Page 29 of Final Ride

“What bikers, Virge?”

“They’re a bunch of guys who don’t even know me,” said Travis. “I was in that club before their time, but they think they still owe me payback for shit I did to their club.”

“What did you do to them, Dad? How many came to the hotel? Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“About two dozen,” said Virge. “No point waking you up, bro. We didn’t go outside and cap any of them—nothing like that. We watched them out the window and that was it.”

“I was a Texas Ranger working undercover for Violent Crime way back then and I busted up their club after working my way up in the hierarchy. I was club boss before the takedown. Took me two fuckin’ years to get ‘er done.”

“As Dale Burden, right Dad?” asked Virge.

“That’s right. The club is all new guys now and I bet not one of those guys who showed up on their Harleys has ever met me.”

“But they want to kill you anyway for an old grudge?” I asked.

“That’s about the size of it.”

“The fact they know you’re here in Texas, ain’t good news, Dad. Means they have intel on you. Maybe you’re safer in Montana.”

“If they wanted me bad enough, they could ride up toMontana and knock me off, but they didn’t—at least not yet. Forget about them. I’m phoning Bob Crockett to see if there are any offers incoming on our ranch.”

While Dad called Crockett, Virge gave me an eye signal that we weren’t done talking about the bikers watching Dad. They knew we were in Texas and that didn’t have a good feel to it.

“Hey, Bob. This is Travis Frost calling you from Texas.” Dad put the call on speaker so me and Virge could hear.

“How is the ranch hunting going, Travis?”

“Not bad. We found one we liked yesterday, but I’m gonna need five million bucks. Can you help me out?”

“I’m working hard on it, Travis. I’m hoping to have a bidding war going on your thousand acres later today. Three different buyers have expressed an interest, and I told them to get their offers together and we’d have a sit-down in my office to see who was going to come up the winner.”

“Sounds promising. Hope it goes well.”

“Can I call you back when I have a solid deal cooking for you?”

“Sure. Why don’t you do that, Bob, and I’ll tell my guy down here that we’ve got action in Montana.”

“Good enough. Talk to you later.”

“Is our ranch almost sold, Dad?” I asked.

“Bob has a couple, maybe three buyers bidding on our place. He’ll call later when he’s got something definite on paper.”

“Wow. We might be able to buy a ranch while we’re down here,” I said.

Travis’ cell rang and it was another real estate call.

“Kevin Bennett here, Travis. I just got wind of a dandy ranch that came on market last night and no one has viewed it yet.”

“Where is it?”

“Not far from La Grange. Just outside of Lincoln. Do you feel like looking at it this morning?”

“How many acres?”

“Just under two thousand. They’re asking six million for it and that’s a real deal on today’s market. The pictures look fantastic, and it has all the features y’all are looking for. I know y’all like the one up in Round Top, but this one will give y’all a comparable and might help you decide.”

“Sure, Kevin. Let’s go see it. We can be ready by ten.”

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