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Ferg was pacing the front porch as the pickup pulled up to let Tanner off “It’s about tirumbled

“What’s going on?” Tanner didn’t figure he owed the et that Tanner was only pretending to work for him

“What’s going on is a chance to catch those cattle-thieving bastards red-handed There’s a dozen cowsfrom the west pasture that borders on Bull Tyler’s place One of ht toward the Rimrock Follow them, and you’ll likely have your rustlers There’s a horse saddled and waiting outside the stable Get going!”

Tanner found the horse, a handso from the saddle horn His pistol was already holstered at his hip Not that he planned to use it in single-handed co of rustlers This wasn’t Hollywood He would try to get a look at the ht, until a truck—the only practical way for thieves to transport a dozen aniet the description and license nuoods on the road With luck, the trucker would make a deal and nail his contacts on the Rimrock—if that’s where they could be found

It sounded si—froht—was always there in the back of any lawman’s mind

So as behind the stolen cattle?

Tanner knew better than to ju happier than putting Bull Tyler away for stealing his cattle But ould Tyler risk prison for a fes—especially when he’d reportedcattle, too? More than likely, someone else was responsible

As he rode west toward the Rimrock Ranch, he kept his eyes on the trail of split-hooved cattle tracks, led with the curved prints of shod horses There’d been at least two riders driving the small herd, maybea couple of nails and would probably soon come off At least that one would be easy to track

The country here was open, the flat ground rising to the foothills of the escarp-hatched flies swars that looked to be hours old It made sense that the rustlers would have ht By now the valuable anione, loaded in a truck under cover of darkness He’d be lucky to find anything more than tracks

At the boundary between the two ranches, Tanner passed a posted sign, probably one ofwest He shook his head as he read the stenciled lettering:

PRESCOTT RANCH PRIVATE PROPERTY

TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT

The old West was alive and well in this country, Tanner aze swept the landscape beyo

nd the sign Here the scrub was thicker Clurew alive hiet in close But that wasn’t likely By now, he suspected, the thieves and the stolen stock would be long gone

Barely had the thought crossed Tanner’s mind when a faint sound, carried by the breeze, reached his ears He swore in surprise It was the un of cattle