Promise Them (The Callahan Series Book 6) (13 page)

“Neighbors,” she said. “They’re all so nice. Every one of them wanted you to know they were thinking of you and would help any way they could.

Too choked up to speak, Beau simply nodded.

“There’s enough food here for an army, I was going to take some to the bunkhouse so the boys wouldn’t have to cook.”

“No, you won’t. I’m already wet.” Plus, it would give him the opportunity to see Rey in his surroundings—see how he was getting along with Gordon.

But when he took the large box filled with food to the bunkhouse and sat it on the counter, Rey and Joe were nowhere to be seen. “Where are the boys?” he asked Gordon.

Gordon shrugged. “Playing in the rain, I guess.”

“How are they doing?”

“Being kids. Neither one knows what they’re doing.”

“I’m glad to have them. Workʼs going to double now that rustlers are in the picture.”

Gordon pulled out the food, grabbed a plate. “We’ll see.”

Beau left. Gordon would rather choke than give a compliment. Every time Beau checked on the boys they were working hard. He didn’t know what Gordon’s problem was.

By the time he showered and got to bed, Beau was too angry to sleep. He got up and roamed the house.

Some no good sons-of-guns had stolen his cattle, and it made his blood hot. Who would do such a thing? He had no enemies that he knew of.

Thinking of over fifteen thousand dollars walking into a trailer and off his ranch gave him a gigantic headache. Roaming through the house, he stepped into the kitchen for a glass of water.

Who had snuck onto his property in the middle of the night and helped themselves to what was his? Whoever it was needed to be in jail. Maybe the Special Ranger Dugan had promised to contact could find the bastard.

It was after midnight now. The house was dark and quiet. He looked out the kitchen window to see it had stopped raining. A red glow from a cigarette showed from the front of the barn.

He leaned closer, but couldn’t see the features of the man. It had to be Gordon. He was the only one on the place who smoked. But why was his foreman out so late? Especially after this extra hard day?

Beau didn’t like the guy. Hadn’t liked it one bit when Gordon insinuated Rey had something to do with the rustlers.

Just thinking about it made his gut churn. Rey was a good boy, a fast learner. He’d worked his butt off today. They all had. Rey just needed to find himself, to realize he had to make his own way from now on. Since he’d started working on the ranch a few months ago, there had been only the one incident.

The glow arced as Gordon threw the cigarette to the ground.

Beau kept his eyes on the barn for a long ten minutes. The ground was wet so the cigarette probably went out immediately. Still. He couldn’t suffer another crisis. The one today had cost him too much.

Chapter Thirteen

Beau was at the barn early the next morning when Rey came in.

“You’re up early,” Beau remarked.

“Wanted to check the cattle to make sure none were taken last night.”

“Mighty conscientious of you.”

Rey saddled Ty and pulled himself into the saddle.

“Just a minute, son.”

“What?”

“I wanted to thank you for doing a fine job.”

Rey nodded and took off.

Beau, following on Taro, caught up with him. “Where are we going?”

“To check the herd I moved last night, and see if they’re still here.”

“You moved them? In the rain?”

“Joe and I did. No big deal.”

Rey pulled to a halt at a group of grazing cattle.

“That them?”

“Yep. Looks as if they’re all here.”

“Thank God.”

“I’m going to check the others.”

“I’ll be on my cell if you need me.”

Beau watched his son race off, as comfortable in a saddle now as if he’d been born in it. Would wonders never cease?

Before he headed in the opposite direction, he saw Joe racing to catch up with Rey. Where was Gordon? It was his job to see that the cattle were safe, but it seemed the kids were doing a better job at it than his foreman.

Beau didn’t get far before his cell phone rang.

“Dad, you know where the cattle were last night before we moved them?”

“Yeah.”

“You need to see something.”

“Be right there.” He turned Taro and headed toward his son, wondering what the problem was now. He really was getting too old for this.

“I’ve already called the sheriff,” Rey told him when Beau pulled up. “He said he was on his way here with the Special Agent.”

“Were we hit again?” Beau asked, unable to keep the tiredness out of his voice.

“No, Mr. Beau,” Joe piped up. “But the Callahan’s might not be so lucky. Come look.”

Beau cursed when he saw the downed fence. “I’d like to get my hands on whoever is doing this.” A glance at his son told him the boy was as upset as he was. “Have you called Donovan?”

Rey shook his head. “I’ll do it now.”

“He’ll be right here. He’s really upset,” he said when he turned off his cell.

“Aren’t we all? I’m going to the barn to meet the sheriff and the ranger.”

Back at the barn, Beau paced as he waited. It was a long thirty minutes before they got there. They arrived in the special agent’s truck, hauling a trailer with his horse inside. “Find it easier to get around on a horse,” he explained as he climbed out.

Beau wondered if the kid was even twenty-five, and if he knew what he was doing. As they were introduced, Nolan Murdock took off his Stetson, making his blond hair look tousled. The same height as Beau, Murdock’s green eyes looked him squarely in the eye when they shook hands.

“Mind if I borrow one of yours?” Dugan asked Beau as he pointed to the stalls where several horses remained.

“Take Beauty. She can use the exercise.”

They mounted up and went to inspect the area under suspicion.

After introductions, the agent took pictures and did measurements. “Seems as if you got lucky, Mr. Chandler.”

“Thanks to my son. If he hadn’t moved the herd we had here, we would have been hit again.”

“Donovan lost six,” Rey explained to the agent. “He’s checking the rest of his herd now.”

“You can tell by the hoof prints and tire tracks they were loaded here. The rain yesterday helped in a way. You can see where the tracks are deeper going out than coming in.”

Across the Callahan pasture, they saw Donovan riding toward them. When he got there, he swung from the saddle and stalked over. “Any idea who is doing this?” he asked Murdock after they were introduced.

“Not a clue. This is the first in this county in a while. I’ll need a description of the cattle you lost. We’ll keep an eye out.”

“But you’re not likely to find them,” Donovan said.

“They could be anywhere, even a packing house or an auction barn in another state.”

“Losing six head hurts. Beau lost twenty-five. That’s damaging. What do you suggest we do to protect ourselves?”

“I have a list of things we advise ranchers. Check on your cattle several times a day. Vary feeding times and locations. Avoid pen feeding. Don’t pen or build pens directly off main roads. Always brand your cattle. Unbranded cattle are difficult to find. Report suspicious cattle trailers or trucks immediately.”

“Our cattle are branded,” Donovan said. “And we moved as many of the herd as we could yesterday before the rain. I think the six that were taken wandered off from the main herd.”

“Keep moving them around.”

“What’s next?” Beau asked.

“Stay alert,” Murdock said as he swung back into the saddle. “I’ll get right on this.”

“I’ll have my list of missing cattle as soon as I get back to the ranch. Where do I send it?” Donovan asked.

“Email me. I check my mail a dozen times a day.” He gave his address. “Used to just have our cell phones. Now we do a lot of our work on the computer,” Murdock explained.

“My cattle have ear tattoos. I’ll send a list of those missing. I hope you find them. If not, find the bastards who took them,” Beau said.

“We’ll do our best.”

Beau and Donovan watched as Dugan and the Ranger headed back.

“What do you think?” Beau asked.

“Moving cattle isn’t enough.”

“That’s my thinking. So, do we take turns at night watching out for rustlers? Or do we hire someone to do it for us?”

Donovan thought a minute. “Who would we hire? Every rancher in the area will be on the lookout now, and no one has extra hands. We’ll have to do it ourselves.”

“We can do it for a while, but not forever. Neither of us has that much help.”

“I’ll have to fight Phyl to keep her out of this. She’ll want to pull a watch the same as Jimmy and I.”

“Don’t let her. What if she ran into the rustlers? How would she defend herself?”

Donovan laughed as he got back in the saddle. “She can use a gun. But I don’t want her exposed. If it’s all right with you, I’ll work out a schedule. Between us, we can keep an eye on both places. Counting yourself, you have four men. I’m the slacker. I don’t have anyone except Jimmy and myself. Mark would take his turn, but he’s too young. So we’ll double up on our time.”

“Not a good idea. How about this, with six of us, put two to a shift with three shifts a night. That way both places will be covered.”

“That should work. I’ll holler later with the details.”

Beau started back to the barn, realizing how lucky he was to have a neighbor like Donovan Callahan.

Would he be so agreeable and so willing to help if he knew Beau harbored thoughts about his mother that went way beyond neighborly?

On the way back, his thoughts on Nell, Beau almost ran into Rey and Joe. Joe was on the tractor, pulling a trailer loaded with fence repair equipment, Rey was on his horse, Ty.

Beau pulled up beside his son while Joe started to mend fence. “Where’s Gordon?”

“Last I saw, he was headed to check the herd in the east pasture. Said something about moving them. I told him we’d finish up with the fence and join him.”

“Good.”

“Did the Ranger have anything promising to say?” Rey asked.

“Not really. He’s young, but seems to know what he’s doing.”

“He’d better. Or you’re going to be out of business,” Rey muttered.

“Me and everybody else. Do you have that list ready?” With all that had been going on, Beau didn’t expect the piece of paper that Rey put in his hands. “Very thorough.”

“Find the missing numbers, you find the missing cattle.”

Beau couldn’t stop the laugh. “You know how I keep records. It won’t take long. I’ll send the list to Murdock. He’ll get the information out there.”

“As if that will do any good.”

“There’s that. Donovan and I were talking. We decided to guard the herd at night as well as move them around.”

“Makes sense. Moving them just makes them lose weight, and they’re still not that safe.”

Beau looked at his son with curiosity. “How did you know that?”

Taro stepped sideways, anxious to get moving. Beau brought him under control.

Rey grinned. “I read a lot.”

“I’m proud of the job you’re doing, son.” Beau wondered how much better Rey would be after he’d been on the job a few more months and put all that book knowledge to the test. Or would he cop out and go on to other things? Easier things?

Rey nudged Ty and moved away. “Gotta get to work. Can’t leave that fence down.”

Beau rode slowly back to the ranch. Thinking. Maybe he’d been too harsh on his kids. Dani was doing an amazing job at Emma’s. Rey was doing an excellent job here on the ranch. Maybe if he had left them alone, they would have found their way without making them so angry.

It was too late to worry about it now. Besides, the kids seemed happy. Maybe happy wasn’t the right word. Maybe they were content—for the moment.

When he got back, Lela was nowhere to be seen. Probably in her room resting. She did a lot of that lately. Which reminded him he needed to find her some help.

In the kitchen, he nuked a plate of leftovers from yesterday and took it to the breakfast nook. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was tired.

And the day was only half over. Plus he had guard duty facing him tonight. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken on a working ranch and all its problems at his age. Seemed rather egotistic of him now. Ranching was a young man’s profession. He thought of Donovan and that young ranger, Murdock. They could handle setbacks with one hand tied behind them.

After he rinsed his dishes, he called Nell. After their hello’s, he asked, “Lela’s feeling poorly these days, and I want to get someone in here to help her. Do you have any ideas? Or should I place an ad in the paper?”

He waited for an answer—waited to hear her voice. It never failed to lift his spirits. He wasn’t disappointed.

“She did look tired yesterday. But right now I can’t think of anyone. Let me talk to Dugan. He knows everyone in town. He may know of someone looking for work.”

“Thanks, Nell.”

“You’re welcome.” She paused. “I’m so sorry about your cattle.”

“You were hit, too.”

“I know. But not so many.”

“It’s a violation of our personal space. Some stranger waltzes in and takes what we’ve worked hard for and just drives away.”

Silence. When she finally spoke, her voice had changed. What had he said?

“Kind of sounds like the government when they put that last exorbitant tax on us.”

“It does, doesn’t it?”

“We’ll get through it, Beau. Right’s on our side.”

“I hope so.” But Nell’s voice didn’t sound right.

“Hang in there. If I find a name I’ll get back to you.”

“Thanks.”

What would she think if he asked her out to dinner? Maybe then he could find out what he’d said to make her voice go from silky smooth to hesitant—husky. Damn. Dinner would have to be put off until this cattle rustling business was settled.

Still, the short connection with her, even by phone, gave him a burst of energy that sent him out to find Gordon and help move the herd.

Chapter Fourteen

Nellie hurried into Molly’s, then hesitated a moment as the scent of cinnamon mixed with bacon, eggs, and hamburgers assailed her. It was so familiar it made her stomach growl. There was a double reason to be in town. One was to see Dugan and ask if he knew a woman who needed work, the other was to pick up a few groceries they were running low on.