Page 51 of Rocky Ride

“There’s something I want to talk to you about, son.”

“Sure, Dad. Is it about your leg? You’re not walking great on it yet.”

“No, but I do need my leg to heal faster than it’s doing. Something else has come up.”

“Like what?” Harlan turned onto the county road and headed south to Coyote Creek.

“Molly told me you met a girl at the market and were thinking of asking her out.”

“Penny Darkers.”

“Right. Molly also told me Penny comes from a family of drug dealers up near the border. They live in Sweetgrass.”

“Penny told me she was from Sweetgrass. That part is right. I don’t know about the other part. Where does Molly hear this stuff?”

“I’m not sure where she gets her information, but this is how I see it, son.”

“Am I gonna hate this, Dad?”

“Possibly. I’m asking you not to see her or like her too much until Billy and I decide if we’re going to clean up Dan Darkers’ operation.”

“I haven’t even taken her out yet, Dad, but I want to. She’s pretty and nice and she gave me her number at the grocery store.”

“I understand how strongly you want to take this girl to a movie or something, but on the other hand, I don’t want you so close to her family that you’re going to get messed up. I’d liketo investigate that part a bit more first before you make any commitments.”

“But you weren’t even on the Darkers until Molly told you what she heard, Dad.”

“True. I wasn’t. But now that I know the Darkers might be a dangerous family for you to be involved in, I can’t ignore their operation. It looks like a possible meth lab from the road.”

“Is that where you went? You’ve already been up there?”

“Yes, I have, son. I’m not trying to hide this from you. I’m coming right out and saying, I don’t want you fuckin near her until I check out her father. You copy that?”

“Yeah, I do. But maybe Penny moved down here away from her father and that’s why she took the job at the market.”

“I hope that’s the reason, son. If it is, and she no longer lives with her father, you can go ahead and see her.”

“Okay. That makes sense to me.”

“But promise you’ll stay clear if she’s living at home in that double-wide with her father surrounded by drug dealers coming in and out of their place.”

“I’ll find out her status.”

“Discretely.”

“Yeah. She won’t know why I’m asking her where she lives.”

“Attaboy.”

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.

As we were getting the juvie robbers out of their cells for their arraignments, two uniformed officers showed up in the squad room to pick them up.

“We’ll take Michael Roach and Jason Kassinger to the courthouse for their arraignments and then they’ll be transported back to the detention center in Great Falls.”

“Fine with me,” said Travis. “They trashed a local package store and made a helluva mess of it. They might’ve been paroled a little too soon.”

The officer smiled. “You’re probably right about that, Sheriff. Most of them are.”

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