Page 20 of Coral Rustling

“Well, sure,” Reagan replied.“But why when there’s a perfectly good road that leads right to it that way?”He pointed up the road again, clearly confused.

Huh.Trey’s nephew has such a good heart.

“Is the road into the dig monitored?”Ulkna asked, arching a brow pointedly.

Reagan frowned.“Yes, of course.”

Groaning, Sam obviously caught on to what Ulkna was suggesting.“Guys that steal horses aren’t above stealing priceless artifacts.”Waving a big hand toward the gate, he added, “And if this is supposed to be locked, no one is going to suspect that this is where they took the horses.”

Ryan nodded slowly, obviously following his mate’s logic.“All they have to do is wait a day or so for the police activity to die down.Then they load whatever they want onto the horses, bring it back up here, and drive away with it.”

“Is the gate open?”Sam asked Payson.

Payson inspected the gate.He even gave it a little jerk for good measure.Then he shook his head.“Locked.”

“There’s an inside man,” Ryan surmised.

“Could be,” Hunter agreed.“Or someone with light fingers.”

Reagan scowled.“Light fingers?”

Ulkna smiled.“A pickpocket,” he explained.Going further, he added, “Or someone suave and skilled enough to lift them from a semi-secure park ranger cabin or office.”

“Well, best go and see if we’re right,” Sam stated, turning to help Ryan from the bike.Then he glanced around, hesitating.“We need somewhere to hide the bikes.If anyone comes around here, we don’t want to make it obvious someone’s looking into the area.”

Pointing up the road, Reagan told them, “There’s a hiking trailhead in that direction.You could park them there.”

Payson frowned as he cocked his head.“Didn’t you say the trails in this stretch of the canyon were closed?”

Reagan nodded even as he explained, “This trail heads away from the canyon into boulder country.”He pointed at the tall bluffs behind them.“The trail leads to a viewpoint that offers a stunning panoramic view.Great for photos.”

“Sounds like a plan.”Sam began wheeling his motorcycle back onto the road.“Payson, get on your bike unless you want Ryan to drive it.”

Even as Payson’s eyes rounded in clear dismay, Ryan rubbed his hands together, his expression turning gleeful, as he took a step toward the hyena shifter’s bright yellow bullet bike.

“No, no.”Payson rushed back to his motorcycle and swung aboard.“I’m comin’.”

Ryan tipped his head back and laughed.

Sam smirked as Hunter chuckled.

Even Ulkna couldn’t help but chortle a little.He’d never heard of anyone else riding the man’s bike.Clearly, he wasn’t a fan of sharing the powerful machine.

“Ryan, stay here with Ulkna and Reagan,” Sam ordered, waving toward the closed gate.“Stay under cover.We’ll be back as quickly as we can.”

Ulkna didn’t like being separated from Trey, but it wasn’t as if he could go against the gang beta.After swinging off theGoldwing, he pulled off his helmet.He held it in one hand while cradling Trey’s nape with the other and leaning in for a kiss.

It was a little awkward since Trey was still wearing his helmet, but Ulkna didn’t care.He slipped his tongue into his mate’s mouth and took his time.It wasn’t until a couple of the guys chuckled that Ulkna brought the kiss to an end.

“Aww...newly mated shifters,” Payson teased, snickering while grinning broadly.

“As if you’re not like that with Land every second of the day,” Ryan pointed out as he slung what was clearly a gun case over his shoulder.“And you’ve been mated for years.”

Where the hell had he been carrying that on the motorcycle?

Land just grinned unabashedly as he brought his bike roaring to life.

“See you shortly,” Sam claimed before leading the way in the direction Reagan had indicated.

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