Page 64 of Roaring Fork Wrangler

“Good thinking. I can circle back to the older ones after you’re finished.”

Periodically, one or both of us would point out a particular passage and mark it with the flags Sam had sitting on the table. Sadly, I’d read through a few of the journals, but hadn’t found any mention of Patricia.

“Did everyone call Jimmy and Johnny’s father JD?” she asked.

“I never heard him called anything else. Why?”

“Cena talks about Jim. Since her brother was James D. Rooker, his son was a junior, and his grandson was the third, I sometimes have to stop to try to figure out which one she’s talking about.”

“What does she say about him?”

“That’s what’s confusing me. It was her brother who was driving the car when he and Manley were killed, right?”

“Yes.”

“She clearly didn’t care for him, and I suppose, rightly so. But, earlier, when I glanced at the ones you’re reading, it sounded more like she was talking about JD. She would’ve had to have been since those are dated after her brother and Manley died. Anyway, sorry for the interruption. I’m sure you’ll see what I mean when you get to those entries.”

“I’ll keep an eye out.”

I’d been so engrossedin reading Miss Cena’s words that I lost track of time. Two hours later, I checked my phone but didn’t see a message from Cord.

“Does it seem like he’s been gone a long time?” I asked Sam.

“Cord? Um, I have no idea how long it takes to look for cattle.”

“Me either.” I tried to call him, but it went straight to voicemail. I continued calling once every fifteen minutes, but got the same result. When another hour had passed without being able to reach him, I asked Sam if she knew where Beau was.

“Up here,” he called out from the second level. “Do you need something?”

“Can you come in here for a minute?” she responded.

“What’s up?” he asked, coming to stand behind Sam and rubbing her shoulders.

“We’re worried about Cord. He’s been gone a long time. Didn’t Decker say something about being able to track people within the security system’s app? Kind of like a location finder.”

“That’s correct.” Beau was already looking at his phone, presumably at the app Sam had mentioned.

“This is odd. His last location update was thirty minutes ago. I’ll see if I can reach him.” After a few seconds, he lowered his phone. “No answer.”

Pin-and-needle prickles spread throughout my body. “It’ll be dark soon.”

Beau’s eyes met mine. “Understood. I’ll round up some of the guys, and we’ll go look for him.”

When he walked into the other room, I called my mom since my father didn’t always answer his phone.

“Hey, sweetheart.How?—”

“Is Dad there?”

“Yes, do you want to talk to him?”

“Please.”

“Juni? What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Cord’s been gone over two hours.”

“What do you mean gone?”

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