Chapter Seven
Eliza
We’ve been drivingover bumpy terrain for about an hour and a half, following the fence. Falcon is driving slow and watching the fence, but he also has me looking at it. He told me to look for any posts that are tilted or that look as if they aren’t firmly in the ground. I’m also supposed to be looking for any breaches in the actual fence.
He has some country station on and we aren’t really talking. Every now and then, he’ll point out something to me and stop to truck to check on it. The bed of the truck is filled with new wooden posts, more barbed wire, extra wooden slats, a hole digger, a couple of shovels, a large barrel of water, some cement mix, and other things that he could possibly need.
My eyes are starting to burn from just staring at the same thing over and over and the glare from the sun is downright brutal. It’s also hot as hell out here and sweat is running down my back, between my chest, and beneath my breasts. I’m sure the tank under my borrowed shirt is soaked with gross ass stains. My hair is sticking to my neck and my lashes are sticking to my eyelids.
It’s like freaking Hades out here.
Falcon seems unaffected by the extreme heat and because of that, I refuse to show my discomfort.
If he can hack it, I damn sure can deal with it, too!
I’m pretty certain I currently look like a ten-dollar whore the morning after a slut-fest, so I don’t think I’ll appeal much to Cowboy Cocky over there. Hell, I doubt I’d appeal to any man if I look anything like I’m smelling. And he’s just humming and singing along with the radio like we’re at the beach instead of burning to death and cooking from the inside out.
Bastard.
I must have made some small sound because he glances over at me. “You ok over there, darlin’? You’re looking a little… hot.”
Turning my head, I smile at him. “Don’t you worry about me. I’m just fine. Don’t you know a little salt compliments sweet?!”
Falcon throws his head back and laughs. “If you say so. Tell you what, darlin’, when the heat gets to be too much, you just let me know. I’ll be certain to get you some ice water and something to wipe your face. Can’t have you melting in my truck.” He shakes his head and laughs again. He mumbles, “Damn, pig headed woman.”
I will never tell you that I’m suffocating over here. I’d rather die from a heat stroke and have you panic first!
You have no idea how pig headed I can be.
Maybe I should just start stripping…
There’s an idea…
I stare at his profile as he continues to drive and check the fence, muttering. “You worry about you. I’ll take care of me.”
He snorts and says nothing.
We drive and the country music fills the cab while I pray for a breeze to kick up and come through the windows… any breeze. I really am starting to feel faint.
Falcon suddenly stops the truck and I jerk forward as the tires stop in a rut. I look over at him in alarm and he points ahead. “We have a breach.”
My eyes widen as I look where he’s pointing. I see several wooden slats that appear to have been chewed through on the ground and the jagged pieces left behind on the posts. Falcon reaches behind the seat and pulls out a rifle.
I gasp as my eyes widen. “Um, what…”
He mutters, “Coyotes… I need to fix the fence, but we’ll also need to find them and take care of them before they get my cattle.” He grabs the long range walkie talkie from the console and presses the button. “Walkie Check… Breaker 1-9.”
Almost immediately another voice comes through the speaker. “Good check. Duke here. Copy, boss man?”
Falcon sighs as he pushes his hat back and presses the button again. “Copy that. Break in the perimeter fence on the left flank. Pasture one-twenty-six. Looks like coyotes. Chewed fence. I’ll repair. Take a team to search. Copy? Over.”
It’s like a different language.
Within seconds, the walkie is crackling with a response. “Copy that. Affirmative. Ten-Two. Report on what we find. Over and out.”
Falcon hands me the walkie and cuts the engine. He opens the door and leans on the window to look at me when I stay on the seat. “Well, come on. Clip that to your belt. We need to hear the communication. But, get your ass out here.”
I look at him in alarm. “What? You want me to get out? What about the coyotes?”
