AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The door is a side-slide, rollers above that make the wood move to the left. Sadie tugs on the handle, but I move her out of the way.
“Careful. Watch out for rusty nails and splinters.” It finally gives and opens wide. Not sure if it’ll close again, but that’s not my problem.
Old tires, a lawn mower, and roughed-up boxes fill the space. A hole in the roof in the back corner has water stains down the wood walls. The floor is dirt, and the only light is from the sunshine.
Sadie enters, lifts box lids, tosses them aside. She pulls out an old football. Some clothes. I help her rummage for a few minutes. These things are clearly her brother’s.
She lifts a stack of papers, sets them on top of an unsearched box. I move to stand beside her.
“Employment paperwork for Racehorse Hauling. A handbook.”
I take it from her when she moves on. Based out of Billings. Nothing exciting.
“Here’s a notebook. This is Joey’s handwriting.” She moves outside to get better light, flipping through the pages.
“It talks about barrels and chemicals. I’m not a chemist so I don’t know what it means. Addresses.”
I look over her shoulder. “The zip code for all those addresses is where Bridger Ranch is.”
She runs her finger down the list. “Those aren’t addresses. They’re… I don’t know. Code or something.”
I look at her. “It connects your brother to the ranch.”
“There’s a phone number scrawled in the corner.”
I pull out my cell, type in the numbers she reads off.
“Gene Chubb,” the voice says.
“I’m calling for Joseph Hopkins.”
There’s silence on the other end.
Sadie’s looking up at me.
“And you are?”
“A friend,” I reply.
“I think you have the wrong number. No one here by that name.”
“Right.” I hang up and stare at the highway fifty feet away.
“What was that about?” Sadie asks.
“If it was a wrong number, why ask me who I am first?”
“What are you thinking?”
I’m not exactly sure, but I have more pieces of this fucked up puzzle than Sadie does. “I have a hunch. Not a good one, but there are a lot of coincidences. I mean, what are the chances of me falling for you and then your brother ends up dead on my land?”
She frowns. “What are you saying, that I tracked you down?”
I shake my head. “I think that was fate or destiny or something.” It seems weird saying that, but it was the best answer I have. “But I think you ended up in Bayfield for a reason.”
She blinks. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either. Yet.”
