Page 64 of Longest Ride

I crawled out of the sleeper, opened the driver’s door and tossed my bag onto the ground beside the truck.

Turning around, I went back to the sleeper to get Eldon, thinking the hard part would be getting him out of the truck and into the boat.

I could see the dock, but it wasn’t close. Carl would have to help me get Eldon from the truck to the boat. Between the two of us, we could do it. Pretty sure.

“Come on, Eldon. Carl’s ready and it’s time to get into the boat.”

I pulled the covers off Eldon and reached for his arm to help him out of the bed.

“Not going, Tammy.”

I couldn’t believe it when he pulled a tire iron out from under his pillow and swung it at me. I pulled back, but the shank of it cracked into the side of my head, and I saw stars.

“Ow, that hurt, Eldon.”

Screaming my head off, I scrambled out of the sleeper so he couldn’t hit me again. I jumped into the cab, over the driver’s seat and out the open door onto the ground.

I fell and hit the hard dirt with a thud. My hip hurt but it wasn’t broken or nothing. I’d have a bruise.

The pain was so excruciating, it almost knocked Bobby out as he dragged himself out of the sleeper and into the cab. He collapsed into the driver’s seat and locked the doors so Tammy couldn’t get to him.

Taking a minute to suck in enough oxygen to repel the blackness closing in on him and remain conscious, Bobby managed to start the truck. He found a gear and backed his baby up to turn around.

Bobby pulled out onto the road, and he could hear Tammy screaming at him. He ignored her and headed north. “I’ll take a different highway than Tammy took on the way down here and the cops won’t find me.”

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

Travis was making breakfast for Billy and himself when Annie called with an update.

“Annie, did you find Tammy?”

“There was a sighting of the Freightliner in Louisiana and I’m on my way there now with the boys. It will take me several hours to get there. I’ll call when I know anything.”

“Thanks, Annie-girl. I should be there helping you.”

“It’s okay. Not a lot you can do right now.”

Travis ended the call and looked at Billy, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Billy.”

“Yep, I thought about how it would end.”

“I wish I hadn’t sent the boys.”

“Yep, I thought about that too.”

Bonaventure Boat Rentals. Louisiana Bayou.

All the pain in my head came from the huge lump where Eldon hit me with the tire iron. Tears flowed down my face, and I couldn’t stop them. My head hurt so much and so did my broken heart. I never believed Eldon would hurt me, but he didn’t even hesitate. He just swung that thing and tried to kill me.

“You don’t have to go to the hideout without your shot hubby,” said Carl. “I can give you a ride back to town so you can call somebody to come and get you. Or you’re welcome to stay with me for a bit.”

Why would Carl say I could stay with him?

Carl pointed to the guy starting the boat motor. “This is Pierre Bonaventure. He’s gonna take us downriver for a hundred bucks.”

“Sure. Nice to meet you, Pierre.” I pulled the money out of my purse and counted out a hundred bucks for Pierre.

“Merci, chere.”

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