I ever find him, you’ll have to take a number and stand in line.” John McCloud’s face was set in hard lines.
“Men.” Margaret heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Why is it you all seem to think a fistfight will solve everything?”
“Not everything,” her husband corrected. “But sometimes, it can go a long way toward getting justice.”
“Who’s getting justice?” Jessie asked.
Chase looked over his shoulder. “Justice is the one thing everyone deserves.”
Jessie looked puzzled but Rowdy squirmed, tugging against her hold on his arm and distracting her. “Mommy, why do I have to wash my hands and face? I’ll just get dirty again when I go back outside to play with Muttly.”
“I’m sure you will. But before you get dirtier, we’re going to wash off the current layer of dirt. And what do you say to Grammy for digging in her flower bed?”
“I’m sorry, Grammy,” he said sweetly. “Don’t be mad at Muttly, either. We were looking for the bone he buried.”
“Muttly buried a bone in my flower bed?” Margaret asked, surprised. “How do you know?”
“He told me.”
“He did?”
John and Chase exchanged amused grins.
“Yup.” Rowdy nodded, his voice muffled as it disappeared under the damp washcloth. “Muttly talks to me a lot.”
“I see.”
All four adults hid smiles and listened with interest to Rowdy’s recital of prior conversations with the big dog.
Jessie spent the rest of the day at her parents’ house and finally drove home after seven that evening. She would have stayed longer but if Rowdy wasn’t in bed by eight o’clock he’d be tired and cranky throughout the following day.
There were no messages on her answering machine and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Don’t be silly, she chided herself. Did you expect Zach to call? He probably hasn’t given you a second thought since he boarded that plane nearly four years ago.
The idea didn’t console her and she wasn’t sure if she was relieved Zach hadn’t called, or disappointed that he hadn’t immediately tried to contact her. She decided to ignore the niggle of disappointment and told herself she was glad he hadn’t left a message.
Two days later, Jessie was halfway between town and her parents’ ranch, on her way to pick up Rowdy after work, when her cell phone rang.
She rummaged in her bag on the passenger seat beside her, found her phone, glanced at the caller ID and smiled as she lifted it to her ear.
“Hi, Mom. What’s up?”
“Jessie, I’m glad I caught you before you drove all the way out here. I wanted to let you know that Rowdy isn’t here.”
“He’s not? Where is he?”
“Luke and Rachel were by this afternoon and took him back to their house to show him the new miniature horse Luke gave Rachel.”
Apprehension filled Jessie but she chatted with her mother for a few more minutes before hanging up as she neared the turnoff for Luke’s ranch. She sped down the lane to the cluster of buildings that made up the headquarters of McCloud Ranch Number 6. A strange pickup sat on the far side of Rachel’s car, and Jessie’s nerves stretched tighter, fluttering with foreboding.
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