Page 61 of Operation: Chosen

Eric frowned. “No, that was all done on the web, and I’m not sure how they managed to keep enough signal so they knew where the boys were.”

“So, it’s possible that Connor had to set them up with internet in their cabin, just so the bracelets would transmit the location data?” She tapped her chin. “I wonder if the boys figured out how to use that.”

A man behind them grumbled loudly. “I don’t see how this auction is going to be any good when they’re only selling the decent horses to people who can pay to get into the exclusive area. Not fair. I drove three hours to get here. Why should they hold back the good horses?”

Eric glanced at her and nodded toward the exit. She blinked quickly instead of nodding her understanding so the man behind them wouldn’t notice and followed. She hadn’t noted two lines earlier, but now there were two obvious lines forming outside the door. One led to the arena, the other to a separate smaller barn.

A hand-painted sign read that admittance was two hundred dollars.

“Yikes, that’s a steep fee.” Eric glanced around and grimaced. “I don’t have that kind of cash.”

She did, but would he be offended if she offered to help? She’d already received the bottle of wine and had decided that had been a bad idea. This was a genuine way to help. “I can get us in there if you think we might see something we need to.”

He glanced from one barn to the other. “I think it’s fairly safe to say that if the horses we want to see are here, they are behind that door. That fee will keep out anyone who might suspect what’s going on. No one is going to pay that much just to find out if horses are stolen.”

Ali threaded her hand through his and headed for the line. “Well, we will. Maybe we’ll finally figure out who is behind all these stolen horses.”

* * *

WatchingAli pay for the admittance to the private area pricked at his pride more than Eric wanted it to. Pride was a dangerous thing, just as ugly as anger. He’d washed himself clean of the anger, but the pride was more difficult. He wanted to be the one to do things for Ali, but she was as self-sufficient as anyone could be and he could never provide for her more than she could on her own.

The line of people wasn’t long, and soon they meandered into the little viewing area with about fifty other people. Eric slowly examined those standing around him, listening for familiar voices and looking for faces. No one around looked immediately familiar.

There was no seating, so all of the men and a few women made their way to the smaller arena, fenced in by wide wooden rails. Ali smiled at a few people and blended in easily with the crowd. Eric was shocked at how quickly she adapted to the group. She’d gone from looking like a complete city girl with very expensive tastes to a woman who fit in easily with him.

“Eric, look.” Ali directed his glance to a few men standing on a raised area where announcers would normally sit.

There was a young man standing up there who didn’t fit in nearly as well as Ali. Big E’s older brother Clayton stood next to Herb, Eric’s former boss. Eric’s mind raced. How in the world were those two connected? Herb had never done anything like stealing horses before. What would make him do that now, and what influence did he have over gangs in California? Or was it the other way around? Was the gang threatening Herb for some reason?

“That’s Big E’s brother, isn’t it?” Ali’s voice quivered slightly.

He hadn’t been the boy to aim a gun at her, but that didn’t matter. Seeing him there was probably just as frightening to her. “It is. But why and how is he here and connected to Herb, my former boss?”

She slowly shook her head. “We need to get closer and hear what they’re saying.”

“Not easy to do. They’ve put up a barrier between them and the crowd, and if we get too close, they’ll recognize me for sure.”

She gripped his arm. “Now is the time for you to use that old friendship. Go and talk to him. Ask how he’s doing and about this new venture. He doesn’t have any idea that you know about the stolen horses.”

He threaded his hand through hers because having her touch him on his arm like that distracted him. While her idea was sound, he wasn’t so sure they didn’t suspect he would know. They’d tried twice to take horses from Wayside. Having someone from Wayside suddenly show up and start asking questions would be a giveaway.

“Except he knows me, and that boy up there would recognize me in a heartbeat. He would know that I’d recognize him too.”

“What if we try to get close to them from behind? We might hear something then.”

He loved her enthusiasm. That had been absent in almost everything she’d done since coming to Wayside. She’d let herself have time off, but now she was all business. He hoped she could find something to do that excited her since she hadn’t gone home like he’d thought she would.

“We’ll miss looking at the horses if we go back there, and it will be hard enough as it is to be sure that any of the horses we took pictures of in the back of that trailer in the dark are the horses here.”

“If Skyfall had stayed, we could’ve been completely sure.” She scrunched her forehead. “Not that I wanted to leave her there any more than you did.”

She slowly maneuvered her way through the crowd toward the men on the platform. They were all talking and not paying her any attention, luckily. Eric adjusted his hat to hide his face from the two who would certainly recognize him.

“Excuse me?” Ali added a twang to her voice. “Can you tell me when this is supposed to start? My father is still over in the arena. I don’t want to leave him alone for too long. Don’t know what kind of trouble he could get himself into.” She laughed.

Eric’s former boss chuckled softly and leaned over to talk to her. “Well, you should’ve brought him in here. If he was going to do a little damage to your bank account, he should do it on the good horseflesh.”

Eric grimaced at how callously Herb was talking about the abused and neglected horses in the other arena. He’d never questioned where those horses had come from, but there had always seemed to be an abundance of them. Had he been stealing horses all this time?

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