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The detective hesitated, but then he smiled. “That would be great! I remember exactly where it was.”
Cody herded him out the door to his SUV and indicated the passenger door while he got in under the steering wheel.
“Where to?” he asked when his companion was seated.
“This gear is so neat!” came the reply. “All this fancy, up-to-date equipment! It’s like something out ofStar Trek!”
“Are you a fan?” Cody asked.
“Oh, yes. I used to go to every single convention. I even went on a cruise with the cast once!”
“That must have been interesting.”
“It was! One of the best few days of my whole life,” he added with a long sigh and a smile.
“So, where do we go?” Cody asked when they hit the main highway.
“It was beside the big gate that has the Circle B logo on it,” he replied. “Just a few feet away in the grass,” he added.
Cody was frowning as he drove. “Odd that one of the cowboys didn’t spot him.”
“Oh, it was very early this morning,” the man said. “Even before they went out to work.”
“How do you know what time they go to work?” Cody wanted to know.
“I have all these surveillance devices,” came the smug reply.
“I hope you have a good reason to use them,” Cody said. “You need a warrant for some of those.”
“A warrant?” He coughed. “Oh, yes, a warrant. I set up the surveillance devices after I found the body, though.”
“Quick thinking,” Cody replied. He glanced at the man. “You had those in your possession already?”
“Oh, yes. I try to be prepared for anything. There,” he said suddenly, pointing. “That’s exactly where the body was!”
Cody pulled off the road next to the gate proclaiming to any visitor that this was the Circle B Ranch and trespassing was forbidden.
They got out of the SUV and started looking around. “There!” the detective said, pointing to a grassy spot nearby. Not a surveillance device in sight, no significant disturbance of the area, no visible tracks in the little bit of snow that had fallen earlier in the day.
Cody had just started to move closer to it when the sound of an engine approaching distracted him. He turned in time to see Abby stop her little car in front of the gate. She and Lucy got out.
“Hi, Sheriff Banks!” Lucy said, walking up to him with a big smile.
His heart melted. “Hi, Lucy,” he replied and smiled down at her. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” she said. “How is Anyu?”
He ground his teeth together. “She’s very sick,” he replied. “If you hadn’t noticed her limping, I’d never have known that she was.”
“I’m so sorry,” Lucy said, her soft eyes on the sheriff’s face.
He was fighting despair but he forced a smile for the child. It wasn’t her fault. That sweet expression made him regret bitterly the scare he’d given her so many years ago.
“I’d like to have a dog, but Aunt Abby says we don’t have time right now. But she said we could get one someday. I love dogs. Your dog is so beautiful.”
“Yes, she is,” Cody replied. “She’s all I have in the world,” he added quietly, without thinking.
“Aunt Abby’s all I got,” the child replied, her little face sad and wise beyond her years, as if she could see right inside Cody to the pain that was almost physical. Cody was surprised at the kinship he felt with the child, as if they were somehow connected. He was already fond of her.
