Travis's Tale Ch. 01

We got to the front gate and walked through, it was only another hundred feet to the front door and I could tell that my pace had quickened unconsciously. Alex was right there beside me, she too was anticipating getting out of the sun and the heat.

"Wait!" I warned Alex, I could see the front door standing open. Alex was ready to question my command to her when she too saw what I was looking at. We slowed our pace and cautiously approached the door, I could see the doorframe was splintered with a large crack in the front door where it had been forced open. I didn't know what to expect but reached for my pistol and took it out of the holster, I was going to be ready this time.

"Stay behind me Alex, somebody might be in the house." I warned, trying to keep my voice low. She did as I instructed and we approached the open door cautiously, now aware of every sound we heard.

I reached the door and looked in as best I could without opening it any further, but did not see anything that looked suspicious. I cautiously pushed the door completely open but nothing happened. We entered the house slowly and looked around and I started to see things out of place. There were signs someone had been looking for something, I assumed someone had entered with the intent of robbing us. We moved cautiously through the house into each room in turn, there were signs that the house had been searched everywhere we looked. My office appeared to be the most torn up which surprised me, there was nothing of value in here although I guess whoever had been in the house couldn't have known that.

"My jewelry!" Alex suddenly blurted out, turning to go to her room. I grabbed her by the arm before she could run off since I didn't know who or what might still be in the house.

"Stay behind me Alex, we'll check your room next." I said, trying to reassure her but I could see she was worried about what might have been taken. We went to her room and it too had been searched, several drawers were open and various things had been dumped onto the floor. She went to her jewelry box to check and confirmed that some things had been taken but surprisingly she said others had been left behind.

"They took some of my rings and bracelets but some of these other things are worth more." She said, doing a brief inventory of what was and wasn't in the box.

We checked all the rooms one at a time, finally ending in the kitchen.

"This really pisses me off!" Alex started. "First they shoot at us on the road and now somebody breaks into our house. That's one hell of a coincidence isn't it?"

It wasn't a coincidence, at least not to me it wasn't. Still, I had no idea what the two events had in common but right now we needed to call the police and try to figure something out.

"What was that?" Alex suddenly asked, grabbing my free hand and squeezing it.

"What?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear it? I could swear I heard something back there."

I went in the direction she was pointing, the only room we had not looked in was the utility room off the kitchen, the washer and dryer and food pantry were the only things in that room. I was holding the pistol at the ready, not certain what to expect when I cautiously turned the knob on the door and pushed it open. Inside on the floor we saw Carmelita and Courtney, bound, gagged, blindfolded and sitting back to back.

"Oh my God, I hope they're not hurt!" Alex shouted as she rushed to the two women sitting on the floor. I could see the relief in Courtney as she heard Alex's voice, I'm sure she was wondering who might be in the house and possibly afraid that whomever had done this was coming back. Alex took the blindfold off Courtney first and I could see the relief on her face as she blinked in the sunlight before focusing on Alex in front of her. Alex started pulling the duct tape off of her mouth as I knelt in front of Carmelita and took the blindfold off of her. I could also see relief in her face but combined with that was extreme fear. She was older and I'm certain whatever had happened had been totally traumatic for her and I could completely understand that fear. Alex had finished removing the duct tape from Courtney's mouth but before Alex could say anything Courtney croaked out a request for water. Alex and I had each forgotten our own need for fluids but now the thought that these two women had been here for who knows how long brought that thought back to our minds.

"Get some water for them Alex, I'll get them untied."

Alex got up and went back into the kitchen and I could hear the glasses and then running water. I took the duct tape off Carmelita, pulling slowly and trying not to hurt her but the adhesive was pretty sticky. I could see her grimace slightly but she was strong enough not to whimper as the last of the tape came off. Their arms and legs were bound with nylon tie wraps and their hands had been bound together behind them, I wasn't sure how long they had been sitting there. I took my pocket knife and sliced through the straps and soon they were free from the restraints. Alex brought four glasses of water in on a tray, setting it on the washer before helping me to get the other two women off the floor.

"What happened?" Alex asked even though I wasn't sure that would be the first thing to determine.

"Drink some water slowly, then move around and get your circulation back." I told Courtney and Carmelita, I'm sure they would need to do both.

*****

"What the hell is going on here Travis?" The question came from Detective Pedro Fuentes, or Pete as I had known him since the fourth grade.

"I don't know Pete, I just don't know." I was cooler and had replenished the fluids I had lost during the two hours it took the police to arrive after we called them. The four of us had talked but had come to no conclusions. Besides the heat and thirst, I had been up for more than 24 hours now and I knew that Alexis was also nearing that same mark.

"We saw your car on the road a ways back. I thought it was yours, you have the only one of those around here but after I checked the plates I knew. I don't suppose you can tell me how all those bullet holes got in it can you?" He wondered, I was wondering the same thing even though I had been there.

"I don't know Pete, somebody started shooting at us last night. It was too dark to see what was going on and we were more worried about keeping our heads down than anything else."

"Probably best that way. And what about the break-in here? Do you think the two events are related?" It was an informal interview but he was asking all the questions he needed to know the answers to.

"I don't know that they are, but it's a hell of a coincidence if they're not."

"I'll get a forensics team out here as quickly as I can. Have you people touched anything?" Pete was his usual efficient self.

"I suppose we have, we didn't realize when we first came in and then I guess we didn't think about it as we started going through the various rooms."

"Any idea what's missing?" He continued.

"Alex says some of her jewelry is gone but we haven't had time to do a very careful inventory yet. Other than that I didn't see anything very obvious but like I said we went through quickly so I'll have to check later." He was writing down a few things on his pad and nodding as I talked. As I thought about what I had seen I couldn't help but think that the thieves were either rank amateurs or that the whole thing had been staged. Certainly there were a lot of expensive items that could have been taken that weren't. The rooms that had been ransacked looked as though the scene had been carefully constructed rather than someone searching for anything of value. There were a number of valuable items in the house, and perhaps someone might be looking for quick cash but that didn't seem to be the case at least in my opinion. I wondered if he'd had the same impression, but if he did he didn't say.

"Look Pete, Carmelita is really upset. She doesn't want to stay in the house and said she can stay with her sister. Can she go now?" I asked, our housekeeper had been thoroughly traumatized by the entire event.

"I'll get a statement from her and then she can go. As long as we know where she is I don't see any problem with that." He left me sitting there and went over to where the three women had been talking, indicating he would be asking a few questions of Carmelita. She had seemed strong earlier but after we had freed her and she had a chance to think back over what had happened her fear came back. I could understand although she had not been very talkative about exactly what had occurred. Perhaps they could get more information from her or maybe she just needed time.

The police had been through the house and examined everything thoroughly and then left. Right now there were many more questions than answers but hopefully they would be able to get some information from whatever they might have found here. I also called a crew to come in to fix the door, it was the only part of the house that had been damaged so fortunately it was repaired quickly. I knew I had to give some thought to better security here, the ranch was fairly isolated but up until now we had never needed anything more than the basic precautions most people usually take. I spent some time in my office trying to straighten up things that had been thrown around, whoever had been in the house seemed to have spent the most time in this room. I wasn't sure why, there wasn't anything of value I could think of here. Perhaps they had thought there might be a safe or maybe they assumed we kept large amounts of cash in the house, but neither was true. I called Lewis and let him know what had happened, he was worried and expressed his concern but I assured him that other than an excess of fear no other damage had been done. I contacted some of the men in the field and let them know of the situation, telling them to be on guard and take extra precautions but really why would anyone want to bother ranch hands or oilfield workers. Still, better to be safe than sorry so I made sure to pass the word.

"I'm getting hungry Travis, what do we have to eat?" Alex asked as I had been working in the office for several hours. Carmelita had left earlier to go to her sister's so Alex and Courtney were the only two in the house besides me.

"I don't know, why don't you look and see what you can find." I said with a grin, being in the kitchen was like being in a foreign country for Alex. She saw me grinning and knew immediately what I was thinking.

"You think I don't know how to cook anything. I'll show you..." She said, an edge to her voice that told me she was going to work hard to prove my opinion of her wrong.

"Courtney, I need some help in here." I heard her say as she walked past her friend and toward the kitchen.

I didn't think Courtney knew any more about functioning in a kitchen than Alex did but what the heck, trying to find something for dinner would occupy their minds and perhaps allow them to stop worrying.

Alex called me into the dining room about 30 minutes later. I was surprised, it actually smelled pretty good in their but once I got close enough I realized she must've found the tamales Carmelita made yesterday. At least she had been able to heat them up, but I guess I couldn't complain since it would be a hot dinner tonight. I was surprised to see a salad on the table beside the tamales and wine glasses at each place, each glass half full of red.

"I'm impressed." I said, taking a seat between Alex and Courtney.

"You have no faith brother. I told you I could and I did." She said with a snicker, helping herself to several tamales from the serving dish. I realized she hadn't had anything to eat since our dinner in town last night nor had I. Courtney was probably much the same, she had been tied up for a number of hours and certainly hadn't had a chance to eat in that time. We stopped talking and devoted our attention to the food, it was just as good the second day as it would have been yesterday. Carmelita was a marvelous cook and I knew I would miss her meals until she came back. I wasn't going to hold that against her, I knew how upset she had been by the break-in and if she needed a few days or weeks to calm herself I could completely understand.

After we had eaten our fill and cleaned up the mess we made, we were left to sit and ponder.

"You think we're safe in the house here tonight?" Alex asked with some trepidation.

"I don't expect them to come back if that's what you're worried about but I think we need to do a better job with security. I'll make some calls tomorrow and get things in motion. As for tonight, I've got my gun and you have yours as well. Like I said, I don't expect anyone to come back but we will be ready just in case." I didn't think I was understating the potential for danger, whoever had been here last night could've been waiting for us when we got back but they weren't. I didn't have any reason to believe they were interested in any of us but rather more so in something they thought they could find here in the house. We hadn't made a complete inventory, but a cursory look showed some things missing but not nearly as much as might have been. This only confirmed my theory that they had been looking for something specific but if they had found it I wasn't sure what it might be.

"Can I stay with you two tonight?" Courtney asked cautiously.

"I guess so, but why don't you go to your own home?" Alex asked her friend.

"I need to be with someone tonight. My condo is so empty when I'm there by myself, I just... Just need someone here with me." She said as I could see her eyes getting wet.

Alex went over and sat beside Courtney, putting an arm around her shoulder. "You can stay here as long as you want, Travis and I won't mind." Alex looked at me for reaction but I simply nodded my head, I didn't have a problem with Courtney staying here and thought I could understand her reasons for wanting to do so.

"Travis wants you to stay here too." Alex added although Courtney had seen me agree with Alex's question.

"I really appreciate it. Just being here with you two means a lot to me." Courtney said as she tried to wipe the wetness from her eyes with the back of her hand. Right now she didn't seem so much the bimbo I had thought her before, rather just a vulnerable woman who had been through a very traumatic experience.

*****

We had talked for several more hours but made an effort not to mention the events of earlier today. By now the three of us were very tired, we all had been up for at least 36 hours straight and were in need of rest. The guest room was made up just as it always was and Alex showed Courtney where everything could be found. It wasn't really all that necessary, Courtney had stayed over here a number of times but Alex felt the need to assist her friend. While they were getting things sorted out in the guest room I made a tour of the house, checking to be certain all the doors were shut and locked as well as the windows with curtains closed. I didn't find any problems since the contractor who came to fix the front door had also done this exact same thing. I concluded the house was as safe as it could be at the moment and headed for my room. My pistol was there just where I had left it earlier and I gave it a quick check, making certain it would be ready for use just in case. I had helped Alex with hers, she didn't carry it nearly as often as I had mine and she spent far less time at the range but she was still proficient enough in its use that I didn't worry she wouldn't be able to defend herself or any of the rest of us. I didn't relish the idea of getting into a gun battle with unknown intruders, and even though I thought it extremely unlikely, I had to work hard to push the thoughts from my head. I was tired enough I knew I wouldn't have any trouble getting to sleep but I only hoped that my dreams would not be a replay of the earlier events.

*****

I wasn't sure what time it was but suddenly something felt different. My senses went on high alert before I realized what was different. There was someone in the bed with me. I resisted the urge to jump up to defend myself, I didn't think I needed to. It only took half a second of thought to know who it was, there were only two others in the house besides me and I was pretty certain my sister wouldn't be here in bed with me although she had occasionally gotten into my bed when we were much younger and she had been frightened.

"I hope you don't mind Travis, but I need to be close to someone." It was Courtney just as I had expected, her voice was soft and I thought I could detect a note of fear.

"There's nothing to worry about here Courtney, the house is locked and we got things under control." I tried to reassure her but she was sliding even closer as I spoke. I felt her warm body move against me, she put her arm across my chest and pulled herself tight against me. I was tired and half asleep but it didn't take me long to realize she wasn't wearing anything.

"Courtney, you're naked!" I said as the fact registered in my brain.

"It didn't take you long to figure that out. I always sleep naked, I didn't even think about it when I came in here." She said, some of the fear seemed to have left her voice.

"Are you sure you didn't think about it at least a little?" I asked, I was thinking back to Courtney lying naked near the pool yesterday afternoon.

"No I didn't think about it before I came in here. And yes, that was a pretty lame come on yesterday wasn't it?" She giggled, she knew exactly what I was thinking about.

Right now I was thinking about her naked body pressing tightly against my own, I worried that I might be showing signs of arousal if she didn't move away soon. She didn't give any indication she would, in fact she seemed to be trying to get even closer although I'm not sure how that would be possible. She found a way though, next thing I know she had slid herself half atop me. Her one breast was crushed on my chest and her leg was bent across my own crotch, exactly in the perfect spot to feel my cock starting to rise. She had her head on my shoulder and I could smell the scent of her shampoo as well as a faint whiff of perfume. I thought back to what Alex had told me last night at dinner, apparently Courtney had been waiting here for us to return and I assume I was the one she was most anxious to see. She had been wearing a nice dress this morning when we first found her, I guess she must have made herself up to be more appealing for me.

"You know I was waiting for you last night, right?" She asked softly, she seemed to be almost reading my mind.

"Yeah, Alex said something about that while we were at dinner."

"Alex told me about how you were dressed, she thought you looked pretty hot in your suit, sounded that way to me too." Courtney continued.

"Really?" I asked, wondering where this conversation was going. I was trying to occupy my mind, if I didn't other hormonal urges would be taking over and I might find myself dealing with something I didn't want to.

"Really. She was telling all of us about you the entire evening." Courtney confessed.

"That doesn't surprise me. The four of you seem to have something going on all the time. Do you know that she said you liked me and wanted to sleep with me?" I added the last without thinking too much, maybe I was trying to shock her a bit myself.

"We all do Travis." Courtney answered with a giggle, she was starting to move her leg across my crotch which only intensified the feelings I was having down there.

"You mean Lizzie and Ellen want to sleep with me as well?" I asked incredulously.

"Alex too!"

"What?! What do you mean Alex too?" I said excitedly, causing Courtney to stop moving against me.