Page 51 of High Density

I’d stupidly assumed someone would let Janey in on what was going on but, apparently, she had no idea until she walked in here and saw me with blood all over my shirt.

“So, you don’t know who did this?” Janey asks.

“No. The guy was wearing a black hat, dark T-shirt, and jeans, nothing more descriptive. Agent Wilcox only got a glimpse and by the time he went after him, the perp had blended in with the crowd.”

“But why would they attack JD?”

“Maybe they didn’t like me poking around the trailers,” I offer with a shrug.

Bo cuffs the side of my head. “Sit the fuck still,” he grumbles, as he tries to stitch me up.

“About that,” Stephanie Kramer picks up, shooting me a scathing glare. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“After I identified the buyer, your buddy, Wilcox here, told me to take a hike. I thought I’d make myself useful instead.”

“Next time, don’t,” she orders sharply. “This is a highly sensitive investigation; I don’t need civilians blundering all over it.”

“For your information, I’m a trained law enforcement officer,” I fire back.

“You were a game warden.Werebeing the operative word,” she retorts, before firmly putting me in my place. “And clearly out of practice, given your current state.”

Bo chuckles behind me. “The woman’s got a point.”

Fuck.

My head already hurt and now my ego is bruised as well. Maybe it’s better to keep my thoughts to myself.

Thankfully, Janey steers us back on subject.

“What about the buyer? Are you letting him get away with the cattle?”

“No. We know who he is and we have another team of agents tracking his transport truck. This is a coordinated effort,” Kramer explains. “We have more than just one team involved. With each new link of the drug chain we expose, another team is assigned so, once we have all the players in our sights, we can concurrently step in and take them all out at once.”

“So you’re sticking around?”

“Three of us are. Agents Wilcox and Furstner,” the agent answers her. “In fact, we were hoping we might be able to bunk here.”

That seems to throw Janey for a moment.

“I don’t know if I have room for everyone.”

“Not in your house, but here at the clinic. We’d only be two at a time at most, since one of us will be on surveillance day or night. We’d rotate, and one of us would man the command post at all times. I wouldn’t ask,” she adds, “if everything within a thirty-mile radius from town wasn’t booked full. This rodeo is pretty popular. Your place is close to town but off the beaten path, which makes it a lot easier for us to come and go without attracting attention.”

“I guess that’s okay,” Janey says hesitantly. “But maybe I should call Frankie and tell her we’re shutting down the clinic for the next few days.”

“There’s a couple of empty cabins at High Meadow I’m sure you’d be welcome to use,” I offer as an alternative.

“Yeah,” Bo pipes up. “It’s a bit farther from town, but you’d have beds.”

Kramer turns to him. “Actually, we’ve got cots and sleeping bags, we came prepared. I appreciate the offer, but a lot of people come and go at the ranch, and we’d prefer to keep as low a profile as possible. I’m sure you understand.”

I have no doubt she intended to remind us not to share any of this information. It’s not an issue for me, I wouldn’t want to compromise the investigation and with it, Janey’s safety, but from the sound of Bo’s deep grunt behind me, it’s not that easy for him. I highly doubt there’s much, if anything, he keeps from his wife, Lucy. Aside from that, the original High Mountain Trackers members—Bo, Jonas, Sully, Fletch, and my father—were brothers-in-arms and still work side by side daily. I don’t think there are many secrets between them.

“One request though,” Janey adds. “If whoever is here wouldn’t mind letting out my dog around lunchtime, and keeping an eye on my horse while I’m gone?”

“Of course,” Kramer responds. “And we’ll replace the lock on the back door first thing tomorrow.”

“The lock?”

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