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He hadn’t anticipated that, because he’d come from a desk job, to prison, to this. He’d worked hard as a lawyer, and he’d often returned home exhausted. This was just a different kind of exhaustion.
“Okay, done,” Nate said. “Let’s loop around to the east here, and that’ll take us to the homestead to get this laundry done.”
“Lead out,” Ted said, and Nate swung himself behind the wheel of the side-by-side. He took off, and Ted thought perhaps his vehicle just went faster than Ted’s ATV. He didn’t mind being left in the dust, and he could see Nate just fine, so Ted knew where to go.
He enjoyed the sunshine on his skin, and the wind in his face, and the presence of the dogs on the back with him. Out this far from the epicenter of the ranch, Ted felt like the only person in the world, and he knew why people rented these cabins. To get away from everything, and be with people they loved, and experience the stillness of the air in a way few people did. All of that appealed to Ted.
The river bordered this side of the ranch too, and Ted slowed to look at it on this side of the property. One of the dogs jumped down, and Ted applied the brake. “Hey, Randy,” he called after the canine. To make matters worse, Paula jumped down too.
“Okay, guys,” he said, thinking they’d just run to the river and grab a drink. Instead, Randy started barking.
Ted looked out into the trees, but he couldn’t see anything. The dogs were trained to chase wild boars, and maybe Randy had caught a whiff of something. Ted turned off the ATV and got off, walking toward the two dogs.
Randy had quieted, and Ted kept looking out into the brush and trees that grew alongside the river. He couldn’t see anything.
His heart pounded in his chest, but Randy and Paula didn’t seem concerned now. They trotted at his side, and he looked down at them. They both looked up at him, and Ted asked, “What did you see?”
He stepped past the first tree, and came to a complete stop. Something blue loitered on the other side of the fence. Ted approached the fence much slower now, holding out one hand to keep the dogs back.
The truck wasn’t on; Ted couldn’t hear the engine idling. He’d have to jump the fence to see if anyone was in the vehicle, and he wasn’t allowed off the ranch. He didn’t wear an ankle bracelet or anything, but he wanted to be obedient to the terms of his reentry program.
He stood several feet back from the fence for what felt like a long time, undecided about what to do. No one got out of the truck, and there was no movement inside the cab.
“Come on, guys,” he said to the dogs. “Let’s go.” He edged backward a couple of steps when he heard the tell-tale sound of another vehicle. It came from the left, which was the road that went around the back of the ranch. Ted didn’t actually know where the road went. It could diverge at any point, or have another road connect to it, and he wouldn’t know.
This new truck was black and shiny, obviously recently washed. It was a king cab, and much, much nicer than the blue truck parked on the road.
Ted fell back even more, pausing when the leaves and branches started to block his view. “Come on,” he whispered to the dogs. “Come.” He ducked behind a tree trunk and crouched down, glad when Paula and Randy came to his side.
The black truck pulled to a stop behind the blue one, and the passenger door opened. So did the driver’s side door, but Ted couldn’t see that person.
He could see the man that got out on the side closest to him, and he watched with a measure of shock and horror moving through him as Robert Knight took off his sunglasses and looked out at the ranch.
The gurgling of the river couldn’t cover the sound of their voices, and Robert said, “I’ll meet you back at the shop,” as he rounded the front of the truck.
The driver, who Ted still couldn’t see, asked, “Do you want me to see if I can find out where she is?”
“No,” Robert said. “I’ll take care of it.” He got behind the wheel while the driver got in the blue truck. He drove it down the road in the direction it was pointed, but Robert turned the black truck around and went back the way he’d come.
Ted pulled in a breath as he realized he’d stopped breathing.Do you want me to see if I can find out where she is?
They were talking about Emma.
And Robert had said,No, I’ll take care of it.
NotI’ll take care of her.
Maybe they weren’t talking about Emma.
“They have to be,” Ted mused to himself, finally standing up straight and tall. “Come on,” he said to the dogs. “Let’s go.” He pulled his phone out as he strode back to the ATV. He needed to call Emma and warn her immediately.
He had no service out here, and Ted cursed his bad luck as he swung his leg over the seat and waited for the pups to jump up and get settled. Then he took off for the homestead at a much faster clip than ever before.
