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Shane was kicking himself. After the accident with Vidar, he should have insisted on it. He should have been there. He hoped that nothing had been introduced into Sverre’s system. For Ronnie’s sake, but also for the bull’s. He hated the poison that some people jacked up their animals with. Sverre didn’t need any chemicals to be a good athlete, and it sickened him that someone thought they could get away with hurting anyone on the circuit, whether it was an animal or rider. He couldn’t figure out any motivation to inject Sverre with a performance-enhancing drug.
Pat and Reba arrived about the same time. Reba took Sverre’s sample and then said, “If it’s okay, I’d like to retest all of your stock?”
Shane nodded. “Do what you have to do.”
“I’m going to have to cancel dinner tonight,” she said. “I want to oversee these lab results personally.”
“Call me as soon as you get an answer,” he said.
Shane and Pat stood guard until the rodeo was over. They loaded up their bulls into the trailer.
“Pat, I want you to get on the road right away. I’ll call ahead to our friends at the Brady Cattle Ranch so they know to expect you a little earlier than planned. I’m afraid things are going to get ugly if we stay overnight and then leave in the morning like we had planned.”
“You got it.”
“I may need you to fly back to Montana tomorrow morning if we need to find a bull to replace Sverre. You’d have to drive back down to Brady with him. If that turns out to be the case, just bring Rick with you so he can take Sverre back. I’ll fill him in with the details so you don’t have to.”
“This is a hell of a thing,” Pat said.
“Yes, it is. Drive safe. Call me when you get there.”
He watched the bulls while Pat grabbed some dinner and coffee to go. He called his brother and filled him in. Rick would break the news to his parents. They hadn’t been watching the rodeo, thankfully.
The press hadn’t been allowed back in the bullpens, but it was only a matter of time before one of them snuck in. Shane didn’t relax until Pat had left the arena and called to tell him he was on the highway.
After that, Shane didn’t know what to do with himself. He didn’t want to pester Reba and he knew he wouldn’t be welcome company to any bull riders tonight. He was surprised, however, to find Abigail in the horse barn when he wandered in. She was taking care of Ronnie’s horse, Starshine. She’d always loved horses. He could see she’d been crying. She looked up when he approached.
“Well, your bull is still undefeated.”
“Knock that shit off,” he said, gently.
She burst into tears and threw herself into Shane’s arms. “It could have been Keith. He wanted that damned bull so bad. He was pissed that Ronnie pulled Sverre and wouldn’t trade.”
Shane patted her back awkwardly, as if a few hours ago she hadn’t been propositioning him so she could cheat on Keith. He would never understand Abigail, but he did understand that she was scared. She had cried when Shane had his wreck and rode to the hospital in an ambulance with him.
“I just can’t believe it. Poor Vanessa. What is she going to do now?”
“It won’t be easy,” he said. “But she’s a strong woman. She’ll survive this.”
“I need a drink,” she said, rubbing his back. “Keith and the boys don’t want to be disturbed. How about you and I get lost in the bottom of a bottle?”
It was tempting. But he knew that drinking got Abigail horny almost as much as watching bull riders did.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
She clung to him tighter. “I think it’s a great idea.”
*
Reba
Reba was surprised when Diane burst into the veterinarian trailer while she was waiting for the results to finish.
“I need to talk to Reba alone. Take the ten minutes,” Diane said to Dr. Victor and the two vet techs who were still there, packing up the gear for travel.
“What’s up?” Reba asked when they had cleared out. She was dead on her feet, but she wasn’t going to rest until the lab results were done.
“Are you standing behind your findings that Shane Calland’s bull Sverre was not given any performance-enhancing drugs?”
