Page 46 of Lawless Ride

“Can you tell me who your number one suspect is now?” Wyatt was ready to write down a name.

“No, I can’t. Not while the investigation is ongoing.”

“Okay. You didn’t give me much to work with. Does this mean you don’t have much?”

“Could be. You can write your story the way you want to slant it. Mention Boyd’s upcoming funeral in Shelby, and even go talk to Tanya—if she’ll give you an interview—but I’m not putting a spin on either murder without hard evidence. Doing that always comes back to bite you in the ass.”

Wyatt grinned. “Can I quote you, Travis?”

“No, you can’t. Eat your pie.”

“Got it. Will you fill me in when you know more so I can do a follow up story?”

“Sure thing. As soon as I’m positive what I’m telling you is the gospel.”

Sheriff’s Office.

Wyatt paid for lunch. Maryanne gave us the six lunch containers and Harlan and I delivered them to the prisoners at the station. As soon as that job was done, we left for the trip to the wild horse sanctuary in Saint Mary.

As we drove west out of town, Harlan said, “I thought you were doing to tell him about the shooting in Conrad and the drug guys.”

“Nope. I told him I couldn’t give him anything on that yet. Not until the DEA guys run the house in Conrad. I’m hoping we can find out who Joe Mendenhall answered to. Might not happen, but it definitely wouldn’t happen if I blabbed about the investigation to a newspaper reporter. My plan is to keep it under wraps until Annie-girl gets here. She can help us.”

Harlan raised an eyebrow. “She knows about drugs?”

“She has contacts and can find out things that I can’t.”

“Huh. Can’t wait to meet your wife.”

“You’re going to like her, Harlan. When I found out she was coming, I got an idea.”

“What kind of an idea?”

“I’m going to have her teach you to shoot.”

“I can shoot a gun if I have to.”

I shook my head. “Not the right way. After you work with Annie, you won’t just aim and pull the trigger, you’ll be a shooter.”

“Like a guy who hits the bullseye every time?”

“Yeah, one of those.”

“Will I be able to carry a gun—like when we’re working every day?”

“I’ve been thinking about that, and I’d definitely feel better if you were armed.”

Harlan smiled.

Wild Horse Sanctuary. Saint Mary.

After all that had gone on during the day, it was late afternoon when we found our way to the office that looked after the protected land the wild horses lived on.

I introduced myself and Harlan to the manager—an older guy with white hair named Dennis Puller. I sat in front of his desk and gave him the lowdown on the rustlers we had seen chasing the mustangs. He listened and didn’t seem fazed or worried in the least.

“Let me know if they come back again, Sheriff. It might have been a prank.”

Annoyed and ready to do some serious damage to Puller and his office, I left my number and got out of there. I wasn’t a bit happy to meet the man running the show.

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