Manny’s Mission (Broken Wheel Ranch #7)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Ann rolled over, stretched, and froze when her leg encountered something in her bed. She lay there as still as she could and listened to her surroundings before she opened her eyes. The only thing she heard was someone breathing deeply beside her and then the figure rolled over, wrapped his arms around her, and snuggled against her. She smiled when she got a whiff of his aftershave he’d put on hours earlier. On a sigh, “Manny,” she rolled over, snuggled into his arms and fell back to sleep.

The next time she woke, she stretched again, and frowned when she didn’t encounter anyone in the bed beside her. She slowly sat up and looked around the room. After spotting a note on the table beside the bed, she grabbed it, read it, then stared in horror as she grabbed her phone and accessed the time.

“Shit,” she said as she flopped the blankets back, rushed to gather her clothes, then after quickly dressing, she ran out of the room and because the note told her to, she turned on the coffee pot. She scowled at the pile of clothes on the counter, but saw another note that explained that Manny had gone over to her cabin to get her a clean set of clothes. As the coffee brewed she grabbed the clean clothes, went back into Manny’s bedroom to go directly to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later she was showered, and redressed and sighed in relief when she took her first sip of coffee for the day. She also noted that Manny had left her a travel mug and she quickly filled that. Thirty minutes after waking, she was walking out the door. Because she had driven here, she went to her truck, hopped in, then made her way over to New Double, as everyone had started calling it.

She only slowed down when she approached the barns, and shook her head as several people looked up at her approach. Holding her head high, making sure her bandana was in place, Ann got out of her truck and started forward. She paused when Manny broke away and hurried over to her.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” she demanded when he was still several feet away, ignoring the others standing around.

“Because, you needed the sleep as much as I did when I crashed.” Manny reached out to gently take her hand not holding her travel mug of coffee and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m going to tell you what the others, and you, told me. The body can take so much before it has to shut down to regroup. It made my heart soar when you feel asleep and didn’t wake at every little noise I made.” He smiled at her confused look. “It proves to me that you’re comfortable enough with me that even while unconscious, you trust me to look over you.”

Ann stood there and scowled at him in confusion. It took her a few moments to nod, her expression clear, then she sighed, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Thank you not only for allowing me to sleep, but for the coffee and clothes.” She looked around and saw the others watching them from the distance, and called out, “It’s all good.” When she said that, she saw relief come over their faces and while still holding her hand, Manny turned to go join the others.

“Morning chores are done. I’ve been going over the plans with Ryan to see what he wants me to oversee here.”

“Okay,” Ann said as she looked around, then sighed heavily. “Ryan, may I make a suggestion?”

“What’s that?” Ryan asked, distracted by writing something on a long list. When she didn’t say anything, he looked up to her and gave her all of his attention. “What do you need?”

“Is there any way to install a washer and dryer into one of the cabins?”

“You don’t have one?” he asked in confusion, and turned to look at Manny with raised brows. “Do you have a set in your cabin?”

“I haven’t found them, yet, why? Are we supposed to have them?”

“Yes.” Ryan frowned as he cocked his head to the side, closed his eyes, then smiled as they popped open. “Okay, you probably didn’t explore every nook and cranny of the cabin when you moved in. I didn’t stay in the cabins because when I arrived here I was in a knife fight in town, and Pru took me directly to the spare room in her cabin. The guys came over and patched me up, then took turns waiting on me to give Pru a break.”

“Okay, I understand that, but what does that have to do with whether the larger cabins have a washer or dryer or not?”

“Because I believe, but don’t quote me on this, but I believe that they are tucked away from sight beneath the stairs leading up to the second floor. There should be a pair of bi-fold doors. They open to the washer and dryer.”

“Ah, I’ll look when I get back. I thought it was an extra pantry.”

“Understandable, if you don’t mind my asking, what were you going to ask me to do?”

Ann grinned and Manny sucked in his breath at her beauty, and saw Ryan jerk his head to the side. “Put in some sort of laundromat.”

Ryan laughed, and nodded. “Yeah, no, each cabin already has their own set.” He scowled as he immediately looked down at the roughly drawn blueprints and nodded as he looked back at Manny. “Remind me to tell Erin to have her guy put in the laundry facilities on the blueprints for the new cabins.”

“Got it,” Manny said, then turned to Ann. “If you’re hungry, I packed us both a lunch and it’s in the refrigerator in the break room.”

“We have a break room?”

“In the first barn,” Manny nodded toward the area, and they all looked up and jumped out of the way when Ducky came rolling up to them in his golf cart. He laughed as they jumped back, and grinned at them.

“I wouldn’t have hit you. At least not hard.”

They all laughed and shook their heads at him, and paused when Ducky looked at Ann.

“Feeling better?”

“I am, I’m sorry I missed the morning.”

“Morning? Hell, girl, you missed the morning, all day yesterday, and the afternoon on the day before that.”

“Really?” Ann asked in shock, and turned to stare at Manny.

“Yes, I let you sleep. You needed it as much as I did.”

“Well, thank you, and I’m sorry I missed all that time, I’ll have to tell Erin to dock my pay. Shit, I’ll have to call Hank and tell him to dock it instead, since I still work for him.”

“No need,” Ryan said. At her look, he stood with his hands on his hips. “One thing you’re going to have to learn about Erin is that she doesn’t take our health lightly. If we need sleep, then she won’t ask us to work until we are healthy. She doesn’t talk about it a lot, but she knows when the body needs to be rejuvenated.”

“That’s good to know.” Ann stood, then sighed heavily as she reached up and rubbed her forehead.

“What is it?” Manny asked.

“I know Hank Patterson hired me to look after Cole until Benson and Biggins were apprehended. I know the FBI was there when we arrived, and Clark sent us back here.”

“Okay, you’re correct so far. What are you trying to say?”

Ann looked between Manny and Ryan and they only lifted their brows at her. After heaving another gigantic sigh, she looked between the two as she rubbed her chest just below her breasts. “My gut is screaming that they are in trouble. I can’t tell you why, or from who, but it’s telling me to get back there.” She watched as Manny and Ryan exchanged looks and all three of them gave a start when a voice spoke from behind them.

“Do you feel like they may be in danger?”

“Yes.”

“Then go,” Erin said as she gave Ryan a gentle shove in his shoulder. “Gather the guys and get back there. I can’t have Clark finally home, then lose him again. Same with Naomi, I can’t lose her. I can’t do anything, but you guys can. Take the women with you.”

“What about the construction?” Ryan asked.

“What about Broken?”

“I can get the guys from Erin’s Way to come work at Broken. The construction can be on hold for a couple of days to at least three weeks. Go make sure our people are safe.”

Ryan hurried toward his truck, with Manny and Ann following after Erin said she would talk with Cole about what Ann thought. Nothing was said by anyone as they hurried to their trucks to ride over to the cabins at Broken. Two hours later everyone stood outside the cabin Manny and Ann stayed in, and looked at Ann as she came out of the door.

“Talk to us,” Opal said. “We know we’re going to Wyoming, but why?”

“I don’t know exactly, it might be a wild goose chase, but my gut is screaming that Clark and Naomi are in trouble.” She shook her head sadly and studied the people before her. “That’s all I can say. I have no proof, nor any reason to think like that, other than my gut.”

“What branch of the military were you?” Lloyd asked with a frown.

“I was an Army Ranger.”

“Oh, shit, let’s go,” Ryan said. “Our trucks are large enough for two couples to go in one, would that be okay with everyone?” They agreed and it took thirty minutes to get organized and loaded up. It was mid-afternoon before they took off, and as they drove past Erin’s Way, they had to stop because Reid stood there with a pack at his feet. The first truck stopped, and he climbed into the back of Ryan’s truck.

“This is good, I think,” Manny said to Ann, Opal, and Denver.

“Why?” Ann asked.

“I never worked with him before, he had already left Delta before Scott and I joined the team. It’s my understanding that Reid Garret was Clark’s number two on the team for years.”

“He was,” Denver agreed. “No offense to anyone here, but if Clark and Naomi are in trouble, I feel a hell of a lot better knowing that we have Reid with us.” No one said anything for a long time after that. They only stopped for gas, and made sure there was a fast-food restaurant near the gas station to stop for something to eat. Doing this, and taking turns driving, they were able to pull into Cody, Wyoming just as the sun was coming up. They pulled off at a rest stop and after using the facilities, they looked at each other, waiting for someone to take charge. Several of the men sighed in relief when Reid spoke. He turned to Ann.

“How’s the gut?”

“Screaming,” she said as she rubbed it.

“Okay, how do we want to do this? How far away are we from the ranch?”

Ann looked around, held up her finger, and went to the truck. She returned with a map and laid it out on one of the picnic tables. Because it wasn’t full daylight yet, several women got out their phones and used the flashlight on them.

“We are here, this is The Double A. I’d say we’re twenty minutes away.”

“Is there a way to get to the bunkhouse without going in the main entrance?” Pru asked.

“Yes, here.” Ann pointed to the county map. “Going in this way will take us to the bunkhouse before the barn, then further down would be the main house. I guess you could classify this as the quote, unquote, back way into the ranch. No one at the main house will be able to detect us.”

“From what I’m seeing and thinking,” Reid said, and saw everyone looking at him. “We load for bear now, if Ann’s calculations are correct, we’ll be at the ranch in less than thirty minutes. Let’s stop at the bunkhouse, set up a base of operations, then have someone go to the main house and ask if they’re hiring.”

“Can it be one of us?” Opal asked. “I think it should be a woman because if something is going on in the house, then they might think they can either kidnap us, or shoo us away. No offense, but if something is going on and one of you guys show up, then the shit might hit the fan.”

“Understood,” Reid said as he nodded, and looked at Ann. “Does Biggins know you? Or even Benson Alcott?”

“Not that I know of, every time one of them showed up at the barn, which wasn’t often, I made sure I hid. I observed out of sight.”

“Good to know. Would you have any problem going to the main house to see if hired help is needed?”

“Not at all.”

“Good, first, let’s load for bear, then head to the bunkhouse.” Reid stood, then whipped around and stared at Ann in shock.

“What?” Lloyd asked. He knew that look on Reid’s face.

“One, do you know if there are any guns in the house? Were any left after Clark sent you guys back to Broken? Two, is there a basement that if something happened, then the bad guys could hold Naomi and Clark hostage?”

“Yes to the basement, I don’t know about the guns. I wasn’t here when Clark and Naomi arrived.”

“I didn’t see any,” Perry said. “But then again, we weren’t really looking for stuff like that. Naomi wanted to make sure she had some family heirlooms from her grandparents, and we had only been there for about ten minutes before Biggins and Benson arrived. They were immediately arrested by Duane Manchester, Scott’s brother-in-law with the FBI.”

“And there’s no telling if Biggins didn’t have subordinates that would go after Clark and Naomi,” Reid said with a nod. He looked directly at Ann with a nod. “You and Manny lead the way to the bunkhouse, but not until we’re loaded.”

Everyone went to their vehicles and pulled out their guns, and made sure they had one strapped to their side in plain sight, one to their ankles, covered, then on display were rifles held by the men. They all caravaned from that rest stop to the bunkhouse.