Part 19 (1/2)
”Good.” Zack stood, indicating the meeting was at an end. ”I'll go with you. Let's get back to work, folks. Dawn, Grant, contact the Gaines County sheriff and find out if they've had any increased activity in the sale of horses within that ring they're watching. Kennedy, Timmons, and Simms, you hit the patrol. Stick close to the ranches we discovered have recently bought livestock. I don't expect any trouble, but we can't leave our guard down.” As the deputies listed got up and started to gather their notes, Zack turned to the remaining two deputies. ”Griscom and Abbott, you guys are off tonight.” Before they could show their jubilation, Zack added, ”I want you here to a.s.sist Herb in his investigation at oh-six-hundred.”
Zack waited for the deputies to acknowledge him and then turned to Wyatt and nodded. ”Let's go.”
Tracy and Mandy returned to the ball field just as practice was ending. With Mandy holding Tracy's hand tight, they headed to where the boys gathered around Jake.
”There you are. You know I don't go chasing down all my clients like this.”
Tracy stopped when Logan strode up beside her.
Mandy let go of Tracy's hand and launched herself into Logan's open arms. ”Uncle Logan, what are you doin' here?”
He let go of Mandy and raised a brow at Tracy. ”I'm here to talk to Miz Tracy. What are you doin' here? Is your dad around?”
”Tracy's watching me tonight. Daddy's got to work.”
Logan looked at Tracy. ”That so?”
Before Mandy could respond, Tracy said, ”Zack was called in and asked if I could watch Mandy tonight. Now that that's all settled, what are you doing here?”
Logan sn.i.g.g.e.red at the abrupt change. ”I've got some news.”
”What is it?”
Logan pulled a letter from the inner pocket of his suit jacket and held it out to her. ”After tomorrow, you can start signing my checks as Tracy Caroline Quinn.”
Tracy stared at him as his meaning sunk in. When it did, she s.n.a.t.c.hed the envelope and bounded into his arms. ”Oh, Logan. Thank you!” Then she kissed his cheek, and Logan laughed as he hugged her back.
”Hey!” Mandy exclaimed. ”I thought you liked my daddy.”
Tracy pulled away and met a pair of narrowed blue eyes. She laughed and stepped out of his embrace.
He swung Mandy up into his arms as if she weighed nothing and tickled her sides until she giggled. ”Don't you worry your pretty little head, firecracker. I know Tracy likes your daddy, and I think your daddy likes her.”
Tracy looked sharply at him, but he was focused on Mandy.
”Well, if this isn't a heartwarming little scene.” Jake drew Tracy's attention. His lips twisted upward, but it was more grimace than smile. ”h.e.l.lo, Logan. You sure do like stepping in and taking over another man's family, don't you?”
Logan simply smiled at Tracy as he set Mandy on her feet again. ”Tracy, I'll be in touch before we go to court Friday.”
”Okay. See you then.”
”Don't worry. I'll call you tomorrow.” Without even acknowledging Jake, he kissed Mandy on the forehead, and walked away with his hands in the pockets of his designer suit pants.
Bobby rushed forward, and the two kids headed off toward the bleachers, chattering up a storm about what they would do once they got back to the ranch.
Tracy made sure they were out of earshot, then fisted her hands until her nails bit into her palms, and glared at him. ”You b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You know nothing has ever happened between Logan and me.”
He shrugged and leaned forward. ”Maybe not, but I know someone who would believe it had. You do have a reputation of being a cheater, after all. Remember what I said, Tracy. I don't want Zack Cartwright anywhere near my son. You got it?”
”You can't dictate to me. And you only have a trumped up account that can't ever hold any credence in court. Zack is a good man, and a respected member of this community. And no one in this town would ever call Zack a bad father.”
He snorted and crossed his arms over his wide chest. ”I know for a fact, Zack Cartwright has a temper and a mean streak. He didn't want me to succeed in football, so he made sure I'd never be able to play again. No one but him and I were out on the trail that day. It would be my word against his. I've also heard he and his wife had a fight before she left the house during a snowstorm. Then she was. .h.i.t head-on by a drunk driver. The story goes that Zack was pa.s.sed out on the floor when his sister-in-law found him to deliver the news.” Jake's smirk broadened as he added, ”Interestingly, his in-laws gave him an ultimatumeither stop drinking or they were taking Amanda away. He moved to Texas right after that and hasn't been back once in two years. Who knows if he's stopped drinking or not. He puts on that holier-than-thou show when he's in public, but he's admitted he hasn't completely stopped drinking.”
She wasn't playing into his mind game. ”Good night, Jake.” She turned away and then faced him again. ”Oh, by the way, I'm no longer bound to you in any way. Logan just informed me that he put the paperwork in for my name-change. It was time to get rid of that last bit of garbage. I've toted it around long enough. Good riddance.”
She spun away, squared her shoulders, and headed to round up the kids.
”Lucinda Tritt?” Zack asked as he approached the clerk at the counter of the convenience store of a Texaco station in Stephenville.
The clerk pushed her thick gla.s.ses up on her nose and looked from Zack to Wyatt and back again. ”That's me.”
Zack guessed the woman to be about forty-five as he and Wyatt held out their identifications. ”I'm Sheriff Zachery Cartwright of Forest County and this is Lieutenant Wyatt McPherson of the Texas Rangers. We understand you were working Sat.u.r.day morning when two livestock trucks rolled in here.” He opened a small notebook to take notes. ”We need you to tell us everything you can remember about the drivers.”
She gave Zack a small smile and pushed a ma.s.s of frizzy gray-shot brown hair from her face. ”There ain't much to tell.” She shrugged and looked at Wyatt. ”Two trucks drove up. A guy got out of the first one and came in around four in the morning.”
”Can you describe him and tell us what he bought?” Wyatt prompted when she paused.
”He was a big guynot tall, but heavy-set, stocky. His hair was long and dark.” Lucinda pushed at her own hair as she remembered. ”He got a bottle of Dr. Pepper and a bag of potato chips. And two candy bars, I think. Oh, and a First Aid kit and a bottle of Motrin.”
Wyatt asked, ”Did you see the other men at all?”
The clerk shook her head. ”They parked out past the light. I couldn't see much except that they were livestock trucks.”
”Do you know if the trucks were carrying animals?” Zack finished jotting down her descriptions.
She puckered her brow as if that would help her memory. ”Yeah, I'm pretty sure I heard horses.”
Zack smiled and put the notebook into his back jeans pocket. ”Thank you, Miz Tritt, for your cooperation. We'll get in touch if we need to talk to you again.”
She smiled, nodded, and headed back to work. ”Wait.” She turned toward them. ”I did see one of the guys when they drove past. He was a pa.s.senger in the first truck. I think I could recognize a picture of him, too.”
Wyatt grinned and held out his hand for her to shake. ”Thanks, ma'am. You've been a lot of help.”
The manager of the store stepped forward and held out a CD to Wyatt. ”Here are those security tapes from the other night. So, you think these guys are cattle rustlers?”
Zack smiled inwardly. Stephenville was nearly a hundred miles west of Colton, but the thefts had gotten a mention on the evening news after the rustling at Oak Springs Ranch. The media considered it a way to keep the prominent Ferguson-Quinn clan in the news. Not to mention making light of the sheriff falling victim to the thieves again on the eleven o'clock report.
”There's a possibility they are connected,” Zack said.
”Well, I hope you catch 'em. My uncle had cattle stolen from him years ago, and it about broke him. You gentlemen have a good night.”
Wyatt looked at Zack and smiled. ”Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”
Zack opened the front door. ”Yeah. Let's get back to Colton. I suddenly have a hankering to watch TV.”
The sun rode high on the eastern horizon as Zack drove through the elaborate wrought iron gate of Oak Springs. He drove over the concrete bridge spanning the creek and looked around the manicured front lawn. Everything about the place reeked of money. The Cartwrights were as rich as the Fergusons, but his family never flaunted their wealth the way Tracy's family had. That wasn't exactly true. It hadn't been her entire family, but Jason Ferguson's second wife and her son, Leon.