars rushed off in various directions, with the red-and-blue flashing lights creating an ethereal spookiness to the churning dust. ‘Where is Sophie?’

‘I told her to stay with Charlie.’

‘They’ll be by the Kombi, then. Pop has got the spare keys.’

‘Did you get Hank?’ asked Ryder, approaching from the other side of the rustler’s truck.

‘I did.’ Dex nodded. ‘Hank even got his last fight in.’

‘Where you kicked his arse, obviously. Knew you could do it.’ Ryder patted his brother on the shoulder. ‘How about we take our cattle home?’

‘I’ll drive,’ said Bree. ‘Finn, do you need to take photos?’

‘Yeah, I’ll come with you. Marcus and his crew are taking these perps down to the station for holding. Babe, you’d know a good spot on the station for me to take notes on the evidence?’

‘I do. The drafting yards. Dex did a great job on the new layout of the chutes and his cradle. We can do a health check on each one of them, and then put them in quarantine for a few weeks in Drover’s Rest.’ She then stopped and faced the Riggs brothers. ‘Unless you two gentlemen have any objections, suggestions, ideas? Speak now or—’

‘Good idea, Bree. We’ll meet you at the drafting yards,’ said Ryder, agreeing with Bree again. That was three times in one day.

Ryder dragged out his phone. ‘I’ll call Ash to get the spotlights ready and flush the troughs in the holding yard. Cap can dump a load of feed in there too, to keep them happy while we process them. And if Sophie isn’t too banged up, she can drive Charlie home.’

‘Great. I’ll call Charlie, and meet you back there,’ said Bree, also dragging her phone out of her witchy bag. ‘Of course, I’ll be expecting Dex to overtake me in no time.’

‘As if I’d let my baby eat your dust,’ he teased the redhead, as he too dragged his phone out to call Sophie and let her know what was going on. It was rare for them to even be in phone range like this.

Bree approached the large cattle trailer containing their stolen herd. ‘Hello, my pretties, are you ready to go home?’

The cattle lowed louder, shifting with excitement as if they’d recognised her.

‘Get comfortable, kiddies, the next stop is Elsie Creek Station.’ Bree slung her shotgun over her shoulder, her red plait trailing down her back as she jumped into the cab, and in a few moments the truck started heading for home.

‘I’d really like that girl if she didn’t scare me,’ said Dex, watching the truck’s tail-lights disappear on the dusty road.

‘What about your girl? Getting into a fight.’ Ryder nudged his brother.

‘I know. I’m in love. And she loves me.’ The grin got bigger, as did that deep breath making his chest rise and ribs expand with ease ‘And because of Sophie, I’m going to retire from the fighting gig.’

‘And do what?’

‘Make babies.’