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“Absolutely not.”
“We should go too,” Mandy piped up. “We have to hit the road.”
“Before we leave, there’s something very important you need to know,” Rick said solemnly. But his phone chimed. Quickly lifting it from his pocket and looking at the screen, he read the short text from Trevor.
ETA 2 mins. I know BJ’s there. Stay cool.
“As I was saying,” Rick continued, texting back a thumbs up icon, “I have an announcement to make, but before I do, I want you all to remember we’re in a restaurant and you can’t make a scene. You’ll be hoppin’ mad, but you can’t do anything. No yelling or shoutin’.”
“Then keep it to yourself!” Big John said sharply.
Rick heard the subtext.
You’d better not tell them it was me!
“I know the bastard who stole your horses,” Rick continued, ignoring John’s outburst and scowling across at him.
“You’re kidding?” Susan exclaimed. “Who is it?”
“Take a deep breath and prepare yourself,” Rick said gravely, but paused to glance back at the door. Seeing Trevor walk in, he felt a ripple of relief and waved him over. “This is my friend and one of our brave deputies, Trevor Akin. Like I was saying, I know—”
“I have to take off,” John suddenly declared, jumping to his feet. “You comin’, Duke?”
“Uh, actually, I think I’ll stick around. I want to hear this.”
“Then I guess I’ll see ya later.”
“That’s weird,” Duke muttered as John hurried away.
“Please finish, Rick,” Mandy begged. “We want to know all about the horrible person who stole Miss Piggy and Lizzy and Cocoa.”
“Damn,” Duke muttered, shaking his head. “I can’t believe it.”
“Apparently Duke just figured it out,” Rick continued. “It was the man who just left.”
“That was the guy who owns the property where I found them?” Bailey gasped. “If you knew, why were you talking to him earlier, and why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
“He’s crazy, and there’s no tellin’ what he might have done. When I spoke to him I was puttin’ him on notice that the cat’s outta the bag. I figured it was the best way to stop him tryin’ anything else.”
“Let me get this straight,” Trevor said solemnly. “Your missing horses are the same horses John accused Ben of taking?”
“You got it,” Rick replied with a nod.
“Why did you let him go? I’ll arrest him right now?”
“Think about it for a second. It would be a long, drawn out, and expensive process, not to mention nerve-racking and extremely stressful.”
“Yeah, you’re right, but off the record, how were the horses rescued? Who was the hero?”
“I think we should go into those details another time,” Rick suggested. “We all have things to do and places to be. But thanks for showin’ up. I’m not sure I could’ve pulled this off without you here.”
“Funny thing,” Duke mumbled, shaking his head. “I knew there was something off about him. At first I thought he was an okay guy, but as the day went on…”
“I can’t believe there’s nothing we can do,” Susan said angrily.
“I know it’s incredibly frustrating, but you have your horses back—though with him on the loose the sooner you get them home the better,” Rick said firmly.
The three girls murmured their agreement and headed for the door, but Susan and Bailey veered off to the ladies room, and as Duke took the opportunity to pull Mandy aside, Rick walked up to the bar to speak to Dan.
