“Up to you, Rory.”
She pondered on what to do, then shook her head again.
“I’ll ask the agent to see what he thinks.”
“All right. In the meantime, I’ll ride up there. We only have five cows out right now.”
“Okay, Buster. I’ll head in. Let me know if you find anything.”
“Will do.”
Rory blew out a breath and walked to the house. If Agent Richards weren’t in the office, she’d call his cellphone. She hung her hat on a peg, pulled her cellphone from her pocket, and looked through her contacts until she found the number for MDOL.
“Montana Department of Livestock. How can I help you?” a female voice answered.
“Could I speak to Agent Richards?”
“He’s not in the office right now. Is there someone else who could help you?”
“No, ma’am. I’ll call his cellphone. Thank you,” Rory said, then disconnected.
Taking a deep breath, she found the number and pushedCall.
“Richards,” he answered, and she almost moaned.That voice.
“Agent, this is Rory Heston. I hate bothering you, but have you found out anything yet?”
“I was about to call you. I didn’t find any similar tire tracks in other cases, so these guys might be rookies or just using a different truck and trailer. I’m going to head up to where I put cameras out to see if anything has happened.”
“Okay, I’m—” Rory stopped when Buster’s voice came across the two-way radio. “Hold on, Agent. Buster?” she said into the walkie-talkie.
“Rory, I checked the cows in the east pasture, and they’re gone. All of them. All five of them.”
Rory gasped, then spoke into her phone.
“Agent—”
“I heard. I’m on my way. Tell him to go back to the barns and stay there. I’ll need to speak to you privately.”
“I will,” she said, but he had already disconnected.
She relayed the message to Buster, then sat at the table and cried. She couldn’t help but wonder what was going on around here. Were anyone else’s animals stolen? She was going to ask Agent Richards when he arrived. She needed those cows. They provided her income. They’d look elsewhere if she couldn’t produce the milk for the companies she sold it to.
This dairy farm had been in her husband’s family for eighty years. Rory loved her in-laws and had always been close to them. Clay’s parents signed the farm over to him when they retired and moved to South Carolina.
Clay had been gone six years now, and she missed him, but he had been so reckless. He hated the farm, so he left it up to her to keep it going, and she had. He’d been on a fishing excursion in Florida when another boat hit the boat he was on, killing all six men on board. He would take trips all the time. Rock climbing, hiking, boating, anything he could do to get away from the farm.
It shocked Rory when she found out he had left her everything. Though she knew she deserved it. She had kept the farm going. She loved it, and she made damn good money at it. Her cows produced for one of the largest dairy companies in the united states.
But if her cows were being stolen, she would lose money. She had a thousand head, and they were constantly producing, but losing just one was not good. Now she had lost seven. She had calves, but they weren’t old enough to produce milk. If she didn’t get the cows back, she’d have to replace them. She neededallone thousand of the cows to produce.
A little while later, a knock on the door startled her, and she walked to it and peered through the blind. He wasn’t looking at the door, but she knew it was Agent Richards. She opened the door and waved for him to enter.
“Please have a seat. Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Soda? Lemonade? Tea?”God! She was rambling like a schoolgirl.
“Just water would be fine. It’s hot out there today.”
“Yes, it is.” She yanked on the fridge door, retrieved a bottle of water then walked back to the table to see him still standing beside it. “Please sit.”