Page 28 of Tied to Trouble

“Stay, Mags,” Mandy ordered quietly, and Mags sat down, but she didn’t take her gaze off the two men.

“Do you know where we are supposed to go?” This question was from the taller of the two men.

Mandy could see that both men appeared rough and were dressed in clothes that had seen better days long ago. Upon close inspection, even the black car had rust around the bottom edges and what appeared to be hail damage that had never been repaired.

Mandy stepped up beside Az, her heart in her throat.

Az’s eyes narrowed slightly. “That all depends on where you are going,” he replied carefully.

The short man guffawed and slapped his leg. “Ain’t you funny,” he chuckled. “Hell, to get the meat that Murphy...”

“Shut up, Pete,” the taller man ordered as he stepped forward, his dark eyes gleaming in the moonlight. He was thin, almost gaunt, with a haunted look about his eyes. The sleeves of his plaid shirt didn’t even come to his wrists, and the material was worn thin in many places. He had several broken teeth, but seemed clean and tidy, and Mandy wondered who they were. She didn’t recognize either of the men as being from Mockingbird Hollow.

Pete looked as hard-up as his counterpart. The knees of his jeans sported a few patches, and his red t-shirt had some holes in it.

Tall and thin stared suspiciously at Az and Mandy. “Just who are you? I don’t recognize you from our neck of the woods.”

Mandy could feel panic rising in her throat. She knew the reference to meat meant these two were somehow involved in the rustling. Had all the reasons Az had told her to stay away from the lake happened for real? If she’d only listened to him. If she had, then they wouldn’t be in danger now.

Then an idea popped into her head.

***

TALL AND THIN’S QUESTIONhad Az thinking fast. There was no doubt in his mind that the ‘meat’he was referring to had to be the rustled cattle. Since someone had been dumping tonight, it stood to reason that person had stolen a cow earlier and cut it up.

He squeezed Mandy’s trembling hand in silent warning and replied, “We don’t know you either, but that doesn’t mean we don’t know Murphy. He promised us some of the meat too.”

Tall and thin looked dubious. “You don’t look poor to me. Besides, Murphy never told us anyone else was in on it.” He stepped closer to Az. “You look more like a cop than anything else.”

Az was surprised when Mandy suddenly spoke up.

“We’re newlyweds and we have no money and not much family to support us. My husband just lost his job at Genetico, and Murphy offered us some beef,” she piped up bravely.

Az mentally groaned but immediately nodded and wrapped his long arm around her in support. “My wife’s right,” he added, playing the loving husband.

“Genetico! You worked at that no-good place, too?” Pete spat on the ground. “That’s where Murph lost his job. Of course, you know all about that, or you wouldn’t be here.”

Az nodded again. “Well, Murphy didn’t tell us everything, but he did offer to help us. For that, we are grateful.”

Pete stepped forward and offered to shake Az’s hand. “I’m Pete, and this tall drink of water is Harley. He looks mean, but his bark is worse than his bite.” He chuckled. “Since you all were here first, have you seen Murphy? He told us to meet him here at 1:00 a.m. What time did he tell you all?”

Az shook hands with Pete and then looked at his watch. It was 12:57 a.m. “He told us 1:00 a.m. too, but I haven’t seen him yet,” he lied glibly. He was sure it was ‘Murph’that had been dumping across the lake. He had to find a way to get Mandy out of here before Murphy returned.

The distant purr of a truck engine told him it was already too late.

Desperately, he tried to think fast. Pushing Mandy gently before him, he started to circle the two men. “Did you leave a Coke for me, honey? I’m getting thirsty waiting for Murphy.”

“I think there are more in the cooler,” Mandy replied breathlessly as she followed his lead. He knew she could hear the vehicle coming too, and they would be trapped shortly.

Pete and Harley didn’t look too dangerous, but he didn’t know about Murphy. That man had gone to a lot of trouble to set Genetico up; he would not take kindly to his plans being interfered with.

Their best bet was his truck. He had a hunting rifle hanging behind the seat. He always carried it when he was home because he liked to hunt whenever the opportunity arose.

“You two just stay put,” warned the ever-suspicious Harley. “Your story doesn’t quite ring true to me. I always had a nose for liars.”

He stepped between Az and the trucks, a handgun appearing out of nowhere, its deadly nose pointed right at them.

Az and Mandy froze in their tracks.

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