Jonathan, Bill, and the other ranch hands quietly met in the parking lot behind the abandoned school.
Everyone was wearing all black, and had flash lights, and guns and bullets.
"Ok, everyone. Rich here is the leader. We are going to stay behind him, and then fan out when we get to the bunk house. I will go into the bunkhouse first then. Remember, quiet is the idea. We are sneaking up on them, so try not to be too loud".
They all nodded.
"Ok, let's go".
***Jennifer***
Jennifer rolled over and snuggled closer to Jonathan.
Finding his side of the bed empty, she got up and drained her water glass and then went to refill it.
The bathroom light wasn't on, and neither was the kitchen light.
She crept through the living room and into the kitchen and turned on the light.
After she refilled her water glass, she left the light above the oven on, and came back through the living room.
She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Jack on the sofa.
"Jack…is that you?"
"Yes".
"Why are you sleeping in here?"
"No reason, really".
She reached over and turned on the light.
"Out with it. Where is my husband?"
"Well…"
"Jack. Where is Jonathan?"
"Out".
"Out where?"
"Out…on an important errand".
Before she could question him any further, the phone rang.
She reached over and got it.
"Hello?"
"Mrs. Hart, hi. It's me, Stanley. I'm sorry to call so late, but I've been investigating the sheriff like you asked me to, and I found out something very interesting that I think you really need to know".
"Go ahead, Stanley".
She listened as he told her everything he had found out, and went over to her desk to write some of it down.
"Well, that is very interesting. Can you do me a favor? Can you print those documents, and overnight them to us here at the ranch? I'll make sure Jonathan pays you handsomely for this. Thank you, Stanley. I really appreciate it".
She hung up and looked at Jack.
"You have exactly ten seconds to tell me what Jonathan is up to and where he is, or else you will see why my father used to call me the Redheaded Siren when I was angry!"
"Ok, ok. He and Bill and the ranch hands are sneaking into the bunkhouse at the Gregory's to pay them back for shooting at you yesterday".
"I'm going to get dressed. And then you are taking me to Jonathan."
"That's not a good idea".
"I'm not going to sit by and let him get himself killed. Now get dressed, because we are leaving here in about 2 minutes".
"Yes ma'am".
***Jonathan***
Jonathan and Bill were leading the pack to the bunkhouse.
Everyone quietly crept towards the bunkhouse, making sure to not make a sound.
They surrounded the bunkhouse, and looked inside a window.
8 guys, all in bunks, asleep. One front door, one back door.
Jonathan gave the signals, and 5 went one way and 4 went another.
Jonathan quietly picked the lock, and opened the door and ushered everyone inside, while Bill went and opened the back door.
Once everyone was inside, they each stood by a bunk, aiming their weapons at one person.
When everyone was ready, Jonathan flipped the light on.
"Freeze! Nobody move!".
Everyone started looking around, taking it all in.
"Each of you, has one of us with a gun pointed at you. We won't hesitate to take you out. Now I'm only going to ask this once. We aren't even going to talk about how all of you trespassed onto my property, because the real question is which one of you miserable low-life sons of bitches shot at my wife? I could care less about the rest of you, I just want the one who aimed a gun at my wife and pulled the trigger. Which one?"
***Jennifer***
Jennifer and Jack took the ATV through the woods, and straight up to the bunkhouse.
She hopped off and went to the front door.
"Mrs. Hart, they all have weapons in there. You might want to go in easy".
She nodded.
"….which one of you miserable low life sons of bitches shot at my wife?"
Jennifer opened the door and stood behind Jonathan.
She and everyone else watched as the ranch hands pointed to the ringleader.
"Bill, get everyone but this one here, over to the other side of the room".
"You heard him. On the double".
Jonathan pointed the rifle he was carrying at the ranch hand.
"What's your name?"
"Pete".
"You have 5 seconds to tell me why you shot at my wife".
"We were told to do whatever we had to do in order to get you to sell. We thought if your wife died here, you wouldn't want to come back and would agree to sell. So, we watched her for a few days, and figured out that she loved to ride horses in the morning, and just waited for her to ride again, basically".
"Well, I'm sorry to say, your little plan backfired. And the only one who's going to die around here is you".
Jonathan lifted the rifle and pointed it at his head.
Jennifer stepped forward and grabbed Jonathan's arm.
"Darling, don't! Not for his sake, but for yours".
He thought about it for a moment.
"You're right. He's not worth killing".
Jonathan turned to Bill.
"Ok, let's lead them out".
"You heard him gentlemen. Put your boots on, and then we are all going to take a walk".
Bill came over and put a handcuff on one of Pete's wrists, and then slapped the other one on his own.
Jonathan handed his rifle to Jack, and then embraced Jennifer.
"I know you're probably mad at me, but I swear I was only trying to protect you and figure out why you were the target".
"I'm not mad. I was too scared to be mad, but now I'm just so glad you're all right. And Stanley called. I think you need to hear what he had to say, because I think it will fill in some major missing pieces of the puzzle for us".
They walked back to their ranch, and Jennifer filled him in as they walked.
He agreed with her that it was important information.
They came back to their house and found Bill and Jack with the others in the garage.
"Ya'll stay put. I'm going to go give our friend, the sheriff a call".
***A few hours later***
Jennifer and Jonathan and Freeway were finally crawling into bed. Jack and Bill had just gone back to the loft. The sheriff had sent some deputies, who reviewed the footage, and arrested the ranch hands and charged all of them with trespassing and some of them with attempted murder. Pete was charged with first-degree attempted murder along with trespassing and conspiracy.
As they climbed into bed, Jonathan stretched out alongside Jennifer.
"Darling, why didn't you bring up the information that you told me earlier?"
"Because. He works for the sheriff and that information in the wrong hands could work against us. I'm thinking we need to take this information to someone a little higher up the ladder".
***The Next Morning***
Jennifer and Jonathan and Bill and Jack were having coffee on the back porch when they heard a knock at the door.
Jonathan went to get it.
He came back a few minutes later with the deputy from the night before.
"Hi folks. Sorry to bother you. Just wanted to let you know this morning I got a phone call from Holt Gregory. He's furious that you 4 trespassed on his property and his ranch hands were arrested because of it. So, I came out and met with him, and he asked me to come arrest all of you. And I was going to, but I read the reports first. And I explained to him that all of his ranch hands stated that they were following his orders. And they admitted to trespassing on your property and shooting at Mrs. Hart, here. So, I told him all of that, and he backed down a little bit, and he finally said that if you all drop the charges against his workers, he will see to it that they are never over here again".
"Not happening. They shot at my wife, and it wasn't a spur of the moment thing, either. They planned it out. They watched her, and they waited and then they deliberately tried to kill her. I'm not dropping any charges at all".
"Mrs. Hart, how would you feel about-"
"I stand with my husband on this, deputy."
"Very well. So, from here on out, the DA will take over the case, and you'll be notified about a trial".
"Thank you".
Jonathan saw him out, and then came back to the porch.
"Ok, so today, I think I want to use the Techtrons, and see if there are any areas of the property that we need to seal off."
"Good idea".
Jennifer stayed inside and finished her article, while the men went outside and checked the property.
By the time they came back, they were covered in dirt from head to toe.
"What did you three get into?"
"We dug the holes for the pipes, to make sure the river will always flow, no matter what. And we spread about 100 pounds of fresh manure along the property line, to reinforce the bottom of the fence, and we took the ladder from the treehouse that was on the other side of the property line and permanently attached it to our side of the property line".
"Well, shower off and get all cleaned up. I made a special dinner for the three of you, and it will be ready as soon as you three are".
"Sounds great".
An hour later, they were all in the kitchen".
"Ok, we have stuffed steaks, and you can all grill them to your liking. I turned on the grill and got it going. We also have fresh roasted vegetables, orange rice with ginger and cranberries, and roasted asparagus, wrapped in bacon. I also made a fresh pitcher of orange sweet tea, and a brand-new raspberry pie for dessert".
"This is wonderful".
"You outdid yourself".
Jack and Bill both kissed her on the cheek.
"Darling, what precipitated all of this?"
"We won the war, darling. And you three defended my honor so nicely, so this is my way of saying thank you".
"What are the steaks stuffed with?"
"Bleu cheese, artichoke hearts, and mushrooms".
They were the thickest steaks Jack and Bill had eaten in a long time.
After a nice dinner, they did the dishes and then the guys played poker, while Jennifer read a magazine.
"Well, I think I'm going to mosey on back home tomorrow. Seems strange going back to my life after all of this".
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Jennifer and I are going to close the house up in a couple of days and then go back to LA".
Jennifer came over and sat in Jonathan's lap.
"Sure has been fun hanging out here with you guys".
"Yeah, we enjoyed your company too. Sorry you had to help us out with the violence and got all caught up in the feud".
"We can't thank either of you enough for dropping everything and just coming out here".
"Our pleasure".
"Don't mention it".
A few minutes later, they decided to go to bed, and turned out all the lights. Jonathan brought two glasses of water with him to the bedroom and set them down. Jennifer got Freeway all settled in his bed.
They climbed into bed and she scooted over towards him.
He wrapped his arms around her as she settled on to his chest.
"Darling, we don't have to rush back to LA, do we?"
"I don't guess so. But aren't you ready to get away from this place for a bit?"
"Yes, but think about it. As soon as we get back to LA and back to our house, you will have to deal with the office, and I will probably start dealing with another article, or a charity function, and we'll have Max and Freeway, and we need time for it to be just us. And that's what we came up here for, but we really didn't get that, because we've been so focused on the property".
"That's a good point. We can stay a few days if you want".
He started kissing her forehead.
"Darling…we can't".
"We were quiet the other night".
"Yeah, but this time is different. And we came here so we wouldn't have to be quiet, remember?"
"Come on, it'll be terrific".
"Darling…we have company in the loft, remember?"
"I remember, I remember".
"As soon as they're gone. And I promise to spend the whole day pampering you".
"It's a deal".
He scratched her head and ran his hand up and down her back.
"I am so thankful that you were taught how to ride like the wind".
"Darling…I'm ok. It was scary for a few minutes, but I'm ok. I'm ok and I'm here with you".
"If I had lost you…."
"Now you realize why I was so scared when you all blew up the bridge and took everyone hostage".
"I know. And we weren't trying to scare you. We were trying to do what was right and protect you and the rest of us".
"I know…but things can go wrong. And you guys didn't leave yourself a lot of room for error. I am not ready for us to go back home to our regular lives, but I'm more than ready for some normalcy again".
"Me too. And until I know that things are absolutely safe where you are concerned, it won't be or feel normal again".
***The Next Morning***
Everyone got up and had a nice breakfast, and then got ready.
"Thanks for coming out, we really appreciate your help".
"Glad to do it."
"Call me in a few days Jonathan, and I'll be waiting at the airport for you".
"You got it".
Jack and Bill loaded up the car and took off for the airport.
Jonathan and Jennifer and Freeway headed back inside.
Jonathan opened the freezer.
"At some point today, we need to go into town and buy a cooler with dry ice, and pack all of this meat in that, so it will stay cold on our flight home".
"Good plan".
She added dry ice and cooler to the list and then headed to the bedroom.
He was right behind her.
It took them mere moments to undress and climb into bed. Jonathan climbed on top of Jennifer as soon as they were settled, and crushed her lips with his.
She gripped his shoulders as he shifted his weight so that he wasn't completely on top of her.
He cupped her breast as his tongue explored her mouth, tasting every bit that he could.
"Mmmm".
"Louder baby".
He pushed every button, hit every spot that he knew would elicit a moan or gasp from her, and ran his hands up and down her body as much as he possibly could. He just wanted to feel her with every part of himself. She wrapped a leg around his as he moved his lips to that spot by her ear, that special spot at the base of her neck, the spot between her breasts. They both took advantage of the fact that nobody else was around to hear them. Their lovemaking was torrid, passionate, intense, and reconnected them in ways they didn't realize they needed.
When they were finished, they did it again, and again once more.
When they were finally sated, they took a short nap and then got up.
They were deciding whether or not to stay another day, or to go back to LA when the phone rang.
Jonathan reached over and picked it up.
"Hello? Hi Stanley".
Jonathan spoke to Stanley for a few minutes while Jennifer went and got them both a cool drink. She climbed back in bed and snuggled up to him again, and then took a sip of her drink.
"Ok thanks Stanley".
He hung up.
"Did he have good news?"
"Yes, he did. I called him this morning and asked him to find me a contact that would allow me to schedule a meeting with the governor."
"And what did he find for you?"
"The governor's personal cell phone number".
"Why am I not surprised?"
"That's Stanley".
"So, I think you and I should get dressed. And then I'm going to call him and ask for a meeting, and I'll even invite him out here if that's what I need to do".
"Darling, that's a bad idea. Think this through. Let's go to him wherever he is".
"You're right. That's the better option".
She went and took a quick shower while he called the governor and then he hopped in behind her as soon as she got out.
They were ready to walk out the door within the hour, and the car was totally packed.
Jennifer climbed into the passenger seat after she locked the door behind them. Jonathan loaded the last bag into the back of the jeep and then climbed into the driver's seat.
She laced her fingers through his.
"Let's do this".