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“What’s going on?” I asked, leaving my horse to Cade and Boone so I could join my uncle. “What happened?”
Uncle Justin’s face was a mask of anger, and his jaw was clenched. I’d only seen him like this a few times before in my whole life, and it had never been good. “Poison,” he said simply.
“Just like the time before,” Logan added.
“How is that possible?” Cade asked. He walked over to one of the nearby cows and leaned in to place a hand on her side. “She’s still breathing. Are the others still alive, too?”
“Barely,” Logan replied, shooting Cade an annoyed look. “I think we may have dodged another bullet this time. If so, you all should consider yourselves lucky.”
I didn’t feel lucky at all. I felt my world had been turned upside down. And I was more than a little irritated after seeing the way Logan had just looked at Cade. I remembered the last time Logan had been here, when we’d called him out to take care of Rebel. He’d asked me out, but I hadn’t thought anything of it in the days that had passed since then.
Was he jealous of Cade? Did he suspect that something might be going on between us?
Not that it was any of his business at all. He was here to take care of the animals’ needs, not mine. If he hadn’t done such a good job helping Rebel and hadn’t come with just a moment’s notice both times, I probably would have asked Uncle Justin to find a new vet.
But not only was Logan the best vet around, he also happened to be the only one who worked close enough to be of any use in an emergency like this.
“How could this have happened, though?” Boone asked, finally catching up to us after making sure the horses were tied up near the trucks and out of harm’s way. “We’ve been keeping watch on this place around the clock. Literally twenty-four-seven. If anyone had driven back here, one of us would have seen them.”
“Is there anyone else who has access to this pasture?” Logan asked.
“Just a few of our ranch hands,” Uncle Justin answered, shaking his head. “But they’ve been with us for years. I’d trust each of those guys with my life. And besides, they love these animals just as much as we do.”
“Yeah, I don’t believe any of them would be capable of something like this,” I said, blinking back tears as I looked at the pitiful animals as they snorted in pain. “I can’t believe anyone could do this.” I dashed at my cheeks as the tears started to fall anyway. “Why? Why are we being targeted like this? What did we do?”
Cade and Boone both stepped closer to me, but Uncle Justin put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in for a hug. “It’s gonna be okay, sweetie. Logan is going to take care of the cows, and then we’re going to find the sick bastard who’s behind this.”
“That’s right.” Boone nodded. “Whoever it is will regret doing this. I promise you that much.”
“Well, whoever it was must have been sneakier this time,” Logan said. “With the number of cows here all showing the same symptoms, I’d say someone either got into their food or their water. I doubt someone would have gone through the trouble of poisoning each animal individually, but their laziness might have been the thing that saved these cows.”
“What do you mean by that?” Cade asked, his brow furrowed as he listened.
“Putting the poison in the water supply would have diluted it,” Logan explained. “And so, rather than one or two lethal doses, we have several cows who are sick but will almost surely make it through.”
“Thank God the person was lazy or stupid or whatever,” I said, taking a deep breath. “But I still don’t understand why? Why is this person doing this to us?”
“The Winslows have had some trouble, too,” Logan said, getting everyone’s attention as we all turned to face him. “Two of their horses were sick, and a shed burned to the ground the other night. So whoever it was seems to be moving through the area causing trouble.”
My tears had finally stopped, but I almost started crying again at the thought of Derek Winslow—a relative of Cade’s—going through the same thing just a few miles away from here.
Boone turned to Cade. “Have you talked to Derek lately?”
“No.” Cade shook his head. “But I’ll call him and see if he has any idea about who it might be or what the hell they might be trying to prove with all of this.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Logan said. “All I can advise in the meantime is to keep watch out here. I’ve given the cows the same medication I gave Rebel last week, so they should be able to get up and walk again soon. You’ll need to call me if any of them take a turn for the worse, though.”
“Thank you for dropping everything to come out here again on such short notice, Logan,” Uncle Justin said. “I hate that you keep needing to visit under these circumstances. You’ll have to come over for dinner sometime just for a change of pace.”
My stomach clenched at the idea of cooking for Logan Hensley and inviting him into our house. I knew I shouldn’t feel that way—especially after everything he’d done to help our animals in the past week—but I couldn’t help it.
I didn’t like the hungry look in his eyes when he glanced in my direction. I didn’t like the way he seemed to resent Cade and Boone being here. And I especially didn’t like the idea of turning him down again if he ever took another shot at asking me on a date.
“I might have to take you up on that offer, Justin,” Logan said, all smiles as he gathered his things and walked back to his pickup truck. “It’s been too long since I’ve had a proper home-cooked meal…” He paused, then looked at me. “And I bet you can do some amazing things in the kitchen.”
Gross.
I nearly threw up in my mouth.
