“Ha! I knew you did. I just had to give you time to realize it yourself.”
Amy said, “Tell him, Hannah.”
“Okay, okay. I was getting around to it. First I want him to admit he wants me to have his babies.”
Randy said, “I’m leaving now. Goodbye.”
“Okay, okay. I was kidding.”
“Tell him, Hannah!”
Her pouty face returned. Randy had to admit to himself it was rather cute. But he really wasn’t that interested.
“Do you remember, when I told you I knew Sarah, from when my friends and I ate at Sammie’s?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I went and found some of those friends, and asked them all if they knew where Sarah lived…”
“Okay.”
“And none of them did. But one of them knew a girl who used to be Sarah’s roommate. She moved out about six months ago, but said as far as she knew Sarah still lived at the same place.”
“Great! Did she give you the address?”
“She certainly did. Pucker up, cowboy.”
Amy intervened.
“Hannah!”
“What? All the work I went through isn’t worth one stinkin’ little kiss?”
“What you’re doing is extortion! Just give him the address.”
Randy managed a warm smile and waved Amy off.
“It’s okay. I’m sure she went through a lot of trouble. She’s right. What’s one stinkin’ little kiss?”
But Hannah didn’t settle for one little kiss. She grabbed the back of Randy’s head with both hands and practically climbed down his throat.
They both came up gasping for air.
“Wow,” Randy exclaimed. “You tickled my innards with your tongue.”
Hannah found that hilarious and laughed out loud as she performed a little victory dance.
“She lives at 1946-22nd Street, cowboy. Apartment 106. Want me to take you there and show you where it’s at?”
“You’d better hire a bodyguard,” Amy whispered a bit too loud.
“Oh, shut up, Amy.”
“Thanks anyway,” Randy said. “But I’m pretty sure I can find it.”
“Are you sure? I really don’t mind.”
“I’m sure. But thanks anyway. And thank you for finding it for me.”
“You’re welcome, cowboy. Now, if that don’t work out for you, come back here and see me. I’ll wait for a bit, but I won’t wait long.”
“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”
He hugged her and she went back to arguing with her other friends. This time about whether or not Will Rogers was a Tech graduate, and how his statue came to be on the campus common.
Randy and Amy walked back to her dorm to collect Trigger, so Randy could take him by the stable and swap him out.
“Are you going after her now?” she asked.
“No. I’m working today. I’ll go on my next day off.”
She stopped short, put her hands on her hips, and scolded him.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. I have a duty to the citizens of Lubbock. I have to put my personal business on the back burner.”
“Shoot. As much trouble as you went through trying to find her, I figured you’d run to her right away.”
“I’d like to. But I’ve got…”
She finished the sentence for him.
“I know, I know. You’ve got a duty to perform first. You understand, don’t you, that there’s a fine line between devotion to duty and insanity? You have to be careful not to cross that line. If you do, you can be in bad shape.”
Then she smiled wickedly and said, “Wait a minute. You’re already in bad shape.”
“Look,” he said. “I’ll go see her in a few days. Chances are she has a boyfriend she’s fond of, and won’t have any interest in me. But at least I’ll know she survived and is okay.”
Amy’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Well, I’ll be a Texas horned toad. You’re scared, aren’t you?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re afraid. You’re a Texas by-God Ranger, as big as a mountain, and you’re afraid of rejection.”
“I am not.”
“The hell you’re not. You met this girl and were enamored because she was pretty and sweet. You fancied her and thought you might be able to make her yours. And now a month later you’re afraid she’ll shoot you down, and all the thoughts you’ve had about her were for naught.”
He started to say something, but hesitated.
“Well? Am I right or not?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Because if I tell you you’re right, you’ll get the big head. And if I tell you you’re wrong you’ll just keep on arguing.”
“But I’m not wrong, am I?”
“Maybe.”
“Ha! I knew it!”
“Look. In all the time I’ve been thinking about her and looking for her, I’ve never once thought about what I’d say to her when I found her. Now that I know where she is, the heat is off. I’ll think about what I want to say to her and go on my next day off.”
“When is your next day off?”
“Tuesday.”
“And you’re swapping horses again when?”
“Wednesday.”
“When you come over to swap your horse you’d best find me and tell me how it went.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll tell Hannah it didn’t work out with you and Sarah and that you’re available. Then I’ll give her your address.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh, yes I would.”
“You don’t know my address.”
“I can find out, just as easily as Hannah found Sarah’s address.”
“It won’t be that easy.”
“Yes, it will. I’ll just ride over to the courthouse square and cozy up to every other Ranger I see.
“I’m a young college girl. I have feminine charms and shit. I can talk the pants off of any guy in the bar or get your address from any Texas Ranger. Watch me.
“Oh, wait. Forget about talking the pants off any guy in the bar. That’s Hannah. But I can definitely sweet-talk your address away from one of your buddies.”
Randy laughed heartily.
“You know, sweetheart? You probably could.”
“So you’ll find me on Wednesday and tell me how it went?”
“Yes. Yes, I will.”
“And if I’m not around you’ll leave a note on my door?”
“Yes.”
“Good. There’s only one more commitment I need from you.”
He was puzzled.
“What is that, pray tell?”
“I want you to think about what I said. You’re way too stressed and way too exhausted. I can put you with someone who can help you with both. You’ll be a new man.”
“I don’t think I’d feel comfortable talking to a psychiatrist.”
“Are you comfortable talking to me?”
“…Yes.”
“So, that’s better than nothing. Will you promise not to let yourself fall totally apart before you come to me and tell me what’s bothering you?”
He hesitated.
“I’ll settle for you thinking about it if that’s all I can get.”
“Okay. I’ll think about it.”
“Fair enough. See you on Wednesday.”
Chapter 40
Two full weeks came and went without incident. Except that the number of bodies Randy had to deal with was growing higher and higher each day.
The city got a second dump truck running, and the fire chief modified the collection system.
“If there are any loved ones who can be easily located, they are to be given the option of witnessing the cremation. If they choose to do so, the cremation will be performed at or near the place of death.
“If the family chooses not to, or if no family can be found, the deceased will be wrapped in a sheet or othe
r suitable covering and placed at the curb for pickup. LFD will visit each street twice a week to pick up and dispose of the bodies.”
Nobody wanted to say so too loudly, but many whispered under their breath: “That’s no different than how they picked up garbage.”
And it was true.
The city placed the “body disposal site” off limits to civilians. Supposedly because the fumes from burning bodies was putrid and caused people to get sick.
The work crews at the site were sworn to secrecy, to keep a sad fact hidden from the public.
The bodies were coming in too fast for proper burning. They were being dumped unceremoniously in the city’s landfill and covered immediately with earth.
Just like the garbage used to be.
Randy had visited Sarah’s apartment twice. Both times there was no answer to his knock.
The first time he’d tacked a note to her door. He was sorry he missed her, he said, but would try again in a few days.
The note was still there on his second visit.
It was possible she’d moved, perhaps into another apartment with friends where she felt safer.
It was also possible she’d left town. Perhaps headed toward wherever it was her family lived. More and more college students were doing that now since word got around that life on the highways wasn’t so bad. Yes, it was hard on the body, walking ten to twelve miles a day. But college students typically were younger and strong enough to take it.
Word was passed through the grapevine that abandoned tractor trailer rigs on the highway were chock full of provisions, left virtually untouched since the blackout because they were too far away for city dwellers to pilfer.
Of course, it was also possible that Sarah wasn’t interested in getting to know Randy. That she’d left the message in place so he’d just go away and give up.
And he almost did.
He told himself he’d go back a third time. And if the note was still there, he’d chalk it up to the fancies of fate and resolve himself to going through life without Sarah.
And wondering, perhaps, what might have been.
He’d kept his promise to Amy, to let her know how his first visit went.
Since then, each time he went to the campus to trade out horses, she was waiting for him at the stables.
She was worried about him, she said.
He insisted he was fine, but that wasn’t good enough for her.
“I’ve already had three of my friends commit suicide since this whole nightmare began,” she said. “I will not let you be the fourth.”
“I would never commit suicide,” he countered. I’m not that kind of person.”
“Neither were they,” she said glumly.
Randy rode south along Utica Avenue, in a general funk because it felt as though he was losing control of everything.
Then, on the corner of 46th Street and Utica, his eyes locked onto something he needed perhaps more than anything else.
Nailed to a wooden utility pole on the corner was a yellow piece of plastic, waving in the wind.
It wasn’t there when he last passed this way two days before.
When he rode up on it, he examined it closely.
It was only a narrow strip, perhaps three inches wide and a foot long. It wouldn’t have attracted much attention.
Except for someone who might specifically be looking for it.
On the very end of the strip, written with a black sharpie, were five numbers: 10605.
Chapter 41
Randy’s plan for the day was to finish his canvas of 58th Street and to start on 59th. It was the third time he’d swept through his neighborhood and he was starting to develop a rapport with the citizens.
But that plan would have to wait.
Keeping an eye on the citizenry and tending to their needs was important. So was keeping them informed of new city policies and other information the city council wanted them to know.
But finding the killer or killers of a Texas Ranger was important too. For they were still out there. And if they killed once, they’d kill again.
Randy turned east on 46th Street and rode up to 10605.
As he had on previous occasions, he’d found the family killing time on their front porch.
“It’s way too hot in that damn house in the daytime,” the owner had explained on his previous visit. “Out here there’s shade and an occasional breeze.”
The children were passing their time playing Monopoly under a large elm tree. A middle-aged couple was sipping tea, and offered Randy some.
“It’s iced tea without the ice,” the woman said. “Sorry, sir, but it’s the best we can do.”
It was good enough for Ranger Randy, who removed his kerchief long enough to wipe his brow, then accepted the glass with a smile.
Randy shook both their hands.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask your names again. I apologize. I’ve just been meeting so many people lately, I can’t seem to remember all their names.”
“I’m Sally. This is Doug.”
Doug said, “I take it you’re here because you saw my yellow flag?”
“Yes, sir. Do you have some information for me?”
“I do. It ain’t much, but maybe it’ll help point you in the right direction. I was up at the hardware store on 82nd Street yesterday. I was looking for some vegetable seeds. The Walmart’s been cleaned out, and I was hoping to find some at the hardware store.
“Well, as I walked up to the store, I saw a horse tied up in the parking lot. Just tied up to a light pole, there in the sun. He looked powerful thirsty, and I felt bad for him.
“Well, I remembered what you said about your partner’s horse being stolen, and I remember you said it was a Palomino.
“I’ll be honest with you, Ranger. I don’t know horses from beans. I was raised a city boy. A mechanic. I worked on cars for over forty years. Would have worked on them for another forty but I had to retire to take care of my grandkids over there. Both their parents were locked up, you see. Heroin. That’s wicked stuff.”
His wife grasped his hand and said, “Honey, you’re rambling.”
“Oh. Sorry. Anyways, like I was sayin', you ask me to pick out a carburetor for a 1963 Ford Galaxy 500 out of a crowd and I’ll get it right every time. It might take me a minute to think about it, because I’m not as young as I once was, but damn it, I’ll pick the right one. When I was a boy my memory was as sharp as a tack, but…”
“Honey, you’re rambling again.”
“Oh, gosh darn it, Sally! Let me finish my damned story.”
Randy looked to Sally and winked. It said, in effect, “Let him finish. There’s no hurry.”
“Anyway, Ranger, I know cars. I don’t know horses. I wouldn’t know a Palomino from a jackass. But I do know diamonds.
“You said there was a diamond below the horse’s left eye. Now that horse, he was mostly white but with several other colors as well. But damned if he didn’t have a diamond, perfectly shaped, just beneath his left eye.”
“And you saw him at the hardware store?”
“Yes, sir. Riley’s Hardware. And I saw more, too.”
“Go on.”
“I waited outside because I didn’t want to go in there if there was a bad man in there. I owe it to Sally not to leave her a widow, you see. So I just milled about, and after a few minutes, sure as shootin’, a man came out of the store luggin’ a pair of bolt cutters.
“He didn’t say anythin’ to me and I didn’t say anythin’ to him. He just got up on that horse and rode away.”
“What did he look like?”
“Young white fella. Maybe twenty or so. Blue jeans and white t-shirt. Orange baseball cap.”
“And you said you saw which way he went?”
“He rode around to the back of the store. Across the city park, then disappeared in the distance east of there.”
“Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.”
“I hope it helps.”
/> “It’s the first lead I’ve gotten in the case. I’m sure it’ll help a lot.”
Chapter 42
Randy rode Trigger to the front of Riley’s Hardware Store, then dismounted and went in to look around.
Once upon a time he was a loyal customer of the store. He’d come in to buy a set of screwdrivers during their grand opening, and had been in the store a hundred times since.
But this was the first time since the blackout.
He looked around in the dim light and marveled at how different the place looked.
There, at Register 2, was where he always took a minute to chat with Mary. Mary was a middle-aged cashier who reminded Randy of his mom, both in mannerisms and in spirit.
She was a horse person too, and they talked several times about riding together someday.
They never got around to it, and Randy didn’t even know where she lived. Somewhere west of town, “near Levelland,” she’d said.
He’d like to ride over and visit her. To check up on her. But Levelland was many miles away. Three days on horseback. And then he might wander around for several additional days looking for her place.
He just couldn’t devote the time.
The citizens of Lubbock needed his time and attention far more than she did.
Maybe after the turmoil subsided and he earned a few days off.
Like that was going to happen anytime soon.
A bit farther back into the darkened interior of the store was where he once bent over to pick up a set of keys. They were for a blond woman of about twenty or so who’d dropped them as they passed in the aisle.
And over there was Stan Riley’s office.
Stan, like Randy, had graduated from Lubbock High School. They’d known each other in school, but not well. Stan was two years ahead of Randy when Randy started at Lubbock High. A senior, and Randy had been a lowly sophomore. They’d played football, both of them. Stan wasn’t a particularly gifted player, but as a senior was guaranteed a spot on the varsity team nonetheless.
Randy had been strong and athletic, with a speed rivaling anyone else in the district. And good hands to boot.
Randy had been moved up to varsity by the third game of the season, and his locker was immediately adjacent to Stan’s.
A Whole New World: Ranger: Book 2 Page 12