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“I’ll deposit the first five hundred in the Inn account today.”

“Thank you.” I left the door open and never looked back at the slimy asshole.

Great Falls Airport.

By the time we got to Great Falls and found our way to the airport, I was almost asleep at the wheel. Annie had emailed me all the details about Lucy’s flight, and I guaranteed I’d be there to pick her up on time so she wouldn’t be scared. Lucy had never been out of Texas more than once or twice.

Billy stayed home to rest his leg and to keep the home fires burning, but Tammy was keen to come with me and Harlan to pick Lucy up.

Inside the airport reception area, I checked the board to see if the flight from Austin was on time.

Harlan stood next to me looking up. “Five minutes early.”

Only a few minutes until the plane touched down and Lucy came running through the doors pulling her suitcase behind her. “Did my horse and saddle get here, Travis?” She hugged me as an afterthought.

I grinned at her. “Yep. The horses arrived and they are in the barn. No worries.”

“Great.” She stopped to give Tammy a hug and then stopped short in front of Harlan. “You must be Harlan. Mommy told me about you. I’m Lucy.” She let go of her suitcase, threw her arms around Harlan, and hugged him.

Harlan stood frozen like he was in shock, and I was kind of surprised myself. Lucy wasn’t a kid anymore. She’d grown up. Not quite as tall as Tammy, Lucy was a beautiful girl with long black curly hair and big brown eyes that could melt hearts of steel. I figured Harlan’s heart was melting already.

“Come on, kids. We’ve got a long drive home to the ranch.”

Harlan sat in the front with me, and the two girls rode in the back. They chatted away catching up while Harlan leaned his head against the window and dozed off.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

When we got back to the ranch, Harlan and I still had surveillance ahead of us. I was beat and wasn’t sure I had the strength for it.

Tammy helped Lucy with her luggage, and Harlan and I followed the girls inside for a couple of minutes to have a beer.

“How tired are you, Harlan? I’m so fuckin tired, I’m thinking of skipping the surveillance tonight.”

“What if tonight is the night they come home with the horse trailer? We can’t skip it, even if we’re dead fuckin beat.”

“Yeah, you’re right. One more beer and we have to go.”

Hubbard Residence. Conrad.

Harlan drove down to Conrad because I was too tired to drive. He didn’t have his license yet, but it would only be a couple more months. I justified it by saying it was good practice.

We’d been in position for about twenty minutes when a phone call came into the trailer and Amanda Hubbard answered.

“Hey, Chris. I’m lonely. When are you coming home? Yeah, I know they’re watching the trailer, but I miss you and I’m all alone here. It won’t be much longer, will it? Yeah. Okay. Hargrove. I know where that is. Don’t get caught, babe. I want you to come home.”

“We can go, Harlan.”

“Why? What did you hear?”

“Hargrove. Amanda saidHargroveand I know who that is. They’re going to hit my neighbor. Hannah Hargrove is a widow who runs her ranch alone. Chris and his gang are hitting on vulnerable people. We’ll get those fuckers tomorrow.”

Chapter Fifteen

Tuesday, May 3rd.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

After our long day yesterday, I was in no hurry to haul my tired ass out of bed. But I had to get up and get things started. Had to talk to Billy about the Hargrove situation, and I had to get down to the office and break Ted in and let Molly know about what might be going down.