Page 23 of Beau

“Who wouldn’t be? Oh, your dad is calling for me. I should go. If it gets better later, come over for dinner. If the snow is still bad, just stay warm at home. We’ll see you soon. Love you, honey.”

“I love you both, Mom. Please tell Daddy for me.”

“I will.”

Brenna set her phone down on the counter while she made herself a cup of coffee. She walked to the living room window and watched as the snow whipped past outside. The thought of going out in this weather made her shiver, and she hoped that Beau was safe and warm somewhere indoors.

****

Beau trudged along the fence, snow constantly hitting his face. The cold was almost unbearable, but he was determined to get to the bottom of another theft, this time of a single cow. Who would go through all this trouble for just one animal? He wondered if it could be the same person he was looking for.

“Damn, it’s freezing,” he muttered as he scanned the ground for any signs of clues. Kneeling, he brushed away the snow and ran his hand over the brown grass below, but there was nothing. This was where the fence had been cut, but there were no footprints or tire marks. Just as he stood up again, something caught his eye, and he crouched back down.

There was a mark in the ground, possibly from a trailer that had been lowered to load an animal onto it. Standing up once more, Beau noticed smaller tire tracks leading away from the fence. As he followed them further, he came across truck tire tracks. Looking ahead, he saw they led to the main road. There were no tracks on the road, most likely due to the snow covering them.

Taking out his phone, Beau snapped photos of the road and then made his way back to the fence to take more pictures. He couldn’t understand why someone would go through all this trouble for just one animal. Letting out a heavy sigh, he decided to check in with the rancher again.

He climbed into his truck and drove back to the main house, parked and climbed up the steps to knock on the door. When a woman answered, Beau removed his hat.

“Ma’am, I’m Agent Beau McCallister with the livestock division. I need to speak with someone about a stolen cow.”

“Please come inside. I’ll get my husband,” she replied with a smile.

Beau wiped his boots on the mat, stepped inside but stayed close to the door, not wanting to track mud onto her clean floors. A few minutes later, Dane Hargrove entered the kitchen.

“Agent McCallister, did you find anything?”

“I found tracks that lead to the road, but after that, there’s nothing. Do you have any idea why someone would steal just one cow?”

“Cow? It was a bull. A prized bull.”

“Why wasn’t I informed of this?” Beau inquired, clenching his jaw.

Hargrove shook his head. “I’m not sure. I was out of town when I found out and I told my manager to call MDOL. Maybe he forgot to mention it was one of my best breeders.”

Beau’s frustration grew. That would explain why only one animal was taken, but he should have been informed.

“I wish someone had told me.”

“I’m sorry. Trust me, I’ll be having a talk with my manager,” Hargrove assured him.

“What’s going on, Dane?” Mrs. Hargrove asked.

Beau listened as Hargrove explained the situation to his wife, who looked guilty.

Beau was sure that she had been the one to call about the missing animal, but the manager hadn’t mentioned that it was their prized bull.

“I’m so sorry. Jenkins just said one of the cows was missing and asked if I could call MDOL. He didn’t mention it was your bull, honey. I apologize,” she repeated.

“It’s okay, babe. But Jenkins should have given more details,” Hargrove replied.

Beau let out another sigh. “Well, at least this explains the theft. We’ve also had a single horse stolen recently, and I thought they might be connected. But now it seems unlikely.”

“I apologize, Agent.” Hargrove sighed.

“No harm done. It just might have saved me some time trying to connect them. I’ll see what I can find out. Is the bull microchipped?”

“Yes.”

---