Page 56 of Her Bachelor Cowboy Billionaire

Roark didn’t look sorry for his employee and friend. “Maybe, but he knew from the beginning not to get involved. We suspected she was in the gang stealing the cattle. Until she got involved with Mannie, we didn’t know how they were getting the information on where to hit. It was never the same place twice.”

“And Mannie found out by being with Alice?” She slumped onto the bed. Her body was exhausted. She needed to be in her nightgown and in bed. She needed to rest. No reading or writing today.

“He did. He’d given her a burner phone, but he found another in her purse and gave me the number. My team in Bozeman tracked the phone and transcribed all the calls and texts. The man behind it all is another rancher, named Kevin Nelson. His ranch is south of mine. We were waiting for him to make this last move. He told Alice this was it—his last haul. He had enough cattle now. He needs to rebrand them and thinks they’ll be his.”

She heard the satisfaction in his voice. “Thinks? What am I missing? Wait, before you tell me, help me into my nightgown. I can’t wait for you to get Athena. I want to get into bed now.”

“All right. I’ll be the soul of discretion and not look…again.”

“Thank you.”

Roark helped her out of her clothes from behind, and when she was down to her underwear, he pulled the soft silk nightgown over her head.

“This is a very nice gown. Did you plan on wearing it just for me?”

“Yes,” she looked over her shoulder. “But don’t get a big head. I wanted to look pretty.” She was embarrassed to admit she was dressing for him. “I have a robe that goes with it, so I would be quite modest.”

“Well, Miss Modest, get into bed, and I’ll tuck you in.”

“I am tired. For some reason, I feel like someone shot me.”

Roark chuckled. “Enough. You’ll start laughing, and then I’ll be in trouble.” He turned down the bed.

She got between the sheets and winced in pain.

He tucked them around her, careful of her left side, and then sat on the bed next to her.

Now that she was in bed and relaxed, she wanted to know more. “Okay, tell me about the cattle and Kevin Nelson.”

“We have someone on the inside at his ranch. He said Kevin’s already rebranding the stolen cattle. He’s taken pictures of the process and of Kevin doing part of it himself.” He shook his head. “Why he is doing the branding himself, I don’t know. The owner of the cows is supposed to be the last one to brand them—to put the final brand on himself. His signature, so to speak and maybe by following the accustomed procedure for branding, he thinks it makes it almost legal. At least legal enough for him.”

“And you have a picture showing him applying the new one over the old one?”

“We do. Now, I just have to pull my man out of there, but I can’t until the sheriff has Nelson and my man in jail.” Roark turned and paced away from the bed and then back again. His mouth was in a thin line and he clenched his jaw. “He’ll arrest them both, and then it doesn’t matter if Nelson knows who he is or not. Until then, his life is in danger. If Nelson finds out about him before we can extract him, his life would be forfeit.”

Her eyes widened and then narrowed. “He’ll kill him? But right now he’s only rustling cattle. He hasn’t killed anyone. He’ll go to prison forever if he commits murder.”

“I know. I don’t want my man killed, which is why I need to extract him. Now.”

“How do you plan on doing that so Nelson doesn’t kill him or escape?”

“It will be a joint operation with the sheriff’s department. They will make the raid on the Nelson ranch, as they are branding the cattle.” He looked down at his watch. “That should happen now. Johnny will be arrested, too, along with every man out there. I’m hoping there aren’t many. I don’t need everyone to know he was my man. Nelson isn’t the only rustler, just the biggest one, and Johnny might come in handy to take down the other rustlers.”

Jessica frowned. “I think you’re playing with that man’s life. Even if he isn’t arrested with the rest of the gang, his allegiance will get out. Secrets always do.”

He furrowed his brows and pursed his lips, chewing on the inside of one cheek.

Jessica almost smiled. He looked like he had a lopsided pucker, but there was nothing to smile about. “Johnny is in serious danger. If those rustlers would shoot at your helicopter when they had to know who it belonged to, they wouldn’t think twice about killing someone they saw as a traitor.”

“I’ll talk to the sheriff. You might be right. I want to communicate with Johnny, too. It’s his life we’re putting in danger, after all.”

She rolled her eyes. If she didn’t hurt so much, she’d get out of that bed and punch Roark to get his attention. “Of course, he’ll say yes. He wants to impress you, since you’re his boss.” She narrowed her eyes. “But that’s what you’re counting on, isn’t it?” She put a hand on his arm. “Please, Roark, don’t do this. Thank him for his work, give him a raise and a horse, and let him be a cowboy again.”

Roark crossed his arms over his chest. “I love you, but do you really think I would put my man at risk forever? Do you think I’m that callous? Johnny is coming back here now. I’m not sending him undercover again. He needs to just be a cowboy for a while.

“Besides, I think the sheriff has his own ideas about the other rustlers. Alice decided to cooperate. She wasn’t thrilled with her part in this. Turns out she and Mannie have real feelings for each other. This was not something either of them expected. Anyway, she’s telling the sheriff everything in exchange for probation only. We might be hearing wedding bells for Alice and Mannie any time now. He’s been with her for every minute he could since we got you back here.”

“I really wish I wasn’t in this bed, but now I’m hungry and I don’t have the energy to do anything about it.”