Chapter One

Sunday, June 30 th .

Lakeview Hospital. La Grange. Texas.

“Is Tammy excited for the trip home to Montana, Mommy?” asked Lucy.

“She seemed to be when we talked about it yesterday, honey. Doctor Fielding says she’s as well as can be expected. She’s on parole and will have to check in next week with her new parole officer in an office in Montana when we get up there.”

Lucy smiled. “This trip is going to be so much fun, Mommy. I can’t wait to see Harlan and Virgil again.”

“We’re going to have us a time, honey. All of the rodeos we’re going to, and your barrel racing events, it’s going to be an action packed few weeks.”

“I’m not sure I have enough rodeo outfits, Mommy. I may have to do laundry.”

“We can do laundry when we get to Travis’s ranch, sugar. We’ll repack clean clothes when we leave from there.”

“That will work. I hope I can get some practice time in at Travis’s ranch. Buckshot will be stiff and grumpy after four days in the horse trailer.”

“I’m sure we’ll get in some practice time, sugar. Try not to worry so much.” Annie gave Lucy a hug before they went inside the hospital.

They sat in the reception area and waited until Doctor Chance Fielding came to escort them to Tammy’s room.

Wearing a big smile, the handsome doctor motioned to them to follow him down the corridor and into the locked wing where the mentally ill criminals were housed.

“Are you sure she’s ready, Chance?”

“That’s the same question you asked me yesterday, Annie, and I’ll give you the same answer. She’s as well as I can make her here in the hospital. The rest will be up to Tammy as she tries to resume her old life in the outside world.”

“We went over the main things she’ll be struggling with,” said Annie. “I have a notebook with all my reference material. You’ve helped so much, Chance. I’ll never be able to repay you.”

“When you come home from the rodeo circuit, you promised to let me take you out for dinner.” He smiled. “I’m holding you to that, Annie.”

“It’s a deal.”

Chance stopped outside Tammy’s room. “One of the nurses helped her pack so I believe she’s ready.” Chance opened the locked door and Tammy was staring out the window, her suitcase packed and sitting on the bed. “All ready to leave, Tammy?”

Chance was upbeat and always seemed cheerful. Annie often wondered how he maintained a constant happy demeanor working in such depressing surroundings.

Tammy turned and smiled. “I’m packed and ready to go. Hi, Mama. Hi, Lucy.”

“Come on, Tammy,” said Chance. “I’ll walk you girls out to the parking lot and give you an official wave goodbye.”

“Thanks, Doctor Chance,” said Tammy.

Annie opened the back door of the Gladiator and Chance tossed Tammy’s bag in and closed it. “You girls have a great rodeo trip up to Montana.”

He hugged Annie and whispered. “I’m looking forward to our date when you get back.”

“I won’t forget. Thanks for everything.”

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

“The girls are leaving this morning from Texas,” said Travis. He checked his watch. “They should’ve picked Tammy up by now.”

“Is Tammy gonna be herself again?” I asked. “She ain’t gonna run off again and do crazy stuff, is she?”

“The hospital wouldn’t be releasing her if they thought that,” said Travis.

“How far will they get by tonight, Dad?”

“Having to pick Tammy up at the hospital first, they won’t get an early start, Harlan. Annie sent me the route they were taking, so we could follow along in case we wanted to.”

“Hell, yeah. I do,” said Virge. “I can’t wait until the girls get here and we go to those fuckin barrel races again. I love watching those.”

Travis laughed. “Rodeos are a big part of Montana summertime. Everybody loves the rodeos.”

“Who’s the rodeo champion of the world?” asked Virgil. He always wanted to know stuff like that.

“Rowdy Butler is the current champion,” said Travis. “He’s held onto that title for several years now and nobody can beat him, but I think he’s about set to retire.”

“Wish I could see him ride in person,” said Virge.

“Might never happen for you, son,” said Travis. “But you might see him on TV on a sports channel.”

“You ever seen him compete, Dad?” I asked.

“Umm…can’t say I remember watching him at a rodeo, but I do know him.”

“What do you mean you know him?” Virge’s eyes widened. “Like howdy, Rowdy…like that?”

Travis laughed. “Yep. He might remember meeting me a long time ago, but I doubt it. He meets thousands of people at the rodeos, and they all want his autograph.”

“Hope we don’t get any cases fuckin us up while the kids are here, Dad.” Virge screwed up his face and made me laugh. “If we have to work at the station every fucking day, that will really mess us up.”

“I’ll send out a bulletin telling all the baddies in Harrison County to cool it while rodeo season is on,” said Billy. “Something like— we got no time to investigate your crime. ”

Travis chuckled.

“Hope they listen,” said Virge. “I ain’t working while my family is here in Montana.”

“Good to know, Virge. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Coulter-Ross Ranch. La Grange. Texas.

Mick and the boys had the horses loaded and secured inside the big red Coulter-Ross trailer, and all of the luggage was in the load bed of the red Ram diesel.

The four kids crowded into the back seat and jockeyed for position. “Y’all will be able to spread out a lot more when we meet up with Rowdy. The boys can ride with him, and you girls will have some space.”

“Is that tomorrow, Mommy?” asked Lucy.

“Whenever we get to Las Cruses, Rowdy will be there waiting for us,” said Annie. “That’s not far from his ranch in Arizona, and we have to turn north there anyway to head for Montana. We’ll follow the Rio Grande for miles as we drive through New Mexico, and it will be a beautiful river ride.”

“Have you gone that way before, Mommy?” asked Lucy.

“Nope, but I’m looking forward to the adventure.”

“Me too,” said Davey. “I’ve never seen the Rio Grande.”

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek. Montana.

Molly took a call and wrote the details down on her yellow pad. When she had all of it, she ended the conversation and turned to the boys.

“There was a shooting on a ranch near Black Eagle Pass.”

“I’m listening,” said Travis. “What happened?”

“The owner of the ranch, Jed Carpenter, caught a poacher hunting out of season on his posted land and he shot him.”

“Is the poacher dead?”

“Yes.”

“Dammit,” said Travis. “Okay. We’re on our way. Molly, give Doctor Olsen a call and give him directions to meet us there.”

“Doing it now, Travis.”

“Fuck that, Dad,” said Virge. “This is exactly the kind of shit I was talking about at breakfast. I don’t want a murder case messing up our vacay time. No way in hell I’m missing one of those rodeos.”

“Then you’d better wrap this up fast, boy. You’ve got about three days to clean it up.”

“I intend to,” said Virge as he slid behind the wheel of the Sheriff’s Bronco. “Shortest homicide investigation in fuckin history.”

I laughed at my brother.

“Warp speed,” mumbled Virge.

“Hope you’re right, Virgie,”

Carpenter Ranch. Black Eagle Pass. Montana.

The ranch where the shooting took place was a huge one. Thousands of acres and the terrain was hilly and rough. Getting close to the front gate, we could see two riders on horseback waiting for us.

Virge pulled through the gate and the rancher jumped down off his horse and pointed, “The poacher is in that section of bush over there, Sheriff. You’ll be able to see where he was seeding an area close to the river.”

“We’ll follow you, Mister Carpenter. Lead the way.”

“Not sure how far you can get, even with four-wheel drive.”

“You go ahead and lead the way, sir. Virge will stop when it gets too rough, and we’ll go the rest of the way on foot.”

We bounced up hill and down dale until the Bronco couldn’t go any farther and we had to get out and walk. Following the horses into the woods, it was easy to find the river from the noise it was making. A strong current bubbling along through the forest was hard to miss.

“Right over here, Sheriff,” hollered Carpenter. A couple of vultures flew up squawking when he dismounted near a body sprawled on the ground.

The poacher was about thirty-something. Dark hair sticking out from under his ball cap. Sack of feed next to his body. Never seen him before. Not far away, his horse was tied to a tree.

My first question was, where did this poacher ride from? This ranch was miles from the next one. Even on horseback, it would be a helluva long ride from anywhere. I’d ask Dad what he thought later.

“Harlan, take Mister Carpenter’s rifle and mark it for evidence.”

“Hold on now.” Carpenter was quick to anger and snapped at Dad. “How long you gonna hold my gun, Sheriff Frost? That Winchester is one of my favorites.”

“Long as it takes, sir,” said Travis. “Dismount, sir. I have to cuff you and take you to the station. This is a dead body on your land, and we have to sort it out.”

“Nothing to sort, Sheriff. I’m within my rights to defend my property. I have no intention of going to the station—with you or any of your kid deputies.”

“Procedure, Mister Carpenter. You can call an attorney from there. You’ll be arraigned and it will sort itself out.”

“Nope. Not happening.”

“Get off your horse, Mister Carpenter.”

“Fuck you, Frost.”

Didn’t even see Dad move, but I saw Carpenter fall off his horse and hit the ground. Big red mark on the side of his face.

“You’ll be sorry you did that, Frost. You’ll pay.”

“Cuff him, Harlan.”

Dad was in motion, and he had the Carpenter boy by the leg and jerked him off his horse too. “Virgil, cuff the boy.”

“Don’t touch my son or you’ll be sorry you were ever born,” hollered Carpenter.

“I doubt it,” mumbled Travis. He pulled his cell out and called Kody Kollard. “Kody, I’ve got a situation near Black Eagle Pass you should see. Got us a dead poacher and I figure when there’s one, there’s more than one.”

“Give me directions, Travis, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Copy that.”

Next call was to Ted.

“Yeah, boss.”

“You and Billy get the horse trailer from the ranch and bring it to the crime scene. The victim was on horseback, and I’ve got to get his horse out of the woods.”

“Copy that, boss. Going to get the horse trailer at the ranch.”’

Me and Virge walked our prisoners to the Bronco and secured them in the back. While we were out in the open, we waved to Doc Olsen who was driving along the county road in his van looking for us.

Driving off-road, Doc’s van didn’t get as far as the Bronco, so Virge drove through the field and picked him up. “Long hike, Doc.”

“Especially for an old fella like me.” He laughed.

When we got Doc Olsen as far as the crime scene, he knelt next to the body of the poacher and examined him. He looked at the wounds, took the body temperature and all the rest of it.

“Three shots to the heart? That’s a little brutal for trespassing, isn’t it, Travis?”

“Overkill in my book, Doc. A warning shot should’ve been sufficient.”

The doctor checked the victim’s pockets and came up with a wallet. “Wayne Treadway. Want to write down his address for the notification?”

“I do. Thanks.” Travis wrote down the name and address.

Me and Virge helped get Wayne into the body bag, then we had to carry him to Doc’s van. Heavy guy. Figured he was about a hundred and sixty pounds of dead weight.

We had to set Wayne down one time and take a breath before we could keep going. When we finally got there, we were winded.

Doc opened the double doors at the back of the coroner’s van and we were loading the body when Ted drove through the field towing the horse trailer.

“Good,” said Travis looking at me. “You and your brother go with Ted and get the horse loaded. I can see Kody coming down the road in the Fish and Wildlife truck. I’ll wait for him and show him what we’ve got.”

“Copy, Dad. Loading the horse.”

Travis turned to Billy. “Sit in the Bronco with the rancher and his son and see what you can find out. Anything about more poachers in the area. This is a pretty angry rancher. Three to the heart, Billy? Come on. Carpenter wasn’t trying to scare off a trespasser. There’s something else going on.”

“Copy that, Travis. I’ll see what I can get out of him.”

“Find out how old the son is too. I’m not a hundred percent sure who did the shooting although the father is claiming it.”

“Got it.”

Travis walked into the trees with Kody Kollard, the game warden who had replaced Linda Tucker after she’d been attacked and brutalized by a group of hunters.

“The body was lying right there next to the river,” Travis pointed. “Sack of feed beside him. Horse tied to that tree over there.”

“A lot of poaching going on this summer,” said Kody. “Can hardly keep up with the calls from the angry ranchers.”

“All individual poachers or do you think there’s a ring of them and they’re organized?”

“Never thought of them being organized, Travis, but I guess it’s worth consideration. I’ll take some pictures and take the feed sack with me for evidence. I’ll keep you up to date on whatever I find out.”

“I’d appreciate it,” said Travis.

“Thanks for the call,” said Kody. “Alerts me to the areas where I should be patrolling. Helps a lot.”

“No problem. If there’s a gang of poachers at work, then it’s mostly a gaming problem until somebody gets dead—like today. Then it’s my problem too.”

Kody smiled.

Fort Stockton. Texas.

Mick pulled into a service center for gas and for a bathroom break and food for the kids. They’d been pretty quiet on the drive so far, but with four of them in the back seat, they were crowded and needed to stretch their legs.

“Bathroom for everybody, then water the horses and we’ll grab snacks while Mick gasses up the truck,” said Annie.

“My leg is asleep,” said Lucy. “I’m going to limp to the ladies’ room.” She giggled. “Come on, Tammy. Pee break.”

Annie sat down at one of the picnic tables and texted Rowdy.

“We’re gassing up in Fort Stockton.”

“I have rooms booked at the Hampton Inn in Las Cruces. Zeke and I are waiting for you there.”

“Can’t wait to see you.”

“Same. Been looking forward to this trip, babe.”

“Me too. We need some time together.”

Hampton Inn. Las Cruses. New Mexico.

Rowdy knew Annie, Mick and the kids were close to the hotel and waited for them in the parking lot. Davey was especially excited to see Rowdy again. During the two previous summers, the boys had formed strong attachments to him while he taught them riding and roping skills and coached them on the junior rodeo circuit.

Mick pulled into the hotel parking lot and took one of the spaces designated for RVs and big rigs. The red Coulter-Ross horse trailer qualified as one of the biggest.

Rowdy jumped out of the cab of his truck with his dog, Bullet, and wrapped his arms around Annie. “So happy for this time together, girl. Love you without end.”

“Same,” said Annie. “You’re looking good, as always.” She pushed his shaggy dark hair away from his big brown eyes. “We’ll have private time later.”

Rowdy grinned.

Annie turned to the kids, “You boys feed the horses and bed them down for the night while I check us in and get our room keys.”

“Can we watch a movie in our room?” asked Jacks.

“Sure, if you don’t stay up too late. Rowdy will want to get an early start in the morning. We have a long way to go tomorrow.”

“Do we have to sleep in the same room as the boys, Mommy?” Lucy made a face.

Annie laughed. “No. You and Tammy are on your own. The boys can share a room with Mick. I’ll bunk in with Rowdy and Bullet.”

It was late and time to sleep when they were all settled in their rooms. Tammy had been almost silent the entire trip so far and her personality was so different after she’d been in the hospital, she made Lucy nervous.

“Which bed do you want, Tam?” asked Lucy.

“Doesn’t matter. I can’t sleep in any bed without Eldon. That feeling will never go away.”

“I think it will fade away in time,” said Lucy. “You shouldn’t think about him because he’s going to be in jail for the rest of his life when the police catch up to him.”

Tammy shook her head and climbed into bed. “Eldon is too smart to let that happen.”

Lucy wanted to text her mother but figured it would keep until morning.

Dry Run Roadhouse. Coyote Creek. Montana.

Travis, Billy and the boys drove down to the roadhouse after dinner and after the horses were bedded down for the night.

“Will we be going out a lot when Annie gets here?” asked Virge.

“More than normal, son. We have to be good hosts.” Travis ordered a couple of pitchers of Miller and filled glasses for the boys.

Virge stared at his phone. “Where do you think Annie and the kids are right now, Dad?”

Travis laughed. “I know where they are, son. Annie texted me that they were spending their first night in Las Cruses and then driving north in the morning.”

“What day will they get here?”

“If everything goes perfectly—which it never does—they should be here on Wednesday.”

“Huh,” said Virge. “I can’t believe it will take that long to drive from Texas to Montana.”

“They’re pulling a huge horse trailer, Virge,” said Billy. “They won’t be breaking any speed limits.”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Virge. “Could you figure out the exact time if you used speed and distance and that shit?”

Billy laughed. “You looking into the laws of physics, Virge?”

“Maybe. I might’ve skipped that day in high school.”

“You never went to high school, you fuckin faker,” I said.

“Did so. I went a couple times to check out the girls in my home room.”