Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,49

to control but let him off the leash often enough to satisfy his acquisition fever,” Parlan said. And other base needs.

“That was my feeling,” Judd agreed.

“Did you appropriate all the loot and put it in a safe place?”

“Of course. Sweeney wasn’t happy about that, but he didn’t argue long. I gave him enough money that he could buy a couple of hours with a whore and take his disappointment out on her.”

“He thinks with his cock too much of the time. He’s going to screw up a job one of these days.”

Judd smiled. “He does that, I’ll screw him.”

Parlan frowned at something Judd had said.“You slipped across the border and came back?” Since phones didn’t work between regions, that was the only way Judd could have found out about what Sweeney was doing.

“Pick a back road and do it quick and quiet. One man can do it if he can reach an inhabited place and blend in. The clan wouldn’t be able to get across that way. We’d draw too much attention. Each on his own, some of us would make it back to the West Coast, but not all of us.”

Parlan understood that “all of us” didn’t include anyone but the Blackstone family and Judd. “No checkpoints on the roads?”

“Might be on the highways used by trucks hauling freight, but not the smaller roads. Then again, the only time I didn’t feel like I was being watched was when I found Sweeney in that little hole-in-the-wall town. Made sure it looked like an exchange of goods, and came back.”

One by one, the men arrived at the hotel room to report any information of interest. The first ones were Parlan’s son, Dalton, and his brother, Lawry. Sweeney Cooke, having successfully snuck across the border into the Midwest, was staying there and awaiting instructions from Judd.

The last man to arrive was Charlie Webb, who was baffled and furious that the piece he’d been screwing had run off before he could squeeze the last dollar out of her, and all because he’d given her a little needed discipline.

“Charlie,” Judd said, “once we cross the border you can buy all the company you want.”

Charlie looked like he wanted to argue, but nobody argued with Judd.

At Parlan’s signal, Judd explained about the abandoned towns and how Sweeney had already scouted out a couple of them. Dalton didn’t say much, but Lawry thought having a headquarters would be a fine idea. And Charlie, fixated on the woman who had run out on him, thought having a place so far out of the way that women would have to stay put and be agreeable was just what they needed.

“Then we’re agreed that we should look for such a place?” Parlan asked.

It wasn’t really a question. He was the leader, the front man, with his quaint manners and clothing that made him look like a successful gambler from the frontier days. The fact that he and his family were Intuits made being successful so much easier.

The men agreed, as he’d known they would.

Parlan smiled. “Then tomorrow morning, the Blackstone Clan will board our private car and head to the Midwest.”

CHAPTER 14

Moonsday, Messis 13

“I appreciate you putting in a good word for me,” Truman Skye said.

Tobias Walker glanced at his companion and smiled. “I’m going to miss having you around, but I’m happy you’ll have this chance. You deserve the job of foreman.”

“It’s going to be strange working with men who aren’t like us.”

“Yep. But from what I’ve been hearing, Simple Life folk and Intuits work together in a lot of other places and get along just fine. Still, having a foreman who is an Intuit, has experience with ranching, and grew up around this land will help everyone.”

“It’s okay to call you if I have questions? And Ellen will help me keep the accounts straight?”

Tobias grinned. You’d think Truman was heading for the other end of the continent instead of taking over the neighboring ranch. “You can call me. You can call Ellen. If you ask her, my mom will help you choose the men who will best fit you and that particular ranch. Besides, we’ll meet up here in Bennett and have a drink at the saloon and play a few hands of cards and flirt with women.”

“They have women?”

Now he laughed. “They do. Of course, ‘women’ is a slippery word. Let’s say there are females at the saloon who talk and flirt with the customers.”

“And each ranch will have a cook?”

There were priorities. A man