Someone was winning the war on the woman he loved.
The cow’s labored breathing filled the South Eagle Veterinary Clinic as Rowan watched the vet examine Sierra’s sick Hereford.
“When did you first notice the symptoms?” Dr. Chen pulled on latex gloves, her movements efficient as she approached the examination table where they’d managed to get the sick heifer positioned. She was younger than Rowan had expected, maybe early thirties, with long black hair pulled back in a practical ponytail and intelligent dark eyes that missed nothing. Her white lab coat was pristine over navy scrubs, and everything about her demeanor spoke of competence.
The clinic was a far cry from the old-fashioned country practice most people expected. Dr. Sarah Chen had built a state-of-the-art facility that could handle everything from routine checkups to emergency surgery. Stainless-steel examination tables dominated the main treatment area, surrounded by gleaming cabinets filled with medical equipment. The sterile white walls were broken by digital monitors displaying vital signs and X-ray-viewing boxes that cast blue light across the polished concrete floors.
The fluorescent lights overhead cast everything in harsh white, making the animal’s distress more apparent. The heifer’s flanks heaved with each difficult breath, foam collecting at the corners of her mouth.
“This morning.” Rowan’s jaw tightened as he watched the cow struggle. “Found her and five others down by the pond, all showing the same signs. Excessive salivation, lying on the ground. Three were already dead.”
“Mm-hmm.” Dr. Chen ran her hands along the cow’s neck, checking lymph nodes with practiced efficiency. “And they were all near your water source?”
“The stock pond, yeah. Fed by the creek that runs through our—through Sierra’s south pasture.”
“Did you bring water samples like I asked?” Dr. Chen straightened, pulling off her gloves and reaching for fresh ones.
Rowan held up a small cooler. “Three different collection points along the creek, plus one from the pond itself.”
“Good thinking.” Dr. Chen accepted the cooler, immediately pulling out the labeled vials. She arranged them on the testing station. “This isn’t the first case I’ve seen like this in the past month.”
“What do you mean?”
“Tom Hendrick’s cattle up north of town had similar symptoms three weeks ago. Lost two head before we figured out it was their water source.” Dr. Chen moved to her testing station, a sophisticated setup that looked more like a hospital lab than anything Rowan had seen in a rural vet clinic. “Took the water to Denver for analysis. Results came back showing elevated lithium levels.”
“Lithium?” Rowan stood back, arms folded. He hated standing here without anything to do. “Is that a problem around here?”
“Shouldn’t be, no.” Dr. Chen began preparing samples. “But with all the mineral exploration happening lately, sometimes things get stirred up underground.”
“Or someone’s stirring them up deliberately.”
Dr. Chen paused in her work, studying his face with those sharp dark eyes. “You think someone’s contaminating water sources on purpose?”
“I think someone’s been targeting specific ranches for the past few months, and now they’ve escalated from rustling to poisoning livestock.” Rowan’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. “How long does it take for the poison to work?”
“If it’s lithium toxicity, the animals showing symptoms now have maybe twelve to twenty-four hours before organ failure sets in. The ones still mobile need to be moved away from the contaminated source immediately.”
Rowan pulled out his phone, dialing Morrie’s number. The foreman picked up on the second ring.
“How’s the cow?” Morrie said, his voice gravelly.
“Poisoned. Lithium in the water.” Rowan kept his voice level despite the storm building in his chest. “I think we need to move the entire herd away from the south pasture. Get them to the north section, away from any creek water.”
“Already on it. Jake and Tomás are helping me move them now.”
“Good. I’ll be back shortly.”
Rowan ended the call and turned back to Dr. Chen, who was running tests on the water samples. Her equipment hummed quietly, digital readouts flickering as the analysis progressed.
“How definitive will these results be?” he asked.
“If there’s lithium contamination, I’ll know within the hour,” Dr. Chen said. “But based on what I’m seeing with your cow and what happened to Tom Hendrick’s herd, I’d bet money we’re going to find elevated levels.”
And Rowan didn’t say it, but what if the man had discovered just who had poisoned his cattle and went after them?
And ended up dead in a creek bed.
“The Hendricks’ ranch is near Sierra’s. Anyone else been affected?”
