Page 50 of Final Ride

“A member of the cleaning staff who works at that clinic saw your dogs in the truck and took them and their food to her house. She’ll take care of the dogs until you’re released and come to pick them up.”

“That’s wonderful news,” said Willy. “Thank you so much for going to the trouble of finding them. I’ve had George and Gracie for years and those dogs are my family.”

“No problem, Willy. Happy to help you.”

Holiday Inn. Kingston. Ontario.

Two days of resting and relaxing at the Holiday Inn did wonders for Bobby, and Cleo didn’t mind either. She enjoyed sleeping on a big comfy bed as much as the next dog.

“I think this may be our last night here, Cleo. I want you to think about where you want to go tomorrow. Okay?”

Cleo wagged her tail.

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

At dinner, we went over the case and what we had so far was Susan Mannington. A girl with a record for armed robbery who worked at Big Bear Casino.

“What about her brother Matt?” asked Virge. “That dude could use some surveillance.”

“Yeah, we’ll put Ted on Matt Mannington tomorrow,” said Billy.

“Also, we have Nate Telling who left his print in CharlieMcNeil’s store, but according to Mark at the border, Nate was in Canada when the robbery went down,” said Virge.

“Thanks for the recap, Virgie,” said Billy. “Where do you suggest we go from here?”

“I guess we’ll have to dig in and work harder on it tomorrow,” I said.

“Guess so, Harlan,” said Billy. “Hard work solves cases like nothing else.”

“Guess work never cuts it,” added Travis.

“Tomorrow is Dad’s last day as sheriff. Are we having a party for him at the Run after work?” I asked Billy.

“Sure as hell are, boys.” Billy had a big grin on his face. “We’ll make sure it’s one night he won’t forget.”

“Does that mean I’ll have a headache for fuckin’ days afterward?” asked Travis.

Virge laughed. “That’s exactly what it means, Dad.”

Chapter Eleven

Wednesday, July 31st.

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

Me and Virge finished the morning chores and Virge kept on with his fretting about transporting our horses to Texas. “Three days in a trailer, Harlan. They ain’t gonna like it.”

“They’ll hate it, Virge. You see how crazy Lucy’s horse was when she took it out of the trailer a couple of weeks ago—the day they got here from Texas?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.”

“Guess we’re taking Tammy’s horse with us.”

“Have to. We can’t leave Bonnie Grace here by herself.”

“Think Dad is sad inside him about Tammy? Like in his heart?”

“Yeah, I do. I’m sad and I ain’t Tammy’s daddy,” said Virge.

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