Cooper Tallon hammered the triangle. All those huddled under the awning drew close to the huge, wood-fired barbecue. “I think the hostess should say a few words. So I present to you, Ms. Develyn Gail Worrell, who came here an Indiana schoolteacher and will go home a genuine Wyomin' cowboy girl.”
“Coop, I'm not going to give a speech. That would be like saying we may never see each other again. I took thirty-five years to come back to Argenta. I'm never going to make that mistake again. Coop's right. I'm part Wyoming. Mrs. Tagley thinks I always have been. I'll be back. So this is just a party and not some big teary going-away thing. And if I have to say any more, I'll cry, and my makeup will smear, and that could frighten all of you.”
“Are you goin' to talk all night, or do we get to eat?” Renny called out.
“Mr. Slater, that's one thing I love about cowboys: they aren't very subtle.”
“Subtle don't fill the belly, Miss Dev,” Renny shot back.
“Line up behind Leon,” Develyn instructed. “He has been helping us set up since 6:00 a.m., so he gets to be first. In fact, he's been holding his plate in his hand for almost an hour.”
Develyn nibbled on the sweet, tiny carrot sticks and plowed them through a paper plate of onion dip. A procession of people scooted up next to her to visit.
Lily grabbed her arm and led her to the pile of barbecued pork. “I think there are more than twenty people here. Leon counted forty-four, but that included Uncle Henry.”
Develyn stabbed a slab of meat lathered with thick red sauce. “You know what, Lily? Argenta has fifty-one people. I've been here almost eight weeks and haven't met half of them until tonight. Oh, we nod or wave but never visit. I should have done this the first night in town. Do you see that man over there with the gray ponytail? He used to be a professor at Notre Dame.”
“He's from Indiana?”
“No, he's originally from Layton, Wyoming.”
“Where's that?”
“I don't know, but he said it's smaller than Argenta.”
“Well, the party's going to get bigger. Mr. Be-Still-My-Heart Rich Rancher is here.”
“Quint?” Develyn looked up to see two Quarter-Circle-Diamond pickups bouncing up the road. She watched as Uncle Henry shuffled over to meet the new arrivals.
“Does your watch-burro park cars too?”
“No, he's the unofficial greeter and official mooch.”
“The boys are headed for the food line, and Mr. Burdett is coming toward his Miss Dev,” Lily said. “Think I'll mosey over to Stewart.”
“You don't need to leave.”
“Oh, yes I do.”
Burdett held his black cowboy hat in hand as he sauntered up. A tight grin rode on his narrow lips.
“Quint, did you find Hunt?”
“Miss Dev, this is embarrassing.”
“Oh?”
“After you called, I dispatched the deputies up to Cedar Creek to pick up the trail. The sheriff insisted that we search the ranch one more time to make sure the One of One Thousand wasn't there. We tore the place apart for an hour and called the sheriff back. He reported all they found up at Cooper's was an empty gas can and tracks headed north. So he and the deputies lit out after them trying to catch up before dark. He figured if the thief made it to the Big Horn Mountains, it would be too hard to follow.”
“So what is the embarrassing part?”
“The boys wanted to come to your barbecue anyway. Tiny likes his food spicy, so he brings his own hot sauce. When he went to the pantry to retrieve a jar of hot salsa, there it was on the top shelf.”
“The gun?”
“Yes. We figure Mom and Pop Gleason pulled it down from over the mantle in my office before they left and jammed it out of sight.”
“So you aren't missing anything?”
“Nothing that I can discover.”
“That's great, Quint. Makes me ashamed to blame Hunt so quick.”
“Yeah, and I sent the sheriff and three deputies into the Cedar Hills all the way to the Big Horns, and I can't reach them on the phone.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Yeah, this will cost me next time they are raisin' money for new search and rescue equipment.”
Develyn weaved through the crowd of guests. Most were dressed in old jeans and clean shirts.
Leon, with his shirt well-dripped in barbecue sauce, sat across the makeshift table from Delaney.
“Dee, I'm glad you felt like coming out,” Develyn said.
“Leon insisted. He said it was the best party he had ever been to in his life.”
“Your daughter is purdy smart for a girl,” Leon announced.
“Oh? What makes you say that?”
“She told me how to get to Level 14 in RaiderQuest.”
Develyn glanced at Delaney. “And how did my daughter learn how to get to level anything in a video game?”
“Coed dorms and a crowded rec room,” Delaney said.
“I like your daughter,” Leon blurted out. “She's just like you…only different.”
Delaney laughed.
“That about sums it up, doesn't it?” Develyn added.
Casey waved her over to where she and Jackson sat across from Lily and Stewart.
“What is this quartet planning, a double wedding?”
Lily grinned. “Yes, we're trying to figure out where to hide our knives in a wedding dress.”
“Oh, my, you have been around Cree-Ryder too long.” Develyn turned to Jackson. “Mr. Hill, welcome to the party. You put in long hours at the store today.”
“I was studying the utilization of space. All those tall old shelves take up room. If we had twelve-inch shelves instead of sixteen-inch shelves, and if we went six feet high instead of five, we could add three shelves. That would mean room for approximately 27.6 percent increase in inventory.”
Develyn stared at his narrow brown eyes. “Mr. Hill, you were born to run a store.”
“It's more fun than leading packhorses down the trail by their nose.” His eyes widened. “I forgot. Mrs. Tagley phoned. She wants you to call her at the hospital.”
“How was she doing?”
“I couldn't tell, but she sounded cheerful enough.”
“That's good.”
“But she had a lawyer there drawing up her will,” he said.
“Oh, my. Yes, well, I'd better go call.”
Develyn toted her cell phone past the dirt yard full of pickups to the tall cottonwoods by the driveway. The sun sank behind the distant western mountains, but the evening was still bright. Uncle Henry followed her.
“Baby, you are hovering around even closer tonight. Do you sense that I have to go home soon?”
She found a signal and waited to go through the visitor's desk, then the nursing station. Mrs. Tagley's voice sounded weak but relaxed.
“Thanks for calling, Devy. I just had a nice visit with Becky Oliver's youngest son, Ben. He's been an attorney around Casper for thirty years. I wanted to update my will.”
“You plan on needing it?”
“I don't plan on ever needing it, but those who are left after me will. Honey, I want you to be the executor of the estate.”
“Me? Why me?”
“I need a cowboy girl with Wyoming in her eyes.”
“Mrs. Tagley, that's an honor, but maybe the attorney…”
“Nope. You are the one I want.”
“I'll be happy to do whatever you want me to, but I'm going home to teach school in a couple of days.”
“You can fly out to execute the will. I've made provisions for your plane fare. Please, honey.”
“I'll do it, Mrs. Tagley.”
“I knew you would, Devy. Next time you come to the hospital, young Ben will have copies to sign. It's nothing complicated.”
“That's fine.”
“I want you to have all my books. I probably have every book written on the history of Wyoming. Many of them are first editions. You can keep the ones you want and donate the rest to a library. You, being the schoolteacher, will know how to make the best use of them.”
“Well, thank you very much.”
“Devy, there's some cash in that big safe. Never did trust the banks much after the crash of ’29 wiped us out. I'd like the hospital children's wing to get that.”
“I didn't know they had a children's wing.”
“They don't. But they will have. There's quite a bit of money in there. I stopped adding it up when it got to a million.”
“That's very generous of you, sweetie.”
“Now, here's the fun part. The Hill boy and Miss Cree-Ryder have been doing a good job, I hear. He phones me every evening to tell me the receipts. So I want to give the store to them.”
“Really?”
“With provisions. They have to be married. I will have no one living in sin in my home. And they have to keep the grocery store open in Argenta for twelve years. At that time the business, inventory, and property belong to them.”
“Oh, my, that's wonderful. I can't wait to tell them.”
“And then my guns. I have a few old ones.”
“I noticed them the other day.”
“I want to donate them to the Firearms Museum and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody. I already made some contact there.”
“Who did you contact?”
“A nice young man named Hunter Burke. He's the assistant curator there. He stopped by to evaluate them. They wanted to authenticate everything for their records. He loved the guns. He must have spent an hour in my safe looking at them.”
“When was that?”
“Two weeks ago, I think. It was the day Lydia caught Tippi in the hall closet wearing a leotard.”
“I'll come see you tomorrow.”
“Could you bring me a bottle of Dr. Bull's Female Remedy? No one in here seems to have heard of it.”
“OK. Is there anything else you want?”
The older lady's voice softened. “I want to see Jesus.”
“Mrs. Tagley, you hang in there.”
“I'm tired and worn out, Devy.”
“I know, honey. You get some sleep.”
“Just one thing I want to know.”
“What's that?”
“It's Cooper Tallon, isn't it?”
Develyn stared across the yard at the crowd at the barbecue.
“I believe you're right, Mrs. Tagley.”
“The only time I missed it was with Lydia.”
Some folks left when the thunder hit around 8:30 p.m.
Everyone else dashed to their rigs when the deluge hit an hour later.
With a plate of half-eaten onion dip, Develyn strolled up to Cooper. “Cowboy, this was a wonderful party.”
“I like the way the downpour sent them all home. I'm tired.”
“You worked all day.”
“And you worked the crowd like an aspiring politician.”
“Was that a compliment?”
“You have a lot of social graces, Dev, ones that I lack. I suppose that's why they make an impression on me.”
“Coop, you are a rock. I like that.”
“A silent, heavy lump that doesn't move?”
She poked his ribs. “You're so dependable. Always there. Quiet, yes, in a wonderful way, and so supportive.”
“Some folks call that backward or shy.”
“I don't feel like I have to entertain you. I know I can't impress you, so I can just be myself. That feels good.”
“Where's your girl?”
“She drove Leon and his grandmother home. Leon wants to show her something about his video game.”
“She really took to him today.”
“Maybe it's the mothering instinct that got all stirred up.”
“My prayers are with her. No matter who's at fault, that's a rough deal.”
“Thanks, Coop. Did you hear about Casey and Jackson getting Mrs. Tagley's store? She said there was no reason for them to have to wait until–well, she said, wait until she croaks. She's going to lease it to them for a dollar a year, and they pay all the taxes, utilities, and insurance.”
“Where did they go?”
“Jackson wanted to take Casey up to visit with his mom in Sheridan and tell her the news. They asked me and Dee to run the store until they get back.”
“Lily and Stewart left rather early.”
“They went with Quint and the Quarter Circle Diamond boys. Quint invited them up for the night. Lily decided it was her one chance to see the big house at the headquarters.”
“I can't imagine Stewart agreeing to something so spontaneous.”
“I think he does what Lily wants. Aren't they a great couple?”
“Yes, they are. Hope they don't get stuck in the mud going into Burdett's.”
“The sheriff and deputies are stuck in the mud somewhere too.”
“You know, ever since you told me about Quint's gun being found, I've been ponderin' that scene. Something's not right,” Cooper said.
“But nothing is missing.”
Cooper pulled off his black cowboy hat and scratched the back of his neck. “What if it's a diversion?”
Develyn stared into his narrow eyes. “What do you mean?”
“The sheriff and everyone else is concentrated up north. What if that was just a ploy to lead them away from the true crime?”
“You mean the real robbery will happen down here?”
“It could be that the gas can was just a plant. All that talk about renting Jackson's pack string could have been used to get the authorities to think someone was headed for Canada. Even though Burdett's gun is worth over a hundred grand, if a person knew they were available, it would be better to steal Mrs. Tagley's guns. Why bother with one if you can grab five of them? Besides, everyone knows Quint has that one, but no one knows about Mrs. Tagley's. They would be much harder to track.”
“Forget the guns,” Develyn said. “If he was plotting to steal the guns…and stumbled across the cash…he'd leave the guns and take the million instead.”
“Or take both.” Cooper nodded. “Now that Mrs. Tagley is in the hospital, who would know what's missin' from her safe?”
“And if she happened to die.” Dev's hand covered his mouth, “it would be the perfect crime.”
She tugged on his arm. “Mr. Tallon, would you accompany me to Mrs. Tagley's to check her safe?”
“You think Burke's already been there?”
“Everyone in town was here. Tonight would be a good opportunity.”
“We'll take my rig. It's still sprinkling.”
As they approached the Sweetwater Grocery, Develyn waved her arm. “Go around back and point your headlights at the cottonwoods.”
“What are you looking for?”
“Delaney said Hunt claimed to be camping back there the last couple of nights. Maybe he was sizing up the place.”
“Nothin's there now.”
“Well, just a thought.” Develyn motioned for him to park at the rear of the house. “Let's go in the back door.”
“That lightning earlier knocked out some lights. Do you have a flashlight?”
“Yes.”
“Door key?”
“Yep.”
“The combination to the safe?” he asked.
“Yes, sir.” Develyn stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Is there anything else you want?”
He lifted her chin with his fingers. “Yes, ma'am, I reckon there is.” He kissed her on the lips.
“Will it wait?” she murmured.
“As long as it takes.”
“You mean that, Coop, don't you?”
“Dev, I'm good at waitin'. But I got to know what I'm waitin' for.”
She slipped her arms around his waist. “Did you know I'm falling in love with an older gentleman?”
“Did you know that an older gentleman has never heard a woman tell him that?”
She opened the back door and stepped inside. She flipped the switch. “No electricity.”
“The storm must have hit a transformer. Turn on your flashlight.”
Develyn surveyed the back porch with the tiny beam.
“Something's wrong,” Cooper said.
“Nothing looks out of place.”
“Didn't you say Dee went over to Leon's to teach him about a video game?”
“Yes.”
“And she didn't come back yet?”
“What are you insinuating?”
“Look over at the Miller's double-wide…they have lights. What I'm saying is that Leon has electricity and so do the Millers, but not the store.” He waved his hand in front of the beam. “Over there.”
Develyn jumped. “What?”
“Walk over to the circuit breakers.”
They scooted through the shadows.
“Throw the handle up,” he instructed.
“Lights!”
“What does that mean?”
“Someone's been here and wanted to be in the dark.”
She grabbed his arm. “Are they still here?”
“I think they are gone. And all those valuable rifles will be gone too.”
They scampered to the bedroom and into the large closet. “It's not blown up,” she declared. “Someone with the combination opened it.” Develyn spun the chamber. “Rats, I went too far.”
Cooper rubbed her shoulders. Stiff thumbs kneaded her back. “Relax, Dev. Whatever is stolen is gone. Two minutes won't make a difference.”
Cooper reached in and flipped the switch. Develyn stepped inside. “There's something over there.” She pointed at the blanket-covered items against the door.
Cooper pulled back the blanket and snatched up a gun. “It's them. Dev, these are the Henrys.”
“They are all here?”
“Yep. And the One of One Thousand is here too.”
Develyn pulled open several of the shoe boxes. “The money's here too. I was just dreaming all this up.” She stepped back outside the safe into Mrs. Tagley's lilac-smelling bedroom. “The deputies are out in the mud. Quint was panicked, and we ran around frantic for nothing. Good grief, how did I let my mind get this carried away?”
Cooper turned off the light in the safe, closed the door, and spun the dial. “But the circuit was off. Someone threw that lever. And someone did tell the Quarter Circle Diamond boys to take off for the weekend. Something is going on.”
“And Hunter Burke knows what.”
“I think we need to get an orange Popsicle and ponder this,” Cooper suggested.
“Oh, yes!”
“Out on the front bench.”
“They are kind of messy. Is that what you mean?”
“I'm in a bedroom with a pretty lady, that's what I mean. I'm not that old.”
“Good, Mr. Tallon. I'm counting on that.”
The rain had stopped. Argenta was lit by moonlight breaking through the clouds. Develyn plopped down next to Cooper on the freight wagon bench on the front porch. “I thought you wanted an orange Popsicle too.”
“We are going to share that one.”
“Oh, no, Mr. Tallon. You have to learn that there's one thing I will not share. This is my Popsicle. Get your own.”
“OK.” He plucked it out of her hand, snapped it in two, and handed her half.
“I can't believe you did that,” she gasped.
“I think it's about time you tried something different. This way you can take those long licks, enjoy it, and finish it before it drips all over your shirt. Then we can go get another one and do it all over again.”
“But that only works if you have a friend to share it with.”
“You have such a friend.”
“Do you intend to be here every time I want a Popsicle for the rest of my life?”
“Sounds like a good goal to me, doesn't it?”
Develyn took a big, deep sigh and let it out slow. “Yes, Coop, it sounds like a wonderful goal. Are you available for the rest of your life?”
“Are you proposing?” Coop laughed.
“I'm just finding a Popsicle partner.”
“In some places of the world, that's like being engaged.”
“How about Natrona County?”
“I'm afraid so. It's a tradition.”
“Well,” she giggled, “if it's a western tradition, so be it.”
“Do we know what we are doin'?”
“I'm sitting on a porch on a rainy night in Wyoming eating half a Popsicle with a man I've known eight weeks, saying I will marry him some day if I can teach school in Indiana and he can be a Wyoming cowboy and we can figure out how a marriage like that can work.”
“And I thought we were talking about Popsicle partners,” he gulped.
“Hmm. Men. Are you trying to break the engagement?”
“No, ma'am, I'm just worried that when daylight comes, you'll regret promises made while under the influence of an orange Popsicle.”
“Popsicle promises are the best kind. They last forever.”
Coop put his arm around her shoulder. “Dev, this isn't a joke to me.”
She laid her head on his arm. “Nor me, Cooper Tallon. You're the most peaceful, comfortable man I've ever been with. You bring me something I've never had. Deep, deep contentment. I like it. I want it for a long, long time.”
When the Popsicles were gone, they continued to sit on the bench and talk.
“Well, Miss Dev, do you think I ought to get you home?”
“I think we should talk and talk and talk and let me fall asleep right here with your arm around me.”
“I've pondered that myself.”
“Oh? And just what else did you ponder?”
“I believe a crime was committed by Mr. Hunter Burke. We just can't figure out what.”
“That's what you are thinking?”
“Dadgumit, Dev. You are a beautiful lady, and it wouldn't take but a blink for my thoughts to run away with me. I have to think about something else. I'm going to do this right, Ms. Worrell. Are you sure all the money was in the safe?”
“I looked in a half-dozen of the boxes.”
“Let's go check out the others.”
With the safe again open, Cooper waited out in the bedroom under the single lightbulb fixture. “Bring one out here.”
Develyn pulled off the lid and shoved it toward him. “See, still crammed with…”
He pulled the top bills off the stack.
“Paper? Plain old paper?”
“These aren't real.” Cooper turned over the bills to a blank side. “These are photocopies on top and white paper on the bottom. He did it. He stole Mrs. Tagley's cash!”
Dev scooted back into the safe, then hollered, “They are all that way!”
“We were right. Quint's gun was the diversion. He wanted to steal Mrs. Tagley's guns, but when he discovered the cash, he left the guns.”
“But it's her money. It will be the children's wing of the hospital some day. He can't do that.”
“He just did.”
“We have to call the sheriff.”
“Can't reach him until he gets out of the Big Horns.”
“Then we're going to catch him ourselves. I will not let him get away with this!” Develyn ranted.
“How are we going to catch him? We don't know which way he went.”
“He didn't go north. That was all a ploy. If you were going to get out of this country in a hurry and didn't want to be on the blacktop, which way would you go?”
“South through the oil fields. A man could drive to Utah though those oil field roads.”
“We're going after him.”
“There is no way to catch him. He had a two- or three-hour head start.”
“But it was pouring rain. You can't go fast on those roads in the rain. The wind has been blowing for an hour. The roads are drying up. Maybe we can gain some speed on him.”
“We won't know which roads.”
“The biggest one south. That's the right one. Do you know your way around these oil fields?”
“I laid a ten-million-dollar pipeline through them.”
“Then let's get going.”
“Dev, this sounds impossible.”
“What do we have to lose? We will be inside the cab of the truck talking for the rest of the night. That's OK, isn't it?”
“You've got very good logic.”
“So are you going to marry me for my logic?”
“That's one reason. Not the one I'm thinkin' of at the moment but a definite consideration.”
“Mr. Tallon, should I be worried about being in a truck with you tonight?”
“No more worried than I am.”
Within twenty minutes of bouncing south down still-muddy dirt roads, Develyn was completely lost. “I don't know if this was a good idea.”
Cooper pulled off to the side of the road.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking.”
“At me?”
“At that mess by the side of the road. Someone was stuck there tonight. See the ruts? Piles of mud where someone was digging? Someone was in a hurry to get back on the road.”
“An oil field worker?”
“Nope. They'd all know better. They'd just pull over and take a nap. An hour after the wind picks back up it will be dry enough to drive out of any ditch.”
“It could be Hunter.”
“Could be, but we're still miles behind him.”
“For Mrs. Tagley's sake, we've got to try.”
They crested a pass and dropped into a small basin. Even in the night shadows, Develyn spotted a familiar sign. “Coop, have you ever heard of one of those gas field warning sirens going off?”
“A few times. They have drills like fire drills at schools, I reckon.”
“What are you supposed to do if you hear one?”
“Get to higher ground in a hurry. The gas will hover like invisible ground fog. You're supposed to drive out of the danger area as fast as possible using the ascending roadway. I've never been out here when an honest leak occurred. Don't think I want to, either. One time, Blamey Jim's pals played a trick on him when he was out in the sage. Well, let's just say Blamey Jim took a Cabela's catalog with him to the sage and read ever’ page before he returned. Anyway, T. Clark tripped the alarm on the gas field, and ol' Blamey came runnin' out of the sage, with his… well, sorry, Dev. I don't usually tell my stories to ladies.”
Develyn laughed. “I get the picture.”
When they bounced over a slight rise, Develyn waved her hands. “Stop!”
Cooper slammed on the brakes.
“What is that in the road?”
“Part of an old recap tire, I imagine.” He started to roll forward.
“Wait, Coop, I'm serious. It's a kill strip. One of those took my tire out last week, and Hunter Burke showed up five minutes later. I think it fell out of his truck and he came back to retrieve it. He was in a hurry to load it up.”
Cooper parked the truck in the middle of the road and hiked out to the dark object in the shadow of the headlights.
She watched as he pulled off his hat and stared. Develyn scurried up to him. “Was I right?”
“You were right, Ms. Worrell. This means either Hunter knows someone is following or expects someone to follow. That means it might be dangerous to keep going.”
“Coop, do you know how to trip the gas field alarm?”
“There isn't much to it. T. Clark showed me how. Why?”
“What do you think Burke would do if the siren went off now?”
“Is he dumb or smart?”
“Very, very smart.”
“Then he'd drive up the nearest incline and get out of the gas field.”
“Where would the oil people come from to check out the leak?”
“From the south. Hunter won't want to run into them because they will question him and record his license plate number. Are you saying we should set off the alarm and see if we can force Hunter back here?”
“It's a thought,” she said.
“We could get in big trouble if we get caught.”
“We could get in big trouble if we just park in the dark and smooch.”
“Maybe that kill strip would be helpful,” he grinned. “We'll leave it, that way he won't be suspicious if he drives back this way.” He took her hand and led her back to the truck.
Cooper Tallon rumbled the black Dodge truck back up to the top of the grade next to the gas field warning signs. “Well, Miss Dev, let's see what happens.”
Cooper shorted out some wires and soon had the annoying roar of the sirens churning across the central Wyoming night.
“They're louder than I thought,” she called out. “Sort of like tornado warnings back home.”
“What did you think they would be like?”
“Maybe like an alarm clock. What do we do now?”
Cooper studied the drying mud on the road. “Figure out a way to stop his truck, if he does come this way.”
“Do you have a plan?” she quizzed.
“Yep. It worked before.”
“Where?”
“In a John Wayne movie,” he replied.
Develyn studied the roadway in the dark shadows. “Tell me again how this works.”
“My truck blocks the road. Those boulders and the warning sign barricade the north side. I'll be stretched out on the ground like I'm injured to stop him on the south. When he gets out, I'll jump him.”
“And I step out from behind the sign and wave this at him?”
“That is a 38/55, half mag, saddle rind carbine. It will set Burke down in a hurry. He knows his guns. Are you sure you are up to this?”
“All I have to do is wave a gun. You have to lie in the mud and hope he doesn't run over you.”
“He won't.”
“I wouldn't put it past him.”
“I would. It would throw the truck alignment out. He'll stop to drag the body into the ditch.”
“And if I have to shoot this?”
“Fire one shot over his head, then cock it quick and point it at him. Dev, I don't think you'll need to. I'll have him pinned down by then. I've got some plastic ties for binding…Looks like someone's coming. Sure hope it's Hunt.”
She stepped behind the sign. “I hope he doesn't run over my cowboy. Doesn't this plan sound amateurish?”
“We are amateurs,” he replied.
“Point well taken.”
Cooper sprawled in the drying mud in front of his diagonally parked truck. “Just in case something goes wrong here, I love you Develyn Gail Upton Worrell.”
The approaching headlight bounced up and down on the approaching dirt road. “I love you too, Cooper…Cooper…”
“Worthington.”
“Your middle name is Worthington?”
“Yep. You want to call off the engagement?”
“No, I love you too, Cooper W. Tallon.”
Develyn held her breath when a white Ford slid to a stop.
It is Hunter Burke.
The driver didn't get out but backed up the truck and headed straight at the boulder next to Develyn.
Is he coming over here? That's not what we planned. He's going to roll the boulders away instead of the “dead body.”
With headlights on high beam, the truck stopped. Hunt slammed on the brakes and hopped out of the truck wearing a red bandanna over his mouth.
“This is just what I need,” he mumbled as he stooped down and gripped a granite boulder the size of a large watermelon. “First a gas leak, now this guy is passed out. I can't believe this.”
Lord, help me.
She jumped out in front of him. “Maybe you can believe this!” She pointed the carbine at him.
“Mrs. Worrell? What are you doing here? It's a bad dream.” He continued to roll the rock. “No Indiana schoolteacher is going to shoot me. Besides,” he hollered above the siren, “you don't have a clue what's in my truck.”
“You have a million dollars cash that belongs to Mrs. Tagley,” Develyn yelled. “And you greatly underestimate the teaching profession.”
With the carbine lodged in her shoulder, she pulled the barrel inches to the left and blasted the left tire of Burke's pickup.
The explosion of the gun and the tire drove Hunter Burke to his knees with his hands up. As Develyn cocked the lever, Cooper slammed Hunter's face down in the mud and yanked his arm behind his back.
“Son, never rile a Wyomin' cowboy girl.”