She blinked. “Precious?”
“My pet,” he explained. “So if you’re planning to kill me, you’ll have to agree to take care of Precious as long as he lives.”
She made a face. “I don’t have a lifestyle that allows pets,” she replied.
“You’ll have to make an exception. Now, what are you doing in my pasture?”
“Stealing a bull,” she said.
He stared at her. “Which one?”
She was looking at several while she spoke. “That one,” she said, indicating a nearby bull calf.
She gasped, because when she turned her head to look, John had her gun in his hand, and he was towering over her. From his vantage point, she was rather short.
She glared up at him from glittering green eyes. “That wasn’t fair,” she muttered.
He shrugged. “So sue me, if you can manage that from jail.” He had his cell phone out.
“Who are you calling?” she asked quickly.
“The sheriff,” he began.
“Please!” she said. “I’m just hungry! I only wanted a steak!”
He hesitated. “You pulled a gun on me,” he pointed out.
“You started it,” she said defiantly.
He had to admit that she was telling the truth.
“I’m just hungry,” she repeated, and looked near tears.
“You don’t eat possible prize-winning bulls,” he pointed out,although he’d noted that the bull she’d indicated actually was the prize bull of the lot. He scowled. “How did you know he had the best conformation?”
“My dad’s a rancher,” she said. “Up in Wyoming.”
“What are you doing in Texas?”
“Trying to get a steak,” she muttered.
He didn’t quite believe her, but he wasn’t willing to turn her loose. And it did seem a little premature to have her locked up.
He stuck her gun in the belt behind his .45. “Okay, let’s go,” he said, taking her arm.
“Go where?” she asked, stopping. “I’m not going to jail!” she added and looked primed for a fight.
He drew in a breath. “I’m taking you home. Mercedes can cook you a steak. It won’t be as fresh as one out of the pasture, but it won’t be one of my prize bulls, either.”
“Home?” Her mind was whirling. This was a complication she hadn’t counted on. He didn’t know it, but she had confederates waiting to hear from her. She didn’t dare try to contact them. She’d have to hope they thought she was slowly picking out the pasture with the most isolated, purebred bulls. But she’d heard John coming and wanting a steak was the only quick explanation she could manage for being in his pasture with his prize bull calves. Raines, the idiot, had dropped her off here with no way back to her motel in Percell, with orders to check out this particular lot of bulls and find out when they would go up for auction. It was for the boss, he’d added, but then, Raines had a shifty look, even for the minion of a drug lord.
“Home,” he said, and tugged her to the pickup truck.
He slid Precious over to his side of the truck. Unfortunately, Precious smelled a new scent, a strongly sweet one, and started rattling.
“That’s a snake!” Josie Blake burst out and stifled a scream.
“It’s just Precious,” he said, almost snarling as he put her in the truck and closed the door behind her.
