Jim focused his hearing. The voice on the other side sounded muffled. "Mr. Hamilton? We got your lady and the little fag." He could feel his jaw muscles tighten at that word.
"Who is this? What do you want?"
"You give us what we want, Mr. Hamilton, and no one'll get hurt. Not even the homo."
"What do you want?"
"We want...we want one hundred grand *and* we want to do our business without no interference from that fruit cop you got visiting you."
"Who is this?"
"That don't matter none. You just get us the money and let us make our other deal and you'll get your pretty bride back as pretty as she ever was. And the pretty boy, too."
"I want to talk to Marian."
"No can do, Mr. Hamilton. She's not in any state to talk right now."
Blair. How was Blair? He caught Scotty's eye and mimed long curly hair.
Scott nodded at him. "What about Mr. Sandburg? Can he come to the phone?"
For a few minutes, only noises too faint even for Jim to identify came from the receiver. Then the muffled voice came on again. "Mr. Sandburg ain't as pretty as he was, cause he wouldn't stay put. So he's resting right now. Get us the money by tomorrow morning and we'll let you have them back. But no cops, and Sandburg's *boyfriend* stays out of our way."
"Where and when?"
"That cave - Ellison knows where. At 9 AM. And you come without him." *click*
Scott slammed the receiver down. "They have my Marian and your...Blair. And they want money."
"Did you recognize the voice?" Damn, he needed Blair. He'd know how to do this so he didn't give his senses away.
"It sounded...I don't really know. He was disguising it, I think. But he's one of mine."
"How do you know?"
Scott turned his head. "He kept calling Blair and you 'fruit' and 'fag.' Someone using my ranch as a drop point would probably know my name, and everyone locally knows who I'm marrying, but no one off the ranch knows who you are, and that you are gay. Heck, I didn't even suspect until your 'date' showed up needing a shave." He gave a sharp, bitter laugh. "Now, that was a shock."
"I told you his name when I called. *You* assumed he was a woman." Jim rubbed his head. "We have to figure this out, and now. I don't trust them."
"I gotta round up the money. He wants 100K and he wants it tomorrow."
"Can you get it that fast?"
"Yeah, but it'll be a heavy loss. I'll have to liquidate some holdings out of cycle."
"You do that. I'm going to scout around. There are things I need to know."
"Jim? She'll be all right? She's my life." Scott looked him straight in the eyes.
"They both will be. They've got my life, too." Scott nodded and picked up his phone. Jim left the office and wandered back to the horse barn, where he went to Dancer's stall to check on how she was treated. She was his responsibility while he was here. That same groom was giving her a rubdown as he walked in.
"I'll take over now. Thank you." The groom nodded and walked away. Jim finished the rubdown and picked up the curry combs. He grinned as she leaned into them. "You like this, don't you, pretty lady?"
As he brushed her, he focused his hearing on the other people in the barn. A group in a corner mending tack caught his attention.
"....such a waste, too. Both of them." Female voice.
"Ah, Jenny, you think all men should be after you. But, yeah. Look at him with Dancer. He's the only one who's ever ridden her." Male voice.
"Do you find it strange he came back with the other two horses?" Different male voice.
"I don't know." Jenny sounded confused. "I mean, he's not acting worried, so maybe they're just walking home together."
First male voice laughed. "We know one thing for certain...there's nothing going on between Marian and that guy."
"Hmm. Maybe there is, Mike. I mean, he could be the jealous type." Second male voice sounded speculative. "Maybe he caught them at it and killed them. I mean, a cop could, right?"
"Marian cheat on Scott? You can't be serious. And if you saw those two...not possible." Jenny sounded shocked. "They are *so* sweet together."
That rumor was going to be a killer, especially when Blair and Marian didn't show up. He'd be on the top of his own suspect list...which meant he didn't dare call the local authorities. He should have let the horses wander in by themselves.
Except that, while Kris certainly would have, he didn't know about Marian's black. He had been skittish when Jim had led him back home. And maybe it was because if he couldn't help Blair and Marian, he could at least help their horses.
He pressed too hard on the brushes. Dancer protested. "Sorry, lady. I shouldn't take it out on you."
That first group went on to discuss other horses and the wedding plans, so he listened for other conversations. It wasn't easy. Without Blair, he had to worry about focussing too hard and zoning. Luckily, Dancer kept him grounded - if he stopped brushing her or went in the wrong direction or anything, she made sure he knew.
Finally, as he was taking the dust out of Dancer's tail, he heard a voice that sounded almost familiar. "...the girl and the fairy. Get the cash tomorrow." It was too far to hear clearly over the various sounds of the horse barn. Jim couldn't be sure but it sounded like it was several hundred yards away or in another building.
"...off...trouble with...fag cop?" That was a different voice.
"...think...fault...off 'em."
"Kill!....before!" He could barely even make out that whisper no matter how hard he strained, and it was getting difficult to filter the other sounds out. They seemed to be moving away.
Jim went numb. He forced himself to finish Dancer and get her fed and watered, and even to check on the black and on Kris. The black shied away from his touch, and Kris just sort of tolerated it. He grudged every minute he spent.
First he tried to find where he'd heard that conversation. It could have been from anywhere, and there was no way of knowing. Blair would have figured out how to do it, but if Blair were here to help, he wouldn't be in danger of being killed right now, and that thought made Jim's blood turn to ice.
'All right, Ellison. Calm yourself. Deep breaths. One. Two. One. Two.' He could almost here Blair's voice saying these words. Would he hear it again? Calm...
He walked out of the barn in the direction he'd heard the voices. There was a young woman exercising a colt.
"Miss, can you help me?"
She blinked at him. "Uh...sh-sure. Whaa..."
Jim smiled, which seemed to further discombobulate her. "Did you see two men walking past here?"
"N-no...j-just Jerry and B-bob." She blushed furiously. Jim shook his head in frustration. He didn't want an underage ranch hand falling in love with him.
"Bob - he's Scotty's ranch foreman, right?"
She looked a little calmer. "Y-yeah. Jerry's his assistant. You're his friend, right, the one with the...the..."
"Boyfriend. Yes. Which way did Bob and Jerry go?"
She pointed. He followed it to a familiar pile of rocks, just at the horizon. It was the cave again. Why did they have to find *that* cave?
Well, be that as it may, he was not going to let them get away with this any longer. God alone knew what Blair was going through right that moment.
*****
Blair was damned angry. He could handle being kidnapped, and even tied up. Hell, he didn't mind a couple of bruises, either, but this being gagged was the worst.
He looked over at Marian. She was sitting perfectly still. Only her eyes blinked. She hadn't moved of her own will since they'd pulled her into the truck. When they'd circled back to the cave, they had to force her to walk to where they were now. They'd even discussed not tying her up, but Bob, the foreman, insisted that they not take chances.
So she sat across from him in the lantern light, unmoving but with her hands and feet tied. They didn't bother to gag *her*, though. If only he could talk to them, maybe he could do something.
They were going to die. The two men were talking about it already. Marian and Blair could identify them. If he could talk, maybe he could convince them that it would be better to avoid a murder charge. If he could talk, maybe he could get them to let Marian go free. If he could talk...maybe he could have some control over the situation.
He struggled some more with the ropes. These guys were good. Must have been all that practice with calves. His wrists were starting to chafe. And he had to go to the bathroom. This was *so* not the way he wanted to spend this day.
Maybe he should think of something else. Jim. He could think about Jim. Jim was probably frantic now. Please, please, please, don't let him zone. Don't let him freak, either. Blair took some deep breaths to calm himself. His mouth hurt from the gag.
And when - not if - Jim found them, then what? It's not like this trip hasn't been too confusing. He wasn't *bi* when they got on the plane. Okay, maybe he was but he didn't think he was. And then all he could think about was Jim and Jim's arms around him and Jim's lips on his lips. Nothing had felt so good.
He closed his eyes and remembered how it felt to have Jim curled in his arms the night before. Not only had it felt right, he'd slept knowing Jim was there and safe. If he had his way, they'd do that every night for the rest of their lives. Which was, in its own way, scarier than the guys who'd just beat him and tied him up.
And the kissing, that was fine, that was wonderful. Jim kissed better than anyone he'd ever kissed before. Just thinking about that made him harder than he could have imagined, until he thought about where it might lead.
*That* was a combination he'd never felt before: total lust and total fear at the same time. And the fear was over and above simple terror for his life. That last was familiar to him. This was...this was change your life around, totally rearrange your self-image, sleep with your male partner and no one else *ever* fear. Okay, this was mostly sleep with your male partner fear, since the rest was either totally familiar or felt just fine. But could he actually make love to Jim?
Where was he? Come on, Jim. I need you here. Marian needs you here. They're going to kill us when they get back, and I'll never have the chance to see if I can love you the way you need. And if I don't get to pee real fast, it's going to be real embarrassing.
Oh, damn. Here they were again.
He turned his eyes towards them.
"What's the matter, faggot? Miss your boyfriend so much you're making eyes at other guys?"
"Yeah, Bobby, that's it. That's why he's looking at us. He wants a real man for a change."
Bob looked thoughtful. "We could...give 'em what he wants. Hell, we can do that to both of 'em. Have some fun 'fore we take 'em out."
Blair stopped breathing. No, they wouldn't. Then again, Bob didn't look all that happy he'd made that suggestion.
Jerry bit his lip. "I ain't gonna have no part of that. You can do what you want, boss, but I ain't into guys no how, and I ain't into taking ladies what belong to others, even if I am gonna kill 'er."
"Got a point there. Marian's a nice lady and faggot here never hurt us. Bad enough we got to...don't want to hurt 'em more." Bob looked relieved at the idea.
Blair breathed again. Marian was still dead to the world. Blair was grateful she hadn't had to hear that. Now, he only had to persuade them to let him empty his bladder and hope that Jim was all right without him *and* was bringing the cavalry.
*********
"Jim! Jim! What's wrong with you, buddy?"
Jim blinked. He was standing by the barn, but there was a crowd around him and Scott was shouting at him. "What's going one?"
"Thank the Lord! Jimmy, you were just standing there. I've never seen anything like it before."
Oh, God. "It's...sometimes I concentrate on something too strongly. Sandburg usually gets me out of it and figures out why."
"Sounds like I shouldn't let you on horseback, Ellison."
"Horseback...Blair! I think I know where Blair is and I think I know who the perps are. "
"Who? How? Should I call the sheriff?" Scott looked like he was ready to run for a phone.
"I...I can't tell you, Scotty. I don't even know if my partner and your lady are even alive right now, but I can bet you anything that they won't be by morning. What sort of weapons do you have?"
"You sure you don't want the sheriff?"
"This is something I have to do myself."
Scott nodded although he didn't look quite convinced. "I got pretty much anything reasonable - rifles, shotguns, handguns. Not much call for automatics here."
Jim thought for a moment. "Rifle would be good, and a handgun. Didn't bring my own weapon out here."
"You got it, Jim."
"I'll be in the stable. I'm taking Dancer."
"You just brought her in."
"It has to be Dancer. I hope she's rested enough. You follow behind, but don't get in my way."
**********
Dancer was fine, even after that day's workout. She let Jim saddle her without protest. He led her outside, where Scott waited for him with the weapons and ammunition, and a rather grim look on his face.
"Jim, I give my people free use of my guns. The only thing I ask is that folks sign them out and put them back clean and ready for use. It usually works out fine. Two of my rifles are missing, but no one signed for them. There's also ammo missing. They're armed, Jim. Be careful."
"I'm going to get both Blair and Marian back, Scotty." Or die trying. He didn't say those words but he knew Scott heard them just the same, and nodded.
He slipped the hand gun into his jeans with difficulty and tied the rifle to the saddle. He swung himself up and kneed Dancer into action. She wanted to run again, as much as he wanted her to, but he held her back with sure leg commands. He didn't want to advertise their arrival too soon.
There were four heartbeats in the cave. He could hear two voices, neither of which were Blair's. He would have known Blair's no matter how far away. If he concentrated, he probably could tell which heartbeat was his, but that would be risky.
"What's that?"
"Hooves. Someone's out here on a horse."
"Oh, damn."
Jim echoed that in his own head. He quickly unslung the rifle and made sure it was loaded. Then he urged Dancer forward. "Sorry, pretty lady. I hope they have more respect for horses than they do for people."
Two men left the cave, rifles at the ready.
"Ellison, we got your boyfriend in there. You want to see him again, you'll let us go!"
They were idiots. Blair was inside, they were outside...or was he?
"Why should I do that?"
"Cause we got him and Ms. Anderson all tied up in the dark. We know where they are. Ain't no way you'll find them." Bob sounded smug.
"And if I don't go away, what will you do?"
"Reckon we'll just kill you. Maybe right now." Jim could hear him pull back the firing pin. He got Dancer out of the way just in time. This was the point of dressage - not to look pretty, but to meld horse and rider into one being so that one would have his hands free to fight and the other would move instantly.
As she moved, he lowered his own rifle and took careful aim. The moment Dancer was still and safe, he fired. And Bob collapsed in a heap on the ground. Jerry took one look, dropped his own weapon and put his hands up.
Jim patted Dancer and dismounted, tying her to the truck parked close by. He picked up both rifles, unloaded them and tossed them into the bed of the truck. He took out his handgun and aimed it towards Jerry as he knelt to check Bob. By great good fortune, Bob was very much alive, if in pain.
Scotty pulled up shortly thereafter with a truckful of muscle. They loaded up Jerry and Bob and kept watch on Dancer as Jim descended into the cave.
It got dark there, too dark even for his eyes to see, but Jim didn't need to see. He could hear. Long ago, when all he could see was a golden haze, Blair taught him to use his ears like a bat, and he already knew how to use his hands. And he had a target. He could hear two sets of heartbeats. Both were quiet and still, but one was as familiar as his own, and both were getting louder as he walked.
Finally, he knew he was in the same chamber. "Sandburg?"
There was a muffled squeak. They'd gagged him. Jim couldn't help chuckling to himself. Blair had probably been going crazy.
"I'm here. Just keep making noise and I'll find you."
There were more muffled squeaks and sounds. He followed them to a heap on the ground which groaned when his feet hit it.