Page 6 of Rocky Ride

“We’ll go back and have Molly run a check on each of the women in the WASC before we talk to them,” said Ted. “That way we will know if any of them have done this inciting riot shit before and pinpoint the leader.”

“Good plan, Ted,” said Virge. “There’s always a leader in every gang or group. Dad told me that.”

The Blackmore Agency. Austin.

Blaine held a meeting in his office before sending Casey and Ardal after Bobby Prescott. Fletcher Bowden was there as a consultant on the case.

Shot in the leg and a graze on his wrist courtesy of Tammy Traynor, Fletcher had Bobby in custody when Tammy turned her gun on him and kidnapped Prescott for the second time.

They’d been so close to capturing the Interstate Rage Killer and Blaine wasn’t letting it go. He was more determined than ever to bring Prescott to justice.

“Y’all will fly to Montgomery, Alabama, rent a vehicle and follow the trail,” said Blaine. “We had one sighting of the black Freightliner and that was on I-65 heading northeast to Montgomery, Alabama.”

“Nothing else to go on?” asked Ardal.

“Nope,” said Blaine. “He may be alone, or out of necessity, he may have picked up someone who could drive the truck for him. His stomach wound is severe, and Bobby can’t manage alone.”

In order to help them with their quest, Fletcher had already given Casey and Ardal a written copy of everything he could think of about Bobby Prescott’s case and the ensuing hunt for him.

“We know for sure that Tammy Traynor isn’t with him any longer,” said Fletch. “She went south into the bayou by boat when Prescott headed northeast.”

“Annie hired a bayou retrieval expert to bring her in,” said Blaine. “Through her actions to hang onto Prescott at all costs, Tammy has racked up a mountain of charges against herself. She’s a wanted fugitive considered armed and dangerous.”

“How old is she?” asked Ardal.

“Barely nineteen.”

“I think we have everything we need to start,” said Casey.

“I wish you guys luck,” said Fletcher. “From my experience, Prescott is hurt and weak and he’ll be the easier of the two to bring in. The bounty hunter will have a much tougher time grabbing Tammy. She’s a cop. Trained by Travis Bristol as a deputy sheriff and taught to shoot by Annie. The girl has skills.”

“I hope Prescott is the easy one,” said Blaine. “The Interstate Rage Killer file has been open on my desk for far too long.”

Black Wolf Pass. Rocky Mountains. Montana.

A mile before he reached the Black Wolf Pass Road—the road that led to the property he owned a mile up the mountain—Travis stopped at a service center with a market and small restaurant attached.

He stopped for gas and for food. There would be no supplies in the cabin, and he’d be on his own for food, water and heat.

Not the ideal time of year to go to the cabin for the first time, but he had no choice. Olivia wanted to be on the mountain near the cabin she’d been to as a child with her parents and my Uncle Carson. Travis had no intention of letting her down. He’d already done that enough while she was alive.

He filled the grocery cart with cans of stew, chili and soup. Bought bread, butter and coffee. Eggs and bacon. Spaghetti and jars of sauce. Sandwich meat. He’d eat sandwiches until the bread ran out. Bottled water. Cokes. Beer. Tequila.

Dog food was in the truck. A large bag and plenty for a couple of weeks, maybe three, if he had to stay that long. Shouldn’t have to unless he had problems.

With the truck loaded down, he pushed up the mountain following the directions Uncle Carson had written out in detail for him before he died.

The cabin wasn’t easy to find. The higher up the mountain he climbed, roads diminished into trails and then two-tracks overgrown with summer vegetation, and then there were no roads at all.

High up the mountain the snow became deeper and there were many undisturbed drifts, but using four-wheel drive, the road was passable. The big Ford was heavy-duty and easily chugged through the drifts.

Headlights shone on the cabin and Travis smiled. There it was a couple of hundred feet in front of him. He parked as close as he could get, but it couldn’t be considered close at all. It would be a long way to haul the full load he had in the truck.

Much of his gear was heavy and he’d have to make many trips. Not looking forward to it. The wound in his side continued togive him trouble if he did any heavy lifting. Gas cans to fuel the generator were heavy and gas wasn’t the least of it.

Listed on the flip side of the paper giving the directions, his uncle had written a list of necessities. Travis was grateful to have it all spelled out for him, because most of the stuff on the list, he never would’ve thought of.

He stepped out of the warm truck and frigid mountain air tingled in his lungs. Opening the back door, he released the dogs, and they ran in wildly excited circles all around the property.

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