Page 9 of Final Ride

“Might have.”

ReMax Office. Coyote Creek. Montana.

Travis dropped into the ReMax office to discuss the offer that had been made on the Inn. He hated to sell it because of what it had meant to Olivia, but when he moved back to Texas, he was cutting all ties with Montana and starting a new life.

I have to get back to where I belong.

Selling everything he held an interest in up here in Montana would eliminate the need to come back to fix problems in the future.

His agent, Bob Crockett, pushed a copy of the offer across the desk to him. “You can see where the buyers are offering seven hundred and twenty-five thousand for the Inn and the property, not including the chattels. An evaluation will have to be done on the furniture, bedding for the rooms, dishes…everything that isn’t part of the Inn or the grounds around it.”

“I understand, and the girls are working on an inventory now. I’ll have a figure for the extras by tomorrow.”

“Good,” said Bob. “For this sale or any other, you’ll need that number.”

“Yep,” said Travis. “If they want to come up to seven fifty, they can have it. I’m okay with that price.”

Bob made the changes in pen and Travis initialed them. “I’ll take it back to them, Sheriff and I think they’ll go for it. They are in love with the Inn, and it is in pristine condition. You’ve kept itthe same way the Best family maintained it for years. The Inn is a landmark in Coyote Creek.”

“Yes, it is. I have to clear out the private apartment. That’s not done, and I’ve been putting it off. I’ll work on that today. Let me know if it’s a deal.”

Crockett smiled. “I’ll call you right away, Sheriff. I haven’t had any action on your ranch yet, but my ads are just coming out in the city papers across the state. I have a gorgeous video tour of The Wild Stallion Ranch online. Your property will sell quickly.”

“I’d better move my ass and get down to Texas and find a replacement or me and my boys will be out on the street.”

Crockett laughed. “Possible.”

Travis left the real estate office and walked to the market down the street. He needed cardboard boxes if he was intending to bite the bullet and pack up Olivia’s belongings.

I’ve been putting that off way too long.

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.

Travis had been out of the office all morning and when he got back from his errands, he checked in with Molly and she filled him in on Vicki Temple’s missing mother.

“That’s all Vicki was able to tell us?”

“Uh huh. Billy took the boys to Shelby to question the boyfriend.”

“Is Virge upset?”

“He didn’t seem to be,” said Molly.

“Good. I don’t want him blaming himself for it.”

Molly nodded. “He does that sometimes.”

“Yeah, he does. I haven’t eaten, so I’ll be across the road at the diner. Call me when Billy gets back from Shelby. I want to hear what he found out from the so-calledmob guy. Is the girl alone or does she have siblings?”

“Alone as far as I know, Travis. Just her and her mother. Vicki runs the laundromat during the daytime and the mother is never there. She didn’t mention what her mother did all day.”

“That might be important to find out, Molly. Why don’t you do a little digging and find out why the kid runs the business every day while the mother never shows her face in the laundromat?”

“I have wondered about that several times since Virgil showed an interest in Vicki. It’s an unusual setup.”

“Yep, it is. The mother has to have another day job where she can’t watch the laundromat. We need to know what that job is if we’re expected to find her.”

“Why wouldn’t Vicki tell Billy that during the interview?”

---