Montana Summer Ch. 11

Kenny flashed Stella a smile. He was more than pleased with the way she looked and with the way she conducted herself. "Thank you, Stella. I'll call you if we need you."

Just as Stella was about to go into the bedroom, there was a knock at the door. "I'll get that." She knew it was Hank at the door.

Stella opened the door and smiled at Hank. "Come in, they are waiting for you."

Hank's eyes popped out of his head. He had almost forgotten how good Stella could look when she got dressed up. "Looking good, baby."

Stella smiled and whispered, "The feeling is not mutual."

Hank glared for a moment but then remembered that Mandy, the dancer from the strip club, promised that she would bring one of her friends back to the hotel with her tonight.

"Bitch," he whispered as he walked past her towards where Kenny and Norm were seated.

Stella retreated back into the bedroom. She was glad to be rid of Hank and she wondered why she had put up with him for so long.

Kenny looked at Norm. "We are in need of your services. We have a location that we believe that could be..." He paused for a moment. "Profitable for all of us."

"What exactly is it that you require from me?" Norm asked.

"Confirmation and advice," Kenny replied. "We need to know what we have found at a certain location is what we think it is."

"Where exactly is this location?" The moment Norm asked the question he wished he would have waited.

Hank shot Kenny a concerned look as Kenny replied, "Well, I think it may be a bit premature to divulge the exact location, but southwestern Montana is the general area."

"I understand your concern." Norm replied.

"Good." Kenny continued, looking over at Hank. "Show Mr. Campbell the samples."

Hank reached into his pocket and handed a leather pouch to Norm.

Norm opened the bag and dumped the contents onto the table and then looked up at Kenny. "I take it that this little venture is not exactly above board?"

Kenny nodded. "That's probably a good assessment of the situation."

Norm arranged the samples in front of him. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small, hi-powered magnifying glass. He carefully examined the samples and then looked at Kenny. "Very interesting. What can you tell me about where these come from?"

Kenny looked at Hank. "You might be better equipped than me to answer that question."

"Well, it's on the top of a relatively small mountain. There was a vein of quartz visible where we took a couple of those samples from."

Norm looked at the samples. "I suppose that filing a mining claim on the land is out of the question?"

"Precisely. There is no chance of filing a claim." Kenny replied.

"Then these samples are worthless, in that case. The ore would have to be processed to get any gold out of it." Norm pointed to the samples of quartz that were flaked with gold. He then pointed at the nuggets. "These on the other hand present some definite possibilities. Did they come from the same area?"

"I think so," Hank replied. We found them...well, let's say for the sake of saying that the answer is yes."

"Just by looking at the samples, my guess is they came from a stream, or creek. I would have to visit the area to get a better idea. There is gold there. I have no doubt about that." Norm concluded.

Kenny joined the conversation. "Okay, if there is gold in the creek, how hard is it to get out?"

"Not hard. It's not likely we can set up a gold placer, but we could pan for the gold. It takes almost nothing in the way of start up capital. Just some shovels and pans and camping equipment."

"The important question here is whether we can make any money?" Kenny looked directly at Norm.

"I can't answer that until I have physically looked at the area," Norm answered in matter of fact tone of voice.

"And the other stuff is no good to us?" Kenny pointed at the quartz samples.

"Nope. Not really. We can poke around a bit and see if we can find a vein though. That's where all the gold really is." Norm replied. He stared at Hank for a moment. "Didn't you say there was an exposed vein of quartz?"

"Yes, least wise that's what it looked like to me," Hank replied.

"Interesting." Norm rubbed his chin as he thought. "And you said the top of this mountain was pretty much flat?"

"Yup, just like someone had sliced the top of it off," Hank answered.

"Well, I'll have to see it before I can say too much. It sounds like there may have been a geological event there at some time in the past that may have done some of the work for us. When can I get a look at this place?" Norm found his initial apprehension had given way to excitement. He was eager to take a look at this mountain. Geologically, it was interesting. His initial thought was that the mountain could have been volcanic at one time and that would explain the odd shape. The top may have been blown away by an eruption similar to Mt. Saint Helens.

Kenny cursed Sal and his stupidity under his breath. "We've had a slight setback. It probably wouldn't be wise for and of us to show up around there for a little while. I will let you know. Are you interested in our little—project?"

"Yes, very much. If for nothing else, I would like to check out that mountain. It sounds fascinating." Norm replied.

Kenny smiled and nodded at Hank. "Well then, let's get down to business. You probably will be needing some money for your services. I would like to remind you that I expect you to keep what we have discussed here in complete confidence."

"I understand." Norm felt his heart pound. There was Tony. He didn't dare cross Tony. He felt a shiver go down his back. It was the kind of shiver that his mother would have described as someone having just stepped on your grave.

---

"Hey, cowboy." Jessi smiled as she walked into Ryan's room. The room was dim, as the main light had been turned off.

Ryan opened his eyes and grinned. "Hey, good lookin'."

"I hope I didn't wake you up." Jessi leaned over and gave Ryan a kiss on the cheek.

"No, I was just laying here thinking." Ryan reached over and squeezed her hand. "You know, when you first started calling me cowboy, I thought you were making fun of me."

Jessi laughed and shook her head. "Oh, God, no!" She blushed and looked down at the floor. "I think that's when I first fell in love with you. You looked so damned sexy on that apple-mooching horse of yours."

"Hey!" Ryan let out a warm laugh. "You leave that fine horse of mine out of this. I kind of miss him."

"Yeah!" Jessi teased. "You probably love him more than you love me."

Ryan stared into Jessi's eyes. "You know that I couldn't love anyone or anything more than I love you."

Jessi's voice got soft. "Yes. I know that and I feel the same way about you."

"I talked to Charlie this afternoon." Ryan squeezed Jessi's hand. "I asked him about Spotted Owl and what he told us."

"And?" Jessi felt her stomach doing little flips. "What did he say?"

"Charlie doesn't know for sure, but he doesn't think Spotted Owl would have told us anything that wasn't true, or at least he wouldn't have tried to deceive us," Ryan replied.

"Oh my God!" Jessi exclaimed. "So it could be true then?"

Ryan nodded. "Sounds like it."

"What does this mean? For us, I mean." Jessi felt like the weight of the world had just been lifted from her shoulders.

Ryan's face wore a mischievous grin. "Well, Spotted Owl did say that you would bear me a fine son. So sounds like I get lucky at least once in the future."

"You're just lucky you're laid up in that bed right now. Otherwise I would have to attack you right here and now." Jessi winked at Ryan.

"Oh, baby, you're lucky I'm stuck in this bed right now, else I'd be up and chasing you round this room." Ryan snickered at the thought.

"I'd probably let you catch me." Jessi's voice got husky. The thought of having sex in Ryan's hospital bed turned her on. She could see a bulge growing under the blanket. Jessi was glad that she wasn't the only one feeling the same way. She giggled as she pointed at the lump that was growing under his blanket. "Do you want me to get the nurse? Maybe she can do something about that."

"Oh, thanks a hell of a lot." Ryan rolled his eyes. "I think my nurse is about eighty."

Jessi got up from her chair and went to the door to check the hallway. She pulled his curtain slightly so the view to Ryan's bed from the doorway was blocked. Jessi sat back down in the chair and grinned at Ryan. She pointed to the table beside his bed.

"Lotion." She picked the bottle up and squirted some in her right hand. After moving the blanket and sheet aside, she moved his gown out of the way and began to rub the lotion over his erect member.

"Oh, fuck!" Ryan exhaled. "Oh, baby." The slick feeling on his stiff cock was incredible. He liked how her hand felt as it covered his shaft with the slippery lotion.

"Do you like that, cowboy?" Jessi whispered as her hand began to stroke his steel hard shaft.

"You know I love it!" Ryan couldn't have cared if the entire hospital staff walked through the door at that moment. The feeling of Jessi's hand starting to slowly jack him was the best medicine he had felt in days.

"I'm glad you like it." Jessi's hand lightly gripped his cock as it moved back and forth along its entire length. "It turns me on doing this to you. I like how your cock feels in my hand."

She loved watching his eyes as she stroked him. There was a look of wild abandon in them. Jessi could feel the heat and the wetness building deep inside of her. She reached down and began to rub her crotch through her jeans. Her eyes alternated between watching her hand pleasure his stiff member and looking into his eyes.

"Oh yeah, baby. I like how your hand feels right now." Ryan voice was thick with lust.

Her hand sped up a little and squeezed tighter. "I'd suck you right now, but I need to watch the door."

"Oh baby!" Ryan gushed. "I'd love to have you suck me right now. You drive me wild."

"When you get out of here and we get back home, I promise I will suck you." Jessi panted as she continued stroking Ryan's engorged cock. The head was swollen so large now that Jessi was sure that it was in imminent danger of bursting. Her nipples were aching and she wished she could take her top off and squeeze them, or better yet have Ryan play with them.

"I want to suck on your clit while you suck me." His voice betrayed how turned on he was. He couldn't prevent his hips from rocking in time with her hand.

Jessi wished she could slip her hand into her pants and rub her swollen and aching clit. She whimpered softly as her hand rubbed up and down between her legs. "I love when you do that, when you fuck my hand like that. You're the only guy that's ever done that to me."

"Your hand isn't the only thing I would like to be fucking right now. It feels so good." Ryan's eyes were half closed as he enjoyed Jessi's hand stroking him.

Her hand moved back and forth from his swollen cock-head down to the base. She gently squeezed the tip and then captured his slippery pre-cum in the palm of her hand, mixing it in with the lotion that already lubricated his thick, firm cock.

"I'm glad you like it," Jessi whispered back. "I like jacking you off. You have no idea how much it turns me on." She could feel the heat of her pussy through her jeans. "I like watching you cum as I stroke you."

"You keep this up and you won't have to wait very long for me to cum," Ryan warned. He could feel the pressure rising deep inside of him—it was the precursor to his impending orgasm.

Jessi's hand sped up and her grip tightened as she began to masturbate him in earnest. She wanted to make him cum, to see his hot jizz spurt from the tip and feel it on her hand. There was an audible thwap, thwap sound as her hand stroked him hard and fast.

"Cum for me, baby. I want to make you cum." Jessi desperately wanted to hump something besides her hand.

She was jacking him as fast as she could, now, her hand was almost a blur. She stared at her hand as she tried to coax his cock into shooting his thick, hot, white cum all over her hand and his belly.

"Oh fuck, oh, fuck, I'm going to..." Ryan closed his eyes as he felt his cock release its first torrent.

"Yes!" Jessi exclaimed as Ryan began to spurt his jizz from the tip of his cock. Over and over, it sprayed long, white streamers of semen onto his belly. She felt some of it on her hand and fingers.

Ryan moaned with each spurt and the room seemed to spin as he peaked. Her hand continued its frantic stroking for as long as he continued to shoot his cum. She slowed down and finally stopped, but she didn't release him from her grip, just holding his manhood in her hand.

She grinned at him. "Did that feel good, cowboy."

He was trying to catch his breath, "It felt great. You have no idea how good it felt. I just wish I could have done something for you."

Jessi smiled. "You don't worry about that. When I get back to the hotel, I will take care of myself."

After Jessi had cleaned him up and left, Ryan fell quickly asleep—it was the best night's sleep he had since arriving at the hospital.

---

"Tony? It's Norm Campbell." Norm had called Tony as soon as he had arrived home.

"Mr. Campbell. Good to hear from you," Tony replied. "What can I do for you?"

Norm sat down in his recliner with a beer in his hand. "Nothing. I just wanted to let you know that I had my first meeting with Kenny tonight."

"And how did the meeting go?" Tony was well aware that Norm had met with Kenny this evening.

"I think it went well enough. It's gold that they are after."

"I suspected as much. Did they give you any details as to the location?"

Norm took a sip of his beer. "No, just that it's somewhere in southwestern Montana."

Tony chuckled. "I didn't think they would give you the combination to the safe at the first meeting. What is your professional opinion to as what they had to say?"

"Well, they have definitely found gold. Whether it is viable to remove the gold, remains to be seen. I really won't be able to give anyone an answer to that until I see the physical location."

"You have done well, Mr. Campbell. I appreciate you living up to your side of our agreement. Please keep me apprised to any new details. Did Kenny give you any idea of when you might have a chance to check out this location?"

Norm sat his beer on the coffee table. "No. He said something about a setback, and that it probably wouldn't be wise for us to be poking around the area for a while."

"Ah yes. I think I have the answer to that for you. There was another man involved with him. He seems to have gotten himself killed by doing something stupid. I really don't know many of the details, though. I want you to call me at least once a week, even if you haven't learned anything new, just to check in."

"I will," Norm promised.

After the call was over, Norm set the phone down and took a long drink from his bottle of beer. A man had gotten himself killed. Tony's words rang in his ears for a long time. What in hell's name had he gotten himself into?

---

"Damn! It's good to be home!" That was Ryan's first comment after getting out of the car.

He had never missed a place as much as he had missed the ranch while he was in the hospital. The dull throbbing in his head seemed to be erased by seeing the ranch and the mountains. The earthy smell of the ranch was like a tonic and invigorated him.

It warmed Bill's heart to see Ryan this way. All of his prayers had been answered. Ryan had emerged healthy and strong. The doctor had told them that there would be no lasting effects from his injury. He had warned Ryan to not to try to do too much too quickly and to just give himself time to heal. The doctor had also told Ryan that he may have headaches for the next few months on and off, but with time, they would disappear.

Jessi watched Ryan walk down to the barn. She couldn't remember seeing a look of pure joy like the one she had just seen on Ryan's face. Jessi knew exactly where Ryan was headed and a smile crossed her face as she walked into the house. She emerged a few minutes later carrying a couple of cut up apples in her hand.

As soon as Bernie spotted Ryan walking towards the corral, he trotted to the fence. It was the man that rode him. He had missed this man as much as a horse was capable of missing a human.

Ryan reached up and rubbed Bernie's ears. "Hey, fella. How have you been? Did you miss me? Well, I sure missed the hell out of you.

Jessi smiled as she watched Bernie bury his head into Ryan's shoulder while Ryan stroked his neck. It touched her that the two of them had bonded the way they had. They made quite a pair.

She chuckled when she walked up behind Ryan. "I hate to interrupt this little love-fest but I brought you some apples for your mooch."

Ryan and Jessi both laughed as Bernie seemed to perk up at the mention of the word apple. They took turns giving Bernie slices of apple. Jessi looked at Ryan. "I swear he is smiling at us."

Ryan put his arm around Jessi's shoulder and hugged her. "I have everything a man could want."

Jessi laughed. "Okay, cowboy, what is it that you have?"

Ryan smiled and looked into Jessi's eyes. "I'm living in the most gorgeous county in the world. I've got the world's smartest horse." His voice softened. "And I have you."

Jessi was touched. She put her arm around Ryan and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'm glad you are staying here and not going back to school. I'd be afraid of one of those city girls chasing you down."

A hearty chuckle emerged from Ryan. "You forget, those girls wouldn't give me a second glance."

"Not back then." Jessi looked up at Ryan. "They would now. You don't realize how much you have changed since coming here."

"I haven't changed." Ryan scoffed at the idea.

"Yeah, cowboy. You've changed. You're bigger and stronger. You've changed inside, too. When you first got here, you were like a little lost puppy. Now, you've got self-confidence. You carry yourself differently, you walk straight and tall. And women find that very attractive." Jessi leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "You've got half the single girls in town trying to think of ways to meet you."

"Oh, I don't think that's true." Ryan blushed. "Maybe Becky, and that's about it."

"No, there's a lot more than just Becky, believe me." Jessi snuggled closer to Ryan. The tone of her voice turned serious. "I thought I was going lose you, I've never been so scared of anything before in my life. Make a promise, Ryan. Promise me that you will never leave me."

Ryan was about to make a joke, but he looked at her first and saw the tears forming in her eyes.

He turned and held her in his arms. "Oh, Jessi, I promise that I will never leave you. I love you, Jessi. I wish I could tell you how much I love you, but I don't have the words."

Jessi sighed softly as she buried her face into his chest.

---

"Milt." The intercom jarred the sheriff from his thoughts. "Pick up line one."

"Milt here," he said after picking the phone up.

"Cliff Thomas here." Milt cringed slightly. "And I think you know why I'm calling."

Milt took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. The thought of running a gas station with his brother-in-law in Boise was sounding better by the moment. "Yeah, I got a pretty good idea."

"God damn it, Milt. There's an election in a few months and I don't need a case like this hanging over my head. What are you doing about it?" Cliff sounded agitated.

"We are investigating all of the leads we have at the moment." Milt looked at a blank notepad on his desk and it reminded him of the list of active leads they had on the case at the moment.

"What leads, Milt? Do you have any leads? Rumor over here is that there are no leads."