Page 42 of Destined Predator
“I kinda like it,” Rhett confessed. “I’m not into the idea of racing against other drones—there’s clubs for that—but having the camera specifically designed for aerial filming and photography means you can get some nice footage.”
“It’s like the video games Emil’s addicted to.” Casey tried to control the drone once Rhett launched it. “Here. You’re the expert.”
They worked together, studying the feed to track the paw prints and the trampled sagebush shrubs then the flattened grass to follow the jackals’ progress.
The feed jittered once—static like a growl over the speaker—and Casey’s nape prickled.They know we’re watching.
“The trail’s leading to the next property over.” Casey pointed at the monitor. “What is it?”
“The Lone Pine.” Rhett pulled the drone back then sent it higher, in case it was seen. “It’s a heck of a lot smaller than this one, of course. Just a farm.” Yeah, he was a ranch snob. “An old couple live there and keep it as a kind of part-hobby, part-retirement farm, growing beans and corn. I haven’t seen them in a while. The Boyces.”
“Look!”
The UAV was beaming back footage from the farm buildings, a little indistinct as it wasn’t transmitting from the ideal range, and flashes of fur were visible.
“Animals slinking around.” Rhett swallowed. “Shifters? They look like coyote to you?”
Casey shook his head. “More like jackals. A whole pack, and the drone’s getting ’em riled.”
“And the farmers.” Rhett dipped the drone lower once he glimpsed people and stared at the images. A bulky, miserable-looking guy and a smaller spikey-haired guy.
“Guessing that ain’t the old retired couple?” Casey asked.
Rhett shook his head. “Shit!” He tried to pull the UAV up and away as quickly as he could, but he wasn’t fast enough. Not when the thicker-set man was carrying a pump-action shotgun that he swung to his shoulder and emptied into the drone. A second later, the picture fizzled out.
“What—?” Casey started to exclaim, but Rhett stopped him.
“We got enough. I recognized them.”
Aldan and Vince, former Double T ranch hands who Rhett had fired for being homophobic assholes and who’d caused trouble already.
They were behind this.
And if they had jackals, wolfsbane, and a shotgun, they’d have more. Casey’s smile went thin and hungry. “Good. Now we know where to knock.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Someone took down thedrone?” It was a few hours later and Casey, startled, leaped to his feet when the door to the ranch’s small office burst open and Jack rushed in. “Thedrone?” Jack repeated. “The men were all talking about it.”
Casey imagined they would have been during lunch, which Jack seemed to have caught the tail end of. Deep in their sleuthing, he and Rhett had missed the meal.
Casey’s stomach finally noticed; his nostrils didn’t. The office still smelled like coffee and dust and old paper, a scent that always made him think of fathers signing feed invoices and boys pretending not to listen.
“Rhett?” his brother prompted.
“It ain’t that hard to do. You getting them confused with helicopter gunships or something?” Rhett tapped the desk.“They’re fragile. A shotgun loaded with birdshot could take one out. Hell, even a hit from a rock could.”
“Point is, they wanted us to see them,” Casey said. “You drop a drone in broad daylight when you’re sending a message, not hiding.”
“But snipers train on moving drones, on firing ranges,” Jack continued. “And even the crack shots take, like, five or six attempts to hit ’em. I’ve seen videos.”
“Guess they didn’t use Mossberg pump-action shotguns, then, like this guy did,” Casey said.
“Woah.” Rhett regarded him. “Is that some residual coywolf thing, super-powerful eyesight? I sure as hell couldn’t see the make of the gun!”
“I took a guess—it’s the most popular shotgun in the state,” Casey admitted. “But what d’you find out, Jack? Anything?”
“You’re gonna tell me why you called and had me check out Aldan’s mother’s house, near Ben’s shop, right?” Jack asked. “You were all mysterious on the phone. He causing trouble again? He must want another beating, right, bro?”
