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Dolly tapped a few buttons on her phone and all of their phones buzzed. “You need to see this before I send it out to the world. And before you start, this comes straight from Jackson Blevins himself.”
“Killer on a killer?” LeAnn made a face. “That’s awful. Vanessa doesn’t need to deal with this shit now.”
Reba couldn’t believe that they were going to put LeAnn on Sverre. She couldn’t even look at Shane. “You can’t ride that bull.”
“Okay, first of all, you’re not my mama or my husband. You can’t tell me what to do,” LeAnn said.
“I can get your mama on the line,” Reba said, waggling her phone at her sister. She didn’t want to pull that card if she didn’t have to, but for Pete’s sake, a man just died from riding that bull.
“You can’t ride Sverre,” Dylan said.
“Fuck you. I can do what I want,” LeAnn told him, and he was her husband.
“Let’s not go there right now,” Dolly said. She pinned Shane with a glare. “What’s up with your bull? I watched his last ten rides over and over again today. He’s tough and a ball buster, but he has never acted like that.”
“I know,” Shane said.
“His test results were clear,” Dolly said.
Reba tried not to let her relief show on her face. She knew that Shane would never drug his bulls. But she hadn’t been sure someone else wouldn’t have sabotaged Sverre because they were jealous of the contract.
“I know that, too. We don’t do any of that shit with our bulls.”
“Doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t,” Dylan said. “Dolly’s right. Something got into your bull. He shouldn’t be in the lottery until we can figure out what.”
“I can give him a full exam,” Reba said. “It’s not like I’m doing anything else right now. I’m free until I have to report in at Odessa on Thursday.”
Shane nodded. “I’d appreciate that. I told Blevins that I’d send Sverre home and give him another bull, but he didn’t want that. I didn’t expect him to do something as distasteful as this, though. Are you sure you have to go through with this?” he asked Dolly.
“I’ve got a call in to Shelby Miller. She’s the only one who could override him and stop this. And even she might only be able to delay it for a while. I’m going to break the news to Vanessa after dinner. It’s the least I could do.”
“I’d like the chance to ride Sverre,” LeAnn said.
“He’s too much bull for you,” Shane said. “And I’m not saying that because you’re a woman. I’m saying that because he’s kicked off more experienced bull riders.”
“Not to mention he killed someone two days ago,” Dolly said, and Reba heard the hysteria in her voice.
“If it comes to it, I’ll wear the best protective equipment we can get,” LeAnn said.
“I’ll make sure the bullfighters are ready and prepared,” Dylan said.
“I can’t believe you’re on board for this,” Dolly said, scowling at him.
“Oh, I hate it,” Dylan replied. “It’s the stuff of nightmares. Ronnie’s death has brought everything back for me when we lost Johnny Montana. I thought I was over the guilt.”
“I’m sorry,” LeAnn said, linking her fingers through his. “I didn’t think. I’m being selfish. Maybe I won’t ride this bull.”
Dylan nodded tightly and looked down at the table.
“Finally, some sense.” Reba slumped in her seat.
“But my contract with the UPRC says I have to do exhibitions like this when asked,” LeAnn said.
“Let me work on that,” Dolly said.
“If it needs to be another one of my bulls, Vidar and Torkel are good choices,” Shane said.
Dolly made a few notes in her phone. “I’ll see what I can do.”
