Page 62 of Operation: Chosen

She laughed in an airy way that was so different from how she usually sounded. “My father is one of those souls who wants to help hurting animals. That show is where he wants to be.”

“Oh, there’s a few in there that might be worth saving, but just wait until you see what we’ve got for you. Sit tight, little lady, the show is about to start.” Herb turned back to his conversation with the others.

“The boy didn’t recognize me.” She turned her back to the platform and kept her voice low. “I know. Innocent until proven guilty. But Herb seems to know exactly what’s going on. Is this how they usually have it? With two separate places to buy horses?”

Eric had never seen the auction set up that way before, and he’d come to quite a few of these events even after he’d stopped working for Herb. If they had been doing this for a while, he’d missed it completely. “Not to my knowledge.”

“Unless…” She glanced back up at the platform. “What if Big E’s brother Clayton saw the horses when they came to Wayside the first time and he had the idea to take some and use the money for…I don’t know. Maybe setting Big E free? There has to be a lot of money in selling horses.”

Eric nodded as he thought about all the Wayside money he’d spent over the years on buying auction horses. They were often cheaper than buying a foal, but they also involved a lot more training. Especially because the horses needed to be gentle to a fault in order to help the guests.

“Very big money if there are a lot of horses and if the damage to them isn’t so bad that taking them on would be a risk.” He’d purchased only one of those. Thankfully, the horse had made it and become a success, but it had been a huge risk.

“So, the issue is finding the connection between your boss and Big E and the abandoned corral. There has to be something we’re missing.”

The first horse came out from the chute tugging on her reins. The cowboy leading her didn’t have good control, and he held a crop in one hand.

“I don’t want to see that.” Ali turned away from the arena. “Is that one of the horses we saw?” Her face paled at the sound of the man yelling at the horse.

Eric glanced at the arena and put his arm around Ali to steady her. “I don’t think so. Let’s go along the wall where it’s quiet and call Deputy Blake. I think the police should know what we’ve seen.”

She nodded and followed him to a quiet area where he caught sight of a roan with a wide diamond on its forehead very similar to one of the horses Ali had photographed. “I think that’s one of the stolen horses.” It waited just outside the ring while the bidding went on for the first horse.

Eric called Deputy Blake’s cell phone, and he picked up on the second ring.

“Blake.”

“We’re at the livestock auction in Simon. I think we’ve seen something you’ll want to know about.”

“I’m here too. Where are you? It’s too loud to hear anything.”

Eric glanced around the private area, but the deputy wasn’t there. “We’re in the smaller arena next door. You might want to see if you can get in here. I’m pretty sure the rest of the stolen horses are here.”

“Give me a few minutes. I’ll do my best. I don’t have extra money to get in there on a whim.”

Eric dug his red paper ticket out of his pocket. “I’ve got an in for you.”

Ali narrowed her eyes in question as he hung up the phone.

“We need to go out for a minute,” Eric said. “Deputy Blake will come back in using my ticket.”

“And how will he know the horses are stolen?”

“You’ll be with him.” He walked alongside her, shuffling through people gently as they headed for the door.

“And what about you?” She glanced over her shoulder.

“Not sure if you noticed, but there’s not much I can do.” Though he hated just letting her go back inside without him.

Deputy Blake met them outside the door by the ticket taker. “Eric, Ali.” He nodded at them. “You’re sure those are the stolen horses?” He kept his voice low.

“At least one of them,” Ali said.

Officer Blake looked at the door, then touched the walkie on his shoulder and said something to the dispatcher. “Let’s see if they’ll let us all in to ask a few questions. It’s time this case came to a close.”

ChapterTwenty-Four

Ali clung to Eric’s hand as they followed Deputy Blake back inside. He’d managed to get past the ticket taker by saying he was the security, but the man didn’t seem to believe him. The moment they got past the clutch of people near the door, the feeling in the arena was different from before.

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