Page 171 of Dusty Spur Ranch Cowboys

I shove Beau back against the trailer and turn to the others. “Emmett, clear the arena. Willy, get Hank and every deputy you can find.”

Neither of them wastes a second. They break in opposite directions while I take off toward the north chutes, already running before either of them answers.

He lets me go, and I run toward the north chutes.

Deputies and rodeo staff rush toward the stands, waving people back from the fencing while spectators pour into the aisles.

I leave them to it and keep running toward the north chutes, knowing every second I lose gives Travis another chance to reach Arizona before I do.

The crowd surges despite him, and I turn into the lane behind the chutes. “Arizona!”

Metal slams against the chute wall ahead of me, and I round the corner to find Travis holding Arizona against the rails.

Her head jerks toward me, and every muscle in my body loosens before tightening all over again.

She’s alive.

Travis yanks her harder against him, and the relief that hit me a heartbeat ago disappears beneath a single thought.

I’m getting her out of here.

Her hat lies crushed in the dirt, and blood runs from a cut near her hairline. Travis has one fist twisted in the front of her jacket while a broken length of railing presses across her throat, but she drives her knee toward his thigh before he can tighten his grip.

He twists enough to avoid the worst of it, though her boot catches him and earns a curse.

“Let her go,” I tell him as I move closer.

Travis looks over his shoulder, and the man who used to grin for every rodeo camera turns a face hardened by years of anger toward me.

Gray has spread through his hair, prison has added thickness to his body, and he watches me with the satisfaction of someone who has replayed this meeting too many times.

“There’s the great Red Bronson,” he says as he pulls Arizona tighter against him.

She turns her head as far as the railing allows. “He damaged the fencing, and he has a knife.”

Travis jerks her backward. “You should’ve kept walking when you found those bolts.”

“Take your hand off her,” I say as another section of rail cracks behind us.

I keep my attention on Arizona as she lowers one hand toward the pocket of her shorts. Travis is too focused on me to notice, but her eyes hold mine long enough to show she’s waiting for an opening.

“You’ll lose the ranch once everyone knows how careless you are,” Travis says as he presses the railing harder against her neck. “Nobody will trust a man who can’t protect his own people.”

“Let Arizona go, and you can settle this with me.”

Anger flashes through her expression, though she stays still.

Travis laughs and shifts his stance. “You’re still pretending you’re a hero.”

“I’ve never been one.”

Travis laughs, blood streaking down his chin. “You stole my life.”

I hold his stare without moving. “No. You threw it away.”

Fury twists across his face as he lunges. He shoves Arizona aside and swings the broken rail toward my head.

She hits the dirt near the chute wall and scrambles toward the rails while I duck, but the metal clips my injured shoulder and sends pain through the joint. I drive into Travis before he can swing again, burying my fist beneath his ribs.