Manny’s Mission (Broken Wheel Ranch #7)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Erin, Clark, and Naomi stopped before they entered the barn and looked toward the roadway that led to the barn on The Broken Wheel. They thought they heard laughter, and as they saw what came over the rise, they exchanged slack-jawed shock with each other.

“What in the world?” Erin asked in general. “Is that Mr. Ducky in Adele’s golf cart?”

“Looks like it,” Naomi said as she leaned on her cane. She had been making a lot of progress with her therapy so that she’d been able to ditch not only her wheelchair, but also her crutches. She was now using a cane and expected to not use any support to help her walk in the coming weeks. She looked at Clark with a grin to explain.

“One of Adele’s challenges was that she couldn’t get behind the wheel of a regular vehicle. Any type of enclosed vehicle. As a passenger she was fine, but she had panic attacks if she sat behind the wheel. Don’t quote me, but I believe that was how she lost her lower leg.”

“It was,” Perry said as he joined them, and stood on the other side of Clark. “She was driving a military vehicle while they were looking for roadside bombs. Some people on her team were walking ahead of the vehicle, and the guy in the passenger seat climbed out when they found something. He slid across the hood, but couldn’t stop in time. I won’t get into the details, but when she came to, she was in the hospital with her lower right leg missing, and her team mates were nothing but mist.”

“Shit,” Clark said as he shook his head. “I won’t comment on it, but thank you for letting me know. Did driving the golf cart help her?”

“Yes, she said she could drive, but needed the openness of the cart so she didn’t get panic attacks. The thing that got her to drive was when I had been shot, and Peaches dumped me in the back of my truck.” He shook his head as he watched the people approaching them. “The only bad thing was when we arrived at the hospital, she had such an adrenaline rush that she passed out and hit her head on the floor before anyone knew what was happening.” He looked at Clark with a grin. “Don’t worry, she’s fine, and has no problem driving a regular vehicle now that she’s gotten over her initial fear. She said last night she was going to see if Mr. Ducky wanted to use her golf cart because he couldn’t drive a regular vehicle any longer.”

“I can see where that would help him. Is it the type that stops as soon as you lift your foot off the pedal?”

“Yes.”

Clark nodded and stood next to his sister. “Hey, Rin, maybe we should look into getting a couple more of them for around here.”

“I was thinking of maybe getting more Gators or ATVs, but I can see where a few golf carts could work.” She turned to him with a grin. “What do you think would be better to get over to your project on the other side of here? The Gators, ATVs or golf carts?” She pointed in the direction where the construction was taking place to build another whole compound.

“I’ll have to try them both, I can tell you that in my truck it’s rougher than shit, I hit my head too many times to count. I know it’s not a good thing, but I’ve resorted to going out on the road and driving down that way.”

The four of them stood there and watched as the older man turned the golf cart toward the barn and they had to jump back when he rode right up to them and stopped suddenly.

“Morning!” he called out with a laugh. “That was fun.” He grabbed his cane and hopped out of the cart, but didn’t take a step until his feet were solid beneath him. “Hey, can I have a word with you guys?”

“Which people are you referring to, Mr. Ducky?” Erin asked with a grin when she noticed how flushed his cheeks were, and how white Adele looked. The other woman had to swing her legs out and put her head between her knees. Erin liked that Perry immediately went to see if she was okay.

“First, I know you guys all respect me, if you didn’t, I wouldn’t still be here, I’m only saying that out of love for you all. So, with that said, could you maybe drop the Mr. and just call me Ducky?”

“We can do that,” Clark was the first one to speak. “What or who do you need to talk to?”

“You, Erin, and Naomi. I have a proposition for you, then we can bring the others in.” He watched as brother and sister exchanged looks, shrugged. He grinned as they turned back to him. “Don’t worry, everyone will soon be brought into what I’m proposing, but I would like to talk to the three of you first to see if my idea is even feasible. There’s no sense bringing in the others if you don’t like what I’m going to propose.”

“Where do you want to talk?”

“How about your office?” Ducky asked as he pointed his cane to the barn. As one, they all turned and headed in that direction. Ducky made sure that Manny and Scott were with them. Once they settled inside, chairs were produced, and coffee or water was distributed. They all waited for Ducky to speak.

“You can tell me to stop my meddling, but I came up with a plan I want to throw by you.”

“About?” Naomi asked from her position behind her desk. Erin and Clark sat before it, with Ducky standing off to the side, while Manny and Scott sat at the table Clark used as his desk.

“I don’t mean to step on any toes, but now that the riffraff, which I’m referring to PITA, the Firths, and Miller, are locked up until their trial, then I think we need to jump on the next problem we’re facing. I’ve been here for several weeks now,” he said as he nodded and turned to Erin with a grin. “Thank you for inviting me here. I know now that I was slowly dying alone at my place. Since being here, I’ve found myself getting a new lease of life. Erin, I know you’re in charge here, but I’d like to tell you what I thought of. I only ask that you keep an open mind.”

“Okay,” Erin said. After several minutes of silence she encouraged him, by asking, “What are you thinking?”

“Please, bear with me, my thoughts are all over the place because I have so much to say.”

“Take your time, we’re not going anywhere.”

“Thank you for that. Now, we all know that both you and Clark own my ranch and I have living rights to it.” He paused and looked at the two with raised brows.

“That’s correct,” they both said as one.

“Okay, now that the people after you and your ranch are taken care of, I think it’s imperative that we jump on what’s happening with Naomi. You know, get a handle on it and strike before they know what hit them. Get in, get out, before they know what happened. We become the victors.”

“What do you propose?” Naomi asked into the silence that followed his statement. She’d picked up a pen and pulled some paper toward her, like she was ready to take notes. “Though he has no legal right to it, I like the idea of taking the ranch out from under my father, and I’ve been wracking my brain on how to do that. There are so many other factors to consider with the horses, the tack, the equipment, and Cole.” She looked at Clark with a shrug. “That’s why I’ve been tossing and turning at night. I know I shouldn’t have, but I wanted to get it straight in my head before I came to you with any idea I had.” She tapped the side of her head like she’d seen Pru do numerous times. “Nothing.”

“I understand,” Clark said as he stood, dragged his chair to the other side of the desk, and sat down beside her. He looked at Ducky. “What do you have in mind?”

“Okay, first, I want to tell you that this is all just brainstorming. I figure if I can get my thoughts out, then you, being a former LT on a SEAL team can fine tune my ideas and work this as a mission.”

“I understand. Tell us what you have in mind.”

“First, as I said, I have living rights to my ranch, we all know my grandchildren don’t want it, which is fine. However, what isn’t fine for me is allowing it to sit there unused. It breaks my heart that I can’t do anything.” He turned to Erin and sighed heavily. “I know this might be putting pressure on you, but have you ever given any thought to what you might do with my ranch after I’m gone?”

“Not really,” Erin answered honestly. She shrugged. “I’m sorry if that upsets you, but with Erin’s Way, Riceman Stallions, The Broken Wheel, and now the new construction, I haven’t even given it a thought. I figured I had a few more years to figure something out.”

“Okay, thank you for being honest with me. I think I came up with a plan. If this can all work out, I would be willing to oversee the work that needs to be done.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not trying to step on any toes, but from what I’ve observed, Ryan, Manny, and Scott don’t really have anything to do here. Not that they don’t keep busy, but with my plan, I think I can kill several birds with one stone.”

“Take a breath, Ducky,” Erin laughed. When he did, she nodded, “Now, what do you propose?”

“One, I know it wouldn’t take a lot to convert my chicken barns into horse stalls. The structure is solid, all you need is lumber to build the stalls. I’m proposing that Ryan oversee that project. If I did my figures correctly, each barn can hold twenty stalls, and I have three barns.” He paused when the Ricemans looked at each other in shock, then whistled.

“Really? They’re that big?” Erin asked in shock, but she straightened in her chair and took the paper and pen Naomi had pushed toward her. “Go on,” she said with her pen poised above the paper.

“Yes, and this is figuring each stall is ten feet wide, and ten on each side. The electric, water, and fans are already there, and in working order. I’m sure it wouldn’t take anything to add a loft to store some hay.”

“Will it offend you if I contact my architect and engineer and go over the buildings and come up with plans?” Erin asked.

“It would offend me if you didn’t,” Ducky replied, then took the seat Manny brought over to him. Once he settled, he nodded, and continued, “Now that the barns are out of the way, I was thinking that we could send Manny and Scott out to help us.”

“Where, and help us how?” Clark barked out. He looked at the two men and saw they didn’t have any problem with what Ducky had just said. He had retired by the time they’d gone on their last mission, but he still felt responsible for them. Now that he knew they were safe and on Riceman property, he would look out for them like he did when they had been on the same SEAL team.

“Like I said earlier, let’s tackle the problem with Naomi head on. Why don’t we send one of them to Naomi’s ranch and they can be undercover. You know, get the lay of the land, see what’s happening, talk to the man in charge. Then slowly, with the manager’s permission or help, or whatever you want to call it, we can come up with something along the lines that someone bought a horse or two, depending on how many are there, and load them up to bring them here. Well, not here, but over to my ranch. We can turn that into what The Double A did.”

Erin whipped her head around to Naomi. “Just what type of horses did you raise?”

“Some were bred for racing, others were bred for rodeo riding.”

“Wow, would you have a problem with what Ducky’s saying?”

“Not at all. The only thing I can think of right now is what about Patrick Clemmons? I’d like him here to help oversee the building of those stables.” She looked at each person there in the eye, before she continued, “I love everything Erin’s Way, Riceman Stallions, and The Broken Wheel ranch stands for. However, if we are going to turn Ducky’s ranch into the new Double A, then I would want Clem and Cole there. I trust the two of them with not only the horses, but also my life.”

“That’s the other part of my plan,” Ducky said with a grin. “I’m not saying who does what, but say if Scott goes to The Double A, then Manny could go look for Clemmons. If it’s okay with Erin, I’d like to continue to stay here at the cabins and your manager and Clemmons could stay in my house.” He furrowed his brow, then sighed heavily. “I hope it’s good enough for now. We can always work on updating the house later.”

Everyone sat there in silence for several minutes, before Manny spoke, “Scott and I haven’t talked it over yet, but I kind of like the idea of going to your ranch, Naomi. I could hire on as a hand. I don’t know if you have contact with the person in charge there, but I’d want him to know who I am and why I’m there.”

“That’s where we can work with Carter Manning with the Brotherhood Protectors out of Yellowstone,” Erin spoke then. “He’s the one that’s been keeping an eye on things. Once we tell him our plans, then you can go see him.” She looked at the other man sitting silently at Clark’s ‘desk’. “What about you, Scott? What’s your thoughts on this?”

“I don’t have a problem with what Manny or Ducky said.” He shrugged. “I can go look for this Clemmons person and tell him what we’ve planned, and get him here. However, before we do anything, there is one problem I see, and it has the potential to be a major one.”

“What’s that?” Clark stiffened as he asked.

“Both Manny and I still have our personal vehicles and possessions in Los Angeles. I think before we do anything, we should fly there and get our things. We can leave from LA to set out on our missions.” He shrugged, and shook his head. “This way, if Naomi’s father or the person he’s working with do any background checks on us, which we have to think they might, but then again, they might not, it would depend on how smart they are, but anyway, it would look that we came from California and not here in Colorado. Clark, you know all our personal vehicles had to be registered for California, even if we lived on base.”

“I like that idea,” Naomi said quickly before Clark could answer. “Like you said, I don’t suspect Benson as having the smarts to do something like that, but maybe this Mr. Big, or any of his people might. One thing we have to remember…” She paused as she looked between Erin and Clark. With them looking at her, she nodded once. “Mr. Big was one of the three men that grew up together. The three brothers that Carter Manning told us about. Miller and Royal are now in jail, and if they talk, then they will be pointing fingers at Erin and this ranch. I’d like to physically stay out of things. I’ll only appear when it is absolutely necessary.”

“What do you mean by that? Physically?” Manny asked.

“Like, I don’t want to go to The Double A. I don’t need Benson to know that I’m walking. I don’t need Mr. Big and his goons to know what I look like. I don’t know what photos, if any, might still be at the home, but I do know that I took most of them when I left there after my accident. I don’t need them to know that I work for Erin. I trust Carter Manning with Brotherhood Protectors to get word to Cole Mercury and allow us to have phone conversations without the phones being tapped.” She shrugged. “If it all goes as planned, like you just said, Ducky, then I think once the horses are safe, and Cole, and Clem are here with the horses, then I’ll contact the local authorities and have them go with me so I can walk the house and barns with a real estate agent and put it up for sale.” She studied the expressions on the others’ faces and nodded only once. “I’ll make sure the local authorities know what’s going on the entire time. You know, give them copies of the necessary paperwork to prove that I am the rightful owner. There is no way in hell I will turn over the original documents to anyone unless I can run them through Jake or Carter, and know that they are on the up and up, and not in Mr. Big’s back pocket.”

“Before you do that,” Scott spoke up. “Why don’t we tell my brother-in-law, Duane Manchester with the FBI what’s going on? He’s wanting to retire, and maybe once we get your people and animals here, we can call him in and see what you can do about selling the ranch.” He turned his entire attention to Clark. “No offense to you and the rest of the guys, but I think in a case like this, we should have legal backup. I don’t know whether this means anything or not, but we will be moving those horses across state lines. That will be on the federal level. We’re going to want someone with clout in our back pocket for something like this.”

“I agree.” Clark nodded. “It would be the smart thing to do since we wouldn’t have the backup of the military.” He turned to look at Naomi. “I also agree with you not being there in person until everything is said and done. Once the animals are safe, and your own men, then we can go, quote, visit, unquote.”

Erin giggled from her seat. “You could play it that you had a long hard road to recovery and wanted to go back home, then when there’s nothing there, you could yell at Benson and demand what he did. Somehow turn it back onto him that there are no horses there. Throw it in his face that you know what he did with Princess, and demand to know what he did with the rest of the horses. I’m sure Clark has some leftover military stuff where he could get it all on video. If he doesn’t, I’m sure Jake can hook him up.”

Naomi laughed as she reached across the desk and high-fived her boss and friend. “Yeah, I can see Benson being completely clueless as to the horses being removed from right under his nose. There’s only one problem I see right now.”

“What’s that?” Erin asked.

“One, this shouldn’t be a problem, but in the past, I know for a fact that Benson does not have access to the bank records of The Double A. He receives an allowance every month. The good thing about that process is his money goes away, or rather, it disappears when and if I sell the ranch. It’s written in Grandpa’s will that way. We’re going to have to come up with some sort of bill of sale on the horses, but make it so Benson won’t get suspicious that I’m taking my own horses away from him.”

“We can come up with something,” Erin said as she nodded. “I’m assuming you don’t want any mention of Riceman on the bills of sale.”

“Correct. I’d really like it if nothing from the state of Colorado is on it.”

“Let me do some checking.” Erin nodded, then turned to Scott. “Can you give me your brother-in-law’s contact information and I can tell him what we’re doing? Maybe he can have an FBI agent from that area meet with Carter Manning with the Yellowstone branch of Brotherhood Protectors and they can help us along the way. Legal, but behind the scenes.”

“I can.”

“But first,” Clark said as he held up his hand to stop Scott from pulling out his phone to get that information. “Let’s go back to step one and go over to Ducky’s ranch and walk the barns.”

“Wait!” Ducky called out as they stood, ready to leave the office. “I know you guys probably know this, but this mission won’t be an overnight thing. Depending on who does what, but whoever goes to The Double A has to stay there until we have at least one barn full of stables. If Scott finds this Clem person before we get the horses here, then he can help Ryan and me with getting the rest of the barns converted.” He then turned and gave all his attention to Erin. “You’re going to have to talk to your guys about coming over and checking out my fields for hay this year.”

“I like that idea, and the idea of going over to look at the barns,” Erin said, and they all rose to head out the door. On the way out, Clark saw Ryan walking toward him and asked him to come with them. Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the driveway of Ducky’s ranch, and with Clark leading the way, he slowed down to look at it from the perspective of being a new horse farm, and not the chicken farm he knew it to be while he’d lived at home. He parked, and waited to get out until the others parked. Luckily, Ryan and Erin had ridden with him and Naomi, and on the way, they’d explained what they wanted to do, so Ryan was up to speed on what his new job, should he agree to take it, would be.