Page 30 of Homicide in Water Creek

Keene stood. “We need to talk.”

Jacks held up her hand. “Me first. King,” she called, though it wasn’t necessary; he was already behind her.

“We just found Chinos in the rodeo arena after curfew,” King said, avoiding eye contact with Keene.

Jackson Senior stood up immediately. “Did you see what he was doing?”

“Looked like sabotage to me,” King said, his voice hard as steel as he turned his gaze to Keene and glared down at him.

Jacks sighed at the amount of testosterone flowing through the place. “He was doing something to the bucking chute. I couldn’t see what, and I don’t know enough about the mechanics to spot a problem.”

Keene motioned back and forth between him and Jackson Senior. “We do. We’ll ferret out his game and fix his wagon.”

King stepped around her. “We can’t do that. If we do, he’ll know we’re onto him.”

Jackson Senior stood toe-to-toe with King. “Well, Sheriff, I’m sorry, but I can’t and won’t risk the other men’s lives, or the horses’ lives, just to keep him from figuring out we’re onto him.”

“Do you need the chute tomorrow?” King asked.

“We use the chute every day,” her granddaddy answered.

King nodded without taking offense at her Granddaddy’s tone or posture. “Do you ever teach the cowboys the mechanics of the equipment?”

Keene smiled and slapped his friend on the shoulder. “Told ya he’s sharp.”

“I usually wait until the dead of winter, when we can’t be outside, but I could move it up. You want me to teach the mechanics of the chute and reveal his possible sabotage in real time.”

“He sabotaged it,” Jacks answered immediately. “As I watched him, I couldn’t help but remember that time a few weeks ago when the arena door didn’t close properly and the horses escaped.”

Her granddaddy’s face turned bright red. “So help me God—”

Keene laid a calming hand on his shoulder. “We got this, Senior. I won’t leave you to face it alone.”

King glanced at her, and she winked. Even if Keene screwed them over, he was still a good man when the chips were down.

Granddaddy eyed King. “Did you find a connection anywhere yet?”

King shook his head grimly. “No, but I’m still searching. I’ve been watching for anyone new in town, but with all the reporters around over the last few days, that’s become impossible. If someone else is here to help him, they’re hiding in plain sight.”

“I won’t let him destroy this ranch or my family, King. I damn well hope you understand what I’m saying to you tonight,” Jackson said.

King stepped toward the old man. “And I damn well hope you understand that I’d arrest you without qualm if I had proof you’d committed a crime.”

Jacks bit her lip to keep from smiling, snorting, or otherwise busting a gut at this amusing display of testosterone.

“Understood. Will you be around tomorrow?” her granddaddy asked. King nodded once. “Are we safe here for the night?”

King turned to her, then back to her granddaddy. “I watched him go back into the bunkhouse. Whether he stays there or not, I won’t know. Chances are, he will. He was already taking a risk by being out late. If the other guys asked, he could play those few minutes off as finishing his work, but if they discovered he was gone during the night, they’ll rat him out in an instant.”

“Agreed,” Keene said, as though he were sucking up to his grandson. “Besides, we have guns. Let them come at us. We’ll end it.”

King scowled at his granddaddy and slashed his hand through the air. “Don’t even think about it. Lock the house and go to bed. Unless you hear gunshots or smell smoke, keep your butt in bed. You too,” he said, turning to Jackson Senior.

“I’ll be working with King tonight,” Jacks added.

All three men turned to look at her, each with a different degree of confusion and surprise.

“What?” she asked innocently. “I’m helping him with the two cases. If I weren’t handling the phones and emails, he wouldn’t be upright.”