Guarding Forever

The tech added, “Give us the name, and we’ll see if he’s behind it. It’s a long shot because I’m sure the email came from much closer, but we can still check it out.”

“Good, because I’m certain it’s him. That lawyer of his gave me a funny feeling. I bet his ass is crooked.”

“We’ll do what we can.” They packed up their gear and left.

Gage and Hope went about their day like nothing had happened, although in the back of both their minds, trouble was a moment away.

Just as the techs pulled out onto the main road, Bill came running up the steps. “The bull is missing. I checked the area, but I can’t find him. There’s another hole in the fence in a different spot. The camera’s there and recording, but the pole has been knocked over.”

“Shit. Have the men scanned the area?”

“Yes, but there’s no sign of the bull. And it’s worse.”

“What?”

“I found this by the camera.” He opened his hand to reveal a spent shell casing from a long-range rifle.

“So someone shot down my camera.” Gage paced the room, thinking of everything he learned. This all must lead to Cummings—but how?

“It would appear that way.”

“I need all of you out looking for the bull. Cummings is in the hospital, so I doubt he’ll come after us. I need to review that camera’s feed and see what time it happened.” Bill left right away to send out a search party.

An hour later, Gage found the time of the shooting, which had been at four in the morning, just before they began their day. What it didn’t show was what happened afterward. A loud rumble and shout could be heard out of the speaker, but that was it and then it went silent.

His phone rang as he stood up to check on Hope, who had gone to feed the baby.

“What’s up, Bill? Please tell me you have some good news.” From the long pause, Gage knew the answer would be no.

“I’m afraid I don’t. I found the bull. He’s dead.”

“Son of a bitch!” He slammed his phone down on the desk. Regaining his cool, he picked it up and said, “What do you know?”

“It wasn’t an accident or anything. He’d been shot and left in Colt’s field.”

“Shit. Okay.” That was a message. Colt would have wrangled up the bull and called me, so who shot the fucker?

“Colt said he’d handle it.” Gage nodded to himself. His cousin was a truly professional rancher and was used to dealing with dead animals.

“Thanks. I’m going to need a drink.”

“Sorry, boss.”

“Thanks again. Finish up the work for today and get some rest. I’ll talk to you later.”

Colt called Gage twenty minutes later with a lead on the suspect. “I’m sorry about what happened. I pulled my footage, but the only thing my cameras picked up in passing was a dark blue Ford pickup. The model was unclear as well as the plates, but at least that’s a start.”

“Thanks, man. Can you send me a picture of it?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good. I need to call this into the police.”

A loud sigh came from Colt. “Um…Gage. I’ve got more shitty news for you. Silas Perkins is out of jail now.”

“What?”

“Yeah, on good behavior.”

“Great. Things are just getting better and better. Damn. Silas Perkins.” A light went on in Gage’s head. He thought back to the scrawny old bastard with his schemes. Several people had been convicted of stealing, but Silas had been the ringleader. “That son of a bitch. With Cummings out on bail, I completely forgot about him. Do you know where he is?”

“He’s back at his place as far as I know. How is Hope?”

“She’s taking care of the baby right now.”

“Let me know if you need anything.”

“Don’t do anything with the bull until the cops come. They may want to check it out.”

“I took pictures, but I had to get it off my field. The other animals won’t graze with it there.”

“Understood. Talk to you later. Thanks for everything.”

“No problem. Call me anytime.”

Gage made the call to the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office again. This time they came out with two detectives. “You’ve got a lot going on today, Mr. Gibson.”

“Yeah, way too much bullshit for my liking.”

“So you say someone trespassed on your property, damaged your cameras, and killed one of your cattle?”

“Yes, it happened at four in the morning. My crew came up to me this afternoon to tell me the bull got out again.”

“This happened before?” Gage tried to keep his cool. They weren’t the ones who worked the case, so they didn’t have to know about it. The FBI handled the matter because it crossed state lines.

“Did you hear about the Cattle Auction Ring that happened last year?”

“Oh, yes. I read about it.”

“Well, I was the one who turned the people in after they were caught on camera stealing my cattle back.”