Page 56 of Rocky Ride

“Great. Give me the address and I’ll text you what time I’m coming to get you.”

“Thanks, Harlan.”

“No problem. Looking forward to our date.”

I ran back to the Jeep and Virge was waiting for the details. “What did she say?’

“She said okay, and she has her own place here in Coyote Creek. She’s sharing an apartment over a garage.”

“Great, that gets Dad off your ass.”

“Sure does. Makes things a whole lot easier on the home front if I’m not going up against Dad on this.”

“Better not try it,” said Virge. “Might get foul.”

“Last thing I’d want to do is buck Dad on an issue,” said Harlan.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

While the boys were at the barn feeding the horses, Travis talked to Billy about the raid.

“When do you think we should go for it?” asked Billy.

“I want to talk to Mark at the customs office to see if they’re watching for precursor chemicals, and if they are, if they are specifically watching Dan Darkers.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. If they’ve got something going on already and they’re close to making an arrest, we don’t want to mess in customs business.”

“Right. I should take a run up there and talk to Mark before we bust anybody’s asses.”

Chapter Twelve

Thursday, October 24th.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

Billy stoked up the woodstove in the front room as soon as he got out of bed each morning. Sunday stood next to him warming her hands while she waited for the coffee to brew.

“I’m sleeping in a girl’s room, but nobody has said anything about her since I got here. Is the subject taboo?”

“Too recent to discuss in front of Travis,” said Billy. “He’s dealing with losing his daughter in his own way. Tammy has been found and she’s in a hospital in Texas. If he wants you to know more, I’m sure he’ll tell you. The past few weeks have been hard on him—hard on all of us. We love Tammy.”

“How old is she?”

“Nineteen. Just a little older than Harlan.”

“And Travis adopted her too?”

“Yes. She was the first.”

“I won’t say anything to upset him,” said Sunday.

“Best if you didn’t. Anything you want to know, you can ask me. I’ve lived here for a long time. Since before we adopted the boys.”

“They are so adorable.”

Billy grinned. “Couldn’t be any better if they tried.”

The barn was chilly when me and Virge ran out to do the chores. It was time to put the little heater on for the horses at night. They had their blankets on, but every night the temperature dropped lower. You could see your breath inside the barn.

---