Page 14 of Legacy of Lies
“Not in so many words.” The lines next to his eyes deepened. “But yes, ‘not interested’ was the general message.”
Garrison set down his fork and knife on the empty plate. “They have a good-sized spread. Why does he need ours, too?”
“Don’t know,” his dad said. “Might have to do with whatever project is going on over there. We all need to keep our eyes and ears open.”
“Damn it,” Garrison cursed. “We can’t do anything about his little project. But what about the cattle? Can we go looking for our ear markings and tags?”
“We’d be trespassing.”
Garrison snorted.
“I believe they trespassed, too, son, since that livestock is gone. Any smart cattle thief wouldn’t hesitate to tear the ears, remove the tags, or slaughter the cattle by now. We’ll never get proof. All we can do now is prevent them stealing more.”
“Son of a bitch. We have to move our herd down sooner this year. This week. Soon.”
“Yep.”
“So we’re going to need more hay, earlier than usual?”
His dad nodded.
“Going to cost more money.” Garrison scrubbed at his face. So much shit piling up. He turned to Shelby. “What’s your availability this week?”
Maybe he could convince her to help. God knew, they had enough work to go around. She liked to bury herself in volunteer work on the area’s search-and-rescue team; due to her extra ability, she never came back from a mission empty handed. Of course, none of her teammates knew about her gift; they simply thought she was incredibly lucky.
She had the strongest abilities of all the Taggart kids, no question. Even if she hated the part of her gift where she could read others’ emotions, her second ability to find anyone more than made up for it.
If only she didn’t drive herself to near collapse trying to find each victim.
He sure as hell didn’t want her back up in the Tetons with the increased seismic activity in the region. If tourists were dumb enough to go off-trail with the heightened danger, then they could damn well rescue themselves and not make his sister put her life on the line for them.
However, telling Shelby to do anything fit on the scale of impossible things right between finding Bigfoot and discovering Atlantis.
She raised her hands. “It’s unlikely I’ll get called out on a rescue. Don’t worry, I’ll help move the herd down.”
“I’d appreciate the help.” Garrison drained his glass. “Speaking of help, when’s Kerr coming back?”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s on an elk hunt with a group of guys from Texas. He’ll be back in a few days.”
Their dad smiled. “Don’t laugh, Shelby. Those flatlanders might get off the plane with the sales tags still on their fancy Cabela’s gear, but they bring in a lot of money.”
“Is Eric guiding with Kerr?” Garrison asked.
“Think so. Those guys are two peas in a pod.” She smiled. “I told Eric the other day he was our brother from another mother.”
“Pretty accurate.”
She pressed her hands to the table. “So, when do you want the cattle moved?”
“All right, then.” He wiped his mouth and crumpled the napkin on the plate. “We’ll wait until Kerr and Eric are back, then move the herd. Hopefully Eric will help, if he doesn’t have to work search and rescue either this week.”
“I don’t know his schedule.”
With a weary set to his shoulders, his father pushed back from the table. “Thank you for dinner, honey. It was delicious.” He dropped his dishes into the sink and trudged out of the kitchen.
Shelby frowned. “He’s still not the same after Mom died.”
“He’s slowing down. It’s been five years. Maybe it’s time he moved on.”
