Colton 911: Caught In The Crossfire. Linda O. Johnston

be.” He, of course, carried plastic gloves in his pocket for situations in which he didn’t want to mess up any evidence, as well as a gun in his role as a deputy sheriff. “Well,” he said, “I guess I could start looking for any evidence right here, but—”

      “But here’s what we should do,” Melody interrupted. “Let’s find those cattle. We can go on a stakeout on horseback—follow the cows, thanks to the way Clarence has made sure all his animals are tagged. Keep following them until we find them, even if it takes a few days and nights. And—”

      It was Casey’s turn to interrupt. “Sounds like a great idea.” Of course, he’d already been considering it—though not exactly the way she said. “And I appreciate your offer, but I’ll do it on my own, starting early tomorrow.”

      “Well, of course, I’ll come with you,” Melody insisted. “How well do you know how to ride a horse? I’ll have to pick out one for you that matches your skills, though I can handle any of them, the faster the better. I’m damn good at it, so—”

      “Now, wait a minute.” Casey stood up quickly and stared down at Melody. She, too, rose and met his gaze. “I’d appreciate your allowing me to borrow one of the ranch’s horses tomorrow, and maybe longer,” he said to appease her. He continued, “I’ll have to see how things go before rushing back to town, so as you suggested I might camp out for a night or two, depending on what I find—or don’t find. But that’s me. I’m the deputy assigned to handle this investigation, and I’ll do it. Myself.”

      Her expression turned into a glare, even as she put her hands on her hips. He noticed then that her nails were short and plain. No polish on them. No lipstick on her, either. Not that she needed anything like that to look pretty. But this way she looked more like the ranch hand she was.

      “Then maybe you’d better bring your own horse,” she told him coldly.

      They both continued to glare at each other as his mind raced to try to figure out where he’d be able to get a horse on his own—and fast. Could he soothe her somehow in a way that ensured she’d still back off from interfering in his investigation?

      She dropped her hands, even as she shook her head, a wry expression on that too-attractive face. “Look, Casey,” she said—and for just then he’d have preferred her to refer to him as “Deputy Colton.” “You’re in charge of this investigation. I understand that. But I’ll bet I can help you since I probably know this ranch, and cattle, better than you. Let’s look around a little bit now and I’ll try to convince you. But even if I don’t, please let me join you tomorrow. I really give a damn about those missing cows, and I’ll do everything I can to save them and bring them home.”

      He raised his head, just a little. “Look, Ms. Hayworth.” He, at least, could return to formality. “It’s one thing for me to be out there attempting to solve this apparent crime and to go after any perpetrators as well as the missing cattle. I’m trained to do such things. It’s my job. But I don’t want to have to worry about protecting you, too.”

      “Then don’t worry about it. I’m volunteering. If anything happens to me, it’s my own fault. And what if I really can help you?”

      He recognized that this argument was going nowhere. “We’ll see,” he responded, then he moved forward to the broken fence and maneuvered his way to the property beyond, intentionally ignoring his difficult companion for the moment.

      But he couldn’t really ignore her, especially when, a few feet away from him, she, too, edged her way to the far side beyond the broken fence. She started walking around, looking first into the distance, then glancing down to the ground. Then she did it again, even as Casey pretty much did the same thing.

      And he saw some stuff that was interesting, like hoofprints in the grass, but unlikely to be any helpful evidence.

      “Okay, Casey, look at this,” Melody called to him. She gestured for him to join her, even as she continued studying the ground.

      “Look at this,” she repeated and pointed to an area right by her feet, where the grass had been tromped down and some dirt showed, similar to the ground he’d been examining, too. “See that? There are some hoofprints of cows, probably the missing ones since the prints are fairly new—sharp and prominent. They’re heading in that direction.” She pointed. “South. That’s the way we should look for them.”

      Casey couldn’t help himself. He laughed. “Guess what? Your cows left hoofprints over where I was standing, too, and I was studying them when you called me to come over.”

      Melody looked slightly abashed, but then her expression again became defiant. “Then, good. We’re on the same page. We can compare and help each other and—”

      “I understand you want to help and I appreciate it. But like I told you—”

      “Look,” she interrupted, “I know a lot more about cattle and hoofprints than you do. And more about the ranch and pastures, too.” She was being a bit repetitious. He knew that, hadn’t forgotten it. But still…

      “I get all that,” he told her. “And I’ve already told you why it’s not a good idea for you to come.”

      “I’ll prove otherwise,” she insisted, contradicting him again. She began moving forward quickly, her head down.

      But they weren’t going to learn more now. Not here. Tomorrow he’d hurry in the same direction and hopefully find something helpful.

      Maybe even those missing cattle…

      “Hey. Look at that.” Melody had stopped and was looking down to what was undoubtedly more cattle hoofprints. Only, she bent and reached for something, then stopped. She looked up at him again. “I doubt that any cow dropped that,” she said.

      “What?” he asked. He kneeled down beside her…and stared.

      She was pointing to an area within a hoofprint, in dirt between fronds of tamped-down grass, and something small and shiny gleamed from it.

      “What is that?” He resisted the urge to grab and examine it—and was glad she hadn’t done that, either.

      “It looks like some kind of silver charm,” Melody responded in a somewhat hushed voice. “It could have been there before any cattle walked or stampeded around here through the fence during this rustling, but I’ve never seen anything like it in any of the pastures.”

      “I think,” he mused, “and I may just be reaching for something helpful to identify some suspects and get this thing resolved, but you just might have found our first piece of evidence.”

       Chapter 3

      Melody was impressed, though not surprised, when Casey took a couple of pictures with his cell phone, then pulled vinyl gloves from his pocket, picked up the charm and stuck it into a small plastic bag he also carried.

      Clearly, he was prepared to do his job, wherever it led him and whatever evidence he happened to find.

      The charm was the kind worn on necklaces or bracelets, and appeared to be silver. It was in the shape of the letter G.

      “Does this look familiar to you?” He held the bag containing the charm toward Melody.

      She shook her head. “Not at all.”

      But that inspired her to continue studying the ground in that area, and Casey did, too. Neither of them found anything else other than more hoofprints.

      “Do you think the charm was dropped by one of the rustlers?” Melody asked the deputy as they finally gave up.

      “Anything’s possible,” he said with a shrug of his wide shoulders as he shot a wry look in her direction. A frustrated look. She wished she could do something—identify the charm, find