He leans against the fence. “You think there’s any truth to it?”
“No,” I say firmly. “Sutton’s a damn good vet. She knows what she’s doing. This is just Reed stirring the pot because she found the cure, which he didn’t think she could do. She made an ass out of him out at Nance’s and he’s just trying to regain credibility, I’m sure.”
He nods. “Figured you’d say that. But you know how people are around here. They love a good story, especially if it’s got drama.”
I pull out my phone and fire off a quick text to Sheriff Clark.
“You hear anything else about Dr. Reed?”
Before I can put my phone away, Benny comes running up, his face flushed and eyes wide. “Wade!”
“What is it?”
“There’s a bunch of cars pulling up over at the Bishop Ranch,” Benny says, practically bouncing on his toes. “Unmarked vehicles. I thought they still had at least a week before the foreclosure.”
“The debt has been paid; he can’t be getting evicted. The foreclosure is null and void.”
“Well, there’s something else going on, then.”
I try calling Sutton, but she doesn’t answer. I also try calling Sheriff Clark, but if there are unmarked vehicles over there, then that’s where he’s at.
“Did Sutton and Caleb head over there earlier?”
“Sutton did. I’m not sure where Caleb ran off to.”
I frown, glancing toward the horizon where the Bishop Ranch sits. “What the hell’s going on now?”
“Don’t know,” Benny says, “but I’ve heard rumblings. I think we should go over there.”
Benny isn’t a man who gets into other people’s business, so if he says we should go over, that’s what we’ll do. I nod. Benny lets out a wolf whistle. Jared and Tommy stop what they’re doing and look up.
“We’re going to the Bishop Ranch now. Might be trouble.”
Tommy and Jared both swing up onto their Mustangs. They’re off through the trails in no time while Benny and I climb into my truck.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Went and got breakfast at the diner this morning. I heard a couple of ranchers saying that Dr. Reed is claiming Frank is to blame for the outbreak. They were talking about heavy fines and possibly seizure of property.”
“What? Did you ask more questions?” My mouth drops open but Benny doesn’t look over, just stares ahead grimly as he continues.
“No, but Doc Sutton was asking questions about the livestock auction in Tamlin this morning. She asked to see some of our purchase paperwork. She told me that the vaccines they claimed to give the cattle aren’t real.”
“Aren’t real?”
“I didn’t get a chance to ask anymore. She said she was meeting some people over at her dad’s ranch.”
“Do you think that’s who is over there now?”
“No, that was hours ago. I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
I call Caleb’s phone, and it goes straight to voicemail. I shoot him a text telling him to check in and that we would all be over at the Bishop Ranch.
He doesn’t reply, but I don’t have time to think about that because as we pull down the two-mile driveway that leads to the Bishop Ranch, my stomach drops.
There are unmarked police cars and SUVs everywhere, but Sheriff Clark is nowhere to be found, which is odd. There are also two semi-trucks with cattle trailers pulled up to the barn. Dr. Reed and his colleagues are standing there with clipboards, and Sutton is yelling at people while her dad is in handcuffs in the back of a cop car.
“What in the hell is this?”
