Chapter Nineteen
“Where is she going?” Natalie asked June as she walked back into the kitchen. They both watched through the kitchen window as Vaughn hurriedly climbed in her truck to speed away down the drive.
“Lord, if I know.”
“I think she might be going to go look for the missing mare. She hinted as much back in the living room. Said there was something she could do about it.”
“I hope like hell she’s not going after those two birdbrains. That will only bring trouble.”
“She wouldn’t, would she?” Natalie’s stomach tightened as she imagined Vaughn confronting the men on her own. Would they hurt her?
“With that child, who knows. When she gets a bee in her bonnet, she does whatever the hell she sees fit. And right now, those boys…well, they’re on her radar and that’s not a good thing.”
“Would they…you know, hurt her?”
June met her gaze. “I don’t rightly know, Natalie. I should hope not, not if they know what’s good for them. Maybe I’d better go after her.” She removed her apron and tossed a dish towel on the counter. Then she crossed to the keyring and removed her set of keys. Natalie followed. “What about the interview?”
“We’ll have to reschedule.” June looked back at her as she opened the door. “What are you doing?”
“I’m coming with.”
June opened her mouth as if she was going to argue, but seemed to change her mind. With a single nod, she headed out to their other, older truck, and unlocked the doors. Natalie followed, climbing into the passenger side. The first thing June did when she got in behind the wheel was to reach back and grab the shotgun from the gun rack. She popped it open, checked to make sure it was loaded, and returned it to the rack.
“Do you think we’ll need that?” Natalie asked, her tightening stomach now feeling downright sick, making her feel like she was going to throw up.
“I hope not. But you never can be too careful.” She started the old grumbling engine and they took off after Vaughn, following her trail of dust. Ahead, to the south, dark clouds were beginning to build, and Natalie hoped it wasn’t an ominous sign of things to come.
“Do you know where she may be headed?” She saw Vaughn’s truck leave the drive to the ranch and turn onto the private dirt road. But there was no telling if they’d be able to keep up with her. Especially once she noticed she was being followed. Natalie got the sense that Vaughn wanted to do this on her own.
“I don’t. But I’ve got this.” She tossed a cell phone onto Natalie’s lap. “Vaughn bought it for me last week. Said there’s something on it where we can always find our phones if needed. I can see hers and vice versa. Maybe you can figure it out.”
Natalie woke the phone and found the appropriate app. Sure enough, she could see Vaughn’s movement. “Got it,” she said.
June slowed a little. “Good. We’ll just fall a ways back then.” They rode in silence and lost sight of Vaughn quickly. Natalie watched the phone and told June which way to turn when needed, and soon they were back in town, back in north Phoenix and driving through an industrial area.
Natalie pointed as June made a turn off Deer Valley Road and slowed. “She’s come to a stop over there, behind that building.” There weren’t many cars around, very few in the parking spaces. The area seemed to be quiet, desolate, the buildings warehouse-style structures and vacant office spaces.
June slowly drove the truck to the side of the long, one-story building. She crept along the edge, easing the truck forward until they could peek down the other side of the building. They spotted Vaughn’s truck parked along the side and Vaughn was walking up to a closed garage door. They watched her try to lift it again and again with no luck.
“I wonder why she wants in there,” Natalie said.
“I don’t know, but it must be important.” June turned the wheel and drove the truck toward Vaughn. Natalie said nothing, not even when Vaughn spotted them and walked up to the window.
“You followed me?” she said.
“Looks like you could use some help,” June answered.
“How are you going to help me?”
“I gotta jack in the back. That’s how.”
Vaughn raised a brow. She walked to the rear of the truck and lifted out the heavy looking jack. She carried it to the closed garage door as Natalie and June climbed from the truck to join her.
“What is this place?” Natalie asked, glancing around.
“Pedro, one of the idiots, mentioned this garage one day when we were talking about auto repairs. He said his father had a garage he was letting him lease for free to work on his truck. And I happened to remember where it was today.”
She managed to lift the door up a couple of inches, enough for June to slide the jack under. Vaughn cranked the jack and the door began to lift. She got it up about a foot and a half and went down on all fours to look beneath it.
She came back up in a flash. “She’s in there,” she said. “Goddamnit.”
June looked to Natalie. “Call the police.”
Natalie did as instructed and June took the phone from her to speak to the operator. Vaughn got down on her back to slide under the door. “It’s warm in here. She’s probably in bad shape.”
“Oh, no,” Natalie said, getting down on her back with her.
“No, you stay out here,” Vaughn said to her as she slid inside. “This could be dangerous. Besides, I need someone to flag down the police with June.”
“But you might get hurt,” Natalie said as Vaughn made it all the way inside and pushed to a stand.
“I might. But no sense in you getting hurt too.” She looked down at her. “Please. Go.”
Natalie maneuvered back out and stood. June was on the phone but lowered it as a truck came barreling toward them, loud engine revving. June quickly handed the phone to Natalie and climbed inside her truck to retrieve her shotgun. She stood next to her vehicle with it aimed at the oncoming truck. Natalie reported what was going on to the operator, terrified that this was not going to end well. The operator told her to take cover and to stay on the phone. Natalie kept her on the line, but she didn’t take cover. She didn’t have time.
When the truck pulled up next to them, it slowed, and the two men inside gave them a hard look, saw June with the gun and the partially opened garage, and then sped off.
June lowered the gun and sighed.
“Was that them?” Natalie asked as she put the operator on hold.
June nodded. “They know they’s in trouble now.”
Natalie gave an update to the operator and heard oncoming sirens. Vaughn opened the garage door from the inside as two cop cars pulled into the complex and sped toward them.
“She’s in bad shape,” Vaughn said, waving June inside.
Natalie ended the call with the operator and pointed into the garage as the cops exited their vehicles, guns drawn. “The men are gone,” she said. “But the horse is in there, along with the owners.”
The cops nodded and quickly went inside to assess the situation. Natalie heard them all talking. She stayed outside, trying to be respectful. June’s voice raised and she came out cursing.
“Go and get them!” she yelled back into the garage.
She wiped a tear as she leaned on the hood of the truck. Natalie walked up to her and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.
June gripped it. “They’re gonna pay,” she said, wiping another tear. “They’re gonna pay. One way or another.”
Vaughn emerged, leading the horse out of the garage. The mare was moving slowly and had obviously gone without food. She squinted in the sunlight as Vaughn rubbed her and cooed to her. Natalie’s own eyes filled with tears.
“Will she be okay?” she asked.
“I hope so,” Vaughn said. “For their sake, I hope so.”
The cops walked into the light as well, and one of them began taking photos of the horse. June and Vaughn gave them all the information they had on the two men. And Natalie helped where she could, describing the truck they were driving along with some of the license plate number. She’d also given it to the 911 operator. She hoped that it was enough to catch the guys. She could still see their beady eyes as they’d slowly driven by. The two men had looked young but grimy, their clothes greasy. They’d also had a full gun rack in their back window and Natalie knew they were all lucky that they hadn’t stopped to confront them.
She returned the phone to June with a shaky hand.
“You okay, child?”
Natalie gave a nervous laugh, but wiped away tears as they began to fall. “I guess I don’t do well with the threat of violence.” She wasn’t sure why she was so shook up, only that her adrenaline had shot nearly sky high, like it had with Allen anytime he got confrontational.
June pulled her into her arms. “There, there. It’s all over now.”
Natalie clung to her for a moment, but she spied Vaughn, standing there all alone with her horse, tears flooding her eyes. Natalie drew away from June and walked up to her. And without a word, she embraced her and held her tight.
Vaughn was stiff at first. Ramrod straight. But Natalie felt her body melt and soon Vaughn was gripping her in return, her body silently shaking as she quietly sobbed.
“I’m so sorry,” Natalie whispered.
Vaughn didn’t say anything in return. She just pulled away and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. She nodded, letting Natalie know that she heard her.
Natalie stood with her and loved on the horse by her side, with not another word spoken.