AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll talk to you both tomorrow. Be careful going home.”
“We will,” Marlowe said, then hugged her.
Peyton did the same and they walked outside. Dylan stood on the porch, rubbing her arms to ward off the chill. Once they drove off, she looked toward the pasture and wondered about Alex up there and hoped he was staying warm. She shook her head. He knew what he was doing. But she sure wouldn’t mind being there with him, keeping him warm.
With a sigh, she entered the house, closed the door, locked it, and headed to bed. She needed to get Agent Alexander Reeves off her mind.
****
Alex sat on a log and poured coffee from his thermos into the cup lid. Steam rose from it into the cold night air. Damn, it was cold. He set the cup down, pulled his coat around him, and buttoned it. He rarely buttoned it because, to him, it was too constricting, but when he had to be out in weather this cold, he needed to keep warm. He removed a small camping wick can from his coat pocket, lit it, and set it on the log. He held his hands over the lit candle. It wasn’t much, but it helped. March had trouble deciding what weather it wanted to be, so it just surprised everyone.
He picked up the cup and sipped the coffee. Sighing as the hot liquid warmed him. He wondered about Dylan. She was a beautiful woman.
He couldn’t stop thinking about her, but until he solved this case, he knew he couldn’t do anything about it. He’d lose his job and he liked it too much to chance that. If she was interested in seeing him after the job was over, he’d be more than willing to do that, but as for now, he couldn’t.
Any time he was close to her, he wanted to kiss those sexy lips, with the bowed upper lip, and full lower one. He groaned just thinking about nibbling on them.
“Shit,” he muttered, as he shifted around on the log.
When a twig snapped, he froze. He set the cup down, slowly stood, and moved away from the log to stand behind a tree. If someone was out there, he didn’t need to be seen so easily. Deja Vu hit him, and he took deep, calming breaths. He thought he was far enough back that he couldn’t be seen if anyone was close to the fence.
As he hid behind a tree, he could hear movement, so he peeked around the tree, and huffed out a laugh when he saw a raccoon wobbling around. Alex stepped from behind the tree, and clapped his hands for the animal to get, and it took off running into the woods. Those little thieves stole anything that wasn’t nailed down. He’d dealt with one, years ago when he was camping, that stole a loaf of bread, and a box of donuts. You just don’t mess with a man’s donuts.
Alex walked out from the woods and sat on the log again. He hoped he would have a quiet night, but he needed to find out something about this case. It was driving him insane because he wanted to solve it so he could ask Dylan out.
As much as he hated to admit it, he was sure the bull was long gone. It was rare that any livestock was recovered. Most were taken to an auction or slaughterhouse for the money. Alex clenched his jaw. He hated rustlers. They had no conscience whatsoever when it came to taking something that didn’t belong to them. All they cared about was the money.
He was keeping an eye on Travis Martin. Something about that man didn’t sit right with him, and he needed to talk to him. Tomorrow, he would track him down and get him to tell him why he lied to Dylan about his whereabouts and why he was in Montana. It all seemed a little too coincidental to him, and he didn’t believe in coincidence. Not on something like this.
As the night wore on and colder air moved in, Alex decided to walk to the fence to see if anything was going on, but it was quiet. He wasn’t sure if they would come back. He had no doubt they cut the fence, but they might have gotten spooked if they saw him around the property, and that would make the job a lot more difficult.
When he arrived where the fence was cut, he stopped to listen and heard nothing. As he glanced around, he got an uneasy feeling, like he was being watched, so he headed back to where he was camping.
Once he settled on the ground, next to the log, he kept the little can lit, but he was on edge. The thought that they were watching him made his gut ache. But nothing happened as he sat there. His eyes grew heavy, so he tipped his hat down over his face, and decided to take a nap. Any noise would wake him.
****
The following day, Dylan entered the barn to work in the office. It was very cold today, and she’d rather stay inside the house, but work needed done. There were a few buyers stopping by today to get sperm straws. The last ones she had of Toga. God! She wanted her bull back. A knock on the door startled her.
“Come in,” she called and watched the door open, and Justin entered.
“Good morning, Dylan.” He sat in a chair across from her desk.
“How’s it going, Justin?”
“Good. Anything about Toga?”
“Not a thing. The agent went up there last night, but I haven’t heard anything from him today.”
“As cold as it was last night? I hope he stayed warm.”
“He said he’s done it before. It wouldn’t surprise me. MDOL agents seem intent on getting their man.”
“I know that’s true. A friend of my dad’s had cattle stolen, and the agent on the case was the same way. He treated the theft as a dig at him. He found them too.” Justin shook his head. “It was unreal how he was determined not to let them get away with it.”
“Who was it? Do you remember his name? Maybe it’s the same one.” She couldn’t help but get a little excited that an agent would go to that length to find the animals. She hoped all agents were that dedicated to their jobs. Alex seemed to be.
“Beau McCallister. He did a hell of a job.”
