Page 38 of Deadly Evidence
Chastened by his concern, she softened. “That’s nice of you, Dante. Thanks.”
His horse Rowdy suddenly dodged a cactus, nearly unseating him. “You brought flashlights, right?”
“I did, in case we need light to help the mare.” She buttoned up her jacket against the cold night air so typical of this high desert area. “Hopefully she’s already got a good healthy foal at her side. But you just never know.”
They’d traveled a little over a mile when the thin crescent moon slipped from behind the clouds, casting weak light over the desolate, almost lunar terrain.
“Look—is that her?” Dante stood in his stirrups and leaned forward, pointing toward a dark shape moving behind a stand of yucca.
Anna reached for the binoculars she’d slung over her saddle horn and lifted them. Night, with its landscape in shades of charcoal and black, made it difficult to see what Dante pointed at. “There...no, wait a minute...”
It wasn’t a horse.
In one swift motion she reached for the scabbard on her saddle and pulled out her rifle. “I want you to quietly turn your horse around and get out of here.Now.”
“But—”
“I can’t tell who’s out there, but we’ve had cattle stolen and one steer shot in the past few months. This could also be runners packing a load of drugs on up to the highway.”
He sidestepped his horse next to hers. “If you fire,” he whispered, “they’re gonna shoot back.”
“I don’t intend to fire. Not yet.”
“Let’s go home and call the sheriff.”
“And wait for him to show up next week? I have to protect my ranch, Dante. I’m going to see how many guys there are and find out what they’re up to...and I just might give them a warning once I know the odds.”
“Please.Let’s—”
A semiautomatic rapid-fired, the noise echoing through the landscape. Not three feet away from Anna, a cactus shattered and another bullet ricocheted off a rock with an eerie whine. “Go, Dante—now!”
He urged his horse into a dead run toward the safety of a rocky outcropping. She followed and pulled to a stop next to him, then lifted her binoculars again.
From this angle she could see the intruders better—three figures on foot, dressed in black. So they weren’t cattle thieves on horse. And at least two of them were armed.So where are you when I need you, Brady?
She raised her rifle. Aimed for the sky and fired.
Wheeling her horse around, she raced to a different position just as another round of semiautomatic gunfire resounded in the darkness. This time, from farther to the west.
“Anna!Where are you?” Dante called out. “Are you okay?”
Through her binoculars she watched the figures fleeing through the brush toward the Rio Grande.
Anger burned through her, setting her nerve endings on fire. How dare they?Again.
She turned her horse toward the sound of Dante’s voice. “I’m here...and they’re leaving. Let’s go find that mare.”
The kitchen lights of the main house were on when Brady reined in his horse, dismounted, and led him into the barn.
He found Anna’s mare and Dante’s gelding in their stalls—cooled down, but in the tack room, two saddle blankets were damp.
Growling with frustration—yet relieved that the two had arrived home—he spun on his heel and strode to the house, his teeth clenched. He’dtoldher not to go out there.
Yet she’d gone and taken that kid with her and put both of their lives in jeopardy.
He took the porch steps two at a time and rapped on the door, then bent to one side and peered through the window next to the door.
Anna stood at the sink, still dressed in jeans and a shirt, her hands braced on the edge and her head bowed. Lines of exhaustion marked her face.
