Manny’s Mission (Broken Wheel Ranch #7)

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Manny was just putting the water into the coffee pot the next morning when Ann came out of her side of the building, fully dressed for work on the ranch. They only nodded at one another as she walked past him to get items from the refrigerator for their breakfast. Neither of them said anything to the other, but they worked together in silence, anticipating what the other wanted or needed.

Halfway through their breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, she looked at him with a scowl.

“What?” Manny was so in tune with her that he felt rather than saw her expression.

“You’ll be going to town to get groceries today, correct?”

Manny smirked into his forkful of food, because the way she worded her question, wasn’t really a question at all. He took it as a definite statement.

“Of course, I’ll leave as soon as we clean up from here. You’ll just have to give me directions.” He smirked again when she stared at him in shock at his statement, but he only shrugged and finished eating. An hour later, after they’d eaten, cleaned the kitchen, and gone through the cupboards to get a list going, they both left the bunkhouse. Manny paused beside his truck and looked at Ann with a raised brow.

“What?” She was surly in her question.

“You’ll tell Cole where I am?”

“Yes.” She wasn’t as curt in her answer and waved a hand between them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Yeah, me too. I’ll be back as quick as I can. I’ll drop the groceries off here, then come over to the barn. Who knows, maybe we can hear back from Erin today and we can get the ball rolling.”

“That would be wonderful.” Ann nodded as she headed toward her truck, then turned and looked at him.

“What?” He knew by her stance and expression that she wanted to ask him something. “Just ask.”

“Okay,” she said, then remained silent. Manny waited until the emotions he saw flashing in her eyes dimmed, then nodded when she looked fully at him. “Is Erin Riceman hiring?” She shrugged and looked off to the side before she looked back at him. “It’s not like Patterson will have a job ready for me once I’m done here with Cole.” She shrugged again as she sighed heavily. “I thought with all those other former military people there, I might have a chance at getting a job in Colorado. I have no family, so I won’t be leaving anyone in a lurch.”

“Give me your information, and I’ll call Erin on my way to town.” He pulled out a small pad of paper and got the information he needed. When he put the paper back in his pocket, he looked directly at her. “I’m not saying she’ll hire you for Broken or Erin’s Way, but there might be room for you at The New Double A. Last I heard they were working on getting some type of barracks or bunkhouse built.”

“I’ll stay in the hay loft if I have to,” Ann rushed to reassure him, but Manny only shook his head.

“Let me call Erin.” He went to his truck and climbed in. He waited until Ann left before he looked at the directions, then sent a quick text to Erin with Ann’s information along with a quick message. He headed to town and went over the grocery list mentally as he drove for almost an hour to get to the store.

Three hours later, he had just climbed back into his truck after loading the groceries in the truck, put the cart back, and climbed into the cab. He was finishing a bottle of water when his phone rang. Before he answered it, he turned the truck on, and made sure the air conditioner was blasting.

“Sanchez,” Manny said into his phone and he adjusted the flow of the air so it hit him in the face. He had found that while he was healing from being tortured, if he did anything strenuous, then he would sweat more than usual, and he didn’t like it. He hoped that once he was fully healed it would stop, and made a mental note to talk to a doctor when he got one after this mission was over.

“It’s Erin,” came the voice over the phone.

“Oh, hey, do we have the go ahead to make the first shipment?”

“Almost, Naomi and I went over the files last night, and she told me the ones she wanted here first. I contacted Duane, and he’s getting the paperwork ready.”

“Okay, tell me again why the FBI are making these fudged papers?”

“We don’t know if Percy Biggins, or Benson Alcott has the local law in their pocket. If not the locals, then what about the next town over, you know? Maybe even someone at the state level. What’s to say that if you moved them without this paperwork that the locals won’t pull you over and try to arrest you for horse theft? I’m just trying to cover all my bases so we don’t get into any trouble with anyone.”

“Shit, I never thought of it like that. That aspect never crossed my mind.”

“Yeah, and because of what Benson already did by producing fake ownership papers on the horse that was drugged and killed, which caused Naomi’s accident, I wouldn’t put it past him to try to say those horses are his. Thankfully, the paperwork Cole faxed to me has the original dates of purchase on them. He kept the originals in a safe, and whatever he had in his desk Benson had access to.”

“Got it. So, what? Later today, or tomorrow?”

“Correct. I just wanted to give you the heads up, but I also called for another reason.”

“What’s that?”

“I seriously looked into the message you sent me earlier. I also contacted Jake, who contacted his boss, Hank Patterson.”

“About?” For the life of him, Manny couldn’t think why Erin would go through all those channels.

“Ann Oakley.”

“Oh, about her coming to work for Broken?”

“Not necessarily Broken, but The New Double A is going to need hands. I’ve talked with her bosses, but I’d like to talk to her directly. Do you happen to have her number on you?”

“I don’t, I’m sorry. I’m sitting in the parking lot of a grocery store, and she’s about an hour away from here back at The Double A. Would you like me to tell her to call you when I see her again?”

“Please. I have her information, but before I talk to her, can you tell me your honest opinion of her? Does she have any challenges?”

“Yes, and no on the challenges. I don’t know whether I should tell you her story or not.”

“That’s fine, I’ll get it when I talk to her. Can you answer me this? What is your gut instinct with her?”

“Loyal.” Manny didn’t hesitate to answer. “Fierce, loyal, protective of both Cole and the horses. Sad.”

“What do you mean by sad?”

“She told me her story, and she didn’t come right out and say it, but I think she blames herself for what happened. I do know that though she doesn’t seem to be physically challenged like some of you ladies, and Reid, but she has a scar from ear to ear on her neck. I’ll say this briefly. She was on a mission, it went south, she was taken by surprise and a knife was held to her neck. When her teammates killed her captor, the way he fell slit her wide open.”

“Shit.” Erin whispered, and Manny nodded his head, even though she couldn’t see him.

“Yeah, she showed it to me, because I have to be honest here with you, Erin.”

“About?”

“When I arrived here after driving for six hours straight, I damn near passed out. I told her my story in case it happened again. She saw my scars, but didn’t comment. During dinner last night, we exchanged stories and we compared scars.”

“May I ask why you would do that? I know to look at you that you can’t tell what you went through. Why would you reveal them to her?”

“Because she wears a bandana around her neck, and I asked her about it. She was very closed off, but once I told her my story, and showed her the results of what I went through, she opened up.”

“Got it, other than her story, do you think she’d be a good fit for what we do here at Riceman Ranch? Be it Erin’s Way, Riceman Stallions, Broken Wheel, and now The New Double A?”

“I think she would be a good fit with The New Double A. She’s beginning to know these horses, since she’s been here for almost a month already. I’ve seen that they seem to trust her too.”

“That tells me a lot about a person. Thank you for being honest with me, Manny. Please, get Ann to contact me, give her my cell phone number. I’ll be in and out all day and won’t be close to the office phone. I’ll let you know as soon as I get the papers from Duane.”

“Thanks, Erin,” Manny said as he hung up. He continued to sit there for several minutes, lost in his own thoughts before he gave himself a shake, winced as it pulled on his healing cuts, put the truck in gear, and headed for home. Not that The Double A was his home, but it was for now, so he headed in that direction.

Manny didn’t see Ann until later that afternoon and since he’d returned, he’d put the groceries away, and he had made himself a sandwich along with one for Ann. Not knowing what she liked, he left the bread bare, but hoped there were some condiments in the refrigerator in the break room at the barn. It took him at least forty-five minutes to find her, and when he did, he stood there and watched as she rode a horse out in the paddock. To him, she was like poetry in motion.

He gave a start when the horse stopped before him, then he looked up in shock when he heard Ann’s laughter.

“I wouldn’t have hit you.”

“I know, but I was lost in thought.” He shook his head, then looked at her with a grin. “You were poetry in motion out there riding.”

“Thank you.” She wouldn’t look at him, but he saw her cheeks turn pink. To defuse the awkward situation, he grinned as he held up the small baggie in his hand.

“Lunch?”

“What do you have?”

“A roast beef sandwich.”

“I’m starving, I forgot to pack something.” She hopped off the horse and with the reins in her hand, they walked into the barn together. Manny stood off to the side while she took care of the horse, then they walked toward the breakroom. Because his own sandwich was also inside the bag, he opened it and took them both out. He looked at her with a smile.

“I didn’t know what you wanted, and hoped there would be condiments here.”

“There are,” Ann said with a laugh as she washed her hands, then went to the refrigerator. In no time they both doctored their sandwiches, and Ann actually giggled when she saw the two bags of chips, and several different varieties of cookies in the middle of the table. Neither of them said a word as they ate.

“That hit the spot, thank you.”

“It was nothing. Now that I’ve fed you,” he said with a grin. “I need to talk to you.”

“About?”

“I sent a text to Erin with your information before I left for the store. She contacted Jake, who contacted Carter, who contacted Hank.”

“Okay, got it, but who is Jake?”

“Jake Cogburn, he runs the Fool’s Gold division of Brotherhood.”

“Is that close to where Erin lives?”

“About an hour away.”

“Okay, so what did she have to say?” She hadn’t realized she was worried until she felt the nails of her fingers digging into her palms. It took several minutes before she was able to relax her fists enough to not draw blood.

“She said that everything checks out with them, and that she has no problem with you coming to live and work in Colorado.”

“But?”

“But, she would like to talk to you first, to get to know you.” He looked at her and shook his head at her. “Be honest. Erin will be the first one to stick up for you, but if you’re not honest, she won’t give you the time of day.”

“Got it.” Ann nodded, then scowled as Manny pulled out his phone, accessed something, set it on the table and pushed it toward her. “This is her cell phone number. She said to call her on that because she’d be in and out all day and wouldn’t hear the office line.”

“Got it,” Ann said as she pulled her own phone out and programed the number into hers. She looked at Manny as she pushed his phone back to him. “I’ll go give her a call now.”

“Okay, but what do you want me to do?”

“Can you continue cleaning the tack?”

“I can,” he said, and cleaned up their lunch, then after using the facilities, he went to where he had worked the day before and kept his head down until he heard something and looked up to see Ann standing there.

“You okay?”

“Yes, are you ready to call it a night?”

Shocked by her question, he looked at his watch, then at her with a grin. “I hadn’t realized it was that late.”

“Yeah, I worked late,” she said, and helped him clean up, then they walked toward the front of the barn. Just before they reached the entrance, they heard someone call out for them to stop. They turned to see Cole hurrying toward them.