“No. Nothing like that. She just…took care of me last night. I had a little too much to drink.”
“Sweet girl.”
“She is that. I wish…”
“Don’t wish, Dallas. Just make it happen.”
“Can’t. So what does Doug want?”
“He wants to question your men. He got an anonymous call last night that one of them was paid off to poison your stock.”
“What? Damn.” Dallas rubbed his temples. “I can’t believe that.”
“I know it’s ha
rd to fathom, but it could be true. After all, someone poisoned those steers.”
“It couldn’t have been one of my guys.”
“No one else has access to your barns.”
“Someone could have broken in.”
“But no one did. Doug would have found evidence if there had been a break in.”
“God damn it all to hell.”
“I hear you talkin’. Trust me, I’m as upset as you are. You should have seen Annie when he told her. She was chomping at the bit for a hanging, no less.”
“A hanging?”
“Seems she hates animal abusers.”
“Of course she does. She’s a vet.”
“Yeah, well, she’s out there waiting for you.”
“She is?”
“Well, Doug is.”
“Right.” Dallas stood up. “Damn, my head hurts. Let’s go.”
Annie had left by the time Dallas and Chad got to the herding site.
“Said she had to get back and check in at her office,” Doug told them. “Said to call when you found anything out. And she’d call or come out with the lab results when she got them.”
“Okay,” Dallas said. “Well, let’s get on with it.”
“This ain’t going to be a picnic, Dallas,” Doug warned. “Your men’ll get defensive.”
“Yeah, I know. But let’s get it done.”
“You’re sure you’re up to this?”
“Hell, no. I’ve got twenty jackhammers pounding in my head right now. But damn it, no one messes with my livestock and gets away with it, so let’s get it over with.”
* * *