Page 53 of High Density

I shrug, she obviously already knows it was.

“How’d you know where to find me?”

She shakes her head. “You underestimate me, just like your pa. I know when that man is brooding on something but tries to hide it. Took me all of ten minutes to pry it out of him.” Her eyes drift to Janey in the pen. “Sticking close, are ya?”

“Ma…you shouldn’t be here.”

Last thing I need is my mother poking around the rodeo.

“Oh, relax,” she shushes me. “I came with Jillian and Hayley, it’s their first time at the rodeo.” She points in the direction of the arena where the pig wrangling is taking place. “They’re in the stands over there. We happened to see you, and it would’ve been weird if I hadn’t stopped by to say hello to my son.”

Jillian is my teammate Wolff’s girlfriend, and Hayley is her eleven-year-old foster daughter. Mom makes it sound like she happened to be here with them, but I’m sure the entire setup was more calculated than the accidental encounter she’d like me to believe this is. Still, I hook my arm around her neck and pull her to me, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“Hello, Ma.”

She briefly leans her head against me and pats my chest with a hand before straightening up. I wonder if she could feel the microphone Agent Wilcox taped to my chest again this morning. It’s a good reminder people are listening in to every word I say.

“I know now is not the time to talk, but at some point we should clear the air.”

I nod. “We will.”

Something makes her pause and scrutinize me. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Her eyes narrow fractionally.

“Nice try, but we’ll add that to our things to address another time.” She raises up on her toes and kisses my cheek. “I should head back to the girls, but promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I will.”

I watch her head back to the stands and return my attention to the pen. Looks like whatever was wrong with the pig has been taken care of, as Logan places the animal in the arms of the waiting man and his young son. Janey walks toward me.

“Was that your mom?”

“Yeah, she’s here watching the pig races with Jillian and Hayley.”

Janey smiles, she knows them. She’s the vet for Jillian’s search and rescue animals.

“That’s great. I hope Hayley has fun.”

Life has been pretty rough for the young girl, losing her entire family earlier this year.

Janey glances over at the stands, and when she is turning back to me, I notice her suddenly squinting.

“Is he waving at me?” she asks, looking over my shoulder.

I turn and try to follow her line of sight, zooming in on one of the sheriff’s deputies, who is standing on the far side of the stockyard where most of the trailers are parked. He appears to be motioning in our direction.

“Let’s go find out,” I suggest.

Janey calls out to Logan, “Keep an eye on things, I’ll be right back,” and follows me down the path between the pens to the back.

“I’m not good with horses,” the young deputy says, when we get within a few feet of him. “So, I tied him to the trailer where I found him, but I noticed he was bleeding.”

He points at a pinto tied to a small double-horse trailer, wearing a bridle over her halter. I recognize the barrel horse Janey treated yesterday. The wound on her shoulder looks to be actively bleeding again. She must’ve torn it open.

“She,” Janey corrects him as she approaches the skittish animal. “I just stitched her up yesterday,” she explains. “Half of them are ripped, she must’ve got caught on something.”

---