Page 29 of Steers and Stowaways
Dr. Ridley smiled in approval over their exchange, but he grunted with agony as he stood. “I need to check on a few other animals before heading home. Or the medical center since my son is driving…”
“Anything I can help you with before you take off, sir?” Tucker was glad to hear he was going to the medical center to have his injuries looked at. Besides being battered and bruised, Tucker was betting the guy was sporting a few fractured ribs.
“Nah.” Dr. Ridley angled his head at Mallory. “Just keep an eye on this one.” He glanced toward the barn doors. “Never know when those buzzards will be back.”
Whennotif. Tucker intercepted Mallory’s resigned look and knew she hadn’t missed the vet’s subtle warning. He could only hope the Ridleys made it safely off Mr. Cavender’s ranch before the next ambush. He’d be praying they wouldn’t get waylaid en route to the medical center, either. Meanwhile, the rest of them needed to gear up for another confrontation with the cartel.
Tucker was under no misconceptions. Even though Dr. Ridley had pronounced the remaining steers free of all forms of tampering, the cartel had the cattle transport in its crosshairs. He wasn’t about to let his guard down.
Catching sight of Gil and Dave again, he nodded his goodbye to the elder Dr. Ridley. “Thank you for coming out in the storm, sir.” Mallory had already handled the payment for his services, so there was no further business to discuss. “I’m sorry you and your son got caught up in the other chaos.”
“Glad we could help.” Dr. Ridley straightened his shoulders. “As for the other stuff? It’s not our first rodeo. It’s sure making me think long and hard about retirement, though.” His words were accompanied by a lopsided smile and another grunt of pain as he bent to pick up his medical bag.
That he could joke about it assured Tucker better than anything else could have that the older gentleman was going to be alright.
Gil angled his head at Mallory when Tucker reached the steel pen the retired sheriff was resting his forearms on. “How is she?”
Tucker glanced Mallory’s way and found her cradling the steer’s head in her lap. “Grieving like a mother who lost a child today, but she’s hanging in there.”
“She should see a doctor,” Dave advised gruffly. He was standing on the other side of Gil with one boot resting on the fence in front of them.
Tucker snorted. “You tell her. I don’t have a death wish.”
“Sounds like my wife.” Dave chuckled. His silvery-blonde hair sported a buzz cut, probably to cover his receding hairline. “How long have you two been dating?”
Tucker’s eyebrows rose. “We aren’t.” Not yet. He hoped with all his heart to change that soon.
“I see.” Dave exchanged a bemused glance with Gil. Then he sobered. “Back to our current dilemma. We’re coming up with a game plan to hold down the fort tonight.” He spread his hands to encompass the interior of the barn. “The storm outside is getting worse. Even without the cartel dogging the transport, it wouldn’t be safe to take the animals back out in it.”
“That said,” Gil shook his head, “the drug lords were driving ATVs equipped with off-roading tires, so they don’t mind playing in the snow.”
Meaning they would likely be back as soon as they regrouped. The injuries their comrades had sustained might slow them down a bit, but the weather wouldn’t.
Tucker mentally reviewed their current resources. “What’s cooking on the law enforcement side of things?” He glanced across the room where Gage and Rock were still huddled in conversation. “Other than the one uniform wehave on site.” He’d sent a few encrypted updates to Agent Pete Flournoy, but his regional manager hadn’t yet responded.
Gil pointed north. “Gotta SWAT team headed here from a bigger city. They’re still an hour away, maybe longer, and that’s if they don’t get stranded in this mess. The nearest two towns said they could spare a deputy apiece. Same story, though. No guarantee when they’ll show.”
Dave nodded gravely. “Until then, we’re on our own.”
“For now,” Gil agreed.
Tucker glanced around the building, assessing the space. Though the stampeding steers had served as a formidable defense tactic the first time around, the drug lords would be better prepared to fend off the animals when they returned.New plan it is.
“We should move the herd.” It was the only thing that made sense to him. They were one big, fat sitting target where they were. All it would take was one firebomb to wipe them out.
“Already working on it.” Dave snapped his fingers and pointed gleefully at him. “I like how you think, Pratt.”
“What do you have in mind?” Tucker had seen one other barn on his drive in, but the weather had rendered visibility too poor to see anything beyond it.
“Conrad Cavender owns more barns and outbuildings than you can shake a stick at.” Dave leaned closer to Tucker, keeping his voice down. “And the best part about it? He’s a showman at heart. Because of all the reenactment performances, parades, and historical village tours he hosts, he runs this place like Disney World.”
Disney World?Hope burgeoned in Tucker’s chest. “You mean…”
“Yep.” Dave grinned. “We’re talking undergroundpassages, employee lounges, and tunnels for moving the animals quickly from one location to another.” He pointed at the floor. “There’s another entire town beneath us, bro.”
Gil took over the conversation, quickly laying out a plan for dividing up their small team and dispersing them throughout the subterranean rooms and tunnels that connected the barns, souvenir shops, restaurants, and other topside venues.
“Unless you say otherwise,” his blue eyes twinkled merrily, “we’ll have you shelter in place with your not-a-girlfriend.”
