Comeback Trail

by Carolina Mac

  Jay nodded. “Picked up and put away. Saw that Buster guy there on the loading dock. I thought y’all said he was going to be arrested.”

  “Sheriff said there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest him for stealing our bull, but Buster admitted to us that he did it. How much more evidence do you need?”

  “He seemed a little out of it,” said Jay. “Buster all right in the head?”

  “Some days better than others.”

  Preston Shooting Range.

  JACK introduced himself to the guy who seemed to be running the show at the shooting range on the edge of the town of Preston. “Jack McKenna. Did Sheriff Tucker call you about me?”

  The guy chuckled. “The sheriff called and told me his new deputy would probably shoot himself in the foot, so yeah, I’m ready for you, Jack McKenna. I’m going to put you in the hands of my best instructor.” He turned and hollered. “Dakota, come on over here and meet Jack.”

  A long-legged girl came running towards them wearing cut offs and a tank top, her long dark hair tied back in a green bandana. She stopped in front of Jack and said, “I’m Dakota.”

  “Jack McKenna. I’m Sheriff Tucker’s new deputy.”

  She smiled and Jack’s heart missed a beat.

  “Okay, let’s get started.” She handed him sound mufflers for his ears. “Where’s your sidearm?”

  “Right here.” Jack pulled the gun out of the waist holster the sheriff had supplied him with.

  “Sig,” said Dakota. “Let me get some practice ammo.”

  Jack watched her walk away and couldn’t believe how tight her short shorts were wrapped around her perfect butt. Shooting practice was a helluva lot more fun than he thought it was going to be.

  Wonder if I can come every day?

  McKenna Ranch.

  I was working in my office and Clay was upstairs in his room working on his songs when the screen door banged. I thought Jacky was home. The dogs didn’t bark so I knew it wasn’t a stranger.

  “How did the shooting go?”

  “It’s me, Logan. I thought I’d come by and fix dinner for y’all.”

  I hurried out of my office and grabbed Linda in a hug. Things had been going well for the two of us since we’d decided to give our relationship a second chance. I kissed her with all the passion I’d saved up over the last couple of days and pushed her up against the counter.

  “Hey, where’s all this coming from?” she giggled and ran her hand up under my shirt. “I like it.” She whispered, “Is there anybody home?”

  “Clay’s upstairs writing songs.”

  “Too bad. I was hoping we were running solo.”

  “The office door has a lock.” I didn’t mean to sound so hopeful.

  “I see the roofers are packing up.”

  “Are they? I want to see how the roof looks before they leave.” We walked down the porch steps hand in hand looking up at the perfectly shingled new roof.

  “Your barn is so gorgeous, Logan. When it’s painted we should get some pictures for your brochure.”

  “We need a brochure?”

  “Course y’all do. You have to advertise the best rodeo bulls in Texas, and what better way than with a full color brochure of the McKenna Ranch.”

  “Uh huh.” So much to learn. Would I ever get it all right? I shook hands with the roofing crew and complimented them on the great job they’d done. They were being paid by Daddy’s insurance company. That was one thing I didn’t have to worry about.

  Once they were gone I walked Linda back into the kitchen and kissed her again. “I’ve got to help Clint and Jay feed the horses. What are you fixing for dinner?”

  “It’s a surprise. I brought some of the things I’ll need. Let me get the bag from my truck.”

  JACK made it home just in time for Linda’s lasagna and told us all about his first day at the range. “Y’all should see my instructor. Couldn’t believe it. She’s this curvy girl with dark hair and green eyes and y’all should see her shoot. Shit, if I was a quarter as good as her I’d win a freakin medal at the Olympics.”

  Jacky was worked up.

  “What you’re saying is, you’re ready for your first day on the job tomorrow?” I asked.

  “Hell, yeah. I’m ready. And I’m taking Dakota to the Spur on Friday night to hear Clay sing. Already asked her.”

  “You’re a fast mover, Jacky.”

  “You gotta be fast or the good ones get away.”

  Linda giggled as she put more lasagna on each of our plates.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Tuesday, May 19th.

  McKenna Ranch.

  THE kitchen was spotless when I came in from morning chores to start breakfast for me and the boys. Linda had cleaned up everything after making lasagna for us the night before, and she’d washed all the dishes.

  I checked the fridge to see if the leftovers were in there and spotted the pan with foil over it. Thanks, Linda. I love you. We could finish that off for lunch. Cooking wasn’t my strong point as my brothers were happy to point out.

  My life and my attitude had taken an upturn when I’d let Linda back into my world. She’d cheated on me once a long time ago and I was unsure if I could trust her again, but she swore she would never cheat on me again and I wanted to believe her in the worst way. Maybe I was fooling myself, but what the hell. I felt better than I had in over a year. If she cheated on me again, I’d probably die, but so far, so good.

  “Did I smell bacon?” asked Jack. “I have to get to the sheriff’s office. I start at eight.”

  “Do you think you’re ready?” I asked.

  “Hell no, Logy. I ain’t ready. What if some asshole robs the bank in Preston today? Is Jack McKenna gonna stop them? You can bet your saddle the answer is no. I ain’t ready to be a lawman and maybe I never will be.”

  “Dakota will turn you into a sharp-shooter and you’ll be ready to take them all on.” I chuckled as I put bacon and eggs on a plate for him. “Here, eat. You have to get going.”

  “Will you and Clay meet me at the DA’s office this afternoon when it’s time?”

  “Yep. We’ll be there.”

  “I have to remind Sheriff Tucker that I’m going to be missing when I’m at the courthouse.”

  “Nothing either one of you can do about it,” I said. “The trial is huge for Preston, and Tucker will be testifying too—for the times that he managed to show up.”

  Jack grinned and mopped up the last of his eggs with a piece of toast. “Miss Jane ain’t too high on Wade Tucker.”

  I chuckled. “She sure isn’t. I’d like to know what that’s all about.”

  “Maybe the sheriff will tell me.” Jack hopped up and picked up his truck keys. “I’d better move it.”

  Sheriff’s Office. Preston.

  SHERIFF Tucker glanced up when Jack came to check in. “Morning, Jack. How did the target range go?”

  “Not bad, Sheriff. I need more time there. Can’t argue about that. Covered most of the basics in my first lesson, but my aim ain’t so good.”

  “I’ll get a report from your instructor. Who did you have?”

  Jack tried not to smile but couldn’t help himself. “Her name was Dakota.”

  Sheriff Tucker grinned. “That’s something could break your concentration, son.”

  “Yes, sir. Sure could. I had to focus extra hard on the target.”

  “Good enough. Let’s get you started. You go on patrol with Ivan this morning. He’ll show you the radio and teach you the codes and what not. By the end of the week we’ll have you in your own squad on patrol.”

  “Thanks, Sheriff.”

  “Bonnie Sue will be in later today, but she’ll be on desk duty and phones only until after the trials are over.”

  “Uh huh.” Jack left Sheriff Tucker’s office and found Ivan in the squad room sitting at his desk. “I’m with you today, Ivan.”

  “Okay, Jack. Sheriff already briefed me.” He gulped down his coffee and was ready to go.

  McKe
nna Ranch.

  I heard a big rumble out in the yard and two pickups pulled in one after the other. “The painters are here,” I said to Rusty and Cadence who were barking and running circles around the trucks.

  The painters jumped out, three from each truck with the Randall Barn Painting logo on the front doors. The older man with them greeted me with an outstretched hand. “Bob Randall, Mr. McKenna. We’re gonna turn your barn into a beautiful piece of art.”

  “I’ll be happy if it’s just perfectly painted,” I said. “I’m not into art that much.”

  They got busy with their ladders and paint sprayers and I cleaned up the kitchen while I waited on my students. Today we’d have some time trials, so I dug up some of the best times at the last few rodeos in the surrounding counties and jotted the names and the times down on a piece of paper.

  “Let’s see who can beat who,” I mumbled to myself. I wanted it to be fun for the boys and a little competition wouldn’t hurt either.

  Armed with this information, I went outside to watch the painting and wait for Rip and Chuck. I saddled Bowie and we were all set when the boys arrived.

  Out in the field, I put them through their paces and let them warm up, then with a big smile on my face, I dropped the bomb. “I pulled up some of the times y’all are gonna have to beat and I have them right here in my shirt pocket along with a stop watch.”

  Fear showed on both their tanned faces.

  I grinned and gave them encouragement. “Y’all can do it. Give it your best shot and let’s see who y’all can beat on this list of winners.”

  Preston County.

  JACK and Ivan sat in the cruiser in the parking lot for twenty minutes going over the basics of the radio, the call codes, the lights and the siren.

  “Sheriff Tucker likes us to stick to procedure, then when we write up our reports it sounds like we did everything right.”

  “Okay.”

  “Did you read the manual?” asked Ivan.

  “Some of it. I only got it yesterday and I spent all afternoon at the range.”

  “Tells you in the book all kinds of stuff you should know to be a model deputy.”

  “Yeah, well, I doubt if I’ll ever be a model deputy or a model anything,” said Jack. “Ain’t my style.”

  “Why’d you want to come and work for the sheriff then?”

  “Didn’t. He called me in and asked me.”

  “All be damned.” Ivan wore a stunned look very similar to his normal look.

  “Sheriff said he was short of help.”

  The radio blared on and Jack jumped. Ivan listened and said stuff into the mic, and they rolled out of the parking lot.

  “What happened?” Jack was in the dark.

  “Lady’s car got stolen at the Walmart. We’ve got to get her statement and put a BOLO out on the missing vehicle.”

  “Sure.” Jack grinned. “Let’s nab us a car thief.”

  Walmart Plaza. Preston.

  IVAN cruised into the Walmart parking lot with the siren on and drove around searching for the distressed woman.

  “Is that her sitting on the bench?” Jack pointed to a lady crying with a shopping cart beside her.

  “Could be,” said Ivan. “Let’s find out. I’ll ask the questions.”

  “Ask away, Ivan,” said Jacky boy.

  “Ma’am did you call in a stolen vehicle report?”

  “I did. Where’s Sheriff Tucker?”

  “He sent us, ma’am. What kind of car was stolen?”

  “It was gray.”

  “Do you have the registration in your purse? We could see the make and model and the tag number.”

  “I don’t have that in my purse. I think it was in the glove box.”

  “Let’s try to think what kind of car it was, ma’am. Ford? Chevy? Toyota? Am I getting warm?”

  “Got your cell phone with you, ma’am?” asked Jack.

  “Right here.” She held it up. “How do you think I called 911?”

  “Good enough,” said Jack. “Let’s call your husband and get him to tell us about the car. That would speed things up.”

  She nodded. “John knows all about the car.”

  “Good,” said Jack. “Press his number and let me talk to him.” Jack talked to the husband, relayed the information to Ivan who wrote it down and they were finished. “Come on, ma’am. We’ll give you a ride home.”

  “Would you? I didn’t know how I was going to get there.”

  “No problem,” said Jack. “Flip the trunk, Ivan and I’ll load her bags in there.”

  After they dropped the lady off Ivan said. “I don’t think you followed procedure there, Jack.”

  “What’d I do wrong, Ivan? Name me one thing.”

  “Umm… can’t think right now, but something didn’t seem right.”

  “Well you make it sound right on the report when you write it up. How about that.”

  “I will.” Ivan wasn’t wearing his happy face.

  District Attorney’s Office. Preston.

  AT two o’clock, Clay and I met Jack at the DA’s office to go over our testimony for Harper Gabriel’s trial on Friday. We reported to Owen Pace’s office like we were told to and sat in the reception area waiting our turn.

  A tall man in a dark blue suit opened the door and gave us a wave. “You the McKenna brothers?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Come on in here and have a seat.”

  We followed him in and sat in three of the four chairs in front of his desk. “I have all your names down here but tell me who’s who.”

  “I’m Logan, this is Clay next to me, and that’s Jack—Deputy Jack McKenna.”

  “Mr. Pace raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware that Jack worked for Sheriff Tucker.”

  Jacky boy grinned. “My first day today, sir. We had a stolen car this morning.”

  Not too excited about the stolen car, Mr. Pace organized the papers on his desk. “This is what we’re going to do, boys. One at a time, I’ll ask you the same questions I’ll be asking you on the witness stand. Then once we’ve covered that, we’ll practice with the questions that Mr. Shaver, Harper Gabriel’s attorney, is going to throw at y’all. He’s not going to be as nice to you as I will be, so I want y’all to be ready for that. Who wants to go first?”

  “I’ll be last,” said Clay.

  Broken Spur Roadhouse.

  AFTER he clocked out of the station, Jack headed straight for the Spur to join Logan and Clay who’d gone there to wait for him straight from the DA’s office.

  Jack called as he drove. “Hey, I’m done work and I’m leaving Preston now. Be there soon, Logy.”

  “We just ordered another pitcher. We’re waiting for you, Jacky.”

  “Helluva day, Logy.”

  “Clay and I want to get some dinner while we’re here.”

  “Bonus. I’m starving and I hate being a deputy.”

  “Good to know before your thirty days are up.”

  Ten minutes later, Jack joined them in their booth and chugged down half his first glass of Lone Star.

  Miss Jane rushed over to the booth when she saw Jack. “How did your first day go, sweetheart? Was Wade a miserable poop?”

  “Nope, only saw the sheriff for a minute, but Ivan was a tight-assed pain in the butt.”

  “Aw, maybe tomorrow will be better.”

  “It was no picnic at the DA’s office,” I said. “Mr. Pace didn’t pull any punches. He thinks Harper’s attorney, Big Sandy Shaver, is going to make it look like Harper shot Bonnie Sue in self-defense.”

  “She didn’t,” said Clay, “but it’s gonna be heavy on us to convince the jury what really happened.”

  “This is too much stress for my boys,” said Miss Jane. She picked up a napkin and dabbed at her eyes.

  McKenna Ranch.

  THE first coat of paint was on our barn when we got home and the air on our ranch was heavy laden with a paint smell. We’d taken a vote on the color while the barn was being built and a
fter days of debate and input from Linda and Miss Jane we’d finally agreed on dark green with white trim.

  From what I could see at midnight, the barn didn’t look dark green. Maybe tomorrow it would.

  “Let’s get Deputy Dawg into bed, Clay. He’s wasted and he has to be at the sheriff’s office in the morning ready to catch car thieves.”

  “Ford Bronco,” hollered Jack in a slur. “She didn’t even know she drove a Ford Bronco.”

  We dragged him up the stairs and flopped him on his bed. “Pull his boots off and leave him be.”

  “Night, Jacky.” Clay covered his brother up with one of the quilts Mama made for our beds and turned out the light.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Wednesday, May 20th.

  McKenna Ranch.

  JACKY was a mess at breakfast. I called him three times and finally had to go upstairs and holler at him. There was no way around it—even without a shower, he was going to be late for work.

  He sat at the table in his rumpled uniform, his dark hair flopping in his face and he stared at the plate of scrambled eggs in front of him. “I’m gonna hurl, Logy.”

  “You better hurl on the way to Preston, Jacky. Tucker’s gonna fire your ass on the second day.”

  Jack stood up, staggered a little, grabbed his truck keys and slammed out the screen door.

  I watched him drive out the lane and shook my head. Being a deputy wasn’t Jacky’s calling. Nope. Sure wasn’t.

  Clint stood on the bottom step laughing. “Deputy Jack didn’t look too steady this morning.”

  “Sure wasn’t. Hope he don’t give himself a DUI.”

  Clay came down for breakfast and he was in better shape in one way, but worse in another. He was beyond worried about testifying in the trial against Harper and working himself into a knot over it.

  “What if Micky Swain decides he don’t want me and Bonnie Sue to testify against his niece? What then, Logy?”

  “You think Swain will risk showing himself to try to stop you from testifying?”

  Clay shrugged, then winced from the ongoing pain in his shoulder. “Thoughts I don’t like having, but they keep cropping up.”