Chapter Eleven

Sunday, September 29th.

Love's Truck Stop. Huntsville. Texas.

I woke up in the sleeper alone and cried for Eldon. In my head, I went over the plan I was going to follow to get him out of the hospital and into the truck.

Inside the building, I used the bathroom. I washed my face and hands in the sink and dried my face with scratchy brown paper towels.

At the snack bar in the convenience store, I bought a bagel and a large coffee for breakfast, then stocked up on medical supplies, water, beer, and smokes.

And a map.

"That should be enough to get us started."

Coulter-Ross Ranch. La Grange.

Lucy and Annie sat at the harvest table talking about Tammy insisting on staying in Huntsville to be with Eldon.

"She hit me, Mommy. Punched me in the stomach and it really hurt." Lucy swiped away a tear.

"I'm sorry she hurt you, sweetheart. Tammy isn't herself right now."

"I don't think she's just staying there to see Eldon, Mommy. I saw her face and she's lying. She's doing something else. Tammy isn't right. She's like this weird person who's obsessed with Eldon and he's all she thinks about."

"She went through devastating trauma being kidnapped and raped and held prisoner by the brother of Tibor. I think it was too much for her to handle," said Annie. "I'm going to suggest putting her into treatment at Lakefield when we get her back."

"Should we go to the hospital and look for her, Mommy?"

"It's been taken care of. I sent Fletch Bowden this morning to look for her, honey. He's good at finding people and he's the right man for the job. He'll call us when he has news."

"I'm worried about my sister, Mommy. Tammy could get hurt or arrested if she does more crazy stuff."

"Uh huh. You're right on both counts, honey. I wish I knew what she was thinking."

Huntsville Trauma Unit.

Just over an hour later, Ranger Fletcher Bowden arrived at the trauma unit. He checked at the nurses' station and was given the okay to talk to Bobby Prescott.

"Morning, Bobby. You doing a little better today?"

"You here to haul my ass back to Ranger Headquarters in Austin?"

"Not yet. You'll have a few more days here. We can't move you until you're well enough to be released. You had a close call."

"Yeah, I'm not sure how I survived the trip from B.C." Bobby pulled on the chain attaching his left arm to the bed rail. "Guess it don't matter where I am. It will all be the same."

"For a while it will, yes," said Fletch. "Has Tammy been in to visit you?"

"Not since yesterday. I told her to go away and leave me alone. She keeps talking about us getting married—like I'm walking out of here and walking down the fuckin aisle. I told her it wasn't happening."

Fletch left Bobby Prescott dozing off with a new influx of drugs and talked to the nurses. They hadn't seen Tammy since the day before.

He sat down in the waiting room and thought about it. Lucy drove back to the ranch without Tammy and now Tammy's gone.

Fletch checked for vehicles stolen from the hospital parking lot and there was one. A black SUV was reported stolen and there was a BOLO out on it.

"Uh huh."

He left the hospital and headed for Midway.

Prescott Residence. Midway.

Fletch parked in the driveway where the Freightliner should've been sitting, and it was gone. He hopped out of his truck and did a walk around the house and there was the stolen SUV.

He called the tag in to the local sheriff's office and waited until a deputy showed up with a tow truck and hauled it to impound.

"Okay, Tammy. You stole a vehicle to get back here for the big truck. That means what? You're going to make a move on Bobby, and you needed a place for him to lie down?"

Fletch shook his head and ran back to his truck. "Shit, girl. You are getting in deeper and deeper. Pretty soon you won't be able to get out."

Fletch turned on the strobes, stomped the gas and headed south.

Huntsville Trauma Unit.

I parked the Freightliner at the loading dock at the back of the hospital and the guys working there didn't give me a second glance.

I shoved my gun deep into my waistband and ran through the hallway next to the kitchen trying to memorize the way I'd have to bring Eldon out.

Should be simple enough. He'd be on a stretcher and all I had to do was push him to the door.

With a happy heart, I took the elevator to Eldon's floor, smiled at the nurses, and went into the ICU.

Eldon didn't look happy to see me. "I told you not to come back, Tammy. There is a Texas Ranger watching me and he's looking for you."

"That would be Fletcher. He's nice."

"Yeah, not a bad guy. Why are you here? I told you we had no future. I'm headed for Austin in a couple of days, and I'll be in the jail infirmary until my court date rolls around."

I leaned down and kissed Eldon. "I came back to take you out of here."

"No, Tammy. You try a stupid stunt like that, and you'll get us both killed. Don't do it, Tammy. Please don't. Please."

"Don't worry, Eldon. I have it all figured out. I have a plan and it's going to work."

"Whatever your plan is, it won't work. The hospital has security and I'm chained to the bed."

"Huh. I forgot about that." I pulled my gun out of my waistband and shot the chain.

Eldon's hand fell free. He rubbed his wrist and winced in pain. The bullet had grazed him but there wasn't too much blood. I could fix it.

Three nurses and two orderlies came running into the unit followed by two security guards in dark blue uniforms.

I pointed my gun at them. "Put Eldon on a stretcher. I'm taking him home."

"He's not ready to leave," said the head nurse. "His vital signs aren't stable."

One of the uniformed guards came towards me with his hand out. "Give me that gun, young lady. You're not removing this patient."

Bang.

I shot him in the leg, and he dropped to the floor.

I waved my gun at them and hollered, "Get me the stretcher and put Eldon on it."

"Stop it, Tammy," yelled Eldon. "I want to stay in the hospital. Don't do this."

An orderly in blue scrubs came running in with a stretcher and with the help of one of the nurses, they rolled Eldon onto the stretcher and secured him.

"Everybody lay on the floor with your hands on your heads and I won't shoot you. You try to stop me, and I won't hesitate. I'm a crack shot and if I aim for your head, I won't miss."

The staff took me seriously and got down on the floor of the ICU. I didn't have to shoot anybody else, and I had clear sailing to the elevator.

We went down to the main floor and then I turned Eldon around and headed for the kitchen and the back way out of the hospital.

"Don't do this, Tammy. I don't want to go with you."

"Of course you do, Eldon. We love each other and we're going to go to Canada and get married just like we planned."

"We'll never get across the border, Tammy. You're going to be in big trouble, and you'll go to jail too."

"I don't care. If you're in jail, I might as well be in jail too."

"Have you lost your mind, Tammy?"

"No. I'm just doing what I have to do to protect the man I love."

Avoiding the kitchen and the door to the loading area, I pushed Eldon out the doctor's exit. Once the stretcher was rolling easily on pavement, I ran towards the big rig with him.

"We're almost there, Eldon. This is the start of our new life."

"Tammy, no. I'm begging you to leave me here. You're going to get both of us killed."

"If I do, we'll be just like Bonnie and Clyde, Eldon. That's the most romantic story ever."

"The cops shot them both dead, Tammy. Remember that part of the story?"

"No, I don't. They loved each other so much."

Fletcher jumped out of his truck and broke into a run when he saw Tammy pushing the gurney towards the Freightliner.

"Stop, Tammy. You can't do that. You're under arrest."

She pushed the stretcher up against the passenger door of the truck and unlocked the door. "Keep away from me, Fletcher," she hollered.

"No, Tammy. I'm arresting you and Eldon is going back inside where he belongs."

"Nope."

She turned with her gun in her hand and shot Fletcher in the leg. He fell to the pavement and before he could right himself for a shot at her, Tammy aimed and shot his gun out of his hand. It skittered across the asphalt out of reach.

She put Eldon into the passenger seat, slammed the door and ran around to the driver's side. The engine of the big Freightliner roared to life and Tammy ground a gear and sped out of the parking lot.

Fletch reached into the pocket of his jeans with his left hand and called Annie.

"Fletcher, did you find her?"

"Oh, yeah, I found her, boss. She just shot me twice."

"What?"

"She took Eldon and she's gone in the big truck."

"I'll be right there to get you, sweetheart."

"Thanks, boss."

An hour later, Annie arrived with Mick. She queried the triage nurse and found Fletcher lying in an examination room, bandaged and sedated.

"Holy fuck, Fletch," said Mick. "Tammy shot you twice? Is she off her fuckin nut?"

"I think so." Fletcher sounded groggy and his eyes were heavy from the drugs.

"Rest, sweetheart," said Annie. "As soon as you can go, I'll drive you home. Mick will drive your truck back to the ranch."

"Thanks, boss."

Annie stepped into the corridor and called Travis.

Sheriff's Office. Coyote Creek. Montana.

Working on reports in the break room, Travis saw Annie's name come on the screen and he grabbed for his phone. "Annie-girl? Something happening?"

"A lot has happened, sugar."

"What has she done, Annie? I'm ready for it."

"Don't think so."

"Aw, fuck. How bad is it?"

"Tammy shot two people taking Bobby Prescott out of the ICU in Huntsville against his will. There are a dozen witnesses all saying the same thing. He protested loudly, saying he wanted to stay in the hospital."

"Who did she shoot? Security?"

"One victim was hospital security—leg wound—and the other was one of my men. Ranger Fletch Bowden—also a leg shot."

"Aw fuck, I know Fletcher—like for ten fuckin years. Jesus, Tammy, what are you doing?"

"We have a BOLO out on the Freightliner, and I've alerted both borders," said Annie.

"I'm sending Harlan and Virge to you, Annie. Tammy will listen to them. The three of them are tight."

"Won't do any good if we can't find her, sugar."

Travis already had a headache coming on and he felt a little dizzy. "I'd come myself, but I can't leave here with an open triple homicide staring me in the face."

"We'll find her. As soon as I hear anything, I'll call you."

"Copy that."

Travis hollered for Harlan and Virge, and they came running into the break room followed by both dogs.

"Did you hear something about Tammy, Dad?" asked Harlan.

"Yeah, I heard way too much, boys. Tammy kidnapped Bobby Prescott from the hospital in Huntsville and she's on the run. She's a wanted fugitive."

"Wanted for kidnapping?" asked Virge.

"And she shot two people getting him out of the hospital—one of them a Texas Ranger. I guy I know, and a great cop."

"Jesus, Dad, what are we gonna do?"

"I'm sending y'all to Texas to help Annie. Go home and pack enough stuff for a week and then drive down to the airport at Great Falls and I'll have a flight waiting for y'all."

"We're going to fuckin Texas?" Virge had a smirk on his face.

"Get home and pack and do the horses before you leave. I'll text you the flight time when I get it. It's a long drive to the airport, so don't waste time at the ranch."

"Copy that, Dad."

Wild Stallion Ranch.

Me and Virge talked it through on the drive to the ranch and we had no clue how we could help our mom catch Tammy.

"I don't get why Dad is sending us to Texas," said Virge. "Annie has cops of her own. Why does she need us?"

"Can't say why Dad thinks we can help. Maybe because Tammy used to listen to us."

"Used to," mumbled Virge. "She's not listening to nobody anymore. She's off the trolley track."

"Yep. Every day she digs the hole deeper, Virge. Now she shot a cop and she's a wanted felon. No way we can fix that."

We did the horses first, then ran to the house, ran upstairs, and packed enough clean clothes for a week.

Out of breath, we tossed our bags in the back of the Jeep and headed south.

"Did Dad text about the flight yet?" I asked Virgie. Dad mostly talked to Virge. They were like…tight.

"Yep, here it is. Our flight is at two o'clock."

"What time is it now?" I asked. I could've glanced at the clock on the dash but was too worked up to think of it.

"Almost eleven."

"Okay, eleven."

"Stand on it, Harlan."

"Right."

Great Falls Airport. Montana.

Me and Virge never flew anywhere before and not by ourselves. We checked in at the counter and the lady told us where to go to find our gate and all of that airport shit.

We were both kind of stressed by the time we sat down with a bunch of other people waiting in the right spot, so we didn't miss our fuckin plane.

My phone signaled a text, and it was Mom talking to me.

"You won't get here until about seven-thirty. I'll be waiting for you and take you for dinner on the way to the ranch."

"Thanks, Mom. Me and Virge are kind of nervous about this."

"I told Travis not to send you, but he's not listening right now. I'm happy you're coming. Love you both. Try to sleep on the plane."

"Love you, Mom."

I let Virge read the text and he nodded his head. "I want to have some fun in Texas. Wonder if there are any rodeos going on."

"Jackson will know. He's a rodeo guy and he's our brother."

Austin-Bergstrom Airport. Texas.

I got our bags down from the overhead bins when we landed and handed Virge his. He slept most of the way from Montana, and I wasn't that fuckin lucky. I thought we'd never get to fuckin Texas.

"Come on, bro. Let's go find our mother."

Virge smiled. "Won't be hard to spot her. Nobody has a mother who looks like ours."

"Damn right they don't."

We followed the other passengers through the doors, and I saw Lucy waving to me. All the kids were there with Annie, and right then I figured we'd have us a good time.

Hugs all around and we ran out to the parking lot and piled into the blue Gladiator. Annie drove with Lucy in the front. Virge and me in the back with Davey and Jackson.

"Everybody wanted to come for your Welcome to Texas dinner, boys," said Annie. "The kids want to take you to their favorite barbeque place."

"Wow," said Virge. "I'm so hungry right now, I could eat a whole one of those cows with the long horns."