Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Cole strode into the room wearing his hiking boots. “Still hot outside?”
“Yeah, it’s an unusually warm spring. The air conditioner is out in the truck we’re taking, but we can drive with the windows open. You ready?”
“Yeah.” Cole followed him outside and they walked toward the driveway where the ranch truck was parked. JB got behind the wheel, the truck rumbling to life when he turned the key. “We probably should look into getting a new truck. This one gets worked on all the time now, but we’re all attached to it.” He patted the sun-damaged dash. “She works her ass off for us, that’s for sure.”
“I can imagine your vehicles get quite the workout on these hills.”
“They do.” He drove down the rutted dirt trail behind the barn, opened and closed the gate, then headed toward the area where the heifers had died. He didn’t expect to find anything, just needed something to do. And he wanted to see if there were any tire tracks he’d missed before.
Cole quietly rode beside him.
The truck bounced over the rough terrain and Cole casually reached up to hold the grab handle, his arm flexing. JB’s mouth went dry, and he focused on where he was going again.
“Joel Brandon,” Cole suddenly said.
A bark of surprised laughter jumped from JB. “Nope.”
“Is it Jesse like your dad?”
JB shook his head. “You might as well give up. You’ll never guess.”
Cole shrugged and shot him a grin that lit his face up. Fuck, he was a beautiful man.
It didn’t take long to reach the right field with the truck. This was a nice stretch of their land and conveniently located next to a road, so they used it a lot. Grass stretched out, the blades waving in the breeze and a few wildflowers dotted the landscape.
They stopped where he’d found the cows and got out.
Walking around, JB looked at the ground but didn’t see anything. Even if they’d sprinkled some kind of powder on the grass, it would have fallen between the blades and would be impossible to spot at this point.
Frustrated, he kneeled and pulled on a pair of work gloves so he could look closer at the ground. But it was more of the same. Nothing.
He stood and walked a few yards toward the road. There was a gate in the fence for access to the road over here. The culprit could have easily driven in here and fed the cows the poison.
But his own ranch hands used this gate. There was no way of telling if tracks were from an outsider or a ranch hand. Or if one of his own ranch hands was doing normal work or had stopped to poison cows.
How hard would it be for anyone to haul a small bag of poison into the field and spread it about? Or maybe put it in water and spray it over an area? Easy enough for Logan, Dillinger, or even one of Dillinger’s ranch hands. Maybe even an old woman.
Was it a coincidence Gladys had shot at him? Selling her ranch depended on Alexander Ranch selling, and everyone in Hill Country knew he was dead against it. If Gladys could take shots at him in cold blood, it wouldn’t be a stretch for her to wander into his field with a bottle or bag of poison death.
He growled under his breath and shaded his eyes, looking for anything that would give him a clue.
But there wasn’t anything useful.
“Nothing,” JB grumbled, kicking a rock and sending it skittering down the road.
“Still, there could be poison in this whole area. The only way we’d know is if we had someone come out and test it.”
JB nodded. “That’s a good idea. I’ll have the vet come out here. Or maybe some people in hazmat suits, I don’t know. But I’ll make a few calls.”
“I think you should also call the police,” Cole said.
“I should, yeah. I’ll do that when we get back. Don’t know how much help they’ll be, but they should be aware of the problem. Shit. This is infuriating as hell.”
Cole again touched his shoulder and the warmth of his hand seeped through JB’s T-shirt. He stared at him and a question about the kiss was on the tip of his tongue, but he ignored it.
But Cole must have been thinking of the same subject, because he suddenly looked sheepish. “JB, about that kiss…”
“Yeah?”
Cole dropped his hand to his side, balling it into a fist. His gaze had slipped away from JB’s as well. “I want to apologize. I was caught up in the moment, and I’m not sure why I did that. I’m sorry. It was wrong of me.”
“Don’t be sorry. I liked it.” JB cocked his head, trying to catch Cole’s gaze as he pointed at himself. “Bi, remember. I don’t mind kissing boys. Particularly cute ones.”