Page 51 of River Ride

“I like you the way you are, Darryl. You don’t have to change for me.”

“Thanks for that, Tammy, but I noticed something else. Your clothes are filthy, and they don’t smell the best. We’d better get you out of that uniform.”

“All my clothes and cosmetics were in the back of my dad’s squad. Eldon stole all of my stuff.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll stop today at a mall, and you can get a different outfit.”

Tammy giggled. “I could use clean underwear, Darryl.” She winked at him, and he blushed.

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek. Montana.

Molly got a phone call shortly after we got to the station, and she called Travis into the squad room. “Good news, Travis, the local police found your Bronco abandoned at the Home Depot in Walla Walla.”

“Where’s that?” asked Virge.

“Washington State, dear,” said Molly. “It’s quite a distance away.”

“Ted, you’re up,” hollered Travis.

“What is it, boss?”

“My squad has been located and I need you to take the tow truck and go bring it home.”

Ted smiled. He was always happy for tow jobs.

“You’ll need to pack a bag,” said Travis. “It’s going to take you a couple of days to get there and back. Get the exact directions to the impound yard in Walla Walla from Molly and have yourself a good trip.”

“Thanks, boss.”

“Keep track of your expenses, Ted.”

“Copy that, boss.

Travis went into Billy’s office, and they had a short meeting about the murders. “We’re no further ahead finding out who killed Treadway and Groveman,” said Travis.

“I called Kody Kollard to see if there had been any more reports of poaching,” said Billy, “and there was nothing new at Fish and Wildlife.”

“If Chuck and Terry were in on the poaching,” said Travis, “they’ve obviously stopped. Nothing we can do but talk to the Carpenters again. They killed Wayne Treadway and will soon begoing to trial for it, and Jed and his son are the only suspects we have for Brian Groveman’s murder.”

“I agree,” said Billy. “They’re out on bail figuring we won’t get a conviction and the DA will plead them down. Who else would’ve killed Groveman besides them?”

“We’ll have another friendly chat with them,” said Travis. “I’m not convinced Treadway’s murder didn’t have something to do with the son.”

Billy nodded. “Yeah, there’s that.”

Animal Rescue. Salt Lake City. Utah.

The GPS in the Wrangler took Bobby to the animal shelter in Salt Lake City. He wandered in and talked to the young kid at the front counter. Name tag:Tim.

“I’m interested in getting a dog, Tim,” said Bobby. “One that’s not going to mind being on the road a lot. You got any dogs like that?”

“You want a nice quiet dog who likes riding in a car or a truck,” said Tim. “We’ve got a couple of quiet ones, just what you’re looking for, back in the cages. I’ll show them to you.”

Bobby followed the young guy down the hallway and through the door into the back section of the building where the dogs and cats were kept.

As soon as the kid opened the door, the dogs raised a helluva racket and began jumping up and bouncing against their cages.

“They don’t get too much company, and they like to see people,” said Tim with a grin on his face.

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