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I walked down the hall with the keys in my hand and let the paramedics into the run. “She’s in withdrawal. Make sure she’schained to the bedrail. I’ll call the hospital tomorrow to see how she’s doing.”

Harlan took the keys from me, unlocked Josie’s cell and the paramedics lifted her onto a stretcher and strapped her down.

“We’ve got her, Sheriff. She won’t get away on us.”

When they left, I said to Hannah, “There you go. Josie’s gone and you got your wish. Everyone have a quiet Sunday afternoon.”

“I’m out of here tomorrow,” snapped Hannah. “You’ll be sorry you messed with me.”

“I doubt that very much, neighbor.”

Wild Stallion Ranch.

The kids were set up in the living room with their video games and Harlan wasn’t interested in joining them. Annie was in the kitchen taking pies out of the oven when he plopped down on a chair still mad at Travis for being a butt and filling the house with tension.

“You and Travis have a little talk, honey?” Annie walked over and stroked Harlan’s long hair. “It’s okay. I know him and I can deal. I’ll be leaving soon.”

“Want to go check the cameras?”

“I do. The pies for dinner are finished and I just have to let them cool.”

“Did you make one of the butterscotch ones?”

“That’s a filled pie. The crust is baked, and I’ll put the filling in when we get back from our ride.”

“My new favorite pie,” Harlan said with a wide grin. “Nothing better.”

Harlan and Annie went to the barn and were saddling up the horses when Travis walked through the open double doors. Red in the face and breathing a little too rapidly.

“I need to talk to Annie alone.”

“Too bad,” Annie snapped back at him. “I’m not alone and I’m not talking to you right now. Harlan and I are going for a ride.”

“You can’t ride Outlaw unless I give you permission. He’s my horse.”

“Oh, yeah? Permission, Travis? You are one asshole. Are you going to stop me?”

“You bet I am.”

Harlan sucked in a loud breath and backed Windrider out of the way.

Annie grabbed the saddle out of the tack room and carried it to Outlaw’s stall. Ignoring Travis trying to block her path, she stepped around him and put the pad on Outlaw’s back, and then the saddle, and started doing up the straps.

Travis gave her a hard push to get her away from the horse. “Get away from him, Annie-girl. I said you couldn’t ride Outlaw.”

Annie let go of the saddle, spun around, and grabbed the handle of a shovel leaning up against the wall of the stall. She swung that thing like it was a baseball bat and she was hitting one out of the park.

With a loud crack of metal on bone, that shovel connected with Travis’s left knee and knocked him into the straw on the floor of the stall.

“Stay down, Travis, you son of a bitch. I don’t want to kill you, but you know I will if I have to.”

She led Outlaw outside and jumped on his back.

Harlan made a motion to go see if Travis was okay and Annie shook her head. “Let that fucker lie in the shit he made. I’ve saved his life too many times to count, and for what? I’m done with him. He’s lucky he’s not fucking dead and he knows it.”

I laid in the straw and horse manure in Outlaw’s stall and there was no way I could get up. Annie had hit me so hard with theblade of the shovel, I thought both my legs were broken—the left one for sure.

Time to think while I laid there in pain, and I wondered why I had to ruin her visit by blowing things from the past that didn’t matter way out of proportion.