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“For sure.”

“The one kid shot me when I said I wasn’t giving up my wallet and as soon as I fell to the ground, the other one clocked me with a tire iron. I can’t tell you much more than that. The ambulance came and took me away.”

“None of the lumberyard guys tried to take them down?” asked Tammy.

“The kids had a fuckin gun,” said Clay. “After they shot me without thinking twice about it, the other guys weren’t keen to get shot. Can’t blame them.”

“No, you can’t,” said Tammy. “What street do you live on, Clay?”

“Two-twelve Maple. It’s not far. I’ll have one of the guys bring my truck home from the yard after work.”

“The punks stole your truck,” I said. “We have a BOLO out on your Silverado, sir.”

“They took my truck after they shot me?”

“Yes, sir. They did. We’ll get it back for you.”

“That truck is in perfect condition. If they put a scratch on it, I’m gonna sue somebody’s ass off.”

“Don’t blame you, Clay. You’ve had a real fucker of a day.” I pulled into his driveway, and Tammy and I helped him into his house.

“You want me to call somebody for you, Clay?” asked Tammy. “I don’t mind.”

“No. I think I’ll take the pain meds and sleep. That’s what I feel like doing.”

“Sure, that’s probably best.”

“Thanks for the ride. Appreciate it.”

Cut Bank Hospital.

We finished up in Shelby and Tammy wanted to go to the hospital to see if Travis was awake. I wanted to do that too—almost as much as I wanted to find my brother and see if he was mixed up with a gang of juvie carjacking robbers.

The nurse let us go into the ICU together and Travis had his eyes open. He didn’t look right at me but stared into space kind of funny.

Tammy leaned down and hugged him. “You just waking up, Daddy?”

“Still tired. You get those guys at the trailer?”

“Yeah. We got them.”

“Y’all didn’t get hurt, did y’all?”

“No. Me and Tammy didn’t get hurt, Dad. We’re fine.”

“Good. Do the chores and feed the dogs…and check on Billy.”

“Yep.”

“I have to sleep now.”

Tammy gave him another hug and we went upstairs to see Billy. “Travis is full of drugs, and he can’t keep awake. We need Billy to come home, Harlan. Should we tell him those kids have his gun?”

“Don’t know if that’s a good idea. Might make him crazy if he can’t get out of the hospital to go after their dumb asses.”

Billy grinned when we walked into his room. “Hey, my deputies are here. What’s up today?”

Tammy hugged Billy and we sat down and told him about the lumberyard robbery, and we didn’t tell him about the gun right away, but later I told him.