The Unwanted Runaway

Your Done

Denton POV

It’s already Friday most the week I have been busy. I take care of everything else on the ranch and basically had Jason helping Train Anna on the ranch unless Jason needed my help i’d step in but luckily I didn’t have to deal with training her or being around her that much this week .

After I receive a message from Carter on Monday afternoon, I called him first thing Tuesday morning. I figured on Tuesday night we would meet at Dukes Bar & Grill To unwind Have a couple beers with Carter maybe play some pool perhaps even help him out at the restaurant.

I walk in see Carter behind the counter what’s funny is he’s still in his sheriff uniform working next to his sister who is in her Duke Bar & Grill T-shirt . taking orders and passing out drinks

I walked up to Carter and said hay”

he greets me back with a head on.

Asked me if I’m thirsty I tell him I’ll take Guinness, my usual.

Carter then says

Denton let me finish out these orders And I’ll meet you in my Mom and dad’s back back office. I know she had none agreeing to what he said I walked back past the kitchen towards the restaurant office. Take a seat inside and drink my beer. Moments later Carter comes in.

So Denton do you want to hear what I got our little friend Anna?

I tell Carter yeah what you fine.

Well for one, she didn’t really have much family besides, her father ,stepmom and older brother, who is a high ranking officer in the military that station overseas.

I then ask Carter, is that it?

Nope there was a missing persons report filed by a girl named Bianca Gomez .

To get a better understanding of who this Bianca was, I did Some digging through her social media. I realize that Bianca was Anna’s best friend until recently.

Carter informed me.

I respond with an OK, Why did her friend file a report and not her family.

Well, Her father spends most of his time tinkering on vehicles at his mechanic shop. her stepmom stays home and doesn’t work. From what I’ve read on her stepmoms social media. That woman despises Anna.

Carter said he also found out that Anna was working at a retail store in Los Angeles, and got laid off recently.

She she was in a relationship with some guy named Joey Freeman that she met online. She end up living with him until he kicked her out and reportedly said that she stole some jewelry so he filed the police report against Anna. Which I am assuming it is the engagement ring that she wears on her finger.

that’s stupid Carter, you and I both know you can’t file a police report on a given engagement ring

Card replies yeah I know Denton but that’s what the guy did.

according to her friend Bianca, he was controlling, always telling her what to do, and spending her money. He was laid off from his job as a contractor when they first started dating, and she did not know about that.

apparently Bianca felt guilty because as Anna was picking up extra shifts and working all the time Bianca Screwing around with Joey.

that’s f****d up I tell Carter”

oh that’s not the worst part yet I’ll get to that here in a minute Denton”, but Bianca had a husband when the husband found out about Bianca screwing around on him. He ended things right away.

Now Denton are you ready for the f****d up part?

yeah go ahead” I say to, Carter

Carter, then response” well Anna always had marks and bruises on her, but they were in areas that were easily well hidden. Bianca never thought much of it because we all know that Anna is pretty clumsy. And she never said anything about Joey‘s physical or verbal abuse. Joey was her first Relationship if you know what I mean.

Carter is insinuating that Joey was her first real boyfriend who took her virginity.

Bianca decided to end things with Joey, when he started getting verbally abusive with her. Blaming Bianca for Anna finding out and losing her job.

which technically was both Joey and Bianca‘s fault but Joey decided to blame Bianca for finding out,

Anna came home early one day, and saw both Bianca and Denton and her bedroom going at it. the same day she lost her job.

damnn “ I say to Carter” Poor Anna has already been through so much.

well when Anna was staying at my house, I decided to go through some of her things. I couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary, and. She didn’t have any jewelry on her besides, what was on her ring finger. However, I did find a little USB thumb drive.

did you get a chance to see what was on it? I asked Carter.

denton not yet , because Anna still has that thumb drive.

so sounds like to me she’s just a woman down on her luck, running away from a bad situation.

Carter asked me pretty much.

But I’m curious to know what’s on that thumb drive part of me think it’s just probably family pictures since she didn’t really have anything of value on her.

Carter, ask me how she did her first two days in the ranch. I told him about the incident of Monday morning. We’ve been so busy that I have Jason just taking lead on training her while I can get other things done around the ranch.

Then it dawned on me. Hey Carter, did you ever run a background check perhaps on the guy that she was with before that Joey whatever?

Carter replies Denton I didn’t think about that but I’ll have my guys run one I mean they’re still looking to see if anything else pops up. I’ll have them look at her ex as well.

then Carter says look at you with your sheriff skills. Do you wanna come work for me or what.

I tell Carter No”, I’m good.

I like being a rugged cowboy not a lawman.

we tap our beers together and say here’s to that and chug it down. We decided to play a couple rounds of pool. Then Carter asked me what’s up with Sarah and I and I just let him know that she’s out of town till Saturday Seth stain at his grandfather’s Sarah’s dads house for the week.

As I made my way down the rugged dirt path towards Evan's house, delivering the newly repaired leather saddle to Evan. Ever since his old one had broken, he had been unable to ride and I knew how much it meant to him. As I approached, I spotted Evan standing in front of Brooke's Jeep, deep in conversation with Jason and Brooke.

"Evan!" I called out, making my presence known. "Here's your saddle, hopefully this one will hold up better and you won't bust it like last time." I couldn't help but chuckle at the memory, grateful that I could bring some lightness to the situation.

"Thanks, Denton," Evan replied with a grateful smile. "I appreciate it."

As we chatted, Evan mentioned that he had been speaking with Jason about our recent week with Anna. From what Jason had told him, Anna was not only a hard worker around the ranch, but also had a hidden talent for singing. Brooke, intrigued, asked if she was any good.

"Yes, babe, she's really good," Jason replied with a hint of awe in his voice. "Like, holy s**t, powerhouse good."

Evan couldn't help but laugh at Jason's enthusiastic praise. He then turned to me and asked about Anna's living situation in the bunkhouse. I assured him that for the most part, she seemed to be getting along with her roommates. With two of them gone on a work trip to South Dakota, I imagined it was quite peaceful in the bunkhouse.

But Brooke suddenly interjected, mentioning that she had noticed a strange occurrence at the barn upper window. A shadow figure had been spotted moving around, causing her to become a bit unsettled at night. Jason, intrigued, asked for more details, but Brooke brushed it off, not wanting to delve into it.

I couldn't help but remember the conversation I had had with Carter on Tuesday night and decided to share it with my friends. As I recounted the events, I could see their interest piqued, and we all fell into a deep conversation,

In a split second, the peaceful atmosphere was shattered by the sound of screams echoing from the bunkhouse. My heart dropped as I recognized the voice of Anna. Without hesitation Evan, Brooke, Jason, and I frantically turned our heads in the direction of the commotion.

As Anna came into view, my blood boiled at the sight of her. She was running towards us, her towel only partially covering her naked body. Her clothes clutched in one hand and a bloodied butcher knife in the other. The look of panic and fear in her eyes only fueled my anger.

Brooke quickly took off Jason's jacket and rushed to cover Anna's body, but I couldn't stand the thought of anyone else's clothing touching her. In a fit of rage, I ripped off my own jacket and handed it to Brooke, throwing Jason's to the side.. landing on top of the discarded, bloody knife.

But my attention was quickly diverted as Donnie, emerged from the bunkhouse. He was fully clothed, but his hand was dripping with blood and a maniacal look in his eyes. Without even hearing his words, I knew he was responsible for Anna's state.

My emotions were in chaos as I saw Brooke holding Anna tightly in her arms, trying to calm her down. Anna's screams and mumbled words only added to my fury, making me want to rip Donnie apart.

As I looked at my brother, and my cousin,, I could see the same anger and determination in their eyes. We all knew what needed to be done.

But before we could even act, tragedy struck again. Brooke lost her grip on Anna and she fell, hitting her head on a nearby rock. Causing a gash on her forehead, and small cut on her cheek . The blood trickling down only added to the chaos and desperation.

Without a second thought, in a split second, I made the life-altering decision to take justice into my own hands. I left Brooke Jason and Evan all behind then charged straight towards Donnie. My fists were fueled by rage as I unleashed all my fury on him. I broke his nose, his jaw, his fingers, his arms, until finally, I snapped his neck, ending his pathetic life.