Page 27 of A Triple C Ranch Christmas Wedding
“He won’t take Sweet Grass,” Buck said, thinking hard. “Tell the team to turn for Wild Horse after they reach Havre. Zeb has gone to Wild Horse before with horses.”
“What about the others?” George asked. “He didn’t steal them all on his own. Not that many horses and there were plenty of footprints.”
“I don’t know who he’s got,” Buck said. “But he’ll have ditched them before he crosses the border. He’s always alone at the auction houses. Never did have many friends he hung around with.”
“How’s he get the papers?” George asked. “Doesn’t he need papers to transport all them horses across into Canada?
“He’s a bad one,” Buck said. “And he’s got a history of trouble with the law. Any papers he has, I guaranteed you they’ll be forged.” He turned up the TV. “Hang on for a minute.”
George waited while Buck listened to the weather report.
“Got a storm moving in up there,” Buck said. “They’re calling for six inches of snow tonight. Possibly more. They won’t have the Willow Creek Crossing open. Getting too much snow there. Tell the team to go to the Wild Horse. Zeb drives a white Dodge truck and usually pulls a white trailer.”
“I hope the Havre city airport stays open long enough for the team to fly into it,” George said. “If not, their man on the ground will be all we have.”
“I hope it stays open, too,” Buck said. “See you soon.”
“Hold up, now, old friend,” George said. “There’s nothing you can do right now to find those horses or to bring them home any faster. You’ve already been a big help. Stay there by the phone in case we need to call you. I promise to call once I know more.”
Buck wasn’t about to promise to stay in the hospital any longer than he had to, because he didn’t like making promises he couldn’t keep. The minute he could see a way home, he was going to grab it.
The horses would be upset, and once they were found, they would need him.
Right now, though, the nurse was coming through the door.
“Well, here’s my nurse now,” Buck said. “Have to go. Call me later with updates.”
“I sure will, Buck, and you get rested up,” George said. “We have to let the police do their job, and let these younger men from the Protectors help bring Zeb in. You and I are too old to go chasing after horse thieves, and you need to get well. Emma sends her love and says she’ll save you some wedding cake to bring when she visits.”
“Sounds good.” Buck kept his thoughts about staying put in the hospital to himself. When he checked himself out, he wasn’t going to tell anybody.
“Talk to you later,” George said.
Buck just grunted, and then hung up the phone. It was hard to do more than grunt with a thermometer in his mouth.
“Flu is going around,” the nurse said. “We’re checking everyone’s temperature today.”
Buck nodded. Last thing he needed was to get the flu on top of everything else.
Zeb. That thieving son of a bitch.
As soon as the nurse left, he pulled open the drawer beneath his hospital room tray and eyed the pocketknife his grandfather had given him years ago. The Leatherman had meant a lot to him then and meant even more all these years later. He carried it every day.
Buck thought back to the time he’d caught Zeb trying to steal his knife, and his jaw set.
We’re going to catch you this time, Zeb, and send you away for a real long time.
Now, he just needed to figure his way out of this hospital and get back home where they needed him.
* * *
Lucy couldn’t stand waitingand wondering anymore, so she called Jack. “Hey,” she said, the moment he picked up. “How’s it going?”
“Just driving hard, babe,” he said. “Nothing new. I was just going to call you.”
“Does that mean you’re speeding like crazy down the road?” she asked. “Please be careful.”
“I will. Got a wedding to go to, and a beautiful bride waiting for me,” he said, his voice deepening.
