by Carolina Mac
I smiled and filled a mug for him. “Here you go. How’d you get so hung over?”
“Not sure how it happened. Just happened. Purely accidental. I’ve got to get to work. I’d better not eat any eggs. Might not be in my best interest.”
“I’ll make you a bacon sandwich and you can take it with you.”
“Thanks, Logy. Can I have a travel cup for my coffee?”
I made toast, packed up a sandwich for Jack and filled a travel mug. He’d be fine by noon. He always was.
“Thanks, guys. See y’all later.”
After Jack left, I made our hotel reservations, then got ready for my practice session. Every day this week, I had to put my back into it and go all out if I expected to do great things on the weekend.
Now with Darla coming, I had a new incentive. I didn’t want to let her down. She was my biggest fan, and she’d stayed loyal throughout the whole year I was off the circuit.
That’s loyalty.
JACK checked in with Sheriff Tucker at eight and got his orders for the day. He was working on a reported robbery from a private home on a quiet street in Preston.
Sheriff Tucker had given him the incident report and he drove to the address to interview the victim now that she’d had more time to walk through her house and see what was missing.
He parked the cruiser in the drive and knocked on the door. “Mrs. Tanner, I’m Deputy Jack McKenna and I’m with Sheriff Tucker’s office. I’m here to help you with your robbery.”
“Thank God somebody cares in this day and age,” she said. Mrs. Tanner was close to eighty. She wore thick glasses and a hearing aid and she thought thieves had broken in and taken her dead husband’s watch and a diamond necklace that she didn’t wear anymore.
“Have you had a chance to look for the items that are missing, Mrs. Tanner?” asked Jack. “Maybe you just misplaced them.”
“I would never do that, Deputy McKenna. I’m not senile. People think I am, but I’m not. I’m as with it as you on a good day.”
Jack smiled. “I’m sure you are. And you might be better than me today, because I’m a little hung over this morning.”
She chuckled. “Come on in and have a cup of coffee, Deputy. It will help to straighten out your head.”
“Thanks, ma’am. That’s exactly what I need.”
Jack drank two cups of coffee and ate three pieces of cinnamon coffee cake and by the time he was done Mrs. Tanner thought she’d have another look around the house for the missing items and call him back.
He headed back to the station for his next job.
McKenna Ranch.
RIP and Chuck arrived at nine for their practice session. They were practicing with me today and we were going to keep each other on track and make the session really competitive.
Jay was on hand with the timer and Clint was there with Crockett to show the boys my new horse.
“Oh, my Jeeze, he’s so beautiful,” said Chuck. “I love that horse. He’s a winner for sure.”
“We don’t know that yet,” I said. “He hasn’t even started his training.”
We went hard at the practice session and it was good for all of us. We quit when we were drenched in sweat, our throats were parched dry and we couldn’t rope another steer. The horses were beat and they needed to be cooled out and given water and a rest in the shade.
“Fantastic, Logan,” said Rip. “That was the best workout we’ve ever done.” He gave me a fist bump and we rode easy towards the barn.
After the boys loaded their horses and left, I felt good. Good about their progress and good about myself. It was a new beginning and I felt like a rattler getting rid of all the old layers of skin and becoming brand new. Yep, that’s what it felt like.
Sheriff’s Office. Preston.
JACK returned after the fictitious robbery call and told Sheriff Tucker he was back.
“Good, you’re here,” said the Sheriff. “I need you, Jacky. Take the lunch trays into the lockup for the girls. I can’t bear to listen to them whining and I sure as hell can’t trust Ivan to go down there again.”
“Sure Sheriff, I’ll do it. Is their food ready?”
“Yeah, Mildred just brought the noon meal over from the café.” He pointed to the covered trays.
“Where’s Buster’s tray?”
“His momma saved up her social security and paid his bail. Buster Tate is out walking around free.”
“Jeeze, that can’t be good,” Sheriff.”
“Damned right it’s not.”
Jack picked the trays up and carried them down the run and gave one to Laney and one to Kate. “Here’s your lunch girls. If it was up to me I wouldn’t give y’all a goddammed thing to eat. You two are a waste of space.”
The girls ignored him and greedily started shoving the food into their faces.
Jack kept going, hoping to get a rise out of them. “You know they ain’t coming back, don’t you? They are long gone to South America or someplace like that.”
“Shut your mouth, Jack McKenna.” Lacey threw a spoon at him and it clanged off the bars. “My parents would never leave the country without me.”
“Sheriff Tucker’s sending bounty hunters after them soon as they miss their trial dates. You know what that means, don’t you, girls? Dead or alive, is what it means. Those bounty hunters are gonna shoot your Momma and Daddy and drag their dead asses back here to collect the bounty.”
The girls screamed. “They won’t shoot them.”
“Sure, they will.” Jack chuckled and egged the girls on. “Those guys only care about the bounty. They don’t give a rat’s ass how they get it.”
The girls were screaming blue murder as Jack locked the outer door. Sheriff Tucker came out of his office and said, “Did you have to wind ‘em up like that, Jacky?”
“Yes, sir. Sure did. Uh huh.”
The sheriff grinned then took an incoming phone call. “Yep. I’ve got it. I’m sending a deputy over there right now. Thanks for the call.”
“What is it?”
“Carson Wagoner’s car is in the Walmart parking lot. Go on over there and wait until the tow truck comes.”
Jack grinned. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Walmart Plaza. Preston.
JACK saw the state trooper parked in front of Carson Wagoner’s beat up VW Golf and pulled up alongside him. He hopped out and shook the trooper’s hand.
“Good job, sir. We were looking high and low for this woman. Now we got her car, at the least.” Jack peered in the windows and in the back seat there was what looked like blood and some medical supplies. They’d know better when they got the car to the forensics’ garage.
The trooper left the vehicle with Jack and he kept the chain of evidence secure until the tow truck arrived.
Broken Spur Market.
THINKING about Darla being at our ranch for breakfast on Saturday morning and about the emptiness of the fridge, I made a list and Clay and I drove into the grocery store and stocked up.
We hadn’t done a big shopping since Daddy had passed. He always took care of the grocery shopping and we never thought anything of it.
Now we had to remember everything we needed—all on our own—and it was a lot like being grown up. And not before time. Daddy took care of us and we hadn’t appreciated him and everything he did for us enough when he was alive.
“That’s a truckload,” said Clay, when we had all the bags and boxes in. “You get the dog chow?”
“I think we got everything on the list.”
“Let’s stop for a pitcher before we go home and put all of this away.”
“Nope,” I said. “We’ll put it all away at home, then we’ll crack open a couple of the beers we bought.”
Clay grinned. “Okay, have it your way.”
McKenna Ranch.
WE were drinking our second cold one on the porch when Jacky boy came home from work and told us all about finding Carson Wagoner’s old Golf and about the blood and bandages in the b
ack seat.
“Think Micky is worse off than we thought?” I asked.
Jack shrugged. “I checked every shady doctor on the list the sheriff gave me and none of them admitted fixing Micky’s leg. Don’t know how he’s making out if the bullet is still in there.”
“That could hurt,” said Clay, speaking from experience. “Or he could get an infection.” Clay smiled as the thought cheered him.
“Bonnie Sue and I searched the trailer today and all we found was an address in Lubbock,” said Jack. “Sheriff Tucker told Lubbock PD to check out the address and we haven’t heard back. Could be nothing.”
“Maybe the two of them will get settled somewhere and send for Laney,” I said.
Jack nodded. “She could be the key to finding them if she ever gets out of jail.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Thursday, June 4th.
McKenna Ranch.
CHUCK and Rip arrived at nine for another hard practice session. My last one before competition. Bowie would rest tomorrow. The trip to Lubbock in the heat would be tiring enough for him.
“Hey, Logan. You up for this one?”
I grinned as I strode down the porch steps with Clay right behind me. He was saddling up and going with us into the field for this practice figuring he’d been sidelined way too long.
“I’m ready for anything you two can throw at me,” I said. “Jay is going to time us and Clint is going to look for mistakes we can fix.”
“We talked to Clint,” said Rip. “He was a bull rider like your daddy, the famous Kenny McKenna.”
“Maybe I’ll get you boys up on one of my bulls,” I said. “So, they can practice throwing y’all ten feet into the air.”
Chuck laughed. “Won’t be me. I’ll let Rip do it.”
We worked our way through the session and the boys were pretty excited about some of their times. They were entered in another rodeo in two weeks and had more time to get ready than I did. This was it for me. Last practice before Lubbock.
When we were at the corral cooling down the horses, Jay said, “You got dynamite times today, Logan. Nobody is going to touch you on Saturday.”
“I’m pretty sure I know one guy who’s going to give me a nudge, and that’s Rowdy Butler. He’s good and he’s lightning fast.”
“Uh huh. Rowdy is great,” said Chuck. “He’s getting older now, Logan. He’s got a few years on you.”
“Oh yeah? How old is he?”
Rip Googled Rowdy on his cell phone and said, “That boy is gonna be thirty-six on his next birthday. He’s over the hill and tumbling down the other side.”
I laughed at them. “You be sure to tell him that on Saturday when he sets a world record.”
THE boys left, promising to meet me in Lubbock for a warm-up, and I headed for the shower to rid myself of the sweat I’d worked up. I was toweling off my shaggy mop of hair when Mr. Tomlinson called with good news.
“Morning, Mr. McKenna. Your restraining order is in place against Doctor Lonnigan.”
“Thanks so much. I feel better knowing I have legal recourse.”
“You do, and this is the number to give to the police or the sheriff when you call them to come get her. You should keep the number with you wherever you are. You’d better write this down.”
“Hold on until I grab a pen.” I wrote the number down and shoved the slip of paper into my wallet. “Got it. Thank you, sir. You’re a life saver.”
He chuckled. “You’ll get my bill.”
CLAY and I were discussing the restraining order and how it worked while we ate sandwiches and drank a couple of cold Cokes. “She shows up and you call 911,” said Clay. “Cops come and you give them the number and they lock her up.”
“Yep. Sounds simple enough.”
“Uh huh. Think we’ll get to try it out?”
“Depends if she’s given up on me or not. I hope she has and there’s no more trouble, especially now that I’m dating Darla. I wouldn’t want Fiona upsetting Darla this early in our relationship.”
“You sound sure about Darla, Logy.”
“I feel sure. Yep, I do.”
“I’m happy for you.”
My cell rang as I took my last bite of sandwich and it was Linda. “Linda, this is the last time I’m answering when you call. We’re finished talking.”
“Don’t be so mean, Logan. That’s one thing I never knew about you. You have a huge mean streak and you like to hurt people.”
“That’s totally untrue. Why did you call?”
“I want to know the name of the girl you’re seeing.”
“I’m not telling you her name. It’s none of your business and you only want to make trouble for me. Please stop, Linda. I’m asking you nicely.”
“You’re trying to make me lose at Lubbock, aren’t you, Logan. That’s why you’re doing this.”
“I’m not trying to make you lose, Linda. You almost always win and you’ll win on Saturday. I wish you luck.” I ended the call and could almost hear her screaming on the other end of the line.
Clay raised an eyebrow. “Think that’s going to be trouble for you and Darla in Lubbock?”
I blew out a big breath. “I hope not, Clay. I never pictured Linda acting like this. Totally not like her to be so childish.”
“Let’s avoid her on the weekend to be on the safe side.”
I smiled. “That’s what I’m thinking.”
CLAY took his guitar onto the porch to practice outside and before I got back to work in the office I called Darla about the weekend.
“I was hoping to catch you on your lunch hour.”
“You did, Logan. Good timing. I just walking back to work and I can sit down on a bench in the park and talk to you for a few minutes.”
“Tomorrow night when I pick you up for the Spur, I wondered if you could be ready then…like have your bag packed for the weekend. You could stay at the ranch overnight in the guest room, because I’d like to get away early on Saturday morning. Bowie can’t just step out of the trailer and into the arena. He doesn’t like it.”
“No, he wouldn’t. Sure, I can have my bag ready tomorrow when you pick me up. I’m getting excited about our big weekend.”
“I’m looking forward to spending time with you, Darla. I think about you a lot.”
“I’ve never been so happy, Logan. I’ve always wondered what you were really like, although I could tell a lot from all the interviews I have in my scrapbook. When you’re a nice person there’s nothing you can do to stop it from showing through.”
“Thanks, Darla. That was nice of you to say.”
“Only because it’s true, Logan. When you pick me up tomorrow night, would you take a minute to meet my Daddy? He’s a big fan of yours too.”
“Sure. I’d be happy to. What time should I come?”
“Seven is good for me.”
“Me too. I’ll see you at seven.”
AFTER clearing up a mountain of bills and paperwork on my desk, I took a couple of cold ones onto the porch for Clay and me and listened to him practicing his songs.
“You going to sing tomorrow night?”
“Yep, I’m practicing a couple.”
“Good. Did you settle things with Bonnie Sue about the weekend?”
“Not yet.”
“Maybe you should do that. She might be wondering.”
“I guess I’m just putting it off.”
Clint hollered from the corral. “Hey, boss, want the horse trailer cleaned out for Bowie?”
I ambled down to take a look. “Is it a mess?”
“Not bad, but it could be cleaner.”
“Maybe I should get it repainted. A lot of guys on the circuit have sharp looking trailers.”
Clint shook his head. “Wouldn’t bother. I’d just buy a new double one and save yourself the trouble. You’re gonna need it anyways when you go a long distance.”
“That’s the truth. Let’s do that. I’m glad you’re doing my thinking for me, Clint. I’ve been i
n a bit of a daze lately.”
“I think it was women,” said Clint wearing his wise look. “You got double women trouble after triple women trouble here at the ranch.”
I smiled.
“That’s more women trouble than one man can be expected to bear up under. I pity you. Honest I do.”
“Thanks, Clint. That made me feel better.”
JACKY came home for supper and told us all about the boring day he had at the sheriff’s office. Seemed like nobody in Preston was good for even the smallest bit of property damage and Jack was beyond pissed.
Clay and I helped him drown his sorrows with a couple of cold beers and the promise of a great weekend.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Friday, June 5th.
Sheriff’s Office. Preston.
JACK was flying high when he got to work. All smiles and nobody could bring him down. This was a huge rodeo weekend for the McKenna brothers.
“What are you looking so happy about, Jacky boy?” asked Sheriff Tucker.
“Lubbock tomorrow, Sheriff. Logan is gonna blow it away. I just know it.”
“You wish him the very best, son. Logan McKenna is one of our greats from around these parts and we’ve always been proud of him. Logan and your Daddy too. Kenny McKenny was the hero of Preston County.”
“We miss Daddy, Sheriff. He told us jokes every day, kept the ranch running and kept us fed and never broke stride. Don’t think we appreciated him enough until he was gone.”
“That happens,” said the sheriff. “Youth is often wasted on the young.”
Jack didn’t know what the hell the sheriff was saying but he agreed with him anyway. “What are we working on today, Sheriff?”
“Got the report back from that address in Lubbock and it turned out to be a locked up boarding house. Scheduled for demolition. Nobody was inside, not even homeless people. A dead end.”
“Why would Swain have an address like that?”
“No idea, Jacky. We checked it and that’s all we can do. We ain’t magicians.”