Cody had now been home a few months and had been helping Ross Howard on the ranch since he had returned. The reunion with Cody’s mentor and old friend Ross was nice. It had been a big surprise to him, but he loved surprises. As Cody made his way up to the Howard main house, he heard Ross screaming at the television as he watched wrestling. He screamed at the wrestlers as if he thought he was in the stadium with them. Cody laughed as he watched Ross curse at the TV, then throw the remote at it. Cody figured he best walk in before the old man broke the damn thing. Knocking on the door, he heard Ross scream, “Come on in. Damnit, ya know I’m watching wrestling. Grab some beers and get your ass in here, Cody.”
Cody walked into the kitchen, grabbed the beers, and popped the tops off, handing Ross one as he sat down on the couch. “So who’s winning, old man?” he said, waiting for Ross to acknowledge him.
“Oh, those damned Rosco Twins be beatin’ the shit outta them Angel Boys, damn li’l squirrely sum bitches they are. But I think them Angel Boys gonna come back and get ’em by the nads. Just watch they come back. Just watch,” Ross said, pointing at the screen.
“I’m watchin’, Ross, I’m watchin’.” Cody laughed as he guzzled down a long neck. “You want another, Ross? I’m goin’ in the kitchen to grab another.”
“Yeah, son, grab me another.”
Cody smiled. He really liked it when Ross called him son. Hell, he woulda been his son if Skye hadn’t taken off. He grabbed the bottles, then popped the caps. As he walked toward the living room as he always had, this time as he passed the framed photos, he noticed one he hadn’t seen before. It was Skye, a man a little older than Skye, and a boy. He hadn’t noticed it before, and Skye looked more beautiful than ever. She looked like she had stepped out of the page of some fashion magazine, and the man looked more prissy than he thought Skye would like. He hadn’t asked Ross about Skye, he didn’t figure it mattered anymore, and by the looks of it, Skye had moved on, so it was at that moment he decided that he should move on too.
Handing Ross his beer, Cody sat down. Ross was still screaming at the television and poking Cody to “watch this” every chance he got. “Did ya see that, son? Look at that hit. Ya know that gotta hurt.” Ross loved his wrestling, and it had become a sort of a Wednesday night ritual with them. Cody would sit with Ross till it was over and Ross went to bed or until he fell asleep. It was usually until he fell asleep. Cody would laugh to himself when he would look over at the old man, and his head would be laying to the side and back toward the chair with drool dripping down the sides of his mouth. It was one heck of a sight to behold.
Cody would shake him and tell him, “It’s time to go to bed, old man. I’ll see you in the mornin’. After I get my chores done at Bent Arrow, I’ll be over.”
“All right, son, I’ll see ya then. I’ll have the coffee hot and waitin’,” Ross would say every time. Cody liked the regularity of it all. In some ways he had missed home, but in others home only reminded him of the heartbreak and the hole that Skye had left in his heart. Jumping into the cab of the truck, he headed back home to the Bent Arrow in time to kiss his momma goodnight and help her get his old man upstairs to their room.
It happened that while Cody was gone, his father, out with the ranch hands bringin’ in some cattle, fell from the saddle when his horse encountered a rattlesnake. The horse threw him and broke his neck and several vertebrae in his back. Buck Wilson would never walk again and would rely on others to feed, bathe, and care for him. This wasn’t easy for a man like Buck Wilson, who had always done for himself. Every night as he was being carried up to bed he would say, “Just kill me or leave me and let me die.”
Every night Marie Wilson would tell her husband, “We love you, and you ain’t gettin’ outta this life the easy way. Lord help me, darlin’, you’re stuck here on this earth with me, and ya ain’t goin’ nowheres unless I go with ya. Now hush.” But now that Cody was home, his daddy was a lot more accommodating to the nurses and his momma. Cody had a way with his daddy that no one else had.
Chapter Three
Skye was finally on the road toward Crawford. She had a nice new rental car that was untraceable to Parker. Tyler was in the back enjoying the Happy Meal she had bought for him with a Disney toy inside. They had already been on the road five hours, and they were close to Cleveland, Ohio. She still had several hours to go before she got to Webster City, Iowa; she just hoped she could make it there before nightfall. As she drove, she looked over at the SUV’s GPS, and it showed that Webster City was still ten hours away. It was one p.m. now; there was no way she would make it before darkness fell. Chicago, though, was only five more hours from Cleveland, so it looked like it would be Chicago tonight, then on to Mitchell, South Dakota, then home to Crawford, Montana. It would make for a couple of long drives and one more night on the road, but she was ready for it. When they got to Chicago, she would find a place to get a pre-paid cell and then turn off her other cell. She wanted to warn Daddy that she was on her way home.
Parker and Jasmine found a hotel in Crawford that was not far from the downtown area and settled in. He had to turn on the charm if he was going to get any information on Skye. “Jasmine! Jasmine, get the fuck out of the bathroom and come on. We’re going to that diner we passed when we came into town,” he said, grabbing his keys from the table.
Jasmine emerged from the bathroom dressed to the nines her dog in her arms. “Parker, do you think this is okay for dinner, baby?”
“Jas, honey, you would look amazing if we were in New York City, but right now, we’re in this piece of shit town surrounded by all these fuckin’ rednecks, or hillbillies, or whatever they’re called. Just go and change into something else, and for godsake, leave the fuckin’ dog,” he told her as he grabbed her arm and kissed her, then slapped her ass toward the bathroom. “Go change.”
When she finally emerged from the bathroom, she had a t-shirt and jeans on with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. “How’s this, darlin’?” she asked, trying to sound like she was from the south.
Parker wrapped his arms around her and said, “Just like a cowgirl, baby. Let’s go eat and see what we can find out.”
“Are we taking the BMW or are we walking?” Jasmine asked.
“We’re walking, Jasmine. Don’t you think a BMW will attract attention in this town?” he replied.
“Well, Parker, why did you ask for one? Why not one of these trucks they all drive around here?”
Parker turned toward her and swung, slapping her on her cheek. She spun around, barely keeping her balance. “Because I don’t drive fucking trucks. I drive style and class, unlike you. Now get your fucking ass cleaned up. Jesus. Do I gotta fucking tell you everything?”
“I’m sorry, Parker,” she said, holding her cheek. “You didn’t have to hit me.”
Parker turned back to Jasmine, and his face turned soft. “I’m sorry, Jas. I’m just stressed out. I can’t have Skye going to the police, and I definitely can’t have her testifying against me, so my only—no, our only choice is to kill her. So let’s get down to this diner so you can sweet talk some of those rednecks in there into giving us the information we need.”