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Still.

“What did they say when you asked about our group?” Mac asked.

“That they’re working it out.”

Jodie muttered something under her breath. Mac looked at her. She smiled sweetly. He had no idea what she’d said, but it definitely hadn’t been that sounds reasonable.

FIFTEEN

Jodie had been thinking about Sand Wash since they pulled out of Lyons before dawn and pointed Mac’s truck west for the roundup. In her mind’s eye, she’d studied the dry sweep of country, the long, empty roads, the dry creeks. She’d pictured the bands of horses moving across miles of open ground, sometimes jumping fences, ignoring stupid manmade county lines and property maps. She’d imagined this day for months, excited after seeing the horses for the first time.

And now helicopters destroyed that excitement.

She hated the idea of the horses running flat-out in the heat. Hated not knowing what the new holding setup looked like. And the worst part was that she was no longer able to dart the horses. The number one way of controlling the herds without hurting them, and it was off the table. She started to picture the overcrowded facilities holding horses separated from their bands and waiting for an uncertain fate, and had to stop before she lost it. At least some of those horses would be moved onto ranches and farms around Colorado, as fosters if not bought outright.

But that brought her to thoughts of Luna, Sagebrush, and Lucky, who still had not been seen. When Mac had pointed out on the maps where they could be hiding, she’d held out hope. It had taken everything she had not to contact Virgil to see if he’d laid eyes on them, but she didn’t want to stir him up.

Jodie’s phone buzzed for the fourth time in ten minutes. It was Willow again.

Verified that Virgil signed an agreement last month after the meeting. BLM put in corrals, and he never said anything! Meeting at Hank’s still at three. Harold and another BLM rep coming. Still no commitment on observer access and Virgil is not answering his phone.

Well, shit.

We’re about 1 hour out from Hank’s. You think Virgil will show?

Willow’s answer came almost immediately.

If he feels like taking his life in his hands.

Jodie smiled bitterly as she sighed and dropped the phone into her lap.

“Bad news?” Mac asked softly.

“They skunked us.” Jodie read Willow’s latest texts to Mac. “We’re still not allowed on his property and he’s MIA.”

Mac glanced at her. “Sorry, baby.”

“Not even to see where they’re putting the holding pens,” she continued. “Willow asked if a couple of us could walk the site before the gather. Harold apologized but said it was a hard no.”

Mac laid his hand on her knee and squeezed gently. “You want to check his property for the horses.”

She smiled softly. “You know me too well.”

Jodie reached behind the seat for a bottle of water. The cooler was packed with more than enough drinks to get them through the drive, and electrolyte powder packets were stuffed into a plastic bag. Mac had tossed his duffel behind his seat that morning without giving it a second look.

Jodie grabbed a second bottle and a packet of electrolytes. She opened it and poured in the powder, capped it and gave the bottle a good shake, then handed him the doctored water.

“Thanks, baby.”

She opened the second bottle for herself. Jodie watched the dry country flying past the window. The land hadn’t seen rain in weeks and the fire danger had only crept higher, giving the BLM ‘justification’ to use helos.

She kept thinking about Virgil standing in that gymnasium weeks ago. He’d wanted the helicopters. He’d made no secret of believing there were too many horses on the range. And apparently, sometime after that meeting, he’d agreed to let the Bureau use his land and hadn’t bothered mentioning it to anybody in FHDH.

Yup. Taking your life in your hands, Virgil.

Hank’s gate was already open when Mac turned off the county road onto the dirt drive on his property. Willow’s SUV sat near the barn, and Sandra’s was parked beside it. She’d come in the day before to get settled and start documenting preparations before the gather. As Mac parked, another pickup turned through the gate behind them, followed by an SUV with FHDH stickers in the back window.

Other than that, the place was still mostly quiet.