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“Brett.”
He didn't look like a Brett. Guys named Brett were supposed to have a neck. This guy
looked like he should be named Grunt.
I parked at the curb and had Brett follow me to the door. Brett was wearing a full utility
belt with gun, stun gun, a can of pepper spray that could take down a grizzly, and cuffs. He
was dressed in RangeMan SWAT, and he was scary-looking as hell. My intent was that
Coglin would see Brett with me and keel over in a dead faint before he got to fire off the
shotgun.
I knew Coglin was home. I'd seen him moving in the glassed-in front porch just before I'd
parked. I hadn't heard the car leave from the backyard, so I rang the bell and listened for the
car. If I heard the car engine catch, I'd take off and run him down at the cross street. I rang the
bell again.
Brett was close behind me at the ready. “Should I break the door down?” “No,” I said. “It's probably not locked.”
Brett stepped in front of me and tried the door handle. He pushed the door open, stepped
inside, and bang! Brett was covered in funk and short mousy brown hairs.
Hard to tell what the creature had been. I was guessing sixty-pound rat.
“What the-” Brett said.
“Its getting old,” I yelled into Coglins house. “I'll be back.”
I led Brett to the Explorer and drove him back to Range Man.
'What is this stuff on me?“ he asked. ”What happened?"
“I think you might have been beavered, but there's no way to know without DNA testing.” I walked him upstairs to the control room and turned him over to Hal. Down the hall,
Ranger stepped out of his meeting and glanced my way.
“It wasn't my fault,” I said to Ranger.
Ranger smiled and returned to his meeting.
Ella brought salad and sandwiches up at noon and Ranger strolled in minutes behind her. “How'd the meeting go?” I asked him.
“Good.”
He selected a sandwich and ate it standing up in the kitchen. I did the same. “I notice you're dressed in RangeMan colors,” Ranger said to me.
“Turns out I have clothes in your closet.”
“More than just underwear and socks,” Ranger said. "They were left from the last time you
stayed here."
