Chapter Five
Thursday, July 25 th .
Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.
I set my alarm for a quarter to six and I was in the barn at ten to. Virge lagged a little behind because he still had dust on him from the Vicki fiasco and it was slowing him down.
Not fair of her to take off and leave him like that. If I ever saw that snarky little bitch again, I’d tell her to her face that my brother deserved better than her.
After chores, we washed up and changed into traveling clothes, then carried our luggage downstairs and set it by the door. Not much time to eat before we had to leave for Texas.
While Dad made fried egg sandwiches to eat in the truck on the way to the airport, Virge and I made sure Billy didn’t forget anything about the horses while we were gone.
Billy laughed at us and said he had it all written down and wouldn’t forget a thing. I didn’t see notes anywhere and I was worried.
“Trust me, boys,” he walked us onto the porch laughing. “I can feed those horses every bit as good as you and Virge can. I been feeding horses since I was six months old.”
That’s when I really started to worry.
We tossed our bags into the back of Dad’s Ford and waved goodbye to Billy. He stood there on the porch holding Max and Sarge by their leashes and they didn’t look happy about it. They wanted to go wherever Dad went, but they wouldn’t be coming with us until the day we moved from Montana to Texas.
“I hate leaving the dogs behind.” Travis drove out the laneway and couldn’t bear to look in the rearview.
Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek. Montana.
Billy arrived at the station with Max and Sarge and the minute the dogs ran in alone, Molly was in tears. “It feels like Travis and the boys are already gone.”
“It does feel a tad empty in here,” said Ted. “What have we got going on today, Billy?”
“Not much. Call it a catch-up day and for me it will be more of a thinking day. I have to decide what I’m going to do at the end of my term as undersheriff.”
“You won’t leave me and Molly here all alone at the end of the month, will you, Billy?”
“I might not be able to. If I do decide to go with Travis and the boys, the county will require me to finish out my term and leave after the election of the new sheriff in November.”
Molly reached for another tissue. “If you decide to leave in November, Billy, it will be time for me to retire. I’m not starting over with a brand-new sheriff. It would be impossible for me to get used to somebody new after I’ve worked with the best there is.”
Ted nodded in agreement and Billy felt bad for both of them. This move would be hard on the entire staff of the Coyote Creek Sheriff’s Department.
Super Eight Motel. Newport. North Carolina.
Bobby grabbed a coffee and a muffin from the free breakfast buffet and after Cleo went for a short run around the Super Eight property, they hopped into the Wrangler and headed north.
Keeping a sharp eye on the tracker, Bobby was pleased to see that Tammy was still in the same spot. She was staying put at the Best Western and that gave him time to gain on her.
“Keep sleeping, Tammy. Let me catch up to you and whoever you’re with. I doubt if you’ll be alone. That’s not how you operate. You take advantage of men and leech off of them. Take what you want from your next target and then dump them or kill them.
I know the feeling, girl. I’ve had worse treatment from you than most. You almost succeeded in killing me more than once.”
Bobby reached over and patted Cleo on the head. “Tammy will soon be done, Cleo. We’ll cut her down to size for Ray, then we can go home to our cabin and live in peace.”
Cleo wagged her tail.
Best Western Hotel. Staunton. Virginia.
With Tammy lying in the queen-sized bed right next to him, Willy-John woke up in a relaxed and lazy mood. All the years he’d practiced medicine and made it his life’s work, he’d avoided relationships with women since the breakup of his marriage. It had all been a stupid waste of time on his part. He realized that now.
Mesmerized and a little shocked by the rugged night of sex with Miss Tammy, Willy needed time to get into the shower and rev himself up to start a new day.
“I’ll take the dogs out, Willy. You seem to be still tired. I’ll bring you a coffee when the dogs and I come back to the room.”
“That’s so nice, Tammy. I could use a few more minutes in bed.” He laughed. “You’re young and more resilient than me.”
“You’re not old, Willy. Don’t give me any of your old man doctor shit.”
Willy chuckled, then a thought crossed his mind, and he sat straight up in the big bed. “You’re not going to take the truck and leave me behind, are you, Tammy?”
Tammy giggled. “Course not. We’re a team now, Willy. A couple living our life on the road.”
Willy let out the breath he was holding. “Okay, good. I don’t want you to leave me stranded at the Best Western.”
Great Falls Airport. Montana.
Travis parked in a short-term lot, the boys grabbed their luggage, and they all headed for the terminal. Inside, he checked himself and the boys in at one of the kiosks. They only had carry-on luggage, and nothing needed to be checked. After clearing the check-point, they went right through to their gate.
He checked his watch. “Forty-five minutes until we board. Time for a second breakfast.”
“You read my mind, Dad,” said Virge. “That fried egg sandwich was good, but I could’ve eaten three of them.”
“No time to make you three. You’ll have to have a coffee and a muffin or a donut to keep you alive until lunch.”
“I can make it until noon on a couple of chocolate glazed.”
“Glad to hear you might make it all the way to Texas, son.” Dad turned to me. “Go pick out what you want, Harlan, and bring me a coffee.”
“Copy that, Dad.”
Washington. D.C.
Tammy was behind the wheel of Willy’s truck when they began passing the exits for the capital city.
“I’ve always wanted to make a trip to the capital of our country and see for myself all the historic places. Do we have time to drive by the White House, Tammy?”
Tammy laughed. “We can do anything you want to do, Willy. If you want to spend today looking around Washington while we’re so close, we can do that.”
“Thanks. I want to see it all so badly.”
She turned on the signal and took the next exit. “Here we go for our history lesson.”
Willy chuckled as they drove around the exit ramp and followed the signs. “This will be a great day, Tammy. We’ll be doing the very thing I’ve always wanted to do.”
“Before we do anything else, we’ll get a hotel for tonight. If we get tired, we can come back to our room and rest before we go on another tour.”
“Great idea. It will be wonderful to have a place to crash when we’re ready to fall down.” Willy laughed.
“Make a list of what you want to see, and we’ll cross them off one by one.”
“Let’s start with the White House and then the Capitol Building. Lincoln Memorial. Then the Smithsonian.”
“That should be enough for one day, Willy. I’m tired just from hearing your list.”
“The Smithsonian is huge. We might not be able to see all of it today.”
“There are acres of stuff in there,” said Tammy. “I saw it on TV. It will take all day to see half of it.”
“It’s not that big.”
“Is so. Leash the dogs, Willy. We’ll have to take them with us.”
“This is going to be one of the best days ever.”
Tammy had her doubts, but it was what Willy wanted to do and it was his truck…at the moment.
Red Roof Hotel. Martinsburg. West Virginia.
“Look at that, Cleo. First we were behind her and now we’re ahead of her. Tammy turned off the interstate and drove into Washington, D.C. Do you think she’s having a patriotic moment?”
Cleo wagged her tail.
“I don’t think so, girl. Tammy is only true blue to Tammy. Nobody else counts in her world. She’s in her only little crazy place robbing and killing her way across the country.”
“She’ll come back to the highway when she’s finished her business in the city. She’s heading for Canada and the I-81 is the best way to get there from here.”
“There’s no way we can search for her in a city jammed with feds who are looking for us, girl. We’ll wait right here for her. It’s the safest way for us.”
Austin-Bergstrom Airport. Texas.
The plane touched down in Austin and I hadn’t slept much but Virge did. He was out cold a few minutes after takeoff and didn’t open his eyes until the landing gear bounced down on the tarmac in Texas.
Dad stayed in his seat and didn’t try to get into the aisle until a bunch of the passengers cleared out ahead of us. No point. We were all going to the same place anyway and we’d have to line up again soon enough.
At the National rental counter, Dad took care of the paperwork for the Cherokee we’d be using while we were in Texas. The clerk gave us the key fob and we picked our ride up out back. Dark blue.
“Where to from here, Dad?” asked Virge.
“Budget Inn in La Grange. That hotel should be handy to everything we need.”
I programmed it into the nav system.
Budget Inn. La Grange. Texas.
It took more than an hour to get clear of the Austin traffic and drive out to our hotel in La Grange. Dad told us that was the closest town to Annie’s ranch, and that’s where Virge and I wanted to be. Being close to Annie’s ranch and our family was the whole thing for me and Virge.
Dad checked us in, and our room was nice. We wouldn’t be staying in it a lot anyway. Not if we were out looking at ranches every day.
Travis sat in the easy chair in the corner of the room and called Annie to tell her we were in Texas. While Dad tried to hear, Virge scrolled through the TV channels seeing how many we could get.
“Put the sound on mute, Virge. I can’t hear Annie.”
“Hey, Travis.”
“We’re here, Annie-girl. On a mission to find us a ranch.”
“I’ve already had a preliminary chat with Kevin Bennett at the ReMax office in Smithville and he’s getting properties ready to show you and the boys.”
“Thanks. You’re way ahead of me.”
“Give him a call and see what he’s got lined up for you for tomorrow, then come to Boots later and we’ll make a plan.”
“Sure. We’ll drive up to Giddings later on.”
“Where does Annie want us to go, Dad?”
“To her roadhouse. We’ll drive up for a pitcher and some dinner and sort out a plan for tomorrow. Meantime, I’ll call and talk to her real estate guy and see how many ranches he’s got lined up for us to see.”
“Copy that, Dad,” I said. “It sounds like you’ve got a hold on a plan already.”
“Annie is helping me out, son. She did the legwork and all I have to do is call the guy and tell him who I am.”
“Mom is organized, Dad,” said Virge.
“Yep, she is, son.” Travis made the call. “Mister Bennett, this is Travis Bristol calling. I believe Annie Powell told you I was coming down from Montana to view some properties.”
“She did, Sheriff Bristol, and I’ve got a half dozen beauties lined up for you to see tomorrow. What time would you like to start?”
“Umm…could you meet us at the Budget Inn in La Grange around nine-thirty?”
“Perfect. I’ll pick y’all up and we’ll have us a time.”
“Thanks. I’m looking forward to it.” Travis ended the call and told the boys there were six ranches lined up.
“When are we going?” asked Virge.
“Right after breakfast tomorrow morning.”
Boots & Saddles Roadhouse. Giddings.
Annie’s roadhouse was noisy and loud and about ten times busier than the Dry Run we always went to in Coyote Creek. This place was huge and there was a big pool room at the back just about doubling the size.
We walked through the double doors at the front and Annie waved to us from behind the bar. She ran around the old cowboy bar to give us all hugs. It looked just like the ones you saw in all the old Westerns.
As soon as we found an empty booth, one of her servers set us up with a pitcher and a big spread of food. Ribs and potato wedges and coleslaw and cornbread.
I couldn’t match the number of ribs that Virge ate, but I ate a lot. All that warm cornbread I couldn’t stop eating almost put me to sleep, but I couldn’t waste time sleeping. Annie sent us to the pool room to play some free games while she talked to Dad about our new ranch.
“What do you think about my juvie ranch idea, Annie-girl?”
Annie laughed. “How could I think it was a bad idea when it’s basically the same principal I operated my foundation under?”
“Yeah, that’s true. Only the background the boys will be coming from will be a little different.”
“I can put a folder together for you of all the people you need to communicate with in the State of Texas. Some of them could be new staff from when I started, but the departments will be the same. If you need help from higher up, Jesse is the one to talk to.”
“Yeah, I thought of talking to Jesse. I might give him a call tomorrow if there’s enough time left after all the viewings.”
“How many does Kevin have lined up?”
“Six, so far.”
“Nice round number. That should keep you and the boys going all day. Come to the ranch for dinner when y’all are done and tell us all about the ranches you liked and didn’t like. The kids are anxious to see Harlan and Virgil.”
“Thanks. We’ll do that.”
She stood up and lingered at the end of the booth for a minute. “You worried about any of your old enemies coming at you if you move back to Texas?”
“Nah, not really. Most of them probably forgot about me by now.”