Page 87 of Midnight Ride

Wild Stallion Ranch.

Annie and Travis had a lot to catch up on, and they went through two pots of coffee talking at the kitchen table while Lucy groomed the horses.

Travis filled Annie in on how his life had changed for the better having the three kids to look out for. Turned out he loved being a father more than anything and Annie was happy for him.

It took Annie’s researcher several hours to get the information from the weigh stations on the Trans-Canada highway, but he finally called with the names of the owners of three solid black trucks that had weighed in.

“Do you have your laptop with you, Annie?”

“No.”

“You’ll have to write this down, then. I know you don’t like working from your phone.”

“I don’t. Go ahead. I’ve got a pad and a pen.”

“These are the truck owners I have,” said Kamps. “First one is John Desmond, and he runs out of Winnipeg. I’ll give you the tag number on the cab and his home address and phone number.”

Annie wrote everything down for candidate number one. “Okay, I’ve got that. Give me the second one.”

“Fontana Freight. Eldon Fontana. He lives in Sicamous, British Columbia and hauls across Canada. Regular route for the past year or so.” Kamps gave her the address and the tag number of the truck.

“Third one is Charles Manning. He’s based in Toronto and drives for a coast-to-coast operation. Here’s his plate and address.”

“According to the approximate time the truck would’ve reached the first weigh station,” said Annie, “which truck do you think Tammy was in?”

“Timewise, I’m going with Fontana Freight. Everything matches up. She would’ve caught the ride outside of Taber. Time allowed to get from Taber to the Trans-Canada, then another hour before he had to pull into the weigh station. I’m going with him.”

“Fantastic. We’ll head to B.C. in a few minutes. Thanks for the stellar work, sugar pop.”

Annie stood up and said to Travis, “Call the boys and tell them to come home. We’ve got to pack for a couple of days and get going.”

“Copy that.”

Me and Virge were so fuckin happy when Dad called and said Annie had a lead and we were leaving for British Columbia as soon as me and Virge got to the ranch.

“Come on, Virge. We’ve got to get our asses home right away.” I checked the time on the dash as I drove north, and it was already nearly noon. We weren’t getting an early start.

Annie and Lucy had their bags on the porch when we got there, and me and Virge hadn’t even started to pack.

“Come on,” said Lucy. “I’ll help you boys pack your stuff.”

We ran upstairs and changed out of our uniforms while Lucy packed enough clothes in our suitcase for two days.

Annie packed the sandwiches she’d made into the cooler along with Cokes and bottles of water, and a dozen cans of Miller.

Travis picked up the cooler and followed Annie out the door. We were going as a family to find Tammy.

Border Crossing. Montana/Alberta Line.

A half hour driving north to the Canadian border, and we crossed over and turned onto highway three into Lethbridge.

In the city of Lethbridge, Alberta, Travis turned north on highway two and we followed the signs for Calgary.

“Watch for the signs for the Trans-Canada, boys. I’m getting tired.”

“One of us can drive, Dad,” I said. “I’m wondering if the trucker will be home when we get there. What if he’s on a run and Tammy is with him?”

“Then we’ll wait,” said Travis. “Don’t matter how long it takes, we’ll wait for Tammy.”

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