Page 39 of A Mile of Ocean

“I have a question,” Trent said, leaning on his saddle horn. “If he glanced left, wouldn’t that mean someone might’ve been with the shooter, there for the sole purpose of distracting him?”

“Or your grandfather could’ve just heard a rabbit,” Trish proposed, staring out at the hedges of flannel bush and golden bush to the south. “That’s a perfect place for rabbits to wander around and breed.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Tate said to Trent. “She could be right. A guy who wears fancy cowboy boots doesn’t sound like he’d partner up with anyone.”

“Unless that person is a relative, someone they could trust.”

“Or someone older who might be unable to make that shot,” Tate offered. “We’re just guessing anyway, right? It’s all big-time speculation.”

“Yeah. I can see one person camping on the ranch going undetected, but two? I don’t think two could go unnoticed. That would be difficult to do. How would two evade everybody? What if they’re staying in town somewhere?”

“You should bring that up to Brent.”

“I will, whenever this is over. Brent’s got nothing solid, and it’s been four days. At this point, this is all conjecture.”

“Maybe the only reason Brent is here is to let us know he’s doing something,” Tate said.

“Probably. How do we catch this guy?”

“Set a trap for him, maybe? I don’t know. Something tells me you should put off that talk to Savannah’s class tomorrow. Youcould always promise to make yourself available for next week’s riding lessons, where you could talk to the kids individually.”

“Tate, don’t you get it? There will be no riding lessons until we catch this guy. We can’t risk bringing kids here. It was bad enough to bring people to the graveside service.”

“Oh, wow. You’re right. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Besides, Savannah’s already promised the kids that I’m coming. I hate to disappoint them. She did mention that I should probably stay at the ranch.”

“Then take her up on that offer. If something happens while you’re in town, you won’t be able to live with yourself.”

“There’s that possibility. I can’t win either way. Do you think she’d understand if I canceled, or is this something she’d hold against me later?”

“Look, if she brought it up, she understands how serious the situation is. If she doesn’t, then she isn’t the woman for you. But Savannah Quinn strikes me as a very level-headed female who understands our safety is at risk. What about putting up surveillance cameras all around the property?”

“It’s a ranch, not a public attraction,” Trent grumbled.

“Tate has a point,” Trish offered. “Surveillance is a great way to catch the guy in the act, whatever he’s planning next.”

“Where would I get that kind of equipment? Do I walk into the hardware store and ask Tucker to order it?”

“We have cameras in the storeroom with 1080 resolution that we could lend you. Or you could ask Tucker to order a specific type with night vision and better resolution. But the truth is 1080p gets you just as good an image as you’ll need to ID a suspect.”

“I guess we should put up a few cameras,” Trent muttered. “How many do you have available?”

“Four or five, maybe six. Putting up all of them will cover quite a lot of ground, more than you think. Shore up some blind spots, and you’ll have an almost three-sixty view.”

“We have that from the attic,” Trent noted.

“Yes, but unless you have multiple cameras around the attic that capture images good enough to use in court later, it’s not the same thing.”

“Let’s do it, Trent,” Tate urged. “Let’s put some kind of system in place so that we can find out who killed Granddad and Slade.”

“It might make things easier during all those night patrols,” Theo pointed out. “If one person is stationed in front of those cameras, it could pop the case wide open if he appears on camera. All we need is a picture of his face.”

“That should work if you think he’s still hanging around,” Brent supplied.

“Won’t he simply avoid the camera range?” Trent asked. “What’s the point if he watches us install the system?”

“Then we’ll add motion detectors,” Colt expanded. “The problem with motion detectors is activation by rabbits and other small game.”

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