After climbing in, Wilder pulled the glasses and ski mask off while Bernie started the truck and drove back to the bunkhouse. Wilder was fuming. He couldn’t remember a case ever pissing him off as much as this one, and it was because of how he felt about Rory.
This had to be killing her. To know that the men she trusted were stealing from her. Wilder knew he’d get them, but he needed thebossof them. There was no sense in arresting the others if he couldn’t get them all. Not yet anyway.
If he didn’t get every one of them, they’d just move on and do it to someone else. What Wilder couldn’t figure out was why now? What happened that the men would start stealing from her? Who decided it was a good idea to steal from her? She was going to be devastated about Boo-boo. Damn it. He wanted this bastard.
****
The next day, Rory strode down through the barn aisle and stopped when she saw Buster waiting for her, and a sick feeling came over her.
“Buster?”
“Rory.” He stopped, removed his hat, raked his fingers through his hair, then resettled the hat.
“What is it?”
“The cows in the west pasture are gone,” he said.
Rory was sure she was going to pass out. She placed her hand against the wall.
“What?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry, but all five are gone. I told you it was a bad idea.”
“But, I saw Boo-boo there.”
“She’s gone. I’m sorry, honey.”
“What’s going on?” Wilder asked as he entered the barn.
Rory shook her head as tears rolled down her face.
“Someone took the cows from the west pasture,” Buster said.
“Son of a bitch,” Wilder swore.
“They-they took Boo-boo,” Rory choked out, then she ran from the barn, across the yard, and entered the house.
She ran to her bedroom and fell onto the bed, and cried. Why was this happening to her? She was so angry that itwasher men doing this. She’d had her suspicions about Hal, and Wilder confirmed it, but toknowit was them hurt her deeply. Only they knew the cows were up there, and Wilder had been right.
As she sat up, she wondered who all was in on it. Was it all of them, or just a few? She knew it wasn’t Buster, but who of the others was hurting her this way? Falling back onto the bed, she sobbed at the thought of her cows being gone. Some people just didn’t get attached to animals, but she loved her Holsteins, and she had babied most of them from the time they were born. She even kept a few males because she couldn’t stand to part with them. Not the most intelligent way to run a farm, but she didn’t care. Now Boo-boo was gone, and her heart was breaking.
She got up and made her way to the office to work on the books a while later. She couldn’t go out to the barn or milking parlor today because she knew she’d break down.
Reaching for her cellphone, she called Wilder and told him to come to the house. She needed to see him.
As she stood in the kitchen, waiting for him, she did her best to not cry. When she heard someone on the porch, she moved to the door, opened it to see him standing there and waved him in.
He stepped into the kitchen, closed the door, and pulled her into his arms.
“I’m so sorry, darlin’,” he said against the top of her head.
“I can’t believe they’re stealing from me,” she said against his chest.
“I know. It’s why I wanted to put the cows there, so we’d know for sure. No one else knew about them being in the west pasture. It had to come from the men here. Most rustlers go where they know the livestock are. They’re not out there driving around, just taking risks. They have to know what they’re looking for, and whether you want to admit it or not, your men are doing this to you.”
“I know they are.” She pulled back from him and stared into his eyes. “Was it Hal and Bernie?”
“Yes, and… me.”