Page 39 of Shelter for Martina

Promptly at two o’clock, Len called their meeting to order. Bud presented to the two agents, and they both asked good questions about Adams and Young. “But you don’t have much on Young?” Amos asked.

“No. We purposely haven’t ‘delved,’ if you want to call it that. It’s a bad situation because our post is in the same general area where he’s sheriff. Since there are all kinds of ethics implications here, we figured it would be best to leave all of that to KDCI,” Len explained.

Alex nodded. “I agree. Let us take care of that. We can be the bad guys and leave you out of it. That leaves you free to pursue the missing person.”

“That was our thought,” Bud said in agreement.

“Good. We can handle that. We’ll be looking into his background, records, anything we need to know about.” Amos went through the little bit of information they’d given him on Young. “We’ll take this part from here, and if we find anything that overlaps with your investigation, we’ll be sure to bring it to you. Same from you, if you can.”

“Absolutely. That’s what we want.”

“Great. Okay, sounds like we’ve got our work cut out for us. Alex, we need to go get a hotel room and get settled in. Gentlemen, we’ll be in touch soon.”

“Thanks. Oh, and I want you guys to come out on Friday and have dinner with us, if you want,” Bud offered.

“That would be awesome! Love to! We’ll be looking forward to it,” Amos said with another handshake.

“Absolutely,” Alex added when it was his turn. “Sounds great.”

Bud shook Alex’s hand. “We’ll nail down the details. Len, you come too. And I’d suggest that you guys start with our fella in protection right now. He’s the one who told me something’s up. See if you can shake more out of him than I got.”

Amos nodded. “We’re on it. Thanks, guys. We’ll talk soon.”

As soon as they walked out, Len turned to Bud. “Feel better about this now?”

“No. But I will when they nail those two. My biggest worry at this point is Martina. I’ve got to try to hold her together and keep her safe. She’s ready to rip some heads off, and she can’t clash with anybody out there. I’m glad she’s pretty much staying with me all the time.”

“I think that’s best. She needs to be away from the community, not in it,” Len said in agreement. “Keep up with her. It wouldn’t take much for her to get herself into trouble with that bunch.”

Bud knew that was true. They were nothing but trouble, and yet they held the key to her daughter’s disappearance. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep her in hand before she finally went off the rails and took matters into her own hands.

And that would be a mess for sure.

* * *

Bud pickedup the dog and took it to the vet’s office. He swapped his cruiser for his truck because he didn’t want her in the car. She was dirty and smelly and matted.

On the way back, he picked up a pound of barbecue, some baked beans, coleslaw, and potato salad, and a loaf of bread. That would give them a break for dinner—easy, quick, and not messy. Good enough.

By the time he got home, Martina was already there. He didn’t find her in the house, so he looked out the back window, and what he saw made him smile.

She was out in the little pasture with the horses. Prissy and Sissy were following her around, and Pete was being his usual standoffish self. As he watched, she petted the two mares, then reached out to Pete. He leaned away from her at first, but as he watched her playing with Prissy and Sissy, he started to get curious and draw a little closer. In a few minutes, he was standing next to Martina, trying to get her to scratch his neck. Bud thought it was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

As soon as she looked up and saw him watching her, she headed for the house. “My god, they’re the sweetest little things!” she cooed as she stepped through the back door. “I just love them! How long have you had them?”

“Wow. Um, I think we got the two mares about ten years ago, and the little gelding about eight. We bought the girls together, but Pete was a rescue. He was damn near dead when we brought him home. Becky nursed him back to health. She was so patient with him. I thought he was a goner, but he pulled through.”

“Yeah, he’s a little shy, but he’ll come around when he figures out how much I love them.” She had no idea how happy those words made him. To know that she cared for the little creatures was a huge gift to him. He’d cared for them since Becky’s death, but he hadn’t spent a lot of time with them. Not only did he not have it to spend, but it was painful, knowing how much she’d loved them. Watching Martina with them changed everything. He could think of them as hers, and they wouldn’t hold such painful memories for him. “What do you want for dinner?”

“Oh! I picked up barbecue for us. Thought that would be nice, something we didn’t have to fix.”

“Thank you! Yeah, that’s great. And it’s ready, so we don’t have to wait. Good! There’s a show on tonight that I want to watch, if that’s okay with you.”

Bud reached out, took her hand, and drew her up to him. “As far as I’m concerned, you live here. It’s your TV too. You watch whatever you want. If we want to watch two different things, one of us can go in the bedroom. No big deal. But I want you to feel comfortable and at home here. Hell, babe, I hope this willbeyour home.”

Pulling his hand to her face, she kissed his knuckles and smiled. “I’d like that too.”

“Good. Let’s eat.”

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