Catalina fluffed her bleached-blond hair and smacked her lips together. Let me take care of them, you can sneak out through the kitchen.
While Mona darted back into the diner, Catalina said, Hello, gentlemen, come back for some of Dees apple pie?
Hurrying through the kitchen, Mona almost slipped on the greasy floor twice before she made it to the back door. But she didnt feel like listening to a sales pitch when she had bigger issues.
With the Lang Oil Exploration people inside Dees Diner, Mona hurried down the sidewalk to her pickup, shaking her head. Catalina had it all wrong about Reed Bryson. Dating and kissing were at the bottom of Monas list of things to do when she had a ranch to save.
Then why did Reeds full lips come to mind when Catalina had mentioned kissing?
REED RODE BESIDE Fernando, slowing his horse the closer they came to the broken fence. The other two ranch hands would be here shortly with the pickup and tools to mend the fence.
Last nights search for clues and evidence had yielded nothing. He wanted to go over the area again in the light of day. Assuming the sheriff and his crew of deputies hadnt disturbed the ground too much.
When he was within a hundred yards he reined in his horse. Lets walk the rest of the way.
Fernando nodded and climbed down from his horse, dropping his reins to the ground. The gelding munched on the prairie grass, his tail twitching like a metronome, swatting at horseflies.
Miss Mona didnt need this to happen. Fernando stared ahead at the mutilated fence line and off into the distance as though he might spot the missing cattle.
Does anyone need to be robbed?
No, but her being with child makes it twice as hard.
Reed agreed silently. Any idea who the father is? He asked the question before he could catch himself. Internally, he rationalized that if the father of the child had a bone to pick with Mona, he could be a suspect in the current situation. What better motive than to ruin Mona Grainger to make her own up to the paternity of her child?
No. As far as I know, she hasnt told anyone. None of us knew she was even dating. He turned his attention to Reed. Why did you leave the sheriffs department?
I had my reasons. Reed squatted in the dust and stared at the disturbed ground.
You worked as a police officer in Chicago before that, didnt you?
That bit of information wasnt hush-hush. Folks in small towns could rarely keep a secret. With a new man in town, word was bound to get around. Especially with a big mouth like Sheriff Parker Lee.
Yeah.
The Texas panhandle is a long way from Chicago.
In more ways than one. If not for his mother, Reed wouldnt have come back. I grew up in these parts. Came back because of family.
Fernando nodded. Family is important.
Some of them.
Miss Mona swore on her papas grave shed keep the land in her family. It meant a lot to him and her mother. She wants to have something to pass down to her child.
What if her child doesnt want it? Too often ranches were sold to big corporations when the children showed no interest in eking out a cyclical living on the land. As an only child, Reed had vowed to leave the panhandle rather than work alongside a father who couldnt stand the sight of him. As soon as hed graduated high school, hed left, swearing never to return.
Funny how life came full circle and more often than not, he found himself eating his own words. Never say never. As much as he resented his father, Reed couldnt deny his mother anything. When shed had a stroke, hed flown home to take turns with his father, sitting by her side in the hospital. When hed had to leave to go back to Chicago, shed begged him to stay.
In the end, hed returned to be closer to her.
Reed shook off the past and focused on the smashed prairie grass all around. Look here. He pointed at holes in the dirt, spaced evenly in a wide circle. Looks like they had portable corral panels.
Sí. Fernando straightened. They cleaned up well, didnt they?
Too well. I dont see tire tracks or hoof prints anywhere around. He stood. All he found were a few footprints probably left by the sheriffs team whod investigated the site last night.
As if they raked it before leaving. Fernando crouched next to the loose barbed wire. Look at this.
Reed joined him for a closer examination. On one of the barbs was a tuft of coal-black human hair and a bloody patch of what looked like scalp. Someone has a scrape on his head thats pretty deep.
Sí. The old Mexican nodded farther along in the dust. They missed a track.
The telltale print of a dogs paw stood out as clear as a signature. Whoever the rustlers were, they had a herd dog. Every rancher on the plains had herd dogs.
An engines roar alerted him to the approach of a vehicle from the direction of the ranch house.
The ancient red-and-white ranch truck, with the fading sign of Rancho Linda on its side, lumbered across the grasslands, lurching to a stop next to the fence. Chewy, Jesses border collie, hopped out of the back and ran around the area, sniffing at the tracks.