Something More by Janet Dailey

Author:Janet Dailey [Dailey, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2014-12-29T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Hunkered against the building’s raised foundation, Saddlebags scanned the alleyway, searching for the uniformed deputy still somewhere outside. As long as he remained motionless, he knew it was unlikely he would be spotted. Even if Ima Jane alerted the patrolman, chances were he would never check the area so close to the tavern’s back entrance. He’d be looking beyond it, expecting Saddlebags to be running away. And at night, it was movement that caught the human eye.

Farther down the alley, the beam of a flashlight washed the rear of an old shed, giving Saddlebags the deputy’s location. Saddlebags waited a few more seconds to make sure Ima Jane didn’t sic the patrolman on him, then crept along the side of the building, quietly working his way to the corner nearest the parking lot.

Crouching low, far below a human’s normal line of vision, he peered around the corner. An old pickup went by on the highway, its broken tailpipe striking sparks off the pavement. Saddlebags waited until the noise of its engine had faded into nothing. He used the time to identify the vehicles in the lot and choose a route that offered the best concealment.

When all was quiet once more, he broke from the corner of the building and scurried across the intervening space at a crouching trot. His heart was slamming against his ribs like a jackhammer when he finally reached Luke’s old Ford pickup. But this was no time to rest.

It took two attempts before he succeeded in hauling himself over the side of the truck bed. On his hands and knees, Saddlebags crawled to the cab area, wincing in worry at the scuffling noises he made. But there was no one about to hear them.

He felt around with his hands. At last his fingers encountered the familiar feel of stiff cloth. He cackled silently. Good ole Luke still kept that old canvas tarp in the back of his pickup.

Working swiftly, he maneuvered his body underneath, taking pains not to disturb a single fold or buckle in the canvas and using its heavy weight to verify every inch of him was covered. Wrapped in blackness, he breathed in the musty smells of dust, old grain, and a hint of mildew.

It was stuffy under the thick canvas, but the warmth of it felt good to his old bones. Making a pillow of his arm, Saddlebags settled down to wait. This wasn’t the first time he’d hitched a ride to the Ten Bar without Luke being the wiser.

Confident his hiding place wouldn’t be discovered, he dozed some, which was about all he did anymore. It had been years since he had slept soundly. At the first click of a latch and creak of a door hinge, he was wide awake.

There were footsteps and voices, followed by the metallic sound of car doors opening and closing. The little gathering was breaking up and, just as Saddlebags expected, the patrol cars were the first to pull out of the lot.

A few minutes later, Tobe and Fargo came out of the Rimrock and climbed into their separate vehicles.

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