Rode Hard, Put Up Wet: Cowboy Romance (Rebels & Outlaws 2)

Now it would be useful again. Get a sense which way they headed, and then use good old-fashioned investigation to figure out where they were being taken. Go to the places that people got rid of cows they didn't want any more, and see if anything had been sold lately.

Well, that sounded good, at least. It wasn't exactly lost on him that he didn't know where many of those places were. It was something he would need to have in the back of his mind when he was running a ranch, no doubt, and especially when it was still as small as his would be when this mess was all cleared up.

That was where he would need help, in having connections to the local area and making sure that he knew where he should be checking. He couldn't get that kind of information, not without looking like he was, well, investigating.

But, if he was lucky, he knew someone who had it already.

Catherine watched out the window, pretending she didn't know what she was looking for. It could have been for anything, she reasoned. It didn't have to be that she was waiting for him to come into view.

When he did, though, all deniability went out the window. Her heart jumped into her throat. Did he have anyone else with him? Maybe the Sheriff had only ignored her because she was a woman, living out there alone on the range. She'd be more likely attacked than robbed. Since she still had what little purity that Billy had left her, it didn't matter a whole lot, right?

But as she searched the skyline, trying to make out through the haze whether there was one figure or two, she was disappointed to see that it was Glen, riding in alone. He didn't look as disappointed as she had expected. Perhaps there was news.

Then again, perhaps her expectations were off. He was a poker player before this, and apparently a good one. A man like that would hide his reactions like it was as natural as breathing.

She let out a long breath and got busy. No time to watch him come in. She had to—she realized with a jolt that she didn't have to do much, after all. She was pretty much satisfied with the state of the house. She looked across it. Hadn't been this put together since she bought the place with Billy.

That it looked alright now was a blessing by itself. It had always been a house that was in use, rather than looking pretty. When Billy walked out, she kept it going as best she could for a few days, but then it had all gone out the window.

The twins took priority, then Ada, then the herd, and the house… by the time the house came around, she didn't have much energy to take care of it. It was all she could do to keep the place from falling down.

But letting herself fall back into cleaning as a way to get her mind off Glen Riley had proven a very effective motivator. Now the place looked about ready to have a magazine from back east come by and take pictures.

She had just settled into the sofa when she heard a knock come at the door, and already knowing who it was, she got up to let Glen in.

"Good afternoon," she offered, stepping back and letting him inside. "How did the trip into town go?"

He pinched his lips. "It could have gone better, ma'am. Could have gone much better."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Well, he says he won't investigate it. Says he doesn't know who is doing it, and he won't look into it too much."

"He said all that?"

"He said enough."

"So, what, then?"

"Then I investigate for him. It won't be too much work, I don't think. I can manage that much, and when I bring him the evidence myself, he can't help but act on it. He's the duly-appointed Sheriff of Carbon County, after all."

"So, what. You think he's just not doing it because he doesn't have a deputy to go investigate for him?"

"How big you figure this county is? The way I figure it, he might only have three or four. Probably most of the crime is in Rawlins, then beyond that maybe he has two men to spare to go out roaming. Maybe they're all out, or maybe they're waiting on something that they think is coming. Whatever it is, if I investigate myself, then they'll have to agree to make a few arrests."

"Why don't you just go offer to work as his deputy?"

Catherine knew that Glen was a gambler, and she'd seen him not react to things before. Then again, she'd seen some pretty strong reactions from him. What she saw now was him trying to pretend he wasn't reacting, but he didn't succeed like he usually did.

Normally, it was impossible to tell, except that she knew he'd have a thought about it. Now he stiffened half an instant, then tried to relax back into the position he'd been in before without letting her see.

But she did see, and whatever it was that he didn't like about the idea, it was pretty pretty strong.

"I've got the calves to worry about," he said after a while. A weak excuse, she knew. If she was managing with a thousand head, a thousand and fifty wouldn't exactly ruin her. Her cattle were doing just fine… even if they could have been doing better.

"So why are you telling me all this?"

"Well, there are two reasons. First, because it might be dangerous. After all, we're following a few men who have stolen, what, a dozen cattle at least? That we know of?"