Rhett and his fullteam of lab geeks head through the North gate—lead by Wade—as we’re overseeing the wreckage of the heard.Miss B nickers at the intrusion of trucks.She and the other horses have been uneasy since we arrived, spooked, like they’re expecting a snake in the grass.I often wonder what goes through their minds.Especially seeing so many cattle dead, cattle she’s usually herding.There is no doubt horses are empathetic creatures, but I wonder how much they take in of the things going on around them.Twenty head of dead cattle are bound to spook them a little.
“Rhett,” I say, climbing off my horse and meeting the TSCRA special ranger.
“Mornin’, West.Okay if my people get right to it?They wanna collect samples before it gets too warm out.”
“Go ahead.We’re as keen to get to the bottom of this as you are.The more cattle we lose, the more money we’re hemorrhaging.”
He nods and turns to his crew, indicating they should start.They get to suiting up in their little safety gear, and soon it looks as if I have ten astronauts milling around my family’s ranch.I shake my head.
“Tox report came back as NPN supplement toxicosis.”
“Ammonia poisoning?”
“Contaminated samples were collected from the dam on site.Levels indicate a much higher toxicity than that of standard urea ingestion.”
“This wasn’t us.”I shake my head in disbelief.“My family have been farming cattle for over one hundred years.We don’t fuck with the dosage of our supplements.”
“West, there is no question this was deliberate, and I know it didn’t come from your people, but how well do you know your Neighbors?”
Since Colt sold his daddy’s quarter-acre land to us not long after the old man died, we have no neighbors flanking the property, but the Thorntons own the ranch opposite us.It’s not as big as ours, and there’s always been bad blood between my great granddaddy and his.
“The Thorntons and the Winchesters have had beef since our ancestors settled this land.Old man Thornton was always spitting about a border here, or a broken fence, making out like it was a Winchester problem that he couldn’t keep his ranch from falling apart.He’s gotta be pushing eighty by now.”
“What about the sons?He’s got three of them, right?”
“And one girl, Violet.”
“Isn’t she famous in the dressage world?”
I laugh.“Barrel racer.”
Rhett’s eyes widen, because barrel racers come with their own reputation for being wild.They ain’t afraid of anything.
“We haven’t had no problems.Mostly keeps to herself when she’s home, but I heard she moved into town to be with her grandma, over on Maplewood Ave.Cash could probably tell you more about her, since they run in the same circles.You know how circuit riders all stick together?”
“And there’s no possible way she has anything to do with this?”
I raise a brow and glare at Rhett.“Cash is family.Yours and mine.He’s worked this land since he was a teenager.You really think he’d date someone who might put this ranch at risk?”
Rhett holds his hands up to ward off my anger.“No.I know my brother, but I also know how much losing Carla fucked him up.I’m just playing devil’s advocate here.There’s no way this Violet woman could be the culprit?”
“Not a chance.What are you really getting at here, Rhett?”
“I’m just sayin’ be careful who you let in now.Word is that the Thorntons aren’t the only ones looking to see Winchester Wild fail.”
“Well, what the fuck does that mean?”
Rhett gives me a no-nonsense look.“It means word around town says you and Fast Eddie had a little dust up in Miss Daisy-Mae’s front yard.It’s all anyone can talk about in the Red River Canyon Report.”
I scoff.“You actually read that shit?”
He shrugs.“It helps to keep a finger on the pulse.”
“Uh-huh, and the old biddies in town firmly in your pocket.”
“Information is information.”
“Noted,” I say.“But Eddie ain’t smart enough for this kind of shit.”
