was able to see was a gleaming wood floor, he wouldn’t have known there used to be a rug here.”
“I don’t want to believe what I think you’re saying,” Carey said in a hushed tone, looking at the floor as though he could will it not to be true.
“The sheriff is in on it,” Amy said quietly, visibly shrinking toward the safety of Carey’s embrace. “That’s how he knew where Mack intended to throw it. It’s also the reason he hasn’t been able to find Mack yet. It’s because he doesn’t want to.”
Chapter Ten
“How many days out do you think we are from the auction in Missouri?” one of the vacationers asked Doug, a ranch hand, as they loaded gear for the day’s trip.
“I wouldn’t guess too much further, why? Aren’t you having a good time?” he asked, genuinely interested in the fun-level of the drive. He looked at the small sea of faces and detected weariness, most likely from having spent the last week sleeping on the ground, only showering every second day, and using the finest bathrooms nature had to offer.
“Oh, no, it’s not that,” he replied. “This has been really amazing. We never see landscape like this back home, and the stars every night…well, they’re just unbelievable. Yesterday’s trip to the river gorge was really great.” The man seemed a little too concerned with making Doug believe he was having a wonderful time, but his voice became lower as he continued, taking on a conspiratorial tone. “I just can’t help but notice that people keep dropping off like flies. Are they okay?”
Doug smiled at the concerned man, truly appreciative that this city boy, who’d paid a hefty fee to play cowboy for a while, was actually worried about some of the Carsons and their team.
“Yeah, they’re totally fine!” Doug promised, seeing a few of the faces start to relax a little. “You guys know we lost two of them right off the bat because they got married!” Some of the city people nodded with a smile at the memory of the impromptu wedding, while others who’d not known about it looked pleasantly puzzled. “And then we had two others head back to the ranch to take care of some unexpected business. It happens from time to time, and that’s why we bring the vehicles and have so many of the hands help out. You know, those little things that come up, like a broken water main or something. Someone has to go back and sign off on repairs, be there to talk to a contractor, stuff like that, you know?”
The group seemed more at ease until Karen spoke up, barking at Doug in an angry voice. “Oh, really? So why did our little friend, Amy, have to leave? Is she suddenly a part of the Carson family, or let me guess…she’s one of the contractors who’s gonna fix the roof? Personally, I think your boy twisted her arm into going with him, probably told her all kinds of B.S. and made a bunch of promises that he doesn’t intend to keep. We’re gonna find her at the airport, used and discarded, and nursing a broken heart and wounded ego, aren’t we?” Karen crossed her arms over her chest, her expression daring Doug to argue with her.
“No, ma’am, I promise you it’s nothing like that,” Doug answered kindly, sighing and forcing himself to not be rude. That was one of the old man’s most important rules about the drive and the city people, no one was to ever be rude to their guests. “Ms. McDade was not actually enjoying her trip and she felt very out of her element. And, of course, getting injured by her horse spooked her a little bit, made her a little afraid of getting back in the saddle right away. When she found out Mr. Carson’s son was headed back to the ranch, she asked to accompany him. I’m sure she’s sitting on the porch right now, fanning herself from one of the old rocking chairs and having a nice glass of sweet tea.”
Luckily for Doug, the group was more than a little tired of Karen’s constant male bashing and militant complaining. They were all too happy to picture the scene he described, mostly to spite Karen. They grinned and went back to their chores, readying for another day of riding and leading the herd. He managed to fight the urge to mumble under his breath until he was well away from the group, rolling his eyes as he stomped back to where his own work awaited him, passing Bernard on his way.
“Good morning, sir, any news from back at the ranch?” He asked quietly and with a cheerful expression plastered on his face, not wanting to alert anyone that something was wrong at home and certainly not wanting to upset his boss.
“Not much,” the man answered gruffly, keeping a tight lid on his updates from Carey and Anders. It was heartbreaking to him to even think about, but he’d grown wary of who he had working for him. Everywhere around him, he saw people he thought he knew, people he’d worked with for years. Now that he knew the truth about some of them, he couldn’t risk so much as a comforting word for fear that his words would be used against his family. Bernard had no idea who he could trust at the moment. “But they’re back at the ranch and seem to have everything under control. I hope I didn’t make it seem worse than it was, just needed Carey to head back and help Anders. You know how his asthma is at this time of year…” He left his weak excuse hanging between them before turning and walking away, leaving Doug to stare after him in confusion.
The drovers and their guests headed out for the day, watching carefully as most of the day’s route would take the cattle along and across paved highways and trafficked two-lane roads. The opportunity for a large vehicle to spook the cattle and cause a stampede was pretty great, so the ranch hands scattered themselves more along the flank of the herd and stayed in and among the city people.
“Dwayne, come in,” a squawking metallic voice said to the foreman over the radio.
“This is Dwayne, go ahead,” he answered, speaking into his earpiece’s oval microphone clipped to his shirt collar.
“I’m afraid it looks like we won’t be at the midday meet-up point, we have a flat tire on the truck.”
Dwayne swore under his breath, fighting to keep a pleasant look on his face. “What happened? I just had new tires put on the truck the week before we left! I bought them specifically for the drive! Did you run over something? A nail or anything like that?”
“Negative. It just went flat.” Static crackled through the voiceless radio. “We’ll get a tow in here to fix it, but we won’t see you guys before tonight.”
Dwayne looked around in frustration and caught Joseph’s eye. The younger Carson boy steered his horse in the foreman’s direction and came up beside him. “What’s going on?”
He explained to Joseph in a hushed voice about the tire, looking around to see if anyone had noticed his angry muttering.
“And you’re thinking it’s sabotage because a vehicle that drove on a major highway had a flat tire?” Joseph teased, a mischievous glint in his hazel eyes.
“I’m telling you, Joseph, someone is messing around with us. First, we have that problem with the water tank on the support vehicle, and no one can get a shower. Then, the propane hose on the food truck splits and there’s no way to cook the food. Now this. I don’t like it, not at all.”
“Is it possible all those things are just coincidences? Any of those problems could have happened back on the ranch, right?” Joseph asked, looking to Dwayne to confirm that his fears were unfounded.
“Sure, they could. But all three of them happening this week? I don’t like it, especially not with what’s happening back home. Think about it, that propane hose could have blown us all up if that’s what someone was going for.” Dwayne kept his eyes open for wandering cattle and eavesdropping ears.
“You can’t really think that Mack has followed us up here,”
