Page 31 of The Rancher

“And I’m taking mine off.” He worked his way out of his jacket and threw it in the backseat. Then he tossed his hat in the back, too.

Lyris’s coat had taken the brunt of the rain. She tossed it into the back along with Ray’s.

Ray turned the heat to come out of the dash vents.

“Oh, that feels so good. It won’t take my shirt long to dry.” She was wearing a long-sleeved flannel shirt over her t-shirt, which she was grateful for. She removed the flannel and tossed it on the console, leaving her in a t-shirt that was still damp enough to stick to her skin.

She rubbed her arms, which were covered with goosebumps. Slowly, she was starting to warm. Her jeans were still damp from working on Stormchaser, but that couldn’t be helped. The cowboy boots she wore, with heavy cotton socks, kept her feet warm.

Ray angled his body so he was facing Lyris. “I’d like to take you to dinner as a thank you for saving my horse. Ted would have shot him.”

Her mouth dropped open. “What? That’s ridiculous. Yes, it’s a bad wound but nowhere near severe enough for him to be put down. Why do you put up with that man? He’s a menace where animals are concerned…probably people, too. I don’t trust anyone who can mistreat an animal.”

He let out a sigh. “I need to let him go. I have a feeling in my gut that he knows who is responsible for the traps in the field. I’ll talk to him when we get back, but I doubt he will admit anything. Talking to him won’t stop the churning in my stomach.”

Lyris stared out the windshield at the mountains. The air was so clear they looked purple with beautiful white snowcaps. She loved the Rockies. They were magnificent, not as steep and craggy as the Tetons, but inviting. The feeling was almost like they called. Come and explore me. She turned back toward Ray. “What will you do?”

Ray took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I can’t accuse him of setting the traps even though I’m fairly sure he did or had someone do it under his orders.”

“So, what can you do? He’s a danger to animals. If I hadn’t been there to see Stormchaser when he was doped, the horse would be dead. You know that as well as I do.”

“I do. But I can’t prove he did it, just that he was stupid enough not to realize what was happening.”

Lyris whooshed out a breath. “I’d suggest you give him enough rope to hang himself, but he’d take one or more animals with him.”

“I know and I can’t risk the horses. I have to be smart about this. You need to help me by protecting them and keeping an eye on him when you can. I’ll be watching him, too, and I’ll be changing the work assignments. He’s not going to like my solution to the problem.”

“What will you do?”

“Let’s wait and see, shall we?”

She smiled. “I can’t wait.”

CHAPTER 9

Lyris watched as Jason Finkleman, one of Ray’s ranch hands, loaded Stormchaser into the horse trailer.

Jason was an older man in his early fifties and clearly loved the animals he worked with. He was gentle with the stallion as he got him situated. He approached Ray and Lyris after he closed the back of the trailer.

“Where do you want me to put him? His gate still isn’t fixed. I’ll do that tomorrow morning.”

“Put him in the birthing stall on the left side of Majesty. He’ll need the bigger stall if his injury is worse than we think.”

Jason clenched his jaw. “Who would do something like this? There ain’t no reason fer bear traps down here or anywhere in Colorado. All they do is injure a healthy animal who will gnaw his own foot off to get free. It’s not right.”

“You’ll get no argument from us.” Ray waved an index finger back and forth between him and Lyris.

“None at all,” agreed Lyris. “Whoever did this wanted to hurt Ray’s horses. Probably Stormchaser most of all.”

Ray’s forehead wrinkled and he tilted his head to the side. “Why Stormchaser? He’s fast, but I have faster horses.”

“Think about it. You plan on putting him out to stud. With his record, he’ll bring astronomical fees for breeding. Someone wants to stop your breeding program. If you have any other horses out here, you need to get them back in and keep a close eye on your stallions, even when they are at the ranch.”

Ray ran his right hand behind his neck and put his left hand in his pocket, while shifting on his feet. “And we’re back to Marissa and Geoffrey.”

“Marissa? Marissa Holloway?” asked Jason.

“Do you know another Marissa?” snapped Ray.