Page 49 of Battle Mountain

“What about my deposit on the elk hunt?” Jimbo asked. His voice didn’t contain the fury it’d had earlier.

“I’ll text you the hotline for the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association,” Kany said to him. “They police their own and they do a good job of it. But for the time being, let’s get you boys settled in town and set up a fine hunting adventure. How does that sound?”

“Pretty good,” Raymond-something said. “I’m getting hungry.”

“I’ll also send along a list of restaurants,” Kany said.

“So you two aren’t up here because Rankin broke the law?” Jimbo asked them.

“Nope,” Joe said. “We were just checking in on him when you boys showed up.”

“And you really don’t know where he is?”

“No. But we plan to find him.”

“Maybe he had an accident or something,” Kany added.

Although it was obvious Jimbo wasn’t completely satisfied with the answers, he turned with the others and got into the Land Rover. His three-point turn wasn’t aggressive, and Joe and Kany watched as the vehicle rumbled away to go down the mountain.

“Well done,” Joe said to her.

“I thought, ‘What would Joe Pickett do?’ ” she said with a grin.

—

A few minuteslater, Joe said to Kany, “You’ve got a two-horse district, right?”

Game warden districts were designated by HQ in Cheyenne as one-, two-, or three-horse districts depending on the size of the area and the difficulty of the terrain.

She confirmed it. Kany said she had a fine, well-trained mountain quarter horse and a stubborn mule.

“Let’s trailer them up here and go look for Rankin first thing tomorrow if he still hasn’t shown up,” Joe said.

“That makes sense,” she said. “Do we notify the search and rescue folks?”

“Not yet,” Joe said. He didn’t explain why, and he could tell she was puzzled by him again.

“When, then?” she asked.

“I think first we need to talk to the sheriff.” Joe knew they needed some help.

They’d blown nearly an entire day without getting a solid lead on the missing outfitter and the governor’s son-in-law. He recalled what Rulon had said about Sheriff Regan Haswell, but he chose to disregard it. Rulon may be enemies with the man, but Joe wasn’t. And if Haswell was like most local sheriffs, he kept his ear close to the ground and might know more about Rankin’s habits and his current whereabouts. He’d also likely know if Rankin had enemies or aggressive competitors who might have sabotaged him in some way.

“You get the stubborn mule,” she said to Joe as she waved goodbye to Audrey Racines and climbed behind the wheel of her pickup. “His name is Henry.”

“I’ll take him,” Joe said.

He wished he had brought Rojo with him. Marybeth kept the gelding tuned up and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

“I’ll drop you at the Wolf and get all the tack ready tonight,” Kany said.

“Do you need some help?”

“No. I can handle it,Dad,” she said with more than a little attitude.

He let it go. And he made a mental note to contact Ann Byrnes in the governor’s office as soon as Kany let him out of the pickup in Warm Springs. He needed to keep her apprised of his progress.

Or, in this case, the lack ofit.

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