Page 58 of Unforgettable Cowboy
Bailey started around the table and thankfully Hayes didn’t do anything stupid like tell her he was going without her.
“Do you want me to call the authorities?”Estelle asked.
“No,” Hayes and Bailey said in unison.Hayes grabbed her hand and they headed toward his truck parked what seemed like miles away, moving more slowly than they might have due to Hayes’s limp.Bailey glanced at his profile as they approached the vehicle.His jaw was tight, his expression an equal mix of pain and determination.
After they got into the rig, he handed Bailey his phone and told her the code.“Text Trev.Tell him what we’re doing.Then call Jordan and let him know what’s happening.”
Jordan seemed totally at ease with the prospect of Chance showing up on the ranch, telling Bailey to tell Hayes that he had everything under control.Maybe he did, but Bailey didn’t see how.At least he could hide the mare somewhere.She put the phone on the seat between them and closed her eyes, willing the miles to pass more quickly.Neither of them spoke, but Bailey assumed that Hayes’s thoughts were traveling along the same lines as hers.What was going to happen when Chance arrived at the Tree Fork?Would he try to get tough with Jordan?
Bailey swallowed at the prospect.
She’d brought this on them.She and Jenna and their scheme.
Hayes seemed to sense her thoughts.He reached out to put a hand on her thigh.“It’ll be okay.”
“What if he’s armed?”She practically whispered the words.
Hayes sighed.“Let’s hope he’s not that stupid.”
Chapter Fourteen
Hayes had hopedto catch up with Chance before he reached the ranch.He figured that seeing Hayes’s truck in the rearview mirror might cause Chance to rethink whatever it was he had planned.But instead of catching up with Chance, a deputy sheriff caught up with him.
Hayes muttered a curse and Bailey leaned toward the window to look into the side mirror.
“Really?”She let her head fall back on the seat rest.“Of all the times to be caught speeding.”
Hayes had definitely been speeding, but to his surprise, the deputy didn’t light them up.And when Hayes turned off the highway, he followed.
“Now he’s going to stop us.”
But the deputy surprised him again.
“Huh.”Hayes kept checking his mirror and the deputy kept following, just far enough back to stay out of the dust.
Bailey looked at Hayes, who returned her frowning look.Who’d called the law?And why?The only reassuring thing was that he wasn’t traveling fast, so it wasn’t an emergency.But still…
Five minutes later they crossed the cattle guard leading to the ranch, the deputy still on his tail.In the distance, Hayes could see Chance’s truck and trailer as well as several figures—three if he wasn’t mistaken, which meant that Wade was out of the house.
Shit.
Hayes pulled to a stop as did the deputy, who beat both him and Bailey out of the truck.The expression on Chance’s face was one of righteousness, as if, finally, he had backup and Hayes had been the one to bring it to him.
He approached the deputy.“I’m glad you’re here.I have reason to believe my stolen horse in on this property.”
Chance had called the sheriff?
The deputy gave Chance a professional I-hear-you nod.“What makes you think that, sir?”
Chance shot a look at Bailey.“This woman works here.She’s friends with my wife and they stole my horse.”
“Your wife.Is the horse joint property?”
Chance’s certainty faltered for a split second.“Yes, but she’s keeping the animal from me, so that’s theft, right?Theft of half of a horse.”
The deputy’s eyebrows went up.“Half a horse.”
Chance’s mouth twisted in frustration, but other than shifting his weight, he gave no response.
