The Cougar's Prey: A Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger Novel by Sweazy Larry D

Author:Sweazy, Larry D.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: WordWise Publishing Services, LLC
Published: 2024-01-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon, but Josiah had pulled himself out of a deep and restless sleep to spend some time brushing Clipper, readying the Appaloosa, and himself, for what came next.

His body ached and his head pounded, obvious ailments from the aftermath of drinking too much whiskey and being in a fight. Each time he drank too much, Josiah promised himself it would never happen again—especially once he returned home to Austin. But that was turning into a false promise, one that he continued to break the longer he was away from home, from the touchstones that told him who he was.

Marshal Harlan’s words about family, and the demands of the Ranger life, had circled around in Josiah’s head like a worm trapped in an apple, as he’d tried to sleep off the fight and whiskey of the prior night. The words were a nightmare within themselves, but like Scrap said, the sheriff didn’t know what he was saying, didn’t know that he had hit a nerve with Josiah, talking about the toll of Ranger life on a family.

In reality, Josiah doubted that he would be a Ranger, either, spending weeks and months away from home, if his own family were still alive.

Still, he loved the Rangering life, though the most recent spate of time spent as a spy was not a duty he cared to repeat. Josiah liked being in a company, liked the structure of the battalion. There were certainties, things were common. You knew what to expect, unlike the past few days and weeks.

As he continued to brush his horse, lost in his thoughts and glad for the silence, Josiah allowed himself a moment of grief, not only for the loss of Maria Villareal, but for the damage done to his friendship with Juan Carlos.

There was an empty spot inside him that he didn’t know how to fill. It was like experiencing a sudden, unexpected death, the emotion too raw to know what to do. More whiskey was not the solution, but neither was sulking about things he could not change. That had never been his way, and he vowed silently that it wouldn’t be now.

Regardless of his deep feelings, he had a lot of unanswered questions that were starting to nag at him about what he had been doing in Corpus Christi in the first place, what Miguel and Maria Villareal’s motives really were, and whether Cortina had a real vendetta against him. Was he still a hunted man? Josiah had thought those days were past.

“Looks like you’re fixin’ to leave, Wolfe.”

The voice startled Josiah out of his thoughts. He turned, his hand instinctively dropping quickly to his Peacemaker.

Once he saw Marshal Harlan standing there, holding two tin cups of steaming coffee, Josiah loosened his grip on the gun and relaxed his trigger finger. “Sorry, Marshal, I didn’t hear you walk up,” he said.

“Understandable, Wolfe, don’t worry about it. Coffee?” Harlan offered Josiah a cup, his expression just as droopy and sad looking as the night before.

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