Page 248 of Taken Away

"For both nights."

"You think he's our guy?"

Burke rested both hands on the steering wheel.

"I think he's a man with opportunity."

"And right now..."

"...that's enough."

"I'll get started."

"Sara..."

"Yeah?"

"Keep this between us until I know what we're looking at."

"You got it, Sheriff."

Burke ended the call.

He rested both hands on the steering wheel for a long moment before starting the engine.

Toward Blackwood Cattle.

Toward Red Stephens.

Toward another piece of a story that had started long before Mabel Blackwood died.

FORTY-NINE

Blackwood Cattle

Red Stephens

Burke eased his truck across the narrow two-lane road that separated Blackwood Winery from Blackwood Cattle.

The vineyards gave way to fenced pasture, weathered barns, and rolling green fields where black Angus grazed beneath scattered oaks.

The two businesses shared a name.

They couldn't have felt more different.

Red Stephens was leaning against the corral fence, one boot hooked over the bottom rail, watching a ranch hand work a small group of heifers through the chute.

Burke rested his forearms on the top rail of the fence.

"So tell me about Harold."

Red smiled.

"That's a whole lot easier conversation than talking about Mabel's murder."

"I figured."

"What do you want to know?"