Page 75 of Meant for Her

“Not unless Pete believed he’d inherit part of the land. I would speak to my dad’s lawyer, but Mr. Hamilton died before my dad did. I can’t imagine Dad would have had the funds to hire another one.”

“Which is why everything was left to you and Ryan,” she said.

“That’s my guess.”

Ryan carried in some delicious smelling food and then stopped. “I see the table is being used. How about eating in the living room?”

“Works for me.” She carried in the roll of paper towels to the other room.

“A club sandwich for you, m’lady.”

She smiled. “Perfect. I do eat other food, you know.”

“Please give me a list, and I will try to accommodate you the next time,” Ryan said.

“I will.”

Between the three of them, they had the food open and divided in a few moments.

“What’s our next step?” Ryan asked in between bites.

Both his brother and Malia seemed to think Luke was the one who needed to come up with an idea. “I want to sleep on it. I have the sense we might get only one crack at finding out who stole our cattle, and I don’t want to tip our hats as Malia said.”

“You think Pete not only shot our dad but took our cattle as a way of being paid back?” Ryan asked.

“It’s possible, but you know, if he’d just come to us, we might have paid him—albeit a little each month.”

“I have an idea. What do you think of going over to my folk’s place tomorrow.” Malia held up a hand. “Not to see them, but to speak with Trevor and Seth.”

“Why?” Luke asked.

“I’m hoping my brothers can help. They might be willing to ask around about Pete’s sudden ability to buy ranch land. Seth could then go over to see if Pete’s interested in buying any of the Granger cows. While there, he can see if any of the cows have clean ear tags.”

“I like it, but your family’s stock is rather high priced—not that it isn’t worth it,” Luke said. “What makes you think Pete could afford it?”

“He bought the land, didn’t he? This is just a guess, but what if Pete was able to convince six of his good buddies to steal cattle from quite a few ranchers. As payment, he could give the men a cut of the deal,” she said.

“Part of the deal might have involved stealing our cattle as payback for Dad not being a great employer,” Ryan said.

“I don’t see how that gets us any closer to finding our cattle if they aren’t at Pete’s new place,” Luke said.

Malia blew out a breath. “What if Seth lets it be known that he’s interested in buying a specific kind of cow—whatever brand you have.”

“We have Angus beef mostly, but so do a lot of other ranchers. We’d have to have someone confirm that our cows are at Pete’s new ranch,” Luke told her.

“I don’t think he’d be that careless to keep our cows there,” Ryan threw in. “He’d sell them as a way to get back the money Dad probably owed him.”

“True, but it won’t hurt to look.”

“And if they are there? Will you tell the sheriff?” she asked.

“If Pete’s buddies are there, I’d fear for the sheriff’s life,” Luke said. “Pete would put up a fight.”

“Then try to pin your dad’s murder on him. With him hopefully in jail—assuming the sheriff can find proof—you’ll have a better chance of searching Pete’s property without interference.”

Luke looked over at Ryan. “What do you think?”

“If I had a better plan, I’d tell you.”

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