“Hold up! Let me see some identification.” The words came from Grady followed by Webb’s, “I apologize for the weapons but we’ve run into a bit of trouble the last few days.”
It was a female voice that replied, cautious and careful. “You’re on government land and this is a government outpost, gentleman. I don’t care how much trouble you’re in or how far out of your element you are, it is never appropriate to greet an armed law enforcement officer with drawn weapons. Now, put down the guns and you show me some goddamn ID.”
The woman’s voice didn’t waver or crack, which I thought was impressive considering she was facing off with two armed men and she had no clue what either was capable of. Cy rolled off the side of the cot and inched his way over to the window by the front door of the cabin, careful to keep his head low and his movements slow and steady. He peered out the window and must have approved of what he saw because he yanked open the door and stepped out front after telling me to stay put until he came and got me.
“Officer McKenna. Sorry to show up here unannounced but these fellas aren’t exaggerating about it being a bad few days. Brynn should have called your station to tell you what was going on.”
Curious because Cy seemed to know the woman the authoritative voice belonged to, I couldn’t stay huddled in fear any longer. I copied Cy’s meticulous movements toward the front door until I could peek out of the same window, hopefully without being seen.
The woman was dressed in a khaki uniform and she had a dark baseball hat on top of her head but the drab clothing and the gear covering the top of her icy blonde hair in no way detracted from how gorgeous she was. Taller than Emrys and rocking more curves than a mountain pass, the woman was stunning and clearly not amused at having the barrel of a shotgun pointed directly at her. Her eyes never left Webb, who didn’t lower the gun despite her obvious familiarity with Cy.
“I didn’t get a call about you being in trouble, Warner. I got a call out because one of the rafting guides called in a report of a couple of mules running loose down by the water. They were loaded down for the trail but no riders or ranchers came up to claim them. The leads had your logo on them, Cy. I was out here looking for your trail group to figure out what the hell is going on.”
The news about the mules made Cy stiffen and had Grady swearing under his breath. No longer able to stay hidden or quiet. I poked my head out the door and demanded, “Why wouldn’t the mules still be with Emrys and Sutton?”
The beautiful woman shifted her gaze to me and then back to Webb, who finally lowered the barrel of his shotgun. The woman glared at him, and even though he had to be hurting still, a cocky grin pulled at the man’s mouth. He clearly appreciated the woman’s steely stance and fierce bravado in a different way than I did.
“Like I said, no riders were found anywhere near where the mules were located. We sent a few rangers up and down the river but no one turned up anything. There were reports of dirt bike tracks on one of the more remote trails, but no sign of horses.”
“Shit.” Cy bit the word out and shoved his hands through his hair. “We were on a ride with eight guests. It’s been a shit show. Someone is growing marijuana up off one of the trailheads and the growers are trying to keep the area clear. They rode up on us with dirt bikes and pinned us down in an ambush, way up river. My brothers and I split the group up and we were all racing back to the ranch. Sutton had the mules and one of the girls from the group with him. If you found the mules and not my brother, that’s bad, really bad.”
The woman blinked slowly and then moved to rest her hands on her hips. “You’re telling me you think the people behind the grow field have your brother? Sutton wouldn’t go anywhere without a fight, especially if he had a guest with him. You Warners aren’t built that way.”
Cy grunted his response as the radio clipped to the woman’s hip opposite the one with the gun crackled to life.
“McKenna, we got a group of campers on the river who are reporting a speckled appaloosa, minus a rider. The horse is injured and they’re reporting that the saddle has blood on it. How far away from the location are you?”
The woman sighed and pulled the radio off her belt so she could speak into it. “We have a problem. Has base reported in with a call from the Warner ranch?” There was a negative reply but the voice on the other end of the radio mentioned several rangers were tied up with another body in the river. The woman swore and replied back, “The brothers were out on the trail and ran into some trouble. Trouble of the gun toting and murdering kind. I think we might have stumbled onto why we suddenly have bodies showing up in our river. I’m at ranger station 15, let me finish up here, and I’ll head down to the river and get a statement from the campers.”
“Copy that. Be careful out there.”
She put the radio back and narrowed her eyes at Cy, who started to pace back and forth in jerky steps.
“Tell me where you think the drug field is and I’ll head that way. I have an extra radio on the ATV. I’ll give you the spare and call in if I find any signs of your brother.”
Cy barked out an ugly laugh and shook his head. “No fucking way, Ten. If they have my brother, then the only way you’re getting to the field is if I take you.”
“Ten?” The question came from an openly curious Webb and was met with an eye roll.
“Tennyson McKenna. Officer McKenna to you.” There was bite in her tone and it had Webb grinning and Grady groaning.