Page 8 of Beau

He chuckled. “Sure, you did. It’s just coffee. I’d love to catch up on what you’ve been doing for the past two years.”

As she nibbled on her bottom lip, he did all he could not to groan. She was a beautiful woman and since neither of them were involved with anyone—

“Unless you’re involved with someone?”

“No. I’ve stayed away from relationships. I don’t need another broken heart.”

“I sure as hell don’t either. So… coffee?”

She hesitated, then nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Great. How about we meet tomorrow around eleven at the diner? We could have lunch too.”

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll see you then.”

Beau grinned as he walked back toward his truck. He was glad he’d asked.

After climbing back into his truck, he drove to the office. He entered the department, removed his hat, and hung it on the coatrack then sat at his desk.

“Hey, Beau.”

He glanced up to see Eli Hawkins.

“Eli. How’s it going?”

“Good. What are you working on?” Eli sat in the chair across the desk from him.

“Someone stole a horse from the Lawrence ranch.”

“Just one?”

“Yeah, it’s weird, but that’s all. From that ranch anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m trying to see if it’s happened at other ranches lately. The only thing I can think is they got close to being caught so they had to take off with just the one horse, but then I get wondering if they planned it that way to throw us off.”

“Like stealing an animal from another ranch?”

“Something like that. Those are the only two explanations I can come up with.”

Eli nodded. “I wouldn’t put anything past those thieves. Remember my case with Joey Callaway. Those kids stole five horses from the Palmer ranch just for the hell of it. Well, let me know if you need any help. I’m between cases since I just finished one. That’s why I’m here on a Saturday. What’s your excuse?”

“Same as yours. I finished the Carpenter case yesterday, and Dave gave me this one. I wanted to get started on it. It’s not like I have a reason to stay home. Callaway’s name came up. It seems he wanted to buy some of the Lawrence property.”

“He’s been trying to buy a lot of land, but I doubt he had anything to do with it.” Eli shook his head. “Well, give me a call if you need help.”

“Thanks, Eli. I appreciate that. I’ll let you know.”

“Sounds good. I’m heading home.” Eli stood, walked to his desk, picked up his hat, then left the office.

Beau looked through files but didn’t see any other thefts of just one animal. The only explanation could be that they only wanted the one horse, but why? Was the horse just closer to the fence or they specifically wanted that horse?

Greg Lawrence was lucky his other horses were rounded up because they’d be chasing them all over the place.

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