Manny’s Mission (Broken Wheel Ranch #7)

Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

The next day, Clark came out of the bedroom area around five in the morning, and joined the other men already awake and in the kitchen. The first thing he did was pour himself a cup of coffee, then settle in at the table. The only men there were Manny, Denver, and Lloyd. “Morning,” he mumbled as he sipped his coffee.

Manny waited until he’d finished his first cup of coffee before rising to get the pot to refill their cups, then he started another pot. With that brewing he settled back in his seat.

“What’s on the agenda for today, Boss?” Manny asked quietly, and sucked in his breath as Clark looked at them with anguish in his eyes.

“Before anyone objects to what I’m about to propose, please, hear me out. I think with Biggins, Benson, along with that woman behind bars, and in FBI custody, there’s no reason for the rest of you to stay here.” Clark looked at his former team mates and friends and saw they weren’t going to resist what he had to say. He shook he head as he looked at them. “Don’t get me wrong, I trust the women at home one hundred percent with the running of Broken, however, what I think is that we shouldn’t leave them alone for any length of time. Taking Benson and the others into custody happened quicker than we anticipated, and there’s nothing to do now until Naomi and the lawyer gather all the proper paperwork. That is, once Duane and Carter do their background checks on the alleged lawyer that arrived yesterday. We can’t move forward until we know he’s on our side. So, basically, Naomi and I are in a hurry up and wait situation. It makes no sense for you guys to stick around.” Clark looked directly at Manny as he said his next part, “I would like you to get with Ryan and talk to him about his ideas. He has good ones and has discussed them with Erin, and has her approval. I would like you to work with him, and when he’s comfortable turning the reins of what he’s doing over to you, then he’s going to be picking up my reins of working with Broken Two. Right now, he’s just basically running back and forth to make sure everything is running smoothly with the construction crews.”

“You want me to take over half of his load so he can concentrate on Broken Two?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Manny liked that Clark didn’t mince his words. That was what made Clark a great leader. “How healed are you? Erin and I gave the task of overseeing the building of the stable to Ryan because he hadn’t completely healed yet. On a scale of one to ten, ten being return to active duty, carrying your full pack, and going on a mission, how do you rate yourself?”

“Shit,” Manny didn’t hesitate to answer. “As much as I want to say a ten, I’m going to have to go with a four.”

“Why a four?” Lloyd frowned at him. “No offense, but may I physically see your wounds? We only heard about them.”

Manny slowly rose to his feet, and instead of only lifting his shirt halfway, he removed the entire thing and all the men started swearing. It was Denver that rose and turned him to see the scar almost in the middle of his back. Though he couldn’t see it, Manny could still feel that it wasn’t completely healed yet.

“What’s this one from?”

Manny put his shirt back on, went to the finished pot, and because his hand shook, Denver came over and filled his cup, then the others. No one said a word until he spoke. “The fuckers tried to take one of my kidneys. They didn’t know I understood what they were saying, and we didn’t know that they’d drawn our blood after they took us captive. That’s why I’m thinking Scott and I were kept together. We are both O-neg.”

“Shit, the universal donor. What? Those fuckers thought they could take a kidney and put it into someone else because you have O-neg blood?”

“That was the gist of the conversation, yeah. The other scars are where they tortured us before they realized we had that particular blood type.” He paused, then looked at the others in shock. “Oh, shit.”

“What?” Clark demanded from the expression on Manny’s face.

“I don’t know how much Carter told you, and I don’t particularly like to talk about that time, but I’m wondering now if they disemboweled Broome because they were looking to see where the kidney is positioned in the body. Maybe they needed to see it up close and personal, and see if they could attach one of ours to whomever they were going to harvest it for.”

“Fuck,” the others all swore, and no one spoke for a good five minutes after that. It was Manny who broke the silence.

“Yes, I will get with Ryan and see what he wants me to do. Can you give me a heads up on what I’m walking into?”

“Sure, after Ryan started on the lofts and stalls, he had Erin come over, and as you saw, each barn has their own quarantine stall, and their own tack room. Ryan also had approached Erin with the possibility of putting in more cabins like the ladies of Broken already live in.”

“Where?” Perry asked.

“On the other side of the larger cabins. If you’re driving down the lane from the barn, your cabins are on the left, the two larger ones are on the right. The new cabins will be out behind those larger cabins. Still each with the same plot of land as what you guys are in now.” He saw their nods, then grinned. “Those are in addition to a bunkhouse for any people that come and work at The New Double A.”

“You’re going to want me to oversee the builders for these cabins, or the bunkhouse?”

“Yes,” Clark said with a grin, and the others laughed. Clark held up his hand and turned serious. “I will be staying here with Naomi, and I don’t know how long this will take. I know that we won’t be staying as long as it takes to go to trial, but long enough to make sure Long has the correct information to represent her in court. I do know that we have an interview with her insurance company for Princess later this morning. Thankfully, Duane Manchester had a fellow agent from white collar crimes look into the matter when it was first mentioned. Both FBI agents will be going with us to the insurance company.”

“If I remember correctly, they’re not the same company, are they?” Manny asked. “Hers and Benson’s?”

“No, and Naomi has the documentation to back up her claim that she was the rightful owner. She also has the reports from when they did the necropsy, and evidence of the drug, plus the video. That’s what we’ll be dealing with here. I know Naomi left the operation of Broken in the ladies’ hands, and I’m not sure exactly which one will be taking over until we can return. That’s between them.” Clark nodded as he sipped his coffee, then looked directly at Manny again. “I personally feel that Naomi can’t move forward with The New Double until she closes these chapters in her life. I’m talking Princess, dealing with the stuff left in the house, putting it up for sale, then waiting for Benson’s trial. However, like I mentioned earlier, we won’t be here waiting for that. I don’t know for sure, but I have a feeling she can’t put the ranch up for sale until the trial. We don’t need to be here that long.”

“I would also like to have Scott help you in overseeing the building of the barracks, the cabins, and anything left to do on the stables. With the two of you doing that, then that will free Ryan up for overseeing the work on Broken Two. I know I’m being redundant here, but if you oversee the cabins, then I feel Scott can oversee The New Double, or vice versa, I’ll leave it up for the two of you to decide.”

“I can convince him to help me. I hope he had a successful mission in looking for Patrick Clemmons. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about running a horse ranch, but I have a feeling things will settle down once Clemmons and Scott return. Before I go and get ready to head back to Colorado, I have one question for you.”

“What’s that?”

“Will Ann be staying on Riceman property?”

“I believe so. Erin and I discussed it, and after talking with Carter Manning last night, there really isn’t any work at Brotherhood for Ann. It’s not that she’s not wanted, it’s just that they don’t have any jobs. Erin was going to approach her today to offer her a position.” Clark held up his hand and shook his head. “I believe it will be for The New Double A, but she is more than welcome to continue to stay in one of the larger cabins until the others are built.” He looked at Manny intensely. “Just remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and no matter how much planning is done, it will still take time to get those cabins built. If I remember correctly, from what Erin told me after I finally made it home, it was over two years to build the eight cabins that are there now. I’m thinking if we do an additional six to ten cabins, it’s going to take that much time, if not longer. In the meantime, we have the two four bedrooms to use. I only hope that once Benson and Biggins are dealt with, and the Firths, Royal, and Miller go through their trials, we can finally wash our hands of the people out to get Erin and Naomi, and get on with our lives the way we, as law abiding citizens, should be able to.”

“Quick question,” Manny said again, and rose to his feet. When everyone looked at him, he gave a quick nod, to ask, “Will you and Erin continue to welcome people into the fold as employees, even if they don’t have challenges?”

“Absolutely, as long as they can be functioning members of our community and don’t expect to laze around and not contribute anything, then they are welcome. Also, they’ll have to pass the background check that we will have Jake Cogburn do on them.” He held up his hand to stop what the others might have said. “I mean that you might not be mucking out stalls like the others, but you’re still a functioning member of the community by overseeing the building of the new cabins, and the barracks. Scott will be too. I was talking about lazing about like Benson did here. Someone that expects others to do the work and they reap the rewards. That won’t happen on Riceman property, and I know for a fact that I won’t need Erin’s approval to say that.”

The men agreed with him, and when Naomi joined them, Manny excused himself to go pack what little he had brought with him. Because he hadn’t the night before, he jumped in the shower, and paid close attention to the little details of having the shower stalls individual instead of all of the shower heads in one big room like a military barracks had. He made plenty of mental notes to think about on the ride home, and when it was someone else’s turn to drive, he pulled out some scrap paper and started taking notes.

Ann looked up when someone called her name and she paused in mucking out the stable she’d been working on when she saw Erin Riceman approach her.

“Good morning, Ann,” Erin said while she was still ten feet away. “Do you have a minute?”

“I do, do you mind if I work while we talk?”

“Not at all,” Erin said as she moved to the side and watched Ann as she worked. She only waited a total of two minutes before she spoke. “As you know, I did a background check on you.”

“Yes, did anything bad come back?”

“No, and I also talked with Hank Patterson.”

Ann paused and put her hand on the top of the pitchfork she had been using and raised her brows at her. “What did he have to say?”

“That for now, you are still under contract with him until we know for absolute certain that Cole Mercury is safe. I don’t know if you have heard yet, but Benson Alcott, Percy Biggins, and a woman by the name of Wyonna, no clue what her last name is, have been arrested and they are in FBI custody. I was also informed that due to the severity of their charges, they bypassed the locals and went directly to the FBI’s holding cells.”

“Holy crap, that was fast.”

“Yes, Clark told me they had only been there for about an hour when Benson and the others arrived home. They were immediately arrested, read their rights, and taken into custody. Naomi’s lawyer showed up as they were stuffing them in the car.”

“Darin Long?” Cole asked as he joined them. “Sorry, I overheard what you were saying to Ann.”

“Not a problem, I was coming to see you next. Naomi and Clark will be staying in Wyoming until they deal with some stuff they can’t handle over the phone. Later this afternoon, they have a meeting with the insurance company that Naomi had for Princess.”

“Shit, that could possibly be a shit show, especially once they learn what Benson did.”

“What do you know?” Erin turned a scowl toward him.

“All I know is that the insurance company Noomi used was the one her grandfather used since he first started the ranch. Don’t quote me, but I swear to god the insurance company Noomi’s grandpa used started back when Wyoming was only a territory. Maybe not that far back, but you get the gist. Anyway, the insurance company Benson used was a fly-by-night operation that was only in operation for about a year before the accident with Princess.”

“Accident?” Erin and Ann asked at the same time with raised brows.

“Okay, the murder of Princess. What I’m saying is that the original insurance company would have better records, and more clout in a court of law than this fly-by-night operation would have.” He moved his cowboy hat further up his head as he scratched his forehead in frustration. “I’m wondering if they have the original papers, then they can get their lawyers involved to go after Benson, Biggins, and the other insurance company. Oh, and that woman that was with Biggins, since they have it on video where she stabbed Princess.”

“That’s good to know,” Erin said. “I wanted to talk to you guys about working here.” She sighed heavily and explained how she had come to be the sole owner of Erin’s Way, and why she did what she did with The Broken Wheel. It took almost half an hour to get her story out, and she was grateful neither of them asked any questions as she talked.

“Damn,” Cole said when she was done. “Where does that leave Noomie’s horses?”

“Remember what I told you about when the Millers tried to take Erin’s Way from me and I hired new accountants? Well, they tried to do the same thing with this ranch.”

“Ducky’s spread here?” Cole asked in shock.

“Yes, you see, his ranch had been in his family for as long as mine and was paid in full decades ago. He was helping his wife through her cancer when the foreclosure letters came. When I found out what they were trying to do to him, I went to my lawyer, and I was able to purchase this ranch before it went to auction. His ranch was closer to being taken from him than mine was. I was able to get this ranch in both mine and Clark’s name. Our lawyer sent him papers, and he said he trusted me as he signed them and faxed them back. So, these thirteen hundred plus acres belong to both Clark and me. We are working toward getting his name back on the original papers for Erin’s Way. Because of what the Millers tried to do to both Ducky and me, as well as several others in the area, they were both sentenced the maximum. Oh, and it was later determined that they had to pay me back the money I paid to save Ducky’s ranch. They didn’t have enough so whenever they get out of jail, they have the remainder of that bill hanging over their heads.”

“Which was?” Ann asked as she finished up that stall and moved to the next. She explained her question at Erin’s confused look. “How much was the maximum jail time for the Millers?”

“Eighteen to twenty-five years. This judge was harsh, which I appreciated, because this was the first offense for both of them. I later heard the judge wanted to make a name for himself for being a tough judge, and he wouldn’t allow anything other than the facts influence his decision. Anyway, that’s why Paul Jr. tried to come after me. Once he realized who I was, he hooked up with the Firths, and they in turn hooked up with Royal.” She went on to explain what happened there and shook her head. “As of right now, everyone that came after me to try to steal my horses, and Naomi’s are now behind bars. I have no idea how long it will take for justice to be served, but I’m not going anywhere. I refuse to cower and let them see me sweat. I did nothing wrong, and I’m not going to stop living just because they’re jealous of what others have and are too lazy to work for what they want.”

“Good for you,” Cole said, and stuck his hand out to shake hers. “So, where does that leave Ann and me?”

“If you’ll agree to continue doing what you did in Wyoming here, then you are more than welcome to stay. Ducky has no problem with you living in the main house.” Erin smiled as she turned to Ann. “As for you, as I was saying, Hank thinks he will keep you employed with Brotherhood until after everything has gone to court. He said after that, then you are free to go wherever you want. He wants you to continue keeping an eye out for Cole. You are also more than welcome to continue to stay in the cabin you’re in.”

She watched Ann and knew by her expression when she reached a decision. “I’ll stay. I only have one question.”

“What’s that?”

“When Hank Patterson releases me from his employment, may I come and work for you?”

“Yes. The only thing different right now is that you’ll be receiving a paycheck from Hank, instead of me.”

“Cool, and yes, I’d like to continue to stay as Hank’s employee, then yours.”

“Good, now, I have some more news to tell you.”

“What’s that?” Both Cole and Ann asked.

“I just got off the phone with Clark. He and Naomi will be staying back in Wyoming for a few days, but the others that went up there with them will be returning late tonight or early tomorrow morning. I know it doesn’t look like it, and I don’t know how much you’ve seen of Broken, but I have a lot of irons in the fire.”

“Can you explain some things?” Ann asked as she leaned against the pitchfork again. She unconsciously reached up and rubbed the area of her scar and reknotted the bandana.

“The conversion of the stables is not complete. There are a few things left in these barns, but then Ryan wants to build a barracks. We have yet to find a place for it.” She nodded when Cole turned to look out of the barn as if picturing where it should go.

“Over at Broken, on the backside of where your cabin is, Ann, we would like to build another ten buildings for others like us to come and live and work here. They will have a choice of working at Erin’s Way, Riceman Stallions, The Broken Wheel, The New Double A, or in one of the facilities that are being built on the other side of Broken.”

“What’s going in there?” Cole asked with a scowl.

“I’m having a road built first, that’s not right,” she laughed. “We knew there was a dry creek bed, and had been dry for damn near a century, however, when the construction equipment started driving over it, it began to fill. It’s great for the ranch, but not for the construction crew. Anyway, we had to get the town and county officials out here and get approval to build a bridge. That set us back, but we figured we might as well do it right from the beginning and make sure it’s built to last. Once that is done, the road will go in, then there will be office buildings for doctors or therapists. The only condition for them to be able to work in one of those buildings is that they give our future clients or employees a discount if they are in need of their services. That will be written in their contract. Otherwise, it would be a private practice like any other doctor’s office. When you come in off the road, those offices are the first ones you will encounter. Further onto the property, again, a road still needs to be put in, will be what I classify as a bunktel.”

“What’s that?” Ann asked.

“A combination of a bunkhouse and a hotel. I’ll explain it later, but it’s basically where families can stay when their children or loved ones are working with the therapy horses. There will be a hotel-like room, with a mini fridge, and a microwave, but there will be a common area where they can do some real cooking.”

“Sort of what we had back home,” Cole said, and explained the setup and Erin nodded.

“Great, you’ll have to get with Manny on that.”

“I thought Ryan was in charge of the construction here.”

“He is, until Manny returns. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not former military, but Clark is, and he said something, and I’m taking his word for it.”

“What’s that?”

“He said Manny’s not fit for active duty, so he’s going to have him work with Ryan about the construction here, and over at Broken. When he’s got a handle on it, Ryan’s going to fill in for Clark over at the office and bunktels. By the end of this week, or beginning of next, Scott Gould should be returning. Because he and Manny went through the same thing as Ryan, Clark and I thought it would be better for them to act as supervisors as they heal.”

“I totally understand,” Ann said with a nod.

“Okay, and on that note,” Erin said as she turned to Cole. “I don’t know if they’re in the same vehicle, or driving separately, but with Scott will be Patrick Clemmons. Naomi thought it would be best to bring him here to help protect him. If you have any issues with him, let us know now, and we won’t allow him here.”

“None!” Cole practically yelled. “I miss him, I didn’t want to see him go when he did, but he did it to keep our Noomi safe.” He laughed as he saw Erin’s expression. “Clem and I have called Naomi, Noomi since she was about four when she zoomed all over the ranch on either a horse, a bicycle, then later, a motorbike. Because she zoomed everywhere, we nicknamed her Noomi.”

Erin laughed at his explanation. “Good, that’s what she said, so him being here will keep him safe. You’ll have Ann here to protect the both of you, and the only way to get to Broken is by going past Erin’s Way. Or at least at this time. They’ve run into one snag after another trying to get the road in over there and it’s put building behind schedule, but the workers have been able to come over and put in the stables while they wait over there.”

“What’s the problem?” Cole asked.

“That creek that’s been dry for over a hundred years, now with all the digging, we have to put that bridge in. Anyway, as I said, the only way to Broken is by going past Erin’s Way, but that’s not the case for The New Double. Anyone can come here, so be diligent on who drives in here.”

“Wow, that sucks about the water.”

“Yeah. Well, I’m going to let you go, I have to go over there, but if you need anything, give me a shout.” Erin turned and walked away, then Cole stepped up to Ann.

“That is one busy lady.”

“Yeah, but I like her.”

“Me too, I have a feeling before everything is said and done, it’ll be total chaos before everything settles down and runs like a well-oiled machine.”

“Me too,” Ann said as she picked up the handles to the wheelbarrow and went down the aisle to the next stall.