Manny’s Mission (Broken Wheel Ranch #7)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

“What’s up?” Ann and Manny said at the same time as the older man stopped before them.

“I just got off the phone with Duane Manchester.”

“Who’s that?” Ann asked with a scowl.

“FBI,” Manny said. “What did he say?”

“He’s in the process of faxing me the papers to get the first load of horses out of here. I’ll organize the paperwork, and we can get started first thing in the morning.”

“How many?” Ann asked.

“Seven, along with whatever tack we can load.” Cole rubbed the back of his neck, then looked at Manny. “Do you think your truck can haul the horse trailer?”

“It should, why?”

“The Double A is painted on our trucks, and I don’t want to take the chance that Benson has any of the local law in his pocket. I know when I go there on occasion to pay the bills, I don’t run into any problems, but you never know if they report back to Benson after I leave. I know I shouldn’t say this, but I just don’t trust anyone these days.”

“Ah, Erin said something like that. Yeah, I should be able to haul it.”

“Also, do you think you could carry a few boxes in the back of your truck? The horse trailer will be hitched to your bumper, not one of the fifth wheels.”

“Sure, but what will I be hauling?”

“My things. Not all of it, but I figured if I could load up my stuff and have you take it to Colorado, by the time the last load of horses leave here, then I should be able to pack the last of my things in my own truck.”

“Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Will we be pulling out tomorrow?”

“I was hoping you guys,” he said, then whipped his head around to look at Ann. “You’re going with him.” He held up his hand and shook his head. “The horses are more important than I am. I would feel better if you went with Manny, and I can stay back here and get the next batch of horses ready.” He turned back to Manny. “It should take you two days, since it’s only five hundred and sixty plus miles.”

“Yeah, two days should be fine.” Ann nodded. “I’ll go with him and share the driving.”

“Good, because Duane said something about the fact that some men might be coming back with you so we can get the rest of the horses out of here in one last haul.”

“I like that idea.” Manny nodded. “I don’t know how long Benson and Big will be gone, but the faster we’re out of here, the faster we can get everyone safe.”

“That’s what Duane and Erin said. I agree with it also.” They stood there for several minutes before he nodded. “I won’t keep you, go ahead and call it a night, and be here at five in the morning. Make sure you pack plenty of food, and Ann, I know I don’t need to tell you what to do, but I think it would be best if you pack up what you brought with you, and take it. Only keep a travel bag you can bring back and forth here at the ranch.”

“Understood.” She nodded and the younger couple turned to head out the door, but Manny stopped them with a hand on her arm as he whipped around to call out.

“Cole!”

“What’s up?”

“What about the vehicles with The Double A logo on them? What will you do with them?”

“They are in the ranch’s name, and since Naomi is the owner of the ranch, they will come with us. However, we didn’t want to raise suspicion just yet. The guys that will be coming back with you will ride together in one or two trucks and they will be driving one of our trucks out of here.”

“Got it,” Manny said and he turned on his heel and hurried to catch up with Ann. They both got into their individual trucks, then again, Manny waited for Ann to lead the way to the barracks. Neither of them said a word as they went inside. After cleaning up, they met in the kitchen and Manny manned the grill after they made up some burgers together. Ann looked at him at one time with a scowl of confusion as she pulled a bowl from the refrigerator.

“What is this?”

“Oh, boiled potatoes. I did them up as I put away the groceries. I figured we could make potato salad for dinner. I didn’t have the time to make the actual salad, but I boiled the potatoes and let them get cold.”

“Perfect,” she said with a grin. “Did you pick up any ears of corn?”

“Yes, they’re soaking in salt water. I started them before I went in for my shower.”

“Damn, you know how to cook.”

“I do, and I really enjoy it, however, it was always easier to go to the mess tent. I’m finding my love for cooking again since being out of the service and at Broken.” He grabbed the utensils he saw for the grill earlier and headed outside, taking the tray of burgers with him.

When he returned the tray was loaded down with cooked burgers, and six ears of corn. He smiled when he saw that Ann had whipped up a salad with the potatoes and they quickly sat down to eat.

“Why so many burgers?” she asked at one time after she was finished with her first one. He had cooked ten of them.

“I figured whatever we didn’t eat tonight, we could always wrap in foil and take them with us on the road tomorrow. While I was manning the grill, I looked it up on Google Maps and saw that yes, it was five hundred and sixty miles, but it was also eight hours. If we can pull out of here by noon, that’s fine, but I don’t know what the weather will be like and I don’t want to push the horses. I figured we could take turns driving, and if we had to, we could pull off for the night in a roadside rest stop. Not the entire night, but at least for a couple of hours.”

“Okay, that would save us on a hotel. Not that I can’t afford a room, but I really don’t want to leave the horses unattended for long. I’m sure a couple of hours down time will be fine.”

“Yeah, if we pushed, it would get us there by eight at night, but it would all depend on what time we get out of here tomorrow. If it’s before noon, then I would have no problem pushing through.”

“Me either. I’ll help with the driving, and I want you to promise me that if you get tired, you’ll let me know. No offense of your previous military experience, but being a man and not asking for help will put the horses in jeopardy, as well as both of us.”

“I know. I think I can drive comfortable for three hours.”

“Then we’ll plan on that. Switch out every three hours. We can stop, get out, walk around, get something to drink, then head out with a new driver. Get gas when we have to and use the facilities.”

“I like that idea.”

They continued with their supper, and after they cleaned up, she looked at him intently. “I don’t have much, but I’m going to go pack my things. Do you happen to have a tarp in your truck?”

“I don’t, why?”

“I don’t need it, but I thought that maybe we could lay a tarp down in the back, load up Cole’s things, then cover the boxes, if he’s using boxes, with a tarp. Like you said, we don’t know what the weather will be like, and there’s no sense in getting his possessions wet.”

“Got it, I saw a couple of them still in their original packaging in the tack room earlier. I’ll get them first thing in the morning, and I think we should load his stuff up first before we hook up the trailer.”

“I agree.” They spent the next thirty minutes discussing how they would load up everything, and when they went their separate ways, they went to their rooms to get ready to pack up to go back to Colorado. Manny didn’t have much, so he went to the kitchen and decided to make up food to take with them so they didn’t have to try to find someplace to park the horse trailer to run in and grab a meal to go. By the time he went to bed that night, he was exhausted, and for the first time in months he was able to get four solid hours of sleep before the nightmares began. When he woke in a cold sweat, he lay there until his heart stopped trying to beat out of his chest, grabbed his phone and nodded that it was three in the morning. Knowing he wouldn’t get back to sleep, he rose, showered, packed his bag, and because he had a couple days’ worth of clothes, he tossed them in the washer on his way to the kitchen. By the time Ann joined him he was standing in front of the television with the weather channel turned down low, folding his clothes, and pausing to sip his coffee.

“Coffee’s done.”

“What time did you get up? Did you get any sleep?”

“Some.” At her look, he sighed heavily. “Four hours before the nightmares woke me. I did up my laundry, and there are breakfast sandwiches already cooked and wrapped, if you want one of those, or I can whip up something else.”

“No, these are fine,” she said as she grabbed one, opened it, and took a bite. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “So good.”

Manny smiled as he stuffed his folded and rolled clothes in his seabag, then joined her in the kitchen. “If we’re going to go and get back right away, the food in the refrigerator should keep. If you don’t mind, depending on who is coming back with us, I thought they could stay here.”

“That’s fine, where will I be staying in Colorado?”

“Probably one of the big cabins, there are four bedrooms each with their own bath in each cabin. Two of them. Everyone else has individual cabins. Unless someone else has been hired, or Scott is back, one cabin has Scott and me staying in it, and the other one is empty. I’m sure you could stay there.”

“Got it.” She wiped the crumbs off her face, filled her coffee cup, then walked into her bedroom and brought out her own seabag. They stayed silent as they filled travel mugs, made sure all the lights were off, then walked out the door. Together they put both of their bags in the back seat of the truck, the bags with the food, and climbed in his truck. Manny held open the passenger side door for her, and went around to get in the driver’s side. They still remained silent as they headed to the barn.

“Damn,” Manny said hours later as he settled his ass in the seat and looked at the clock on the dash of the truck as he drove away from the barn.

“What?” Ann asked in confusion.

“It’s only nine-thirty. We’re way ahead of schedule.”

“Yeah, the three of us worked like a well-oiled machine. I liked it. Does Erin know we’re coming?”

“Probably, but Cole was going to call her when we have left the property.”

“Got it, I know there’s going to be a few areas where we won’t have any cell signals.”

“Got it.” Manny nodded and smiled when he realized that the both of them always seemed to say the same thing when they understood the other. He liked that they were in harmony like that, and they settled into a comfortable silence as they headed south. True to his word, he stopped three hours later, and because it had been almost eight hours since he’d eaten breakfast, after they used the facilities at the rest stop, he dug into the cooler and pulled out the wrapped hamburgers from the night before. They both devoured two of them, and shared the potato salad. After only stopping for an hour, they were underway again, this time with Ann behind the wheel. They didn’t encounter any problems, and at one point, after Ann had only been driving for an hour on her second turn behind the wheel, Manny sat up and pointed out of the windshield.

“You’re going to want to slow down here.”

“Why?”

“This is the entrance to Ducky’s ranch. If you recall, I called Erin at our last rest stop and told her where we were. She told me to bring the horses directly to Ducky’s, where everyone will be waiting for us.”

“Okay.” She slowed down and made the turn. She tried not to have her head on a swivel, but wasn’t very successful. The harder she looked, the slower she went. When Manny chuckled beside her. “You can look when we stop. There’s going to be a forty-five degree turn up ahead. Once you make that, it’s a straight shot to the barn.”

Ann nodded and concentrated on her driving. Twelve minutes later, she eased the brakes and brought the truck to a stop, put it in park, and looked at him with a grin.

“Damn, that’s a lot of people.”

“Yeah. The man and woman striding toward us, ahead of everyone else are Erin and Clark Riceman, brother and sister. Both of them own this ranch, and until the paperwork goes through, only Erin owns the other ranch.” He looked at her with a grin. “It’s complicated.”

They opened their doors and stepped out. Manny only winced twice when he stretched, and appreciated the fact that none of the men slapped him on the back, hugged him, or tried to rush him. When he was steady, he nodded to them. He looked over at Ann as she climbed out of the truck, and stared in shock as Opal rushed forward with a small scream.

“Oakley?” Opal asked, and Manny watched as Ann whipped around, and he had to suck in his breath at the joyous grin that came across her face.

“Morris!” The two women met a few feet from each other and hugged each other. They stepped back with a grin for each other.

Opal looked around wildly, then laughed. “Ann was a better soldier than I was.”

“Excuse me.” Denver made his way forward to stand beside Opal with a fierce scowl on his face.

“Put a sock in it,” Opal laughed as she used her stump to hit his chest, and Manny smirked with the other men when he reached up and rubbed his chest. “I only meant that while I was regular Army, Oakley here was a Ranger.”

“Oh, wow,” Denver said, then held his hand out to her. They all introduced themselves, then Ann looked around wildly.

“Where’s Naomi?”

“Here,” a beautiful woman said as she walked forward slowly, using a cane.

“Hey, Cole told me to give you this,” she said as she handed her the folder she’d brought out of the truck with her. “That’s the papers Duane Manchester with the FBI gave us. We didn’t run into any problems at all, and once we get the horses unloaded, then we have some things in the back of the truck that need to go someplace.”

Erin laughed. “What type of things?”

“Oh, Cole sent his things in the truck. He thought it would be easier to send some with each load of horses so that when it actually comes down to it most of his stuff will already be here.”

“That was smart planning. Let’s walk the barns and then get these horses unloaded. You’ve been on the road since ten this morning?”

“Nine thirty, but we made good time. We only stopped every three hours to switch drivers.”

“Got it.” Erin led the way, Manny smirked at her response, and with Ann and Manny walking side by side, they listened as Ryan, the man with an eye patch, started explaining the layout.

“Wow,” Ann said. “I’m impressed that this used to be a chicken barn.”

“Thank you,” an older gentleman said with a grin. “I’m Ducky, by the way.”

“Hello, I’m Ann.” She stuck out her hand and giggled when he took it and kissed the back of it.

“Once the horses are unloaded, we can take this Cole person’s things into the house.”

It took three hours to unload everything, and Ann stayed to make sure the horses were settled. She also noted that Naomi was right there with the horses, and it shocked Ann that the horses seemed to know her. By the time everything was done, it was decided that they would leave to go back to Wyoming in two days, giving Ann and Manny time to rest up.

“You can stay in one of the cabins,” Erin said at one point, and because the trailer was unhooked from the truck, they left it there, and drove over to Broken Wheel.

Ann sat in stunned silence as Manny stopped at the rise and she was able to look out over the entire ranch.

“This is only Broken,” Manny mumbled. “The ranch we drove past when we first entered the driveway is Erin’s Way. There is plenty more to see, but I think we need to get settled for the night.”

“Yeah.” Ann couldn’t think of anything else to say, and allowed Manny to guide her into a cabin, and then into a bedroom. By the time she settled into bed for the night it was almost midnight. She was so exhausted, she hoped the nightmares would hold off so she could get a good night’s sleep.