Page 29 of JoyRide

I shoved my notebook into my pocket, thanked Kenny and went to find Harlan.

When we were done with the interviews—and nobody had seen much—me and Tammy sat in the squad at the front of the store wondering if anybody who wasn’t in the store had seen which way the kids went with Savanna’s car.

“The store is big with a lot of property around it for the trucks,” said Tammy. “Way down here at the south end of town, it’s not like any neighbors would have seen her car go by.”

“Not until they cruised Main Street,” I said.

“Then the people downtown wouldn’t know it was stolen.”

“Most of them wouldn’t know it was Savanna’s car,” I said. “I’ll put a BOLO out on it, and we’ll go back to the office and fill out our reports for Molly.”

“Not much we can do,” said Tammy, “until somebody spots the car with the kids in it.”

Wild Stallion Ranch.

Sitting on the porch with his leg propped up on the railing, Billy saw the car come down the laneway. He thought it looked like Savanna’s car, but then figured it wouldn’t be. If it was her car, there wouldn’t be two kids in the front seat.

The car rounded the house and drove out back towards the garage.

Billy got up off his chair, limped through the house and exited through the woodshed at the back. The car was parked near the corral and the kids were nowhere in sight.

Thankful the punks weren’t touching the horses, he let out a breath and listened to see if they were in the barn. Doors were closed and he didn’t think they were in there. Out behind maybe, in the bunkhouse. That’s what it sounded like.

Billy kept going in that direction and the kids’ voices grew louder. They were inside the bunkhouse shouting and yelling at each other about something. Billy couldn’t make it out.

“What the hell do they want with the bunkhouse, or with this ranch? What the fuck are they looking for?”

The dogs were with Travis and the kids, so Billy had nothing but his Sig. He stopped outside the bunkhouse door, stood there, and listened to the two kids hollering inside.

“Are they nuts? Maybe they’re high and on some kind of trip.”

Leading with his gun, Billy pushed the door open, stood in the opening and gave a shout out. “Hey, you kids. Get out of here. This is private property.”

“Hey, Stu, we got company. Looks like an old cripple. Think we can take him?”

“Sure can, Dan.” They both laughed like it was a big joke.

The black-haired one, Stuart, wielded a tire iron and the last thing Billy wanted to do was shoot kids. When Stu came at him, Billy took a dive to his right to get out of the way and didn’t quite get clear. The iron hit him on the side of the head and knocked him to the floor.

“He’s down. Get his wallet.”

Billy heard nothing after that. He was out.

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.

Travis and Ted returned from the arraignment at the courthouse and Tammy and Harlan weren’t there.

“Art Andrews made bail, Molly, and a lawyer and a woman showed up for him. This is her tag. Could you find out who this good friend of Art Andrews is? I’d like to know.”

“Sure, Travis. Something else happened while you and Ted were gone.”

“Like what, Molly?”

“A car was stolen from the feed store. Harlan and Tammy went on the call and I’m sure they’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Knowing Harlan and Tammy were trained to handle a call, he worried all the same about the kids and called Harlan’s cell. “You guys in control of your situation?”

“On our way back to the shop. Talk in a minute.”

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