Page 78 of Stormy Ride

“Had a shotgun in my hand, Doc. Sorry.”

Coyote Creek Medical Center.

Ted parked the squad in front of the clinic and took Harlan inside for stitches. As soon as the nurse on the front desk saw the blood that had seeped through the bandage, she rushed Harlan down the hall to a treatment room.

“Sit here, dear.” She pointed to the examination table and Harlan hopped up.

The nurse removed the makeshift bandage and cleaned up his arm to get ready for the doctor.

Doctor Radisson rushed in and held Harlan’s arm in his hand. “A knife wound. Those serrated blades made a mess. You might have a scar, son.”

Harlan nodded.

Ted held up his badge and the doctor nodded his head. “This wound will be reported?”

“Yes, sir.”

The doctor froze Harlan’s arm, stitched him up and the nurse came in and gave him a nice snug bandage. “The doctor prescribed pain medication for you, son. I have it for you at the front desk.”

Ted took care of the bill and charged the visit to the county medical insurance number that employees used. “We’re all done, Harlan. Gotta run you home now and pick up Hannah Hargrove. You feeling okay?”

“My arm is numb.”

“When the freezing comes out, it’s gonna hurt like hell on a Sunday. That’s when you take the pills.”

“Got it.”

Hargrove Ranch.

I was still at the Hargrove ranch when Ted returned with Hannah. Not bothering to look at the bodies or chat to Doctor Olson, she went straight into her ranch house and made coffee. She dug in and made a pile of sandwiches, then called us inside.

Her sandwiches tasted pretty good, and we were all close to starvation. I’d eaten one of her casseroles before and I had to admit, she was a good cook.

“How did Harlan make out?” I asked Ted.

“Never said boo. He’s a tough kid, Travis. He related to you?”

“Nope. He’s my ward and a good kid.” Only a few people knew Harlan was on parole from Juvie Detention and I wasn’t spreading it around.

“I seen your girls at your ranch.” Ted grinned. “They are a couple of cuties. Heard Kirby talking about dating one of them. Didn’t know you had kids.”

“Neither one of them are old enough to go on dates. If Kirby took Tammy out, he’d have to take me too.”

Ted laughed. “That would be fun.”

As soon as we finished our sandwiches and coffee, I thanked Hannah and got her statement about when the horse thieves first arrived. Ted and I had to get back to the station to lock up our one surviving prisoner.

“You drop Billy at my ranch and meet me back at the station. We’ve got more arrests to make.”

“Copy that,” said Ted. And then he grinned. Dollar signs in his eyes.

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.

When we got back to Coyote Creek, I locked Jonah Hacking up in the run and explained to Molly that we had the killers—two dead and one alive—but there were more arrests to be made.

“Tomorrow we’ll dig in on all the statements and reports. There’s too much for right now, and I’ve got two more people to arrest before I can quit for today.”

“I’m so glad you got them, Travis,” said Molly. “Nice job.”

---