Chapter 12 #2
“Maybe that’s the whole point. Don’t leave town, Miss Owens.
We’re probably going to need to talk to you again.
” With that, the police officer stepped out and started away.
“Oh,” he said, turning and walking backwards as he talked, “don’t touch anything.
We’re going to need to dust everything for fingerprints and have forensics go through it. ”
“But everything I own is in this trailer!” she yelled.
“Sorry.” With that, he hotfooted it back to the arena and left her standing there.
Shyanna was confused. What the hell was going on?
Looking at her phone, she realized two hours had gone by since she’d seen the commotion in the upstairs concourse.
It was late in South Carolina, but she had to do it.
She searched through her phone for the contact and hit it, tapping her toe impatiently as she waited for it to be answered. “Hello?”
Shyanna swallowed hard. “Hi, Mrs. Strader?”
“Who is this?”
“It’s Shyanna, ma’am. Shyanna Owens. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
There was a snuffling sound and the woman said, “No. I have a cold. Is everything all right?”
“Mrs. Strader,” Shyanna said, trying to keep her voice calm and measured, “have you heard from Jensen?”
“Since you left?”
“Today. Like tonight. Have you heard from him?”
There was silence before Dora said, “Uh, no. Roland, has Jensen called you?” A muffled voice could be heard through the phone before she answered, “No. He hasn’t called his daddy. Want me to ask Leo?”
“Would you please?”
“Is everything okay, Shyanna?”
She didn’t want to lie, and yet she didn’t want to upset them unnecessarily. “I’m not sure. Just ask Leo, please.”
The sound of the phone being placed on the nightstand came through, and then it was quiet. In a minute or so, she heard the sound again and Dora’s voice said, “No, Shy. He hasn’t heard from Jensen either. What’s going on?”
“I … I can’t find him. I don’t know where he is.” The panic she felt was almost unbearable, and she didn’t want to impart that if there was a perfectly good reason for what was going on.
“What do you mean? Didn’t he go to the rodeo with you?”
“Yes, ma’am, but he scratched on his last event. Didn’t show. And now I can’t find him.”
“Is Snowman there?”
Shyanna smiled. “Yeah. He’s still here.”
“Then he can’t be too far away. He’d never leave that horse!” Dora said with a laugh. “Did y’all have a fight or something?”
“No, ma’am. But I need to know―does this sound like something he’d do? Tell me he … say sweet things to me and just run away?”
“Lawd, no, girl! That boy would never do that. Never. Put that right outta your mind. He loves you. He told me so himself. Don’t be worrying about that. He probably just went to town to get something from the store and he’ll be right back. But you let me know if I need to know anything, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Mrs. Strader. I’ll let you know,” Shyanna said.
“Honey?” Dora called through the phone.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Love you, sweetie. It’ll be okay, I promise.”
Shyanna’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you. I’ll give you a call tomorrow. Night.” When she hit end, she sat down on the steps of her little trailer and let the sobs take her.
“What the fuck are you crying about? Boyfriend gone off and left you?” a mocking voice called out, and she could hear two or three more laughing.
“Best get the fuck out of here. I’m in no mood,” Shyanna almost yelled.
“Whatcha gonna do about … Whoa there, filly! Just kidding with you!” the guy said as Shyanna showed him the business end of her Browning shotgun. “No need for that.”
“Shut the fuck up and get out of here. Now,” she said, her finger on the trigger.
“Go lick your wounds, broken-hearted bitch,” another one of the guys yelled as they walked away, and the whole group whooped and laughed.
Shyanna stood and wiped her eyes. No time for crying, she told herself.
She had two horses to feed, a shotgun and handgun to hide because a felon wasn’t supposed to have them, and a boyfriend to find.
Dora insisted he would never just up and walk away, and for reasons she couldn’t understand, Shyanna believed her.
Jensen was the one man she’d met who didn’t seem to be capable of doing that to her.
He’d said he loved her, and he’d fucking well made her believe it. Something was very wrong.
And she had every intention of finding out exactly what it was before it was too late.
Amber had heard all the sirens, but they’d assumed someone had been hurt in one of the events, so they’d just gone back to what they were doing―each other.
God, Amos was a wild stallion in the sack!
She was pretty sure they’d run through every sex position known to man, and they were still looking for more.
After their last go-round, she’d fallen asleep, and when she woke, Amos was sleeping too, his breathing deep and even. She decided she’d really like a cigarette. If her mama knew she was smoking … Stepping out of the trailer, she looked around, and that was when she noticed something odd.
Jensen’s rig was gone.
What the fuck? rolled through her mind, and then she saw a bunch of cowboys come strolling through the parking area, loud and rude.
That was when she spied Shyanna, sitting on the steps of her trailer, her face in her hands.
They made some comments to her―no doubt ugly―and she saw her friend lift a shotgun and level it at the guys, all of whom beat a hasty retreat.
Something looked very wrong. Amber ducked back into the trailer, jumped on the bed, and shook Amos. “Hey! Wake up!”
“Whaaa … what the fuck? What’s wrong?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Something’s happened. Jensen’s rig is gone and Shyanna is sitting on the steps of her trailer. By god, I think she’s crying,” Amber said, pulling her clothes on. “Come on! I’ve got to go check on her.”
“Aw, shit, did it ever occur to you that maybe they had a lover’s quarrel and he just took off?” Amos asked as Amber pulled her boots on.
“I’ve never gotten the impression that Jensen would argue with Shyanna.
Yeah, she’d argue with him, but not the other way around.
Besides, she doesn’t cry. I’ve never seen her shed a tear, and she’s not even real emotional in any other way.
If she’s crying …” She sat there staring at Amos.
“She’s my friend. If something’s wrong, I need to be there for her.
Come. Don’t come. Doesn’t matter. I can’t just sit here. ”
“Well, fuck me,” Amos said and crawled over to sit on the edge of the mattress. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll come. Strader’s a friend of mine, so I’ll go with you. Hang on,” he said, pulling on his jeans, a pair of flip-flops, and a tee shirt.
Shyanna wasn’t on the steps and the lights were on in her trailer when they walked up, so Amber knocked on the door, but she didn’t answer. She waited for a half minute or so and then just opened the door and stepped in. “Shy?”
The woman who greeted her there in the dim light was one she’d never seen before. Shyanna’s eyes were swollen and red, and she had a tissue in her hand. “What?”
“What’s going on? We saw those guys razzing you. Where’s Jensen?”
Shyanna’s hands were shaking, and it startled Amber to see her in that state. “I … I don’t know. I have no idea. But Dale Gresham’s dead.”
“What?” Amos shrieked. “Dale’s dead?”
Shyanna nodded. “Yeah. And they’re claiming Jensen did it.”
“No. That can’t be,” Amber whispered, shaking her head. “No. He would never do something like that.”
“His rig’s gone. His horse is still here. Somebody broke in here and stole his Smith & Wesson. I don’t know what the hell’s going on.”
“His parents―” Amber started.
Shyanna shook her head. “Nope. His mother says they haven’t heard from him. Something’s wrong, Amber. I can feel it.”
“I’ll say. Something’s very wrong. We need to find him, Shy.”
“I don’t have any idea how to do that,” Shyanna said, her voice little more than a whisper.
“Okay. What do we know?” Amos asked, and Amber could see where he was going with it.
Shyanna sat down at the dinette table and Amber could see the cogs turning in her head.
“Okay. They scratched me without any warning. When they didn’t load my bull in the chute, Jensen went to ask about it and the chute boss said he’d have to ask management.
That’s when he went to find somebody in the office. And he never came back.”
“Okay. So if Jensen didn’t kill Dale, who else would’ve been up there?” Amber asked.
“Jimmy Fuller,” Amos answered.
“And Max Barlow,” Shyanna offered.
Amos looked slightly confused. “Why do you think Max would’ve been up there?”
“Because we’re positive he’s the one who killed Cobra. And,” she said, dropping her voice, “I broke into his rig.”
“Shit, Shy!” Amber bellowed. “You need to be careful!”
“Well, now I’m glad I did it. But I need to get into his motel room.”
“Motel room?” Shyanna nodded. “Hmmm,” Amber growled, thinking. “Well, there aren’t too many motels in town. We should be able to find him.”
“And then what?” Amos asked.
“I can’t take my truck. He’d recognize it,” Shyanna said, ignoring Amos’s question.
“Let’s take my car. He’d never recognize that. And I’ll get SammyJo to come and help us. She’s got her car here this weekend.”
“What are you planning to do?” Amos asked.
“Whatever I’ve got to do,” Shyanna answered.
“I’ve got to find him. The cops are looking for him, but for all the wrong reasons.
Doing what they’re doing isn’t going to find him except to lock him up, and they won’t follow the trail.
I tried to tell them, but they just ignored me. It’s up to me now.”
“Us. Up to us, Shy. I won’t abandon you, or Jensen either,” Amber said, then gave Amos a look she hoped would wilt leather.
“Uh, no. I won’t either,” he said, and Amber almost laughed. Never hurts to shame somebody into helping, I guess! she told herself.
“What’s our first step?” Amber asked.