Chapter 13 #3
Amber’s little car flew down the highway, motor humming as Shyanna pushed it harder.
Jensen’s trailer was still sitting on the side of the road, and that gave her some idea where they should start looking.
Slowing to a crawl, she told Amos, “Notice everything. Anything that looks out of place. Anywhere there’s a gap in trash along the side of the road, or it looks like grass has been pressed down.
” Barely over idle speed, Shyanna held the car back as they stared and she prayed they’d find something―anything―that would give them a clue to where Jensen was.
“There’s an area up here where there’s a drop-off,” Amos announced, pointing ahead.
“See anything?” she asked.
“Not a thing.” She kept driving and in just a few minutes, she came upon a place in the road where the fluorescent marker paint was still bright. “Shit. We’ve gone too far. We’ve gotta double back.”
“Let me out,” Amos said.
“What?”
“Let me out. I’m gonna walk it. You follow me,” he said, throwing the door open before the car even rolled to a stop.
She watched as he ran to the other side of the road and walked along the edge of the pavement, staring over the side.
The distance back to the trailer seemed like a million miles, and Shyanna held her breath.
If they didn’t find him there, they had nowhere else to look.
They’d made it about halfway back to the trailer when they reached the area of the drop-off. Amos slowed and so did Shyanna. After a couple of minutes, she parked the car on the shoulder of the other side of the road and got out. “See anything?” she asked Amos as she approached him.
“Not a thing. Nothing. I think Max was―”
“What was that?” Shyanna whispered. “Listen.”
They stilled. “I don’t hear anything,” Amos whispered back.
“JENSEN!” Shyanna bellowed. “Jensen, it’s Shy! Are you out here somewhere? Say something, baby!” There was silence.
“I don’t―” Amos started.
“There it is again! JENSEN!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Where are you?”
As they stood, Amos’s mouth fell open. “I hear it! Jensen!” he called loudly.
That time, the moan that drifted upward toward them was unmistakable. “Oh my god! He’s down there!”
“Come on!” Amos yelled and headed down the road at a dead run.
Ten yards away, a little break in the brush led to a concrete drainage channel about two feet wide, and they followed it as it meandered down the side of the drop in a westerly direction.
Shyanna tripped on a rock and broke her fall with a hand on the ground.
That was the moment she caught sight of him.
Battered and bleeding, still bound in the duct tape around his wrists, ankles, and across his mouth, Jensen squirmed just a little and Shyanna couldn’t hold back the tears.
Barely able to see through them, she and Amos picked their way across the rest of the distance, climbed up a few rocks, and found themselves on a tiny ledge where he lay, eyes closed.
“Baby? It’s me. It’s Shy.” The edge of the tape over his mouth had come loose and she grabbed it and peeled it off carefully. “Jensen? Talk to me, babe. Please?”
Those big brown eyes, crusted in blood and tears, opened and looked up into hers. “Shy?” he whispered through dry, peeling lips.
“Yes, babe. It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay. Oh, god, Jensen, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again! Please be okay. Please, please be okay,” she said as she sat down beside him and stroked his cheek. She could hear Amos on the phone a few feet away, but she didn’t care who he was talking to.
“Drink?” he whispered.
“I don’t have anything down here, but it’s okay.
We’re going to get you out of here, all right?
Just hang on,” she whispered down to him and kissed his forehead.
She could barely control her voice when she said, “I have something to say to you.” His eyes rolled upward to take in her face, and she gave him her bravest smile.
“I love you, Jensen. I couldn’t tell you before, but I can’t wait another minute.
We don’t always have forever. I know now that if I have something important to say to you, I’d better say it because I might not get another chance.
I love you, Jensen, and I know you didn’t mean to leave me. ”
He gave a feeble attempt at shaking his head and then tried a smile. It wasn’t a big one, but Shyanna understood just fine. “No,” he said, blood seeping from the tiny cracks in his lips. “I didn’t. Not my choice. I was so scared you’d think I’d run off on you. I’d never do that.”
“I know that. I knew that when you disappeared. I’ve never trusted anybody before, but I trust you.”
“Search and rescue is sending a team to get him out of here. I’m going back up to the car and get a knife to cut that duct tape off,” Amos announced.
“Bring some water when you come,” Shyanna said as he headed out.
“Will do,” he answered and gave her a tiny salute. She watched as he picked his way back up the concrete culvert and disappeared in the brush.
“Shy?”
She smiled down at him. “Yeah, babe?”
“How’d you come out last night in the final tally?”
She couldn’t help bursting into laughter.
“I have no idea! Trust me, my scores and my standings were the last damn thing on my mind! I don’t give a shit about that stuff.
All I really care about is you.” The sound of sirens in the distance pricked her ears and she whispered to him, “Listen. The cavalry is coming for you.”
“Here. Let’s get you out of that shit,” Amos said as he knelt beside them. The knife blade sliced through the duct tape on Jensen’s wrists, and while Amos cut the tape around his ankles, Shyanna rubbed Jensen’s hands and fingers. “Better?”
He nodded weakly. “Yeah.” Shyanna reached for the bottle of water Amos had brought and put it to his lips. He swallowed two or three mouthfuls as the siren sounds got closer and closer. “Are those for me?”
She brushed her fingers down his cheek. “Yeah, babe. We’re getting you out of here.”
“Good. I want to sleep beside you,” he whispered back to her.
Thirty minutes later, he was loaded into an ambulance, thanks to two first responders and three volunteer firemen.
Shyanna and Amos followed close behind. As soon as they reached the hospital, Shyanna pulled out her phone and called Amber.
“Get out of there. Leave the note and go. Now. Meet us at the hospital.” A man eyed her from across the room and she whispered into the phone, “I’m calling the cops to tell them where to find Barlow and Bergman.
Gotta go.” It took her two seconds to call the sheriff’s department.
“You’ll find two drug dealers in a hotel room at the Creekside Inn.
Room one-oh-three. They’re surrounded by their drugs.
There’s a note there that explains everything.
” When they tried to ask a question, she just hung up.
She’d barely ended the call when a man stepped into her personal space, and she remembered him. “Miss Owens?” he asked.
It was time for her to put on her best poker face and become an actress. “Yes. Officer Kramer. How can I help you?”
“Let’s have a seat,” he said, and she knew he wasn’t inviting her to sit―he was telling her.
The sofa was hard as a rock, but she didn’t give a shit. “Let’s get this over with,” she snapped. “What do you want?”
“First, I should tell you that Mr. Strader is no longer under suspicion. I don’t think he could bind himself. Maybe throw himself down the ravine, but not bind himself. Someone had to do that. Do you know who that was?”
He can’t know that you know Bergman, she reminded herself. “If I had to guess, I’d say Max Barlow or Jimmy Fuller.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I’m as sure as I’m sitting here that Max Barlow was the one who poisoned Jensen’s horse. And they both wanted us out of the association. Plus if I had to guess, I’d say one or both of them were responsible for Dale Gresham’s murder.”
“Why?”
Shyanna almost laughed. “Oh, I wouldn’t know. Just a hunch,” she said, trying hard to keep the sarcasm from oozing out of her voice. “I’m betting Max stole Jensen’s gun and rig and tried to frame him. Sounds like something he’d do.”
“Sounds like you have a very low opinion of this Max character. Why is that?” Kramer asked.
She failed when she tried to stifle the snort that came out.
“He’s never given me any reason to have a high opinion of him, quite frankly.
And he’s been physical with me before. He and a bunch of the other guys didn’t want me in events that are traditionally male.
They don’t want any women competing against them. ”
Kramer’s eyebrows shot up. “I see. Sounds like an all-around unpleasant fellow.”
“I’ll say. Wouldn’t surprise me if he raided Gresham’s trailer after they killed him and took everything that wasn’t nailed down.
” It was hard to hold back a chuckle. That little comment would send them to Dale’s trailer, and they’d find Jimmy Fuller there, who’d sing like a bird when he figured out that the cops had caught up with Max and Bergman.
They’d all implicate each other, and she bet not a single one of them mentioned her name.
And if they did, if law enforcement came looking for her, would it all be worth it?
Hell yeah. Jensen was safe, and from what they’d been told by the medical personnel, he was dehydrated and banged up, but otherwise, he’d be fine.
Nothing else mattered, not her, not the rodeo, nothing.
The detective tucked his little notepad into his breast pocket.
“Well, Miss Owens, thank you for cooperating. If we have any other questions, we’ll let you know. ”
As they stood, Shyanna pulled herself up to her full height and looked the man in the eye.
“I want this to go on record. It was me who found Jensen. It was me who wouldn’t give up.
It was me who followed every lead available, who scoured the countryside, who wandered down that hillside and brought him back here.
You people would’ve let him lie there and die if I hadn’t kept looking for him.
He’s alive because of me, not because of anything―anything―any of you did. ”
The stare he gave her was hard and cold. “Duly noted. Thank you again, Miss Owens. We’ll be in touch.”
Go to hell, she wanted to yell at his back as he walked away, but she sat down on the little sofa again and took a deep breath. “You okay?” a voice asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said as Amber handed her a cup of hot coffee from the vending machine in the hallway. “Son of a bitch state police detective. You got out just in time. I called the cops before that jackass showed up.”
SammyJo nodded. “Yep. We did. I’m sure they’re showing up right about now.”
“Yeah, well, I just told them I figured Jimmy Fuller was in on this and that he probably robbed Dale’s trailer bare after they killed him, so they’ll go check and find Jimmy. If they find out I held a gun on anybody …”
“They were all mistaken,” Amos said from behind the women. “I was the one who had a gun, and I have a license for it. All documented. So I’ll swear it was me. You’ll be fine.” He came around the end of the sofa and sat down beside Amber. “By the way, what was in that note?”
Shyanna laughed. “It said, ‘Two drug dealers. The stupid-looking one is a murderer and kidnapper. Ask him about his buddy in the rodeo association.’ I figure that’ll give them good interrogation material.”
The four younger members of the party chuckled. When they stopped, Amber asked, “You been in there yet?”
“They let me see him for a few seconds, then shooed me out. I’m guessing I’ll get to―”
“Miss Owens?” a female voice yelled up the hallway.
“That’s my signal! Y’all staying?” she asked.
“We’re all going back to shower and change, I think. You need to do the same,” SammyJo said, nodding her head toward Shyanna.
“Tell ya what, if you get back here after you’ve cleaned up and eaten, you can sit with him while I go. Sound good?”
“I’ll do you one better,” Amber said. “I won’t eat with them. I’ll take you back to clean up, and then I’ll eat dinner with you. Does that sound okay?”
Shyanna could’ve kicked herself when the tears started again. “Thanks. I really appreciate it. I appreciate everything you guys did. You risked your own lives to help us, and I …” She stopped, her voice faltering.
An arm wrapped around her and Amber whispered in her ear, “You’re welcome. For everything. We weren’t going to let anybody do anything to you and Jensen without trying our damnedest to stop it. Right?”
“That’s right,” Amos said. “I’ve known Jensen a few years now on the circuit. He’s a great guy, and he sure as hell didn’t deserve any of that.”
“You’ve got friends, Shy,” SammyJo said, leaning down and looking up into Shyanna’s face. “You’re not alone anymore.”
You’re not alone anymore. Shyanna Owens dropped her head and let the tears fall on their hands―hers, topped by Amber’s, then Amos’s, followed by SammyJo’s and even Gretchen’s. They had friends. The circuit really was family. They were living proof.