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So much for moving on, Bryce thought. But Cecily had responded. With passion. Grateful the walk to the barn would, he hoped, get rid of any evidence of his reaction to their shared moment—because that’s all it was at this stage—he took deep breaths, inhaling Cecily’s scent even over that of the mare who shuffled along between them.
Was he supposed to say something now? She seemed to like it if he talked, but what was he supposed to say? Talking to fill dead air didn’t make sense.
You talk to the animals. All the time. Why can’t you talk to a woman?
Okay, not a woman, as in a female person or a female friend, but a woman he cared about. Was it harder with Cecily because the kiss had shifted things? She wasn’t a ranch colleague, or a watch a movie together friend anymore.
He had no answer. Other than when he was interested in a woman, his brain froze, and nothing came out of his mouth. Or if it did, it was something lame. Or something that made things worse.
Maybe she’d like it if he talked about Grady again.
“Trying to work Grady up to walking Ginger solo like this. He acted like it was a grizzly on the lead. Might help if you came by, walked along with him a few times. Until he’s comfortable.”
Her lips curved upward. “I’m on first shift this rotation, so I can be here after work while there’s still enough daylight.”
He nodded. Caught her expectant glance. Right. She liked to hear everything. Out loud. “Good.”
“I can’t make it every day. Would three times a week be all right?”
“Yep.”
They were at the barn now, and Cecily walked Ginger to her stall. After removing the mare’s halter, she said, “I’ll give her a quick brush before I have to go, but I want to check in with Derek.”
Bryce glanced toward the house, noting Andy’s RAV4 was gone. After what had transpired, he didn’t think Andy was in the picture. That didn’t mean he wasn’t waiting in the wings. Bryce toyed with his ponytail as he followed Cecily across the yard and into the house to shed their boots.
Derek wasn’t in the kitchen. Bryce thought about a cup of coffee, or even water, but he didn’t want to lose the lingering taste of Cecily’s kiss.
“Derek?” Cecily called. “We’re back.”
Bryce headed for Derek’s office, the most logical place to find him this time of day. The door was open and Derek sat at his desk, frowning at his computer monitor. His fingers drummed the mouse.
Bryce waited in the doorway, but Cecily breezed right in. Derek shifted his attention to her. “Ginger all right?” he asked.
“The walk did her good,” Cecily said. “What’s with the grumpy face?”
“Not grumpy. Worried. Confused,” Derek said. “Andy stopped by the Sheriff’s Department.”
“Yes, he said he’d have them test to see if the blood we found was human. Did he get results already?”
“I don’t know.” Derek shoved the mouse aside. “There’s another dead steer.”
Bryce cursed under his breath and approached the desk. “Where?”
“Another one of ours?” Cecily gripped Bryce’s hand.
“No, out at the Randall spread.”
Cecily gave Bryce’s hand a quick squeeze and moved toward the desk. “Are you sure it was killed the same way? By an intruder? Maybe a mountain lion got it. There’ve been reports.”
Derek shoved away from the desk. “According to Randall, it was killed by a human. Hacked up, the way mine was.”
“Does he know when it happened?” Cecily asked. “Before ours, or after?”
“He said the scavengers had worked it over good, so maybe before.”
“Sounds to me like someone’s got it in for ranchers,” Bryce said. “If it was just you, why target another spread?”
“Did Randall find any evidence? Like we found boot prints?” Cecily asked.
Derek frowned. “You think there’s more than one person sneaking onto ranch property and killing one steer?”
“Could be a group,” Bryce said. “One idea, one reason, but several people carrying it out.”
Cecily flopped onto the couch. “Did you call Andy?”
“Randall said he reported it to the Sheriff’s Office. I assume the information will get where it needs to go.”
“What you said—” Bryce ran everything through his head “—about killing a single steer. Maybe whoever it is wants to prove he can.”
“Or it’s a warning,” Derek said. “Proving he can get onto a ranch undetected. What’s to stop him from coming back and doing something more nefarious?”
“Nefarious.” Back to ten-dollar words, Bryce noted. D-Man was upset. Which was reasonable.
“You mean, he could hide out like a sniper and pick off cattle like fish in a barrel?” Cecily said.
Derek’s mouth twisted. “Nice image, Sis.”
“They’d stampede at the first shot,” Bryce said. “Although if he was good enough, he could still snag a few. If he was a sniper type, then why start with a butcher job?”
“I’m concerned he could contaminate the water supply. Or spread poisoned feed,” Derek said.
“Doesn’t make sense,” Cecily said. “Why start with one steer? If it’s a warning, a warning about what? Wouldn’t he send a ransom note or list of demands, or something?”
“I agree. Since we have no clue who’s behind this, or why, all we can do is try to prevent it from happening again.” Derek faced Bryce. “We discussed rounding up all the cattle into a single pasture where we can do better surveillance. What do you think?”
“You mean ride herd on ’em all night?” Bryce said. “Take at least three of us.”
“Maybe that’s what this crackpot wants,” Cecily said.
“What do you mean?” Derek narrowed his eyes at his sister.
“If you’ve got all the cattle in one place—and I assume you’d bring them to the nearest pasture—then the guy would have access to any of the other land without being noticed. He could spread his poisoned feed or drop something into the stock tanks, so when you thought the threat was over, he’d have done his damage and be long gone.”
“She does have a point,” Bryce said.
Derek dragged his fingers through his hair. “We can’t patrol the entire ranch perimeter without calling in an army of hands.”
Cecily rose from the couch and rested her hand on Derek’s arm. “What about the other ranchers? We’ve always banded together. I don’t think there are enough cowboys in the county to patrol all the ranchland.”
Bryce shifted his gaze to Derek. Creases furrowed the man’s brow, deep enough to sow a field of hay.
“Anyone have any brilliant ideas? A motive for starters?” Derek said.
“Discrediting the ranch? Casting doubt on the condition of the cattle? That would drive the price down at the very least. At worst, nobody would buy the beef, effectively putting the Triple-D out of business,” Bryce said.
“Thanks for the thought,” Derek muttered.
Bryce shot him an apologetic glance. He’d asked, hadn’t he?
“What’s Randall doing?” Cecily strolled to the window and pulled the draperies aside.
“He says it’s only one steer, and he’s considering it a vicious prank at the moment. He’s already disposed of the carcass.” Derek picked up the phone. “I don’t like being reactive.”
Cecily listened as Derek went through his grapevine list, inviting the local ranchers to the Triple-D for a strategy meeting. From his side of the conversation, she knew some of the ranchers thought Derek was jumping the gun, but most agreed to come over to hash things out. He called Frank and Tim as well. His next call was to Sabrina.
“I know it’s an imposition, but would you be able to come throw some grub together? Nothing fancy. It’ll be after supper, so snack food’s fine.” He smiled, nodded. Was he blushing? “Seven o’clock. Great.”
“What about Grady?” Cecily asked.
“Not sure it’s smart to involve the kid,” Bryce said.
“He’d be another pair of eyes,” she said.
Derek scratched his head. “I’ll think about it. Bryce, if hanging around until seven is easier than going home and coming back, that’s fine.” He glanced toward the clock. “If you want to clean up, or crash until seven, there’s plenty of room upstairs. You can join us for supper.”
“I’ll bring the horses in first,” Bryce said.
“Need some help?” Cecily asked.
“Suit yourself.”
Cecily turned to Derek. “All right if I listen in? I might not be part of the Triple-D anymore, but it’s part of me.”
Derek grinned. “Suit yourself.”
Smartass.
Cecily hurried after Bryce. As they approached the barn, he stopped and held his arm out like a railroad crossing. “What?” she asked. “Is something wrong?”
He raised a forefinger to his lips. Cupped his other hand around his ear, listening. She held her breath. Her heart jumped to her throat. Was their killer inside?
Afraid even to breathe, she strained to hear whatever had alerted Bryce. A voice. Male.
Bryce crept forward, and she grabbed the waistband of his jeans. “Why are you going inside? Shouldn’t you get Derek? Do you have a gun?” she whispered.
Bryce turned to her and his mouth curved in a half-smile. “Listen.”
She paid closer attention to the voice. The cadence didn’t feel right. It wasn’t a conversation, she realized. More like someone giving a speech. They inched toward the doorway, and Bryce stopped her again. From here, she could make out a lone figure, seated with his back against the stall across from Ginger’s. Grady? It wasn’t a speech. He was reading. To Ginger?
Bryce’s brows winged upward. He started toward Grady.
Cecily held him back. “We shouldn’t sneak up on him. It would embarrass him, I’m sure.” She coughed. Raised her voice. “Bryce. Wait up. Let me get the ropes.”
Grady’s voice went silent. He jumped to his feet, brushing dirt and hay from the seat of his jeans. He held one hand behind him, hiding the book he’d been reading from.
“Hi, Grady.” Cecily gave him a wide grin. “I didn’t expect to see you here. We’re going to round up the horses, bring them in for the night.”
“Might as well tag along,” Bryce said. “See how it’s done.”
Grady gave his customary shrug.
Cecily got a coil of rope from a peg on the wall. “Grady, would you open the stall doors, please.”
He complied, then eyed the rope Cecily carried. “You going to rope them to get them inside?”
She hid a quiet laugh. “No, it’s to urge them along. They know the drill.”
Bryce gave a low whistle and a couple of clucks. Cecily opened the gate. She slapped the rope on her thigh. Zephyr whinnied, tossed his head, as if to say Time to go inside, everyone, and the horses walked calmly toward the barn.
Cecily kept an eye on Grady, who was keeping his distance, but seemed intrigued by the way the horses knew what to do. She called out their names as they moseyed along. “The black is Zephyr, Derek’s favorite. He thinks because Derek is the boss, that makes him the alpha horse. Shadow’s the gray, and Buck is the chestnut. The paint is Rio. Then there’s Ranger, Pumpkin, Elmer and Shiloh.”
Grady’s expression grew wary.
Cecily laughed. “Don’t worry. There’s not going to be a quiz. You’ll learn who’s who soon enough.”
Once in the barn, the horses made for their respective stalls. Bryce motioned to Grady. “Start at the back left and close the doors. Make sure they’re latched.”
If Grady could have done the work with a ten-foot pole, Cecily was positive he’d have been happier, but the horses were already munching away and paid him little mind. By the time he’d closed the fourth stall, Grady’s movements were almost confident.
“Good job,” she said. “If you don’t mind my asking, what were you reading before?”
Grady ducked his head, gave another shrug, and pulled a well-worn paperback out of his jeans pocket, holding it so she could see the cover. The Big Sleep. “When I came into the barn, Ginger was restless. Talking seemed to calm her down, but I didn’t have much to say, so I started reading. She seemed to like it. When I stopped, she got antsy again, so I kept going.”
“That shows excellent sense.” Cecily was going to ask why Grady had come to the barn in the first place, but decided it didn’t matter. He’d be too embarrassed to say he was taking a liking to Ginger.
“Good move, “Bryce said. “They like music, too. There’s a CD player in the tack room.”
Grady’s eyes lit up. “Do they like Iron Maiden?”
“Not on your life. Classical. CDs are with the player.” Bryce stepped into Ginger’s stall.
Cecily followed. “You think something spooked her? Or was she in pain?”
Bryce ran his hands along her neck, down her back and legs. “Nothing’s hot, and she’s not twitchy.” He lowered his voice. “Maybe she was letting Grady know she likes him.”
“Either way, it’s a step in the right direction.” Cecily turned as a shadow moved across the barn entrance.
“You seen Grady?” Derek strode into the barn. “He isn’t answering the phone.”
Grady spun to face Derek. “I’ve been in here. Is that all right? Or am I supposed to stay in my room?”
Was there more than typical teenage defiance in his tone? Was he truly angry?
Derek halted, seeming to ignore the boy’s attitude. “No, you’re not restricted to quarters when you’re off duty. I wanted to invite you to join us at the house for supper. Afterward, we’re having a ranchers’ meeting to talk about the dead cattle. You can sit in.”
Grady’s jaw dropped. “There were others?”
The boy’s expression held something beyond curiosity or concern. Fear?
“One so far,” Derek said. “Supper’s almost ready.” He nodded to Bryce, then Cecily. “See you at the house.”
Orange sneakers flashing, Grady took off at a rapid trot.
Bryce held Cecily back. Was he going to sneak another kiss? She smiled in anticipation.
“The kid’s hiding something,” he said.