Hard-Riding Cowboy (Kinky Spurs 3)

Nash examined the land, considering the thought. Ma would give Nash the land in a second, just as she’d given land to Shep for his company. Still, the building materials cost money. A lot of it.

“Do me a favor,” Beckett said, drawing Nash’s gaze. “If you need to hire anyone else, think of me.”

“You’d be interested?”

Beckett nodded. “I’m good with the young ones. Besides, it sounds like an adventure.” He grinned. “I’m always up for a new adventure.”

Behind the lightness of his voice, Nash recognized something in Beckett’s eyes. Christ. Had he been looking for the next best thing to come along too? Nash got that. Fuck, did he ever. He had also seen Beckett break some of his father’s horses, and he’d gained their trust. Fast. “I’ll keep that in mind,” Nash told him.

“Thanks.” Beckett smiled. “Got no doubt Hayes would be in too.”

“Yeah, I don’t doubt that either,” Nash said with a laugh. Nash had seen a horse do a roll to get Hayes off his back. He hadn’t succeeded. Hayes was about as tough as they came, and he’d be a great asset to the team.

While that all seemed great, Nash didn’t want to go into debt to finance the new venture either, not with a baby on the way. He glanced down at Bentley, sensing the horse’s gentle mouth. The once abused horse had come so far. Nash made that happen, and he hadn’t really paid that much attention to that talent since he’d been all about the bulls. He was completely useless when it came to dogs. Gus was often proof of that. But horses . . . that he was good at.

Those thoughts took him away awhile, as did the thought of his son or daughter being proud of their father, until his cell phone started ringing. He grabbed his cell from between his chaps and jeans. River Rock Police Station showed on the screen. He hit answer. “Nash.”

“Nash, it’s Darryl. I need you to come into the station. Are you free?”

“When do you need me?”

“Now.”

The firmness in Darryl’s voice had stayed with Nash the entire ride back to the farm and even on the drive over to the police station. By the time Nash met up with Darryl outside of an interrogation room at the police station, tension quivered in his muscles.

“I’m here,” Nash said, offering his hand. “What’s up?”

Darryl returned the handshake, his expression grim. “I have answers for you. You’re not going to like them.” A couple of uniformed cops strode by them, silencing Darryl a moment before he said, “The missing cattle, the fire, and the food poisoning were all done by Butch Ross.” Darryl turned to the window behind him and lifted the blinds.

Nash peered in, spotting the longtime Blackshaw Cattle cowboy Butch sitting at a metal table in the cold gray room. Butch hadn’t turned, telling Nash the window was a one-way mirror. The man in his midforties had worked for Blackshaw Cattle since the ranch opened, handling mostly farm duties. He was tall and rough around the edges but had been a hard worker. Nash remembered his father had hired him when he first started Blackshaw Cattle Company, mainly because Butch came from hard times.

The sting of his betrayal burned. Nash inhaled and exhaled, waiting to feel the hot simmer of rage.

The anger never came.

Exhaustion settled across Nash when he turned to Darryl. “What do you need from me?”

“Nothing, actually,” Darryl replied. “Butch asked to talk to you.”

“Did he?”

Darryl nodded. “You up for that?”

Nash studied Butch, then glanced at Darryl. “Are you certain he’s behind this?”

“Yeah.” Darryl leaned his shoulder against the wall, folding his arms. “The tests came back yesterday that the beef contained ipecac. It’s a drug that was once used to induce vomiting after suspected poisoning. Once we knew that, I took a good hard look at Blackshaw Cattle employees. We found that Butch had bought the drug illegally online.”

Nash snorted, his jaw aching from the muscles working. People did stupid shit all the time. Somehow, they thought they’d never get caught. And they always did. “Did Butch confess?” Nash asked, curious.

Darryl nodded. “He confessed when I presented him with our evidence. I suspect he knew we had him.”

Nash shook his head slowly, staring at Butch. The man’s head was bowed, his shoulders slumped. “Why wouldn’t he keep his purchase offline?”

“The drug isn’t easily found anymore.” Darryl gave a knowing look. “And I’m sure he thought you’d never suspect him.”

Of course, Nash wouldn’t. No one in the family would. Butch had been loyal to the family for so long. He stared at the man, wondering why in the hell Butch would do this to them. He decided he needed those answers, especially since none of this made sense. Nash didn’t doubt for a minute that Clint was also involved.

He turned to Darryl. “Yeah, I’ll talk to him.”