Drake returned the tractor and went to the yellow barn where his horse, Mission, greeted him with a whinny. "How are you doing, boy? You want to go for a quick run?"
Once saddled, they headed toward the low trail that led around the base of the mountain. He'd pass by their competitor, Active Assets, but he needed to check the feed supply for the trail horses they supplied the more exclusive resort. It was a strange situation to do business with the competition, but his mother called it being neighborly.
Drake tried to go over every possible scenario in his head of what could go wrong or what he needed to prepare for as they walked along. All he could come up with was that they were facing a major clusterfuck.
Chapter Five: A Welcome Respite
Josephine “Joey” Preston
Everyone around had already disappeared as Joey headed toward Percy's trailer. She frantically looked around for Clinton or Warren to see if they had heard anything, but it was like a ghost town all of a sudden. She was on her own and had no idea if she was heading into a new level of hell. Her cheek throbbed, but she tried to ignore it.
Each step was slower than the previous one as she tried to make the distance take forever. She was only halfway there when Percy finally stuck his head back out of his trailer and bellowed again. "Hurry up!" The metal building shook when he slammed the door.
A dozen excuses rolled through her mind, but none would slow down long enough to stick before she reached the door. She paused with her hand on the knob and sucked in a deep breath.There's nothing you can do about it. Face the music and get it over with.
She stiffened her spine and set her shoulders before she yanked the door open. Percy sat behind his desk and motioned for her to take a seat in one of the chairs facing him.
"What do you want that's so important?" Being on the offense was the way to go, right? "I have work to be doing instead of lounging around here."
His brow raised as he observed her. "What'd you do to your face?" He gestured to the bandage.
"I slipped and hit my face on the stall." She studied his face as she lied to him. Despite his usual unpleasant demeanour, Percy didn't seem aggravated or angry, which threw her for a loop. If she was wrong about why she was there, it wasn't going to be her that gave herself away. "But don't worry. I'm not going to get medical care that might draw any attention to the rodeo." The media loved hearing about injuries, and a simple twisted ankle got blown into a full leg amputation by the time sensationalism was added. She knew it was one of Percy's constant worries, and it drove her crazy when abuse and neglect were much bigger, and truer, stories that were ignored.
"You need to be more careful before you can't perform." He pointed to a map on the wall. "We're headed to Colorado."
"I know that." She frowned. "That's not news. We're due in Denver but not for a couple weeks."
"I'm well aware of that. We're going to Manitou Springs first."
Her frown deepened. "Why?" Manitou Springs was a couple hours from Denver and only a fraction of the size.
"We're going to have a smaller, more intimate rodeo with some locals. A family ranch has graciously offered to host us."
"But, why?" The rodeo always performed at large venues. Not in the entire time she'd been aware of Percy had he done a show in a smaller town.
"I do not have to explain myself to you, Ms. Preston. But in the spirit of cooperation, and since I'm in a good mood-" he paused as if waiting for her to laugh at him or make a snarky comment. When she didn't respond, he continued. "it's because I want to get more exposure. Word will spread quickly in a smaller area, and then we'll get a bunch of free advertising for the circuit and possibly a larger crowd in Denver."
She nodded. "I see." She didn't, really, because she suspected there had to be more to the story. First of all, Percy was never in a good enough mood to voluntarily explain anything without a fight. She had gone enough rounds with him about other topics that she knew better. And secondly, if smaller towns garnered free publicity, he'd do it more often.
"Do you? Because I'm charging you with telling the others that they'll have an extra weekend of competition. There will be additional purses to win, of course."
Some of the competitors wouldn't be happy about the detour and the added expenses of travel, but at least it wasn't too far out of the way. "When are we leaving?"
"Probably tomorrow. I need to make a personnel change, but that doesn't affect you at all."
I'll bet you do.Joey bit her lip so she didn't crack a smile. She didn't want to tip him off, especially if she was wrong about who he meant. "I'll let everyone know."
"It won't take us long to get there. Someone will be there to help us get settled. We'll have our own barn for the horses and sidekicks."
"Will you be having feed sent there?" Joey knew the answer but had to ask. "We're getting really low again."
"We have enough until we get to Denver."
Her blood pressure rose. It was the answer she expected, but hearing it was a completely different thing. She slapped her palm down on his desk. "No, Percy, we don't. These horses can't perform if we starve them. And part of our deal with you is feed."
"If your horse requires extra food, then it comes out of your pocket, not mine."
"Extra?" Her temper exploded. "They're not getting enough, let alone extra."
