LITMIR.BIZ

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he was.

      “Are you a born caretaker or something?” she asked.

      “Not exactly. Or possibly. What I know is, I almost never went on a dangerous mission alone. The smallest team I ever went out with was three. The average was six.”

      “Backup?”

      “And rescue.”

      “Dang,” she said. Mostly because he was right and she should have thought of it herself, persuaded one of her students to go along or something. No, she’d just been hot to trot to get those samples. “You know, I have to talk to the ranchers before I go out on their lands. They’ll know where I am.”

      “Okay, then. Stay safe.” He turned and started to walk away. For the first time it occurred to her that he might need something to do himself. Everything about him seemed to be at loose ends, though she couldn’t exactly say why she sensed that.

      “Jerrod, wait. I’d appreciate the company.”

      He turned back, nodding shortly and giving her a small smile. “You’ve got it.”

      But she made him take his own truck. She was not ready to get all cozy with this guy, no matter how much her hormones awoke when he was around. Even though her conscience did twinge when she considered the waste of gas and the pollution of unnecessarily taking two vehicles.

      No, she thought as she backed out of the driveway, this was the wisest decision. If he got bored, he could leave. She wouldn’t feel pressured by him being stuck with her. And she’d have her own escape route if she needed it.

      She wasn’t ready to trust yet. No way.

      But thinking about Jerrod as she drove out to the Madison ranch where the initial incident had occurred, she wondered if she was being too distrusting. Yes, she had little to go on, and how could she be sure he really was ex-military? How could she be sure he hadn’t spoken a pack of lies to her?

      But she’d met a few con men, and as a rule they were smooth, charming talkers. He hadn’t tried any smooth talk at all. Quite the contrary, he hadn’t done a damn thing to win her over. Instead, he had struck her as a box full of tightly locked secrets. Everything about him screamed, “Watch out!”

      Hardly the way to put anyone’s fears to rest.

      So she laughed off her doubts about him. Military vet, probably still struggling to make his way back to this life after one so very different. There were more than a few around this county. The adjustment to coming home always seemed far harder than the adjustment of arriving in a strange land. She’d even heard that from people who traveled for long periods of time.

      She wondered if anyone had studied that adjustment issue. It seemed odd, but hadn’t she read that Peace Corps volunteers also had reentry problems? She seemed to remember she had.

      By the time she reached Jake Madison’s place, she thought she had settled the issue, in her own mind, anyway. Until given some evidence that Jerrod wasn’t trustworthy, she’d let it lie.

      The wind bit at her as soon as she stepped out of her vehicle. Jake knew she was coming and why, so she wasn’t at all surprised when he stepped out onto the porch, warmly dressed and ready to go.

      “You sure picked a fine day for this,” he remarked.

      “I didn’t pick it. It picked me.”

      He grinned and started down the steps. “I’ve even got my horses in the barn. Are you sure you should be out?”

      She spread her arms. “I came dressed.”

      He glanced toward the truck. “Who’s your compadre?”

      “My neighbor, Jerrod Marquette. He seems to think I shouldn’t be out doing this alone.”

      “Well, you shouldn’t. But I didn’t intend to leave you alone. Nora will be thrilled that I can come back as soon as I show you the site. Then the two of you be sure to stop in for something hot to drink. You’re going to need it.”

      She noted that Jerrod didn’t get out of his truck. Jake noticed, too, glancing that way again, but quickly turning to his own truck parked alongside the house. “I’ll lead the way. Damn winter came early, didn’t it? Ground is already frozen.”

      “How are your stock doing?”

      “Unhappy, but surviving. We’re spending an awful lot of time checking on them.”

      A minute later, Jake pulled away from the house, leading the small convoy across his rangeland. They had to stop a few times while he opened gates to let them through, then waited while he closed them.

      Jake had a decent-size ranch, but they could have gotten to the problem location faster on a galloping horse. They weren’t driving on a road, and Allison bounced up and down, her seat belt locking up frequently but preventing her head from hitting the roof of the car. Small mercies, she thought.

      At last they came to what she would have guessed to be the farthest reach of his range, judging by the stream that still rippled and sparkled in the sunlight and the almost abrupt rise of the ground toward the mountains just beyond it.

      An area was surrounded by yellow tape, and no cattle were in sight anywhere.

      Jake climbed out and walked back to her as she exited her vehicle. Jerrod finally decided to emerge from his truck and she made introductions. The two men shook hands and exchanged measuring looks.

      Jake got right to business. “Sheriff Dalton roped this off. It includes where we found the dead animal that might have been coyote bait, and the spot where my cows died and a considerable piece around it. For safety, I moved my stock to a different pasture.”

      “Those pin flags? What are they?”

      “The red one is where we found the bait. The yellow ones are where we found the cows. They didn’t get very far, but you could see where they convulsed and vomited before we got this fresh snow.”

      “Damn,” Allison whispered.

      “What?” Jerrod asked.

      “I get that cows don’t move far very fast usually, but this toxin affects the nervous system and brain. Most animals when they’re exposed will run crazily, have seizures, try to bite at themselves. In short, I would have expected the cows to travel farther.”

      Jake looked at her. “You think the toxin was that strong that it killed fast?”

      “They had to be eight hundred or so pounds?”

      “They’re Angus. They both tipped the scales close to a thousand.”

      “Damn,” Allison murmured. “That was a lot of poison.”

      “Did you get results from the state lab?”

      “Only as to what kind of poison. They haven’t given me concentrations. I guess I need to call them Monday. I’m also wondering how they could have gotten so much of it. A little meltwater....” She trailed off, trying to imagine it. “Given what cows eat, this is weird.”

      “Scary, too,” Jake said. “I’m still amazed my dogs didn’t get into the bait. They should have found it irresistible.”

      “Given that the poison is odorless and tasteless, yes, they should have. Maybe the cows’ reactions were so fast they moved away.”

      “They sure moved the rest of the herd away.” Jake shook his head. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. I’d like some answers, but I’m not expecting them overnight.”

      He nodded to her and Jerrod, climbed back into his truck and drove toward the ranch house.

      Allison stood looking at the roped-off area, feeling utterly creeped out.

      “Maybe,” Jerrod said presently, “you should have a whole decon team out here.”

      “It’s crossing my mind. I’m trying to think of

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