LITMIR.BIZ

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was done with him this time.

      Done!

      * * *

      Brendan watched the door slam. Jaysus, the woman knew how to hurt him. He nearly took the one step up onto the porch to follow, but turned away and grabbed Harry’s reins instead, heading for the bunkhouse. Nothing would come of trying to talk to her now. But he wasn’t leaving. Not with the carnage he’d seen at Belleza. Whoever the animals were, he was going to find them and see them hanged. Every last mother’s son of them.

      He rode to the barn to get Harry settled before heading over to the bunkhouse to find out if there was even room for him there. As he dismounted, he looked farther up the ranch road and saw Sean Mallory, Shamrock’s foreman, step out of the cottage he shared with his wife and children. Winchester in hand, Mallory stood staring his way. Brendan ground-tied Harry and walked to the cottage.

      “Kane,” the foreman said as he approached. “What brings you around?” He didn’t sound welcoming. Loyal, Brendan thought. That was good. Helena was in good hands, as he’d heard.

      “Belleza was hit. Twelve dead, Alejandro Varga included. His wife and daughter were in town, thank the good Lord. The wives of the shepherds weren’t as lucky.”

      Mallory winced and glanced back at the cottage. “I wondered when they’d move on to one of the bigger spreads. We saw Quinn ride through with a posse. Why?”

      “We tracked them across Shamrock’s northern boundary. I know you don’t run the cattle up there, for the most part. Got any idea who else might know that?”

      “It isn’t a closely guarded secret, if that’s what you mean. But no Comanche would know it unless they’ve been watching us for years.”

      Brendan paused and frowned. No one was supposed to know he was hunting anyone other than a band of renegades. He and Ryan Quinn had decided to keep their suspicions to themselves, even though it really ate at his gut. Brendan hated that everyone was so damned willing to believe ill of the Comanche. True, the tribe deserved the reputation, but they’d gone down in defeat and were buttoned up on the reservation. Yet all the men conducting these raids had needed to do was scalp their first victims, and everyone ignored all the inconsistencies marking these attacks as other than the work of the tribe.

      By going along with the popular view, Brendan and the sheriff hoped they’d lure the ones responsible into making a mistake born of overconfidence. Brendan knew Quinn was new to being a lawman, but he was doing a passable job and was in no way stupid enough to spread their plan about.

      So who had let the cat out of the bag about white men being suspect? “What makes you think it’s not Comanche?” Brendan asked carefully, eying Helena’s foreman with suspicion.

      “You know my brother-in-law is foreman at the Rocking R,” Mallory said. “He told me their fence was downed and they’ve lost a few head over the cliff edge up where the R and Shamrock meet up with the canyon that separates both spreads from Avery’s Bar A. There were also tracks across that back edge of the spread that disappeared into the canyon. So I went looking up there. Our fences were downed, too. And there were tracks from shod horses. Now there’s been another attack and there’re more tracks. Can’t be a coincidence. I think the fences being downed is supposed to discourage both spreads from running cattle up there. Less chance of our men spotting something odd.

      “If you add the tracks to Avery being the only one who’s bought land off those who were raided, he’s looking mighty guilty.”

      Dammit. Brendan didn’t want loose tongues tipping off the bastard. “He’s not the only one who tried. Alejandro Varga offered several times to buy Adara. The last time was the day after it was raided.”

      “But now Don Alejandro’s dead,” Mallory said, shifting the Winchester to lean it on his shoulder. “As far as I’m concerned that puts Avery at the top of the list. He hates sheep and now all the sheep ranchers are gone. I sure as hell know Varga’s son will sell off what’s left of his father’s flock.”

      If Mallory’s suspicions were this well thought out, Brendan figured he’d better confide in him. He stooped to pick up a stick, then walked to the edge of the cottage porch and sat. He quickly sketched a crude map in the dirt. Mallory bent down on one knee, his gaze intent.

      “The raids look random,” Brendan said, “unless ya plot it out from a bird’s-eye view. Then it makes sense.”

      “So far Avery’s come off lookin’ like a real saint, savin’ the poor, desperate and terrified from complete ruin.” Mallory nodded.

      Brendan drew in the dust as he spoke. “And in the meantime, he’s picked off targets here, here and there. He tried to get hold of the Harkens’ place here,” he said, and drew an F on another square he’d drawn. “But he failed, thanks to Joshua Wheaton and Alex Reynolds protecting young Billy’s interests. Avery offered for the Oliver place, too, but all he got was the sharp side of that young lady’s tongue.”

      Another F, for failed attempt, joined the first, but that property was in the opposite end of the county. “Then these three fell. No survivors usually means family back East mourn and sell.” Those squares got an X.

      “Lump together all these places we think he moved on, now add Belleza. Look at this. They all fall in a horseshoe around the town. Which is why I’m here. The Rocking R and Shamrock stand in his way. Shamrock is either the next to be moved on or he’s planning to acquire it another way.

      “I’ve heard he’s trying to get to Helena’s heart.” Brendan hesitated, but decided to hell with what the foreman thought. “I couldn’t let that happen. So now that I’m here, he’ll move on us eventually. Probably before he thinks I can get Shamrock fortified. What safety measures have you taken?”

      Mallory outlined a comprehensive plan of misdirection with regard to the number of men at Shamrock, the quality of their firearms and careful round-the-clock lookouts.

      “Do you think Helena would tell Avery what she’s armed you all with?”

      “She has no idea she bought the best. She lets me order what I want. No use getting outmoded equipment. As far as the wife tells me, Helena and Avery don’t talk about ranching.

      “And about the boss, let me tell you something. She comes off brave, but she’s scared. We can’t station anyone inside the house, but we try to see she’s safe by posting guards near to it. Woman alone. Folks would talk if someone saw one of us was too close.”

      Brendan winced. Helena had lied. No man had ever warmed her bed. Mallory wouldn’t worry for her reputation, were that the case. Why had Brendan believed her? Clearly, she’d been no more unfaithful than he had.

      Because he’d wanted to believe she’d been, that’s why. It had eased his conscience. Made him feel justified in remaining apart from her. But the truth was, she finally needed him, and he intended to be here to protect her.

      Chapter Two

      Brendan put down the currycomb and gave Harry a pat on his neck. The gelding knocked him backward with a head butt to the chest. “Oh, it’s like that now, is it?” Brendan crooned. “You see herself again for a few days and right away I’m playin’ second fiddle. And who is it that feeds and brushes you till that black hide of yours shines like satin?”

      Harry whinnied and lipped Brendan’s cheek. “Ah, but aren’t you the sweet talker.” Then the big black nuzzled his bulging pocket. “I see how the wind blows, you great phony. Just lovin’ me up for a treat.”

      “I see you still talk to him more like a friend than just a horse,” Helena said from outside the stall.

      Brendan gave Harry a carrot from his pocket, then stepped out into the aisle, saying, “Hear that? It’s ‘just a horse,’ she called you. Remember that and who it is that butters your bread, Harry m’ boy.” Then Brendan said, “He is a friend. And it was you who named him after your da, and spoiled him with apples all the way

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