Wilder followed Bernie to a pickup truck and climbed inside.
“Where’s Hal?”
“With the trailer,” Bernie said.
“Okay.”
“Don’t be nervous about it. It runs smoothly every time.”
Wilder fisted his hands and tightened his jaw. Damn, he wanted to punch the hell out of Bernie for this. He couldn’t chance that Bernie would figure out that Wilder wasn’t there to help them. He wanted nothing more than to arrest them all, but he needed the man who gave them their orders. He sighed and relaxed his hands, and unclenched his jaw. He mentally shook his head because he knew he should have put cameras up there when Rory agreed to put the cows there, but he'd been so fucking…distractedby her that it slipped his mind.Way to go, jack ass.
Neither he nor Bernie spoke as they drove down the driveway and out onto the road. Bernie stopped on the berm close to the west pasture and parked, then looked at Wilder.
“Here, put these on.” Bernie handed him a ski mask and sunglasses. “Let’s go.”
Wilder took them from him, removed his cowboy hat, and pulled the ski mask down over his face. He drew in a deep breath, blew it out, stepped from the truck, and put the sunglasses on. Then he followed Bernie to the fence, and Wilder saw Hal with a trailer hitched to the back of a big truck. Hal walked to them.
“Are these masks and sunglasses necessary?” Wilder asked.
“Yes. We found some trail cameras at the east pasture, so we’re not taking chances,” Bernie told him.
“I can barely see. It’s so damn dark.”
“Yeah, well, get used to it. I’m not going to get caught by letting MDOL catch me on camera,” Hal snapped.
“Why do you think MDOL put the cameras there?”
“Because I was told Rory called them. I’m sure they’re doing all they can to catch us.” Bernie chuckled.
“I hope not,” Wilder said.
“We won’t get caught. How would we? We’re covered up. Those cameras can’t see through the masks.” Bernie shook his head, and Wilder was ready to arrest them.
“Just shut the fuck up about it. I’ve got the trailer ready, so let’s get them loaded,” Hal said in a low tone and Wilder knew it had been his voice he’d recognized that night.
“How do you do that without horses?” Wilder asked.
“We just rope them and lead them inside. Hell, Rory treats them like pets, so they’ll follow along.”
Wilder never let a criminal get to him, but he wanted to shoot them both. If he thought he could get away with it, he would. He took the rope Bernie handed him and then walked to the cows. When he saw the cow, he stopped. He knew her from the white star-shaped spot between her eyes. Shit. He didn’t want to take this cow. Hell, he didn’t want to take any of them, but he knew Rory loved Boo-boo. Wilder turned to look at Bernie.
“Boo-boo? Seriously? This is going to kill her,” he growled out.
“She’ll get over it. Get busy,” Bernie said as he put his rope over another cow’s head and led her toward the trailer.
After slipping a rope around Boo-boo’s head, he led her to the trailer. It amazed him that the cow followed along so well. He walked up the ramp, pulled the cow behind him, removed the rope, and went down the ramp. He passed Bernie on the way.
“At least she doesn’t have any bulls.”
“I’m sure bulls are hard to get to cooperate.”
“Probably. I’m just glad I’m not fooling with them.”
“I never asked, but does Rory use artificial insemination?”
“Yeah. She gets the sperm from a farm that does that.”
“Someone gets to jack off a bull?” Wilder chuckled.