Chapter 5

Cheyenne hung up her phone. Five pizzas were on their way.

"Pizza and a movie," Cheyenne said. Maybe that would ease the tension that was filling her living room.

"What and a what?" Buck asked.

Cheyenne put a hand to her forehead. She really wanted a hot bath and bed. And these men out of her house.

"Food and entertainment," she said.

She took her phone from JD who had picked it up and was studying it.

She went to the TV and flipped it on, prepared for the men to startle at the picture and noise.

"What…"

Cheyenne flipped it over to the DVD and chose the first case her hand landed on. "You guys, I don't know how it works. There are movie cameras and film and DVDs…" They all stared at her like she was speaking a foreign language.

"Do you have cameras where you're from?" she asked.

"Sure," Josiah said. "That traveling photographer wanted Chris to pose for a picture. Some dime novelist was planning on writing a book about him."

Cheyenne felt her eyebrows raise. But she shook her head. She didn't need details. They would be gone—somewhere, anywhere but her apartment—soon. "It's like a camera that takes a whole bunch of pictures really fast and puts them all together. Then the television set displays it."

The men looked at her doubtfully, but seemed willing to leave it at that.

Cheyenne started the movie, going outside to wait for the pizza. She sat down on the top step of the steep stairs that led to her upstairs apartment.

She could hear the movie starting inside and smiled to herself. She could only imagine what the group inside was going to think of The Avengers.

The door opened and she looked behind her. Morgan hesitated. Cheyenne moved over to make room for the younger woman. She knew what it was like to be a younger sister stuck with a brother and his rough friends. And that was hard enough without being in a strange place.

Morgan carefully lowered herself to the step, arranging her long skirts around her legs.

Cheyenne expected Morgan to speak, but she didn't. She just sat next to Cheyenne in silence, watching the lights in the neighborhood come in.

"Thanks," Morgan finally said.

Cheyenne looked over at her. Morgan was still looking out over the yards around them.

"Sure," Cheyenne answered. A car came down the street, slowing as it approached Cheyenne's. Cheyenne reached for her phone to check the time, before realizing she had left it inside. The pizza shouldn't be here this soon.

Then the car pulled into the driveway alongside the house and Cheyenne realized it wasn't the pizza. It was her brother. Hunter in the passenger seat.

A curse escaped before she could catch it. Morgan looked at her.

"Get inside," Cheyenne said.

Morgan didn't ask any questions, just started to move toward the door.

Cheyenne went through the door behind Morgan and shut it firmly behind her, flipping the lock and leaning against it.

She could hear two sets of footsteps up the stairs and braced herself for the knock on the door.

The men turned from their movie to look at her.

Cheyenne looked back at them. Seven men with guns lounging in her living room.

Another knock at her door and her brother's voice calling her name.

"Come on," Cheyenne hissed at them, thankful Buck had installed a piece of wood over the broken window so her voice wouldn't carry to her brother and Hunter.

She motioned them towards her bedroom and they all crowded in.

"It's my brother and my…boyfriend." She didn't know exactly what Hunter was to her, but that was close enough. "They can't know you're here." She met Buck's eyes and saw he understood.

He nodded without speaking.

She looked around the room to make sure the others understood. Reassured enough to hope for the best, she slipped out of her room, closing the door quietly as another knock pounded on her door. This time her brother called her name.

Cheyenne glanced around the room, not sure what she was looking for. A stray gun? Cowboy boots? Not seeing anything, she turned the lock and opened the door.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Eli's eyes immediately narrowed and he looked over her shoulder into the room.

Cheyenne planted her feet.

"Checking in to see what you're doing?" Eli said.

Not how she was doing. Cheyenne didn't know why her foolish heart could still be hurt by the lack of care.

"I have a headache," she said. "I'm not doing anything."

"You up to working tonight?" Eli asked.

"No," Cheyenne said immediately. She saw Eli's flash of annoyance at her refusal and didn't bother to hide her own irritation. "I was knocked down in an earthquake, Eli Joe," she snapped. "Do you think I'm up to dealing with the shop tonight?"

"Yeah, what was that?" Hunter asked. "That was crazy."

"It was," Cheyenne agreed. She stepped back out of the doorway and started to close the door. "I'll see you at work in the morning."

Hunter stepped forward and put a hand on the door. "You must not be that bad if you're coming into the shop in the morning."

He and Eli pushed through the door, ignoring Cheyenne's protests.

Hunter looked at the boarded up window. "You have trouble?" he asked.

For a second, Cheyenne thought she saw concern in his face. She let him reach a hand to the back of her neck and give it a squeeze.

"Just an aftershock from that earthquake or whatever it was," she said. A rift in the time space continuum that dropped a gang from the old west in the middle of the field behind her house, she thought to herself, keeping her expression deliberately bland.

"We need a driver tonight," Eli said.

"I said I can't," Cheyenne said.

She felt Hunter's hand tighten on her neck and her body stiffened in response.

"We just need you to drive,"

"Call Sam," Cheyenne said.

"Sam's busy," Eli said. "Someone's got to get the car's to the shop." His expression darkened, daring her to refuse again.

Cheyenne opted for silence as her refusal.

"Damn it, Cheyenne!" Eli kicked her coffee table, sending the small piece of furniture crashing into the couch. "Get your stuff and get out in the car."

Cheyenne tried to take a step away, but Hunter was there, his grip like iron.

"Let go," she said.

"Grab her," Eli said to Hunter.

"Let go of me!" Cheyenne struggled against his hold. "I said I'm not going!"

She knocked Hunter off balance, he recovered, but they both crashed into an end table, sending a lamp to the floor, shattering.

Cheyenne jerked away, her annoyance moving from fear to horror when she saw the door to her bedroom that held the men she definitely did not want Hunter and Eli seeing.

#

"Why do you think she doesn't want her brother to see us?" JD whispered.

"Obviously he's not someone who would not be as amenable to our sojourn here as Miss Casey was," Ezra said.

Buck looked over at Ezra, lounging on Cheyenne's double bed. The man had a knack for looking at ease in any situation.

"What?" JD asked.

"He's someone she don't want us to meet up with," Chris clarified.

Morgan looked up at Chris from where she was perched on the edge of the bed. "Do you blame her?" Morgan asked.

Chris' lips twitched in the hint of a smile. "Hard to explain this many strange men in her home."

Morgan grinned fully. "You all aren't the most innocent looking bunch."

"I don't know who you're referring to," Ezra said. "I happen to be the very visage of innocence."

Morgan twisted on the bed and Buck couldn't see her expression, but he saw Morgan lean in toward Ezra and Ezra's answering raised eyebrow.

Sometimes those two worried him more than anything else in his life.

The sound of footsteps coming into the house, the men's voices growing closer had their humor fading. They stayed silent, the words carrying into the crowded bedroom.

Buck heard the tone shift, tempers rising. He glanced at Chris and Chris gave a shake of his head. Buck's jaw tightened when he heard the explosion of anger. He reached for the doorknob. They couldn't stand around in here while that girl was facing off with angry men out there.

Chris stopped him with a firm grip on his forearm.

Buck tried to shake off the hold, but Chris tightened his grip. "You want to make this worse for her?" Chris whispered. "How do you think her beau'll react to finding out she has some man in her bedroom?"

Buck took a step away from the door, looking over at Josiah, Nathan, Vin. Hoping one of them would argue with Chris. Their faces set, they didn't say anything.

Buck knew Chris was right. He paced away, bumping against Josiah in the crowded space.

A crash sounded from in the other room and Buck clamped his jaw tighter. Morgan jolted, Chris's eyes narrowed, and a responding crash came from within their room when a picture flew off the wall like someone flung it.

"I really wish that would stop happening," JD muttered as they all stared at it.

Morgan jumped to her feet. "They can't be upset if she has a friend over. Not a male companion." She darted past Chris and opened the door.

"Morgan," Buck hissed, reaching for her, but she was already outside the door. Buck exchanged grim looks with Chris. They would go after her if things got any worse. One more sound from out there and it didn't matter what sort of anger the men may unleash at seeing Chris or Buck. They weren't going to let Morgan get hurt.

#

Morgan saw the two men and Cheyenne in between them. A lamp was shattered on the floor and one of the men had a firm hand on the back of Cheyenne's neck.

Cheyenne's dark blue eyes widened at the sight of Morgan. Morgan tried to ignore the thudding of her heart that traveled to her aching head. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder, trying to look like she didn't hate the way the two men's gazes had moved in on her.

"You about ready to start the…" Morgan couldn't remember the word Cheyenne had used for the moving pictures on the box. She waved a hand toward the blank glass fronted box.

"The movie," Cheyenne said, a hint of relief in her voice.

"Yeah, the movie," Morgan repeated.

"Who's this?" one of the men asked. His hair hung down to his shoulders, his face was lean, sharp planes highlighting the almost predatory look in his eyes.

Morgan swallowed hard. For a split second, she wished Buck was next to her to send this guy away with a solid hit to the jaw, just like he had with any other man that looked at her back in Four Corners.

"My friend," Cheyenne said. "She came over to check on me. After the earthquake."

"Ain't never met this friend," the man said. He took a step closer to Morgan, his eyes sweeping over her. "Why you dressed like that?"

Morgan looked down at her long skirt and blouse.

"She's in a play," Cheyenne said.

The man's lips curved upward. "An actress, huh? You got any scenes you need to rehearse? I'm a real good partner."

Morgan shook her head. She tried to dredge up some bravado, reminding herself Buck was right behind the door to her left.

"Look," Cheyenne said. "You guys go, get what you can done tonight and tomorrow I'll drive. I'll get whatever cars you need. I'll…" she lowered her voice. "I'll boost them if you need. If Sam's not available."

Morgan didn't understand what that meant, but it grabbed the man's interest and he turned away from Morgan.

"We got a Lexus up in Two Springs we need brought down. You gonna go all the way up there and get it?"

Cheyenne nodded once.

He looked like he was weighing his options, but finally gave her a nod. "Tomorrow then." He looked back over at Morgan, his eyes lingering at the buttons on her blouse, then back up to her face. "Bring your friend with you."

The front door flew open suddenly, hitting the wall with a bang, then slammed shut again.

"What was that?" the man asked, and Morgan saw the handle of a gun sticking out of the waistband of his pants when he put a hand on it.

"The wind," Cheyenne said quickly, though her eyes met Morgan's and they both knew the shattered window, the exploding lightbulbs, the surges and dimming of the lights hadn't been the wind.

Cheyenne's brother didn't say anything more, just gave Morgan one last look before heading out the door. The other man had released his hold on Cheyenne, but he put a hand on her hip and pulled her toward him.

"You gonna keep me company after we get done breaking down the cars?"

Cheyenne didn't get a chance to respond, the man had pulled her up against him and put his lips on hers.

Morgan looked away, wishing she knew if Cheyenne wanted the man to be claiming her like that or not.

The man released Cheyenne with a squeeze of her hip, then followed Cheyenne's brother out the door.

When the door closed behind the men, Morgan blew out a long breath, her knees feeling wobbly, and half fell onto the couch. Every picture on the walls fell to the floor in unison. Cheyenne had her lips clamped together, watching the door the men had walked out, she barely spared a look at the sudden drop of all her frames.

But Morgan didn't have to ask anything, because the bedroom door opened, Buck looking out and, seeing the other men had left, strode across the small space to Morgan, but looking at Cheyenne.

Cheyenne shook herself out of her thoughts and turned back to the men. "They won't be over here again."

"They always like that?" Buck asked.

Morgan ignored her brother's bluster. She was fine. Those men were gone. And even if the one had leered at her and made her feel dirty with a single look, that wasn't anything to feel shaken up about.

The pillows on the sofa next to her flew across the room, hitting the door with a quiet thud before dropping to the ground.

"Ok, is that starting to scare anyone else?" JD asked.

"JD, we jumped through time," Vin said. "A few things breakin' ain't worth our attention."

Morgan met Chris' eyes across Buck's shoulder. She could read the concern in his eyes, and knew the dark anger that was there wasn't directed at her.

"What were you thinking?" Buck asked.

"You know what I was thinking," Morgan said, feeling some stiffness return to her spine. "You were thinking the same thing."

"I was thinkin' those two needed to be dealt with," Buck said. "But not by you!"

Morgan rolled her eyes, glad to be on familiar ground again, fighting the boundaries Buck put in place.

Buck gave her a disgruntled look, then stood, going to Cheyenne.

Cheyenne started moving before Buck reached her side. "I'll start the movie up again."

Morgan could tell how much Cheyenne didn't want to talk about what had happened. She silently willed Buck to see that.

Buck must have, because he let Cheyenne get the picture box turned back on without anything more.

The sofa cushions shifted as Ezra sat next to Cheyenne. He pushed the small, low table back where it should be.

"I assume you had no plan other than running out here," Ezra commented.

Morgan lifted an eyebrow in response.

"That's what I thought," Ezra said. "Perhaps next time formulate a plan first."

"There wasn't time," Morgan said. She knew that Ezra was aware of that.

Ezra's green eyes held hers. "Make sure there isn't a next time with those men."

Morgan thought of the lecherous expression on the face of Cheyenne's brother. She shuddered involuntarily.

#