Page 80 of Rocky Ride

Chapter Seventeen

Tuesday, October 29th.

Best Western. Memphis. Tennessee.

Mason finished shaving and splashed on a little of the cologne he’d brought with him. He’d never worn cologne on a hunt before and it made him smile a little to do something so out of the norm. He had his routine and stuck to it most of the time.

A room at the Best Western was above what he usually spent per night on a hunt, but having a lady with him, he kicked it up a notch.

He'd achieved success with his proven methods of tracking, and it wasn’t time to change anything up. Beside him on the hotel vanity, his cell signaled a text.

“Are you ready for breakfast?”

“Almost. Five minutes.”

“Knock on my door when you’re ready.”

“Okay.”

“We have a date for breakfast, Clyde. Good thing I walked you already, boy.”

Clyde thumped his tail against the carpet and made no move to get up. Smiling all the while, Mason left Clyde in the room and went next door to collect Annie.

Downstairs in the breakfast room they talked about the day ahead. “Go ahead and tell me where you would start, Mason.” Annie spread cream cheese on a toasted bagel.

“Since your boys have already canvassed Music Row, up, down and sideways, I’d start someplace else. Like with known ID specialists in Nashville. I know of a couple and then the twoI know might send me on to others if I grease them up good enough. Yep, I think that would be a good place to start.”

“Sure. I thought of ID guys and also the used big rig places. We’d check each one of those looking for the Freightliner. Ask in each of the offices if they’ve bought or sold one in the past few weeks. Maybe get a lead that way.”

Mason smiled. “Let’s do both of those things, and while we’re doing the legwork, something else might turn up. Quite often does for me.”

Annie laughed. “Turns up…like magic?”

“Yep. Out of the blue, just like magic.”

“You have a near-perfect retrieval record, Mason. Do you turn down any cons you feel are impossible to find?”

He laughed. “You mean to maintain my high success rate?”

“Just a question.”

“You’re asking me if my rep is loaded, and I’m hurt that question would even enter your beautiful head.”

“I’m only teasing you because I like you so much.” Annie winked at him, and he felt something course through his veins that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Warm and gooey like liquid honey. Not an unpleasant feeling at all and he wished for more of it.

“You tease me all you want, Annie. I might tease you back a little.”

“This is going to be a fun day in Nashville,” said Annie. “I’m feeling it already.”

“I can hardly wait to get started,” said Mason with a chuckle. “Don’t think I’ve ever been this anxious to get to work.”

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

Dad cooked breakfast and put it on the table—ham and eggs and a big stack of toast. “I want to bring Darkers in for questioning today, now that I have a legitimate reason to go onto hisproperty. While we’re there going about our business we might get a chance to look around.”

“We need to look in the building back in the trees,” said Virge. “Once we find out what he’s hiding in there, we might be able to charge him with more than murder.”

“Yep, that’s what I was thinking,” said Travis. He turned to look at Harlan. “You’re not saying much, Harlan. Are you worried about Penny and how this might affect her?”

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